Bob Filner, the indefatigable politician who served as a member of congress and then mayor of San Diego before accusations of sexual assault and harassment forced him from office, died April 20.
As a young activist, Filner landed in jail while participating in actions with the Freedom Riders, including former U.S. Rep. John Lewis. Over his career, he relentlessly annoyed opponents and rivals and even his allies, operating from a theory of “creative tension” he once described to our reporter as the only nonviolent way to make change.
“People don’t change unless there’s tension,” Filner said. “Status quo. Nobody thinks about anything, right, if you don’t create the tension. But if you don’t do it creatively, then they hit you or they shoot you. You gotta make them think about it.”
As San Diego mayor, he made a lot of people uncomfortable, challenging the way the city did almost everything and causing chaos and paralysis in city government. He redesigned the entry to Balboa Park, abruptly eliminating the parking lot in the middle of the Plaza de Panama and he made transactional deals with anyone who wanted to get the city’s support for their projects.
He didn’t even make it a year on the job, however. He had made so many women uncomfortable with his sexual advances, abuse, assault and harassment that the scandal that erupted and continued burning with each of their testimonies led to a recall effort, legal actions and political movements against him on the City Council.
He quit a mere nine months into the job and later pleaded guilty to one count of felony false imprisonment and two counts of misdemeanor battery. He disappeared from public life surfacing only briefly in 2016 to contest some of the conclusions about his time here in an interview with Lisa Halverstadt. He was 82.
Bob Filner will be forever remembered as standing by my side in a literal sense. He saved my home in the mortgage meltdown of 2009. Once. he came to our meeting in Clairemont and was the last person out speaking to evet soul.