San Diego Mayor Bob Filner addressed a number of issues, including the passage of his first budget by the City Council during his monthly “pen and paper” session with reporters on Wednesday.
Filner would not disclose, however, whether he will veto an amendment that grants $500,000 to the city attorney's office.
Filner and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith are in the midst of an ongoing public feud, in part because the mayor’s budget cut $1.4 million from Goldsmith's office. The City Council on Monday added an amendment that returned $500,000 of those funds. Now the ball is back in the mayor’s court, because he has the power to veto that amendment.
Goldsmith's office has warned that the cuts would mean having to fire employees but Filner said that won't happen.
“There doesn’t have to be any layoffs. That was all just scare tactics. On the other hand, since it's only 1 percent, why fight about it? So that’s what we haven’t figured out yet. I mean, it’s not a very big item in the scheme of things,” he said.
The mayor said for now he is weighing his options. He said funding for the city attorney’s office is the only item in the budget he would strike. He supports all other additions made by the City Council.
