Mayor Jerry Sanders

An anonymous donor has given a reprieve to a San Diego tradition: beach bonfires. To help close a $43-million budget deficit, the City Council had ordered the removal of 186 fire pits at city beaches. But a donor has pledged $259,500 to pay for their upkeep, Mayor Jerry Sanders announced Monday. The donor said he is not a "beach person" but believes children should be able to enjoy beach bonfires with their families, Sanders said. The donation will cover the cost for the next 18 months.

SAN DIEGO - On his last full day as mayor of San Diego, Jerry Sanders did something Sunday that took him back four decades. He rode with a police officer assigned to the 2 p.m. to midnight shift patrolling downtown. In the mid-1970s, fresh out of San Diego State, Sanders was a rookie officer assigned to that same beat. "I came in in a police car, I'm going out in a police car," Sanders, 62, had said with a laugh last week as he stood outside one of his signature achievements of his seven years as mayor: a new central library under construction.

Mayor Jerry Sanders will veto a City Council resolution to increase the mayor's salary by 29% and council member's salary by 24%, a spokesman said Tuesday. On Monday, the council voted to raise the mayor's salary to $130,000 and a council member's salary to $93,485, both effective Jan. 1. The city's Salary Setting Commission recommended raising the salaries to bring San Diego in line with other big cities. The council can overturn Sanders' veto by the same 5-3 vote by which the increases were approved.

SAN DIEGO — City Councilman Carl DeMaio conceded defeat Wednesday to U.S. Rep. Bob Filner in the hard-fought race to succeed Mayor Jerry Sanders. DeMaio, 38, a conservative Republican, said he remains proud that he was a leader in the movement to reform the financial practices of city government, including curbing "runaway pension costs" and defeating a sales-tax increase. In unofficial returns, DeMaio trailed Filner, 70, a liberal Democrat, 52% to 48%. DeMaio told supporters that he had called Filner with congratulations.

Two City Council members who voted in favor of raising the salaries of the mayor and the council have changed their minds, which means the issue no longer has a majority of support. Mayor Jerry Sanders had threatened to veto the raises, which were approved Monday. The council could have overridden a veto by the same 5-3 majority that approved the raises, but council President Scott Peters and Councilman Ben Hueso issued a joint statement Wednesday saying that a controversy over salary increases for elected officials is "not in our community's best interest."

The city, shut out of the municipal bond market for four years because of its financial mess, is once again seen as a good credit risk by Wall Street, officials announced Thursday. The Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, which had suspended the city's credit rating in 2004, announced it has restored the rating and given the city an outlook listed as "positive" and "stable." "Today is the most significant day for residents of our city in the past four years," said Mayor Jerry Sanders.

Re "Gay marriage opponents got a surprise boost," July 21 I am a longtime San Diegan who read with interest your article indicating that Mayor Jerry Sanders' position on gay marriage was a huge factor in mobilizing conservatives to qualify Proposition 8 for the November ballot. I was among the many San Diegans who appreciated Sanders' support of marriage for gay and lesbian couples -- and, as a parent, I was touched by his personal story. I strongly disagree with your take on the effect the mayor's change of heart had on opponents of same-sex marriage.

SAN DIEGO -- Mayor Jerry Sanders said Thursday that Qualcomm Stadium should be ready by Sunday to play host to the Chargers' game against the Houston Texans. But he said the decision whether to play the game there as scheduled was up to the team and the NFL. Sanders said Qualcomm is scheduled to close at noon today as an evacuation center for people displaced by wildfires in the San Diego area.

Perry cell 619 977-6391 Standing beside one of those concrete icons of the beach-oriented lifestyle here, Mayor Jerry Sanders announced Monday that the civic scare about the imminent removal of fire pits has been averted — at least for now. Enough money — $120,500 — has been scraped together from private and public sources to keep the city's 186 fire pits burning for the next year, Sanders said. "Fire pits have an impassioned audience," he said. The pits, pending an OK from the California Coastal Commission, had been slated for removal as a money-saving measure.

As lifeguards begin their busy summer season, the bronzed guardians of California's beaches find themselves at the unlikely center of the battle over costly public pensions. The six-figure salaries of some full-time municipal lifeguards have fueled talk radio segments and blog comments in recent weeks, with some commentators expressing surprise at the pay for those who patrol the beaches. For local government, the larger concern is over the pensions that lifeguards receive when they retire.

