Leadership in absentia

There’s little argument that the six propositions on Tuesday’s special-election state ballot are as confusing as heart-throb bluesman John Mayer’s dating practices. So CityBeat figured it would help out voters by polling San Diego’s political honchos to see which side of the fence their preferences fall. After all, the city’s woeful budget prospects could rise or fall depending on the outcome of Props. 1A through 1F. Important stuff, right?

Well, in the City of Righteous Uncertainty, the clear sentiment from CityBeat‘s informal research turns out to be, “Don’t ask me!”

Despite all the hand-flapping from Mayor Jerry Sanders over serious budget challenges ahead and boastings of strong leadership, a mayoral spokesman says he’s “neutral” on all six propositions. Guess you could call that “leadership by ducking.”

But he isn’t alone. Of the five council offices that responded to CityBeat‘s survey, only two — those of councilmembers Carl DeMaio and Todd Gloria — provided clear opinions on the ballot measures. The three others — Donna Frye, Sherri Lightner and Ben Hueso — offered no position.

Council President Hueso’s office also added that he will not docket the propositions for council discussion, as is traditionally done for ballot measures. Hueso, as you may recall, has announced plans to run for state Assembly next year. No need to opine on the state of the state-budget process, apparently.

Meanwhile, the council offices of Kevin Faulconer, Tony Young and Marti Emerald indicated they’d get back to CityBeat, but never did. To their credit, Faulconer media guy Tony Manolatos noted, “For what it’s worth, I have no idea what his positions are….So I’m glad you asked,” while Xema Jacobson, Emerald’s chief of staff, hinted that the councilmember “said she supports some and not others” without further explanation.

As for the two with an opinion, DeMaio said he opposes Props. 1A through 1E but supports 1F, which would halt state officials from receiving pay hikes during budget-deficit years. “It [1F] doesn’t do much, but it doesn’t hurt to hold politicians’ pay when they don’t perform,” DeMaio said. “It is more important to see Props. 1A-1E fail so it forces the state to actually FIX their problems rather than constantly kicking the can down the road.”

Conversely, Gloria backs 1A and 1B (and 1F), opposes 1C and 1E, and is “undecided/neutral” on 1D, which would transfer to the state general fund tobacco-tax money now targeted at children’s health and social services.

Confused? Well, get in line….