Ready or not, San Diegans head to the polls Tuesday to caste their ballot for a new mayor. Voters have been bombarded recently with details of the candidates' dueling fiscal plans. But when it comes right down to it, San Diegans on the street appear to be are making their decisions based more on gut feelings about whether Jerry Sanders or Donna Frye would will be the best person to lead the city out of its current crisis. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.
It's a balmy evening in downtown San Diego, and Dan Pitta is out on the town with his wife. Like many San Diego residents, he's heard more about the crisis at city hall than he has about the mayoral candidates' specific plans to resolve it. He says he's pretty sure who he's going to vote for, even though he's hasn't considered their different fiscal strategies.
PITTA No, I haven't had a chance .. so you're going on impressions really? Yes, I've seen a lot of back biting tween Mike Aguirre and the city council and the pension plan I haven't seen anybody step forward and grab the ball and get us out of this.
While Pitta is still a bit torn, virtually all San Diegans who plan to vote have made up their minds already recent polls show a tiny percentage are still undecided. Up at a Starbucks in Sorrento Valley, Armond Nicoli says the talk around his office is more about the candidates' business experience than future fiscal strategy.
ARMOND NICOLI : For me, Frye seems like someone who is passionate about the issues and wanting to do the right thing, but in info you get around the water cooler especially in biz circles, seems to questions her competency in running an extraordinarily large organization. I think my vote would go for Sanders.
Trish White of Mission Hills has no doubt in her mind who she'll vote for. But her decision isn't based on nitty gritty details like the benefits of Sanders' defined contribution verses Frye's defined benefit pension plans for city employees.
WHITE : I'm not torn on a choice, I'm 100% of Donna Frye, I'm looking more for morality and integrity issues, which I've found watching her in city council that she has Accountability and intelligence and the morality to run this city as it should be.
The candidates have done their best to engage voters in the details of their strategies. They've held dueling press conferences, dueling TV ads are on the air, and Frye and Sanders have even trotted out dueling economists to tout the merits of their respective financial plans.
Perhaps the hot button issue of the campaign has been taxes. Donna Frye says she'll ask voters to approve a half cent sales tax, Jerry Sanders says no taxes.. instead he'll issue pension obligation bonds once the city gets back in the bond market.
Frye produced UCSD economics professor Ross Starr, to say a tax now is better than Sander's idea of borrowing more money in bonds.
STARR That means generations to come will be paying down the debt accumulated under extraordinary interest rates under this plan.
Sanders has an economist of his own to endorse his plan: Arthur Laffer, known nationally as the father of supply side economics. Laffer came to San Diego to throw his weight against Frye's sales tax idea.
LAFFER : It's a mistake for San Diego to raise the sales tax, you'll cause a lot of business to leave the city Those people who cant relocate, the poor and the disenfranchised they're the ones who'll suffer cos they can leave with it. They'll really suffer the brunt.
But are the disenfranchised listening? In a Food 4 Less parking lot in Claremont, a check out girl is helping 70 year old Ray Playstead to load groceries into the trunk of her car.
AMBAINCE: Put the bread in the basket.. I got it door slams thanks very much
Donna Frye's proposed tax increase doesn't deter Mrs Playstead, who is firmly in favor of her city councilwoman.
PLAYSTEAD I like what she stands for and I really don't care for Sanders.. he's always giving her a bad rap, you know I figured if he was on the council he would have voted for a lot of things that he says Donna voted for, you know.
Donna Frye was on the council when the city made decisions that resulted in a billion dollar pension plan deficit. Sanders has accused Frye of being part of the problem, while she maintains she was often the lone vote against increasing employee benefits.
Frye proposes to cut off those pension increases immediately if she becomes mayor, even if a court later rules that's illegal. But for Robert Stoddard, a 30 year old software programmer, this element of her financial plan doesn't make any difference.
STODDARD Donna Frye, she's a friend of the unions, any ways it goes, Jerry Sanders has not had his chance up to bat for San Diego whereas Donna Frye's been in the city council for so many years, so I think Jerry Sanders needs a chance and Donna Frye has already had hers.
Back in downtown San Diego, Melisssa Pitta sums it up this way. Like her husband she hasn't had a chance to compare the candidates' fiscal plans. But she believes what's important is the winning candidate's people skills, and ability to cut through the conflicts at city hall.
PITTA: Whoever gets this job is going to have a lot of hard work people-wise to get everyone on board to do something to make a change.
San Diegans off to the polls tomorrow are likely to be voting for a person rather than a policy to lead the city out of trouble. Alison St John, KPBS news.
