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1 Year Later: How Filner Sexual Harassment Scandal Impacted San Diego
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
1 Year Later: How Filner Sexual Harassment Scandal Impacted San Diego
GUESTS:
Jan Goldsmith, San Diego City Attorney
Wendy Patrick, SDSU Ethics lecturer, attorney
Special Feature Filner Files
A year after one of San Diego’s biggest political scandals, a man who was in the middle of the negotiations to replace the city’s top politician says the disgraced former mayor is a changed man.
City Attorney Jan Goldsmith told KPBS Midday Edition his office continues to work on some of the cases associated with sexual harassment allegations against then-Mayor Bob Filner. Filner resigned in August 2013 after multiple women came forward saying he had touched them inappropriately or made sexually aggressive comments to them.
Goldsmith and Filner had a contentious relationship while Filner was in office, but now their meetings are very different, the city attorney said.
"It’s been interesting, and actually we have a good working relationship that includes me and Bob,” he said.
Related story: Ex-Mayor Filner Completes 90 Days Of House Arrest
He added that Filner has made noticeable changes in the past year.
"It was a different Bob Filner and a different time," Goldsmith said. "Mr. Filner has looked inside himself and he has gotten help — a lot of help. ... I think he is a much more humble and cooperative person."
San Diego got through the political turmoil, but the scandal prompted calls for change in the city charter and it gave a much higher profile to the issue of sexual misconduct in the workplace.
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