Brian Maienschein to run for City Attorney
San Diego Red County broke the news earlier this evening that the oft-absent City Council member will be running for Mike Aguirre’s job. I just got off with Maienschein’s chief of staff, Lance Witmondt, who confirmed the news for me. Witmondt said Maienschein won’t be commenting about his decision until he officially announces some time next week.
Still, this does shake up the race a fair bit. At the moment, attorney Dan Coffey is challenging Aguirre on the Democratic side while Jan Goldsmith, a judge on leave, has the backing of the San Diego Republican Party. Maienschein has serious name recognition, and he’s fairly popular in his suburban northeastern San Diego district, especially after he made himself ubiquitous during the October wildfires. On the other hand, Goldsmith carries none of the stinky pension fiasco residue that may cling to Maienschein.
CityBeat editor David Rolland, mindful that Maienschein was a member of a city council that passed employee-pension deals that have crippled the city financially, offered this assessment of the campaign: “Aguirre would eat Maienschein for lunch with a side of fava beans and a nice chianti.”
