Mayor Filner Resigns Effective Aug. 30

This article first posted at 4:19 p.m., Friday, August 23, 2013.

After weeks of being dogged by allegations of sexual harassment, Bob Filner resigned today as mayor of San Diego, effective Aug. 30.

"I apologize to all of you," Filner said in the San Diego City Council chamber after the council emerged from a 90-minute closed-door meeting, during which the panel unanimously approved a settlement agreement with the mayor. Details of that deal were not immediately released.

Although he apologized, Filner blamed a "lynch mob mentality" for leading to his demise, and insisted that he "never sexually harassed anyone."

"I think I let you down," Filner said, addressing his supporters in the room. "We had a chance to do a progressive vision in this city for the first time in 50 years. ... We need you to carry that vision forward. This is not the time to let it die."

Filner, a 70-year-old former congressman, offered a personal apology to his former fiancee, Bronwyn Ingram.

"I love you very much," he said. "You came to love San Diego as much as I did. And you did memorable things in the short time you were first lady and I personally apologize for the hurt I have caused you, Bronwyn.

"To all the women that I offended, I had no intention to be offensive, to violate any physical or emotional space. I was trying to establish personal relationships, but the combination of awkwardness and hubris led to behavior that many found offensive."

Filner, mired in the sexual harassment claims and allegations of misusing a city-issued credit card and shakedowns of developers, had signed a resignation letter prior to the council's meeting.

Council members Myrtle Cole and Scott Sherman did not attend the meeting. Both are out of town.

The deal between the city and the mayor stemmed from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Irene McCormack Jackson, the mayor's ex-communications director. Her lawyer, Los Angeles-based Gloria Allred, said Thursday that her client's portion of the litigation has not been settled.

The agreement in mediation talks led by retired federal Judge J. Lawrence Irving was reached Wednesday evening.

A total of 18 women have publicly accused Filner of improprieties.

One of them, Laura Fink, told the council members in the public comment portion of the meeting to keep the victims in mind during their deliberations.

"I hope that you will consider the nature and degree of the deplorable behavior the mayor that has exhibited and the havoc he has wreaked on the lives of his victims and this beautiful city," said Fink, who said Filner groped her buttocks at a congressional campaign fundraiser.

Enrique Morones, an immigrant-rights activist who has led a small contingent of the Filner supporters, said the mayor spent decades serving the oppressed, and that his downfall is "a public execution."

"When my children ask me, 'Where were you when the public lynching of Mayor Filner took place?' I will tell them I was not an accessory," Morones said. "I stood on the side of a man -- Bob Filner -- who has stood on the side of us for 40 years."

They were two of around 40 people who spoke to the City Council before members went into closed session to consider the deal.

With Filner's resignation, Council President Todd Gloria will become interim mayor, and a special election will be scheduled within 90 days. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, that person would become mayor. Otherwise, a runoff election would be held between the top two vote- getters.

The 70-year-old former Democratic congressman became the third San Diego mayor to resign in recent times, following Roger Hedgecock and Dick Murphy.

During his speech to the council, Filner -- who recently took a two-week leave of absence to undergo therapy -- highlighted what he perceived to be his accomplishments since taking office last year. But he remained defiant, insisting that he was being railroaded out of office, casting blame on his detractors and the media.

"I started my political career facing lynch mobs, but I think we have just faced one here in San Diego," Filner told the council. "And you're going to have to deal with that. In a lynch mob mentality, rumors become allegations, allegations become facts, facts become evidence of sexual harassment, which have led to ... the resignation and recall.

"Not one allegation, members of the council, has ever been independently verified or proven in court. I have never sexually harassed anyone. But there's a hysteria that has been created, that many of you helped to feed. It's the hysteria of a lynch mob."