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San Diego's New Mayor Isn't A Fan Of Filner

by Andrea Garcia-Vargas

San Diego has a mayor again! On Tuesday, former councilmember Kevin Faulconer won San Diego's mayoral election by a wide margin — and wasted no time promising the city that he'd be nothing like its former mayor, the disgraced Bob Filner. "This city has gone through a lot in the last year," Faulconer told a crowd of his supporters in a thinly-veiled dig at the city's ex-mayor, "but we knew that as San Diegans, we were better than that."

Faulconer's opponent, David Alvarez, conceded the race a little before midnight on Feb. 12. He Tweeted: "I want to congratulate Kevin Faulconer. It's clear that he will be the next Mayor of San Diego. I look forward to working with him."

Faulconer's victory comes six months after 19 women sensationally accused then-Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment. Filner initially denied the charges and flat-out refused to resign, but after pressure from politicians and activists, he handed in his notice on Aug. 30. Later, Filner plead guilty to assaulting three women, and in December was sentenced to three years' probation without the right to vote or own a firearm; a 90-day home confinement; and a mere two hours in jail.

But enough about that, says Faulconer. During his victory speech, the city's new mayor told the crowd:

So, tonight, our message to every single San Diego neighborhood, we will invest where we need to help. We will get our city back on track on the services that San Diegans expect, and that they deserve.

It's not surprising Faulconer wants San Diego to get over the "Filner incident," once and for all. Even Hooters, which isn't exactly pro-woman, banned Filner on their premises.

Sorry, Filner, but San Diego is letting you go out of its collective memory. Sexually harassing women will do that to you.

On March 3, Faulconer will take office from interim mayor Todd Gloria and finish up the remaining three years of Filner's mayoral term. No doubt California's capital is looking forward to a San Diego mayorship with — fingers crossed — zero sexual harassment.

Image: Getty Images