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Mayor’s race: a debate, more endorsements

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San Diego’s mayoral contenders continued to spotlight their dueling endorsements Thursday, but it’s their positions on key issues that will take center stage today when three of the candidates will square off in their first debate.

San Diego City Council members Kevin Faulconer and David Alvarez, along with former City Attorney Mike Aguirre, plan to participate in the downtown forum. Former state Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher has declined the invitation because of a scheduling conflict, according to campaign spokeswoman Rachel Laing.

The afternoon debate, hosted by the Asian Business Association of San Diego at the Westin Gaslamp Quarter hotel, is not open to the public but will be broadcast on U-T TV tonight at 7.

Earlier in the day, Fletcher is scheduled to be a keynote speaker at the California Asian Business Summit, jointly sponsored by the business association and the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce.

Laing said Fletcher had committed to attend a meeting that conflicted with the debate, but would give no more details.

Meanwhile, in a continuing flurry of endorsement announcements, Alvarez won the backing Thursday of former City Councilwoman Donna Frye and on Friday was endorsed by state Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins. He is competing with Fletcher and Aguirre for support among Democrats.

In her Thursday news conference, Frye said Alvarez has the priorities, values and integrity to lead San Diego.

“This election is in large part, I think, based on character, and how people behave when they think no one is watching them,” said Frye, an open-government and clean-water advocate, making her announcement at a Mission Bay Park news conference with Alvarez.

He said Frye’s endorsement, coming a day after securing the backing of former Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, continues to build momentum for his campaign.

To a degree, former Mayor Bob Filner’s shadow loomed over Frye’s endorsement announcement.

Frye supported his election last year but in July she and two other former Filner backers initiated the call for his resignation after receiving complaints of lewd and inappropriate behavior by Filner toward women. On Aug. 30, he resigned, setting the stage for a special election on Nov. 19.

“I endorsed Bob Filner, and that didn’t work out very well. So why the heck should anybody listen to what I have to say now?” she asked Thursday. “I can tell you this. I do the best I can to offer my advice, which people can take or not.

“ … I made an awful mistake in endorsing Bob Filner. But hopefully I was able to rectify it.”

In yet another example of the split among Democrats and allied groups, one of Frye’s colleagues who had sought to oust Filner — environmental attorney Marco Gonzalez — came out Thursday in favor of Fletcher. Gonzalez said Fletcher is the “only candidate with the vision and leadership capabilities to effect real change.”

Alvarez and Fletcher are also both positioning themselves as friends of labor, with Alvarez securing the endorsement of the influential San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council and Fletcher picking up support from groups representing the city’s firefighters, lifeguards and white-collar workers. Several other labor groups also announced their endorsements of Fletcher this week, including the Laborers International Union of North America Union Local 89, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 230 and the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters.

Meanwhile, Faulconer, the lone high-profile Republican in the race, has the broad backing of the business community, having won endorsements from key industry groups such as the San Diego Greater Chamber of Commerce, the San Diego County Hotel-Motel Association and the local California Restaurant Association chapter.

Fletcher, a former Republican, is competing on that front as well, showcasing the endorsement of the California Small Business Association among others.

Although 40 people have filed an intent to run for mayor, the race is shaping up as a contest largely among Faulconer, Fletcher and Alvarez. Their supporters have already formed independent committees in order to raise substantial sums of money to get them elected.

Aguirre has acknowledged big money may not be coming his way and has been critical of the high level of campaign financing. He said on Thursday he would not accept campaign contributions over $250 and challenged his opponents to do the same.

The $250 self-imposed cap represents the city’s old contribution limit, which was in place from 1973 until 2005 when, after years of complaints that the limit was obsolete, the council voted to tie future campaign caps to the rate of inflation. The limit rose to $500 in 2009 and $1,000 on Jan. 1. Aguirre’s pledge also includes a call to political-action committees to reject contributions larger than the $250 limit.

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