SAN DIEGO - Its official motto is "America's Finest City," but for the last decade this sunny municipality at the bottom of California has earned an unflattering reputation for fiscal foolishness. Those days may well be coming to an end, however. On Wednesday, the city's first "strong" mayor, Jerry Sanders, reported that San Diego was looking at a balanced budget for next year and a $119-million surplus over the next five. "We seem to be miles ahead of other cities," Sanders told reporters at a budget unveiling.

Perry cell 619 977-6391 Standing beside one of those concrete icons of the beach-oriented lifestyle here, Mayor Jerry Sanders announced Monday that the civic scare about the imminent removal of fire pits has been averted — at least for now. Enough money — $120,500 — has been scraped together from private and public sources to keep the city's 186 fire pits burning for the next year, Sanders said. "Fire pits have an impassioned audience," he said. The pits, pending an OK from the California Coastal Commission, had been slated for removal as a money-saving measure.

An anonymous donor has given a reprieve to a San Diego tradition: beach bonfires. To help close a $43-million budget deficit, the City Council had ordered the removal of 186 fire pits at city beaches. But a donor has pledged $259,500 to pay for their upkeep, Mayor Jerry Sanders announced Monday. The donor said he is not a "beach person" but believes children should be able to enjoy beach bonfires with their families, Sanders said. The donation will cover the cost for the next 18 months.

Re "Gay marriage opponents got a surprise boost," July 21 I am a longtime San Diegan who read with interest your article indicating that Mayor Jerry Sanders' position on gay marriage was a huge factor in mobilizing conservatives to qualify Proposition 8 for the November ballot. I was among the many San Diegans who appreciated Sanders' support of marriage for gay and lesbian couples -- and, as a parent, I was touched by his personal story. I strongly disagree with your take on the effect the mayor's change of heart had on opponents of same-sex marriage.

The city, shut out of the municipal bond market for four years because of its financial mess, is once again seen as a good credit risk by Wall Street, officials announced Thursday. The Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, which had suspended the city's credit rating in 2004, announced it has restored the rating and given the city an outlook listed as "positive" and "stable." "Today is the most significant day for residents of our city in the past four years," said Mayor Jerry Sanders.

Two City Council members who voted in favor of raising the salaries of the mayor and the council have changed their minds, which means the issue no longer has a majority of support. Mayor Jerry Sanders had threatened to veto the raises, which were approved Monday. The council could have overridden a veto by the same 5-3 majority that approved the raises, but council President Scott Peters and Councilman Ben Hueso issued a joint statement Wednesday saying that a controversy over salary increases for elected officials is "not in our community's best interest."

SAN DIEGO — City Councilman Carl DeMaio conceded defeat Wednesday to U.S. Rep. Bob Filner in the hard-fought race to succeed Mayor Jerry Sanders. DeMaio, 38, a conservative Republican, said he remains proud that he was a leader in the movement to reform the financial practices of city government, including curbing "runaway pension costs" and defeating a sales-tax increase. In unofficial returns, DeMaio trailed Filner, 70, a liberal Democrat, 52% to 48%. DeMaio told supporters that he had called Filner with congratulations.

SAN DIEGO - On his last full day as mayor of San Diego, Jerry Sanders did something Sunday that took him back four decades. He rode with a police officer assigned to the 2 p.m. to midnight shift patrolling downtown. In the mid-1970s, fresh out of San Diego State, Sanders was a rookie officer assigned to that same beat. "I came in in a police car, I'm going out in a police car," Sanders, 62, had said with a laugh last week as he stood outside one of his signature achievements of his seven years as mayor: a new central library under construction.

Mayor Jerry Sanders will veto a City Council resolution to increase the mayor's salary by 29% and council member's salary by 24%, a spokesman said Tuesday. On Monday, the council voted to raise the mayor's salary to $130,000 and a council member's salary to $93,485, both effective Jan. 1. The city's Salary Setting Commission recommended raising the salaries to bring San Diego in line with other big cities. The council can overturn Sanders' veto by the same 5-3 vote by which the increases were approved.

SAN DIEGO -- Mayor Jerry Sanders said Thursday that Qualcomm Stadium should be ready by Sunday to play host to the Chargers' game against the Houston Texans. But he said the decision whether to play the game there as scheduled was up to the team and the NFL. Sanders said Qualcomm is scheduled to close at noon today as an evacuation center for people displaced by wildfires in the San Diego area.