Death of Bob Filner Resurrects San Diego's Scandalous Past

The death of former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has resurrected the stories of some other past mayors of the city.

Filner was not the first of San Diego’s mayors who resigned or left office tainted by a pollical scandal and/or legal crisis.

Back in the late 1960s, Mayor Frank Curran was indicted om charges of bribery in the Yellow Cab bribery scandal, accused of raising tax rates in return for campaign contributions, Curran was cleared by a jury but it ended his political career.

In the late 1980’s Mayor Roger Hedgecock was charged with receiving illegal campaign funds, and resigned, but he was eventually cleared after a mis trial, a jury tampering and a state supreme court decision.

In the early 2000’s Mayor Dick Murphy resigned after facing criticism and pressure over the city’s questionable handling of the underfunded pension fund when San Diego was called the “Enron of the West”.

In 2013, the year Bob Filner got into trouble and was facing sexual assault and harassment related charges and resigned, CNN ran a story about what they called “San Diego’s Scandalous Past”.

While San Diego’s reputation as America’s Finest City is still intact, when it comes to the history of city leadership, it’s not a bad thing to remember the past so we can learn how not to repeat it.   

(Photo reporting partner 10News)