A single slate of appointments by the city of San Diego to the San Diego Association of Governments is scheduled to be considered by the City Council at its meeting today.
Dueling lists led to a public squabble between Mayor Bob Filner and City Council President Todd Gloria last week.
The new list resolves the major issues raised in the tiff over the mayor's appointment power and the bipartisan nature of the nominations, which are scheduled for council confirmation at today's meeting.
Under the proposal, both Filner and Gloria would serve on the Board of Directors of the regional planning agency, which is made up of mayors and council members from the various cities in the area, along with representatives from county government and institutions with a large local presence, like the U.S. Navy. Filner had bypassed Gloria when he nominated San Diego's representatives on the Board of Directors.
At last Tuesday's meeting, Filner accused the City Council of subverting his appointment-making power and frequently interrupted both Gloria and Assistant City Attorney Mary Jo Lanzafame, whom he criticized harshly. Filner, who has long been described as passionate by supporters and combative by opponents, later apologized.
According to city documents, the new list of appointments originated from the mayor's office. It also includes Councilwoman Lorie Zapf, a Republican, as a representative on SANDAG's Regional Planning Committee -- as requested by Gloria. Another GOP member, Scott Sherman, would be given a post on the organization's Energy Working Group. A third Republican, Mark Kersey, was selected as an alternate for two SANDAG committees.
Both Filner and Gloria are Democrats. Democrats have a 5-4 majority on the officially nonpartisan City Council.
"Mayor Filner and I came together to recommend a list of appointments to outside agencies that will ensure the city is well-represented and reflects the interests and strengths of the mayor and all council members,'' Gloria told City News Service.
Under the City Charter, the mayor nominates San Diego's representatives to outside agencies, boards and commissions -- subject to City Council approval. Since SANDAG's committees are made up of council members, appointments have in past practice been developed jointly by the mayor and council president.
