By Nadin Abbott

September 6, 2012 (San Diego)-- Mayoral candidates Carl DeMaio and Congressman Bob Filner met at the Photographic Museum in Balboa Park in a lively debate hosted by Innovation Alliance, moderated by Erik Anderson of KPBS this week.

The candidates sparred over innovation, the arts and education issues, offering clear choices for voters.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Nadin Abbott, Tom Abbott and Miriam Raftery

June 6, 2012 (San Diego) – Two feisty and fiercely competitive politicians, polar opposites in the partisan divide, will square off in the San Diego Mayoral run-off race in November. 

Carl Demaio, a conservative Republican and former councilmember, in his victory speech at the U.S. Grant Hotel , said that “Citizens have shifted the city into drive and put their foot on the gas.”  He pledged to “finish the job of fiscal reform”  by implementing Propositions A and B, as well as fixing “roads that are falling apart.”

Congressman Bob Filner, a liberal Democrat and former Deputy Mayor of San Diego, faulted DeMaio for focusing on “a pothole somewhere” while lacking a positive message for voters.  “I want to talk about a vision of the future of what can be a really great city,” Filner told media at Election Central. 

April 20, 2012 (San Carlos) – San Diego Mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio has announced plans to hold a town hall meeting on Saturday to discuss his plans to “fix the City of San Diego’s budget problems” through pension reform, according to his campaign. 

The event will be held at the Elks Lodge, 7430 Jackson Drive in the San Carlos/Navajo area at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 21.

By Jeremy Los

Video by Jack Winemiller

Sept. 20, 2011- Congressman Bob Filner and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher headlined the first mayoral debate of the 2012 election on Saturday.

The two major candidates who participated differed sharply on policies, goals, and visions for San Diego during the lively debate during Politifest, sponsored by Voice of San Diego in Liberty Station on Saturday.

June 6, 2011 (San Diego) –  San Diego City Council has voted 7-1 to approve a budget that will eliminate brown-outs at city fire stations starting July 1, also restoring funds for libraries and city parks.

After staff projected that reserve accounts will have more money than estimated earlier, several proposals were made to utilize the new-found surplus. Council adopted an amendment proposed by Councilmember Marti Emerald to restore eight fire engines that have been shut down for over a year. Brownouts have been blamed for at least one death, a toddler who choked to death waiting on a fire engine with paramedics to arrive from a distant location while a station a block away was closed.

July 7, 2010 (San Diego) -- I think if it were possible to outsource firefighting to China some would say “go for it.”

San Diego District 5 City Councilman Carl DeMaio, the councilman for Rancho Bernardo, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Sabre Springs, Scripps Ranch and Mira Mesa, thought he delivered the necessary thousands of signatures to the city clerk in support of a ballot initiative called "Competition and Transparency in City Contracting." He and the supporters said the ballot measure would promote outsourcing of city services and save the city money. The supporters of the DeMaio initiative are mostly building contractors.