San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre defended his performance yesterday, on stage with four people who want his job. It was the first public debate in the race for City Attorney. Reporter David Nogueras was there.
Several hundred people packed a San Diego hotel room to hear the candidates make their pitch. Mike Aguirre says he's done a good job rooting out corruption at city hall and fighting for the people of San Diego. He says when it comes to what the city attorney does, his vision is clear.
Aguirre: The roll of the city attorney is to fearlessly protect the interests of all of San Diego and not merely carry out the wishes of manager and council.
Asked if anyone had a response, Councilman Scott Peters snapped back.
Peters: Well how's that working? I don't think it's working very well.
Peters complains that because of Aguirre's penchant for investigating city officials, officials in the government have no where to turn for legal advice. He says the city attorney should work for the city.
Meanwhile, City Councilman Brian Maienschein says that Aguirre's interpretation of his mandate leaves the city in an untenable position.
Maienschein: It's not so much sometimes that I feel like I don't have a lawyer. It's that I feel like our own lawyer is trying to get us into trouble and that's a major, major problem.
Both Maienschein and Peters are leaving their city council seats because of term limits.
Jan Goldsmith, a lawyer-turned-judge was the first candidate to announce he wanted Aguirre's job. He takes issue with Aguirre's interpretation of the law.
Goldsmith: There's no where in the law, in the civil side except for narrow circumstances where a lawyer gets to decide both as client and as attorney.
Also taking part in the debate was Amy Lepine, a former deputy in Aguirre's office. Lepine says the city needs a strong attorney, but she fears voters will elect a weak candidate because of the way Aguirre handled his job.
Voters will get a chance to make up their minds when the primary is held on June 3rd.
For KPBS News, I'm David Nogueras
