San Diego Government Officials

Someday, Susan Golding may be remembered as the mayor who initiated the city's biggest downtown redevelopment project, created nationally acclaimed child-care and environmental protection programs, and boosted the local economy by making the city more business-friendly. Someday. But not today. As Golding, 55, leaves office today after eight years, her political reputation is clouded by continued controversy over the stalled Padres ballpark project and a Qualcomm Stadium lease that has cost the city millions for unsold Chargers tickets.

A judge Monday declined to add to former City Councilwoman Valerie Stallings' punishment for taking unreported gifts from Padres owner John Moores. The judge rendered the decision after receiving pleas on Stallings' behalf from a congressman, a former state senator, a prominent scientist and two Catholic priests.

Mayor Susan Golding and other city officials withheld key information from voters and also used improper influence to get a taxpayers' group to endorse their drive for a downtown ballpark, the San Diego County Grand Jury charged Friday.

As delegates, reporters and others arrive for the Republican National Convention, they are greeted at the airport by three welcoming banners and three movie poster-sized pictures of Mayor Susan Golding.

As night falls on Sand Hill Road, Susan Golding faces an audience of venture capitalists, another seeker come to Silicon Valley's promised land. Fading sunlight dapples the rolling countryside as Golding makes her pitch: the opportunity, the market niche, the payoff.

Formally closing the lengthy court saga of former Mayor Roger Hedgecock, a Superior Court judge Monday reduced Hedgecock's sole felony conspiracy conviction for political corruption to a misdemeanor, then dismissed the case outright.