Madeleine Brand talks to KPBS senior editor Russell Lewis about the resignation of San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy and the uncertainties around the selection of a successor. Murphy's resignation comes amid a probe of the city's debt-ridden pension fund. He narrowly won re-election to the office in November, and was recently named by Time magazine as one of the three worst mayors of a major U.S. city.
RUSSELL LEWIS reporting: Hello.  It's good to be here.</s>BRAND: Well, tell us more, first of all, what happened with this pension      fund and how the mayor was involved.</s>LEWIS: Well, it actually happened before the mayor's watch in 1996.      Then San Diego was hosting the Republican National Convention, and they      were looking for a way to pay for it.  And so they came to agreement to      put less money in the city employee pension fund and to offset some of      that money by giving it to the folks who were bringing the Republican      National Convention here. However, on Dick Murphy's watch, when he was      elected in 2000, the City Council took two key votes in 2000 and 2002 to      continue the underfunding in exchange for enhancing benefits.  So really,      what's at stake here is a couple of key votes the City Council has made      in order to not have to pay a lot of money into the general fund budget      in order to sort of keep San Diego running as is, but now they're paying      for it.</s>BRAND: Right.  And now they're being investigated by the Justice      Department, the SEC.  Could the city be forced into declaring bankruptcy?</s>LEWIS: Well, there are some people who say that's probably the only      option that the city has.  Some of the elected officials, including the      mayor, say that's not an option, that the city's revenues are still      strong, that it's not a possibility and that a lot more needs to happen      before bankruptcy should even be talked about.  But there's a growing      upswell of support from some in the business community and others who say      that perhaps bankruptcy is a possibility that the city should look at a      little more closely.</s>BRAND: Now Dick Murphy's re-election was contested with more votes      actually going to his challenger, City Councilwoman Donna Frye.  What are      her prospects now of becoming mayor?</s>LEWIS: Well, she is the only official person who has said, `I am a      candidate to be the next mayor.'  Her write-in campaign generated a lot      of public support.  She threw her hat into the ring five weeks before the      election in November.  And, as you mentioned, she actually got the most      votes, but a court ruled that some of the voters didn't properly fill out      their write-in ballots and thus put Mayor Dick Murphy in for a second      term.</s>LEWIS: Now that he's stepped down, it has opened up a whole other hornet's nest      of exactly so many legal issues, and it seems every day here in San Diego      there's a new wrinkle, a new rub and it just--every day, you sort of have      to scratch your head and say, `Well, what's going to happen today?'</s>BRAND: Hmm.  And so he's not the only one who's in trouble there in San      Diego.  Tell us more about what's going on with these illegal campaign      contributions and other politicians involved.</s>LEWIS: Two City Council members, including the deputy mayor, Michael      Zucchet, go on federal corruption trial tomorrow.  That's expected to be      a three-month-long trial.  This trial and these charges have nothing to      do with the underfunding and really have nothing to do with what      everybody's talking about at the moment.  But allegedly, these two      council members, as well as a third council member who passed away and is      no longer charged in these crimes--the government alleges that they      accepted money from strip club owners in an attempt to ease no-touch      rules at strip clubs.</s>LEWIS: The council members say they've done nothing wrong, that the money that      they took was properly put down as campaign contributions.  In fact, the      City Council didn't make any changes to the laws and they never even      talked about it.  So it's going to be an interesting case for both the      government and for the defense to try to get into, but it's clear that      San Diego really is a town in turmoil at this point.</s>BRAND: San Diego had a reputation as a squeaky clean city.  What are the      reactions among regular people there to what's going on in the      government?</s>LEWIS: I think there's a lot of frustration.  There's a lot of sense      that the people are just sort of irritated that this town that many have      dubbed America's finest city at this point is anything but, at least from      a governmental standpoint.  There's talks of hundreds of city layoffs.      There are some 60,000 potholes on the city streets that haven't been      filled. Discussions about building a new main downtown library appear to      be running into trouble at this point.  So the frustration is mounting      certainly.</s>BRAND: Russell Lewis is senior editor at KPBS in San Diego.  Thank you      for joining us.</s>LEWIS: You bet.