San Diego Common Cause Debates Strong-Mayor Government (tags)
On June 8 voters in San Diego will decide whether to make the city's experiment in a strong-mayor form of government permanent. The ballot measure will also increase the size of the City Council from eight to nine (at a cost of $1 to $1.5 million per year) and increase the threshold for sustaining a mayor's veto of a Council action from five votes to six. San Diego's branch of Common Cause debated the issue February 13 and questioned whether the strong mayor has made local government more or less accountable, and whether the real purpose of strong-mayor is to increase the already massive influence of business and developers over local government.