Mayor Says He's Innocent as More Leaders Call for Resignation

Originally posted at 6:54 p.m. July 12.

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner is making news across the country, even as he claims his innocence and new voices chime in demanding his resignation.

News10.com is reporting that Filner issued a statement at about 6:30 p.m. Friday saying he is "confident that a fair and independent investigation will support my innocence with respect to any charges of sexual harassment.” 

The mayor's comments came hours after local Assembly members Toni Atkins and Lorena Gonzalez joined former San Diego City Councilwoman Donna Frye and two attorneys in calling for his resignation in the wake of the harassment allegations.

Gonzalez is the sister of Marco Gonzalez, one of the two attorneys who along with Frye made the initial demand for Filner to leave office. All are Democrats.

San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria sought Filner's resignation Friday, as the number of council members urging the mayor to depart rose to five. In addition Filner's chief of staff Vince Hall resigned, less than a month after two other top aides left the Mayor's Office.

“As a lifelong activist for women’s rights and equality, I feel I must resign effective today,” Hall said via Twitter.

The flurry of Friday developments in the Filner scandal also included:

• The city of San Diego's acknowledgement that though criticism is mounting against Filner, evidence is not – no official claims have been filed against him with city officials, NBC San Diego reported.
• Marco Gonzalez's statement, vía Twitter, that Filner's Thursday apology was not enough and he, Frye and attorney Cory Briggs would offer more information next week.
  
• News8.com's pursuit of Filner, who was spotted downtown, though he breezed past the cameras without comment. He also backed out of attending one of the city's largest events, San Diego Pride, a celebration of gay and lesbian rights.

Meanwhile, local, state and national media outlets have started to try and figure out that the mess means, while explaining the curious state of San Diego politics.

NBCSanDiego.com offered some perspective, taking a look at the city's string of mayoral controversies – three faced allegations of corruption or gross financial mismanagement and two resigned. One, Pete Wilson, left for a positive reason – he won a Senate seat.

Politico chimed in with “5 things to know about Bob Filner,” including his oft-acknowledged “combative style.” They made a mistake though, and initially said the one-time Congressman is being accused of sexual assault, not sexual harassment. 

The Washington Post called Filner's mea culpa “an unusually frank apology” from a public official, while national networks picked up the story: CNN noted the mayor's desire to seek help, while ABC said he apologized “for mistreating women.”

In a last bit of ignominy, the Los Angeles Times opined that his videotaped apology “failed to impress” and compared him unfavorably with other politicians, from New Yorkers Anthony Weiner to Eliot Spitzer, who also had sex-tinged scandals, but did more than offer up a DVD. They appeared to take questions.

Filner, the writer said, should “take the hit and face the public.”

– City News Service contributed to this report.