SAN DIEGO — This city is not known for civic toughness. Politically two-fisted cities like New York and Chicago, definitely. Los Angeles, maybe.
But San Diego, sun-drenched, image-conscious, tourist-friendly, zoo- and SeaWorld-centric San Diego? No way.
Yet, with the election Tuesday to find a replacement for Mayor Dick Murphy, much of the talk is about being tough: tough with labor unions, tough with bureaucrats, tough with accountants and consultants and, maybe, tough with the city's aggressive -- some say, out-of-control -- city attorney.
"We need somebody who will come in and clean house," said Scott Shookhoff, who works in the online division of a book publishing firm. "How can a place that is so beautiful have such a mess?"
The new mayor will inherit a government whose upper ranks have been thinned by death, criminal convictions, resignations and firings.
One City Council member died awaiting trial, two more were convicted last week. Murphy had quit July 15 rather than continue struggling with a $2-billion pension deficit. Six-pension board members face criminal charges. The city manager and several high-level officials were either fired or pressured into leaving.
And add to the mix a local congressman -- Randy "Duke" Cunningham -- facing a federal probe into the sale of his home to a military contractor and you have a city beset with political turmoil.
"Downtown and the Gaslamp [entertainment district] are going great," said Kisha Jarrett, a coffeehouse clerk. "But the government is down in the dumps. We need someone to come in and start firing people and making things right."
Voters following the City Hall drama appear alarmed to the point of seeking unusual solutions, such as declaring bankruptcy, demanding pension rollbacks, outsourcing city jobs -- toughness. (No candidate, however, is advocating higher taxes in tax-averse San Diego).
Even Pete Wilson, arguably the strongest mayor in city history, never faced a set of challenges so daunting or a public so thirsty for leadership, many observers agree.
Take Thursday's mayoral forum at the local Public Broadcasting Service station -- a stage more associated with fine arts and discussions of political theory.
After the six leading mayoral candidates had given their standard campaign spiels, a member of the audience apparently could stand it no more.
