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Political Fires

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The last week of a fatally dry October brings weather conditions perfectly suited for epic disaster. Something ghoulish is going house-to-house -but it isn’t early trick-or-treaters. You’re watching it live on TV. Or maybe you’re living it firsthand, and your neatly trimmed acreage is part of the battle line. Flames race from Ramona to Clairemont, eating landscape and jumping freeways. For days the afternoon sun, tinted an eccentric orange, punctuates a smoke-darkened sky that’s raining ash. Surreal but tragically true-10,000 people evacuate home and hearth.

San Diego is burning. Nero would be fiddling. Whither our politicians?

They’re magically front and center. From the halls of Washington, D.C., come Darrell Issa, Duncan Hunter and Randy “Duke“ Cunningham. San Diego County Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Greg Cox are visible and vocal; so are City Councilmen Brian Maienschein and Jim Madaffer.

Most try to calm their constituencies. Many begin arguing about who is at fault for available military aircraft not being put to immediate firefighting use-a mess of federal- and state-level red tape that had better get quickly untangled.

All the while, wearing a crisp yellow coat emblazoned with his name and title, San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy leads a barrage of press conferences. Initially, Murphy is like a fireside master of ceremonies, holding three briefings a day. The city’s fire and police chiefs stand behind him. As do Maienschein and Madaffer, whose council districts are most affected by the October firestorm. The media crowd in with cameras and questions.

Some see Murphy as a calm, quiet leader whose persona is best suited to such crises. Detractors, surprised to see the mayor in public, say his scripted performances lack passion and the (excuse the adjective) fiery commitment exhibited by other politicians.

More than half of the county supervisor and city council seats are up for reelection. For simplicity, let’s focus on the reinvigorated mayor’s race. For months, Murphy had been an opponent-less incumbent. Some opined Supervisor Ron Roberts or Councilmember Donna Frye might run against him. As each became less likely to enter the race, the office appeared to be a gimme for four more years

But not long after the flames were put out, Roberts reignited a political fire by taking out candidacy papers, and criticized Mayor Murphy for a lack of leadership. Then Peter Q. Davis burned his bridge with Murphy, and made noise that he’d run. Davis made it official in mid-November. "Betrayed" by an old friend is how Murphy publicly said he felt; Murphy personally nominated Davis to a post on the San Diego Port Commission.

In the wake of the fire cleanup, the question put to Davis was this: How is the fire going to play into a race that's four months away?

“Image-wise, [Murphy] has it,“ says Davis. “Dick is popular-he’s viewed as ethical and someone to trust. But ask yourself if the quality of life is better now, and you have to say it’s not better.“

“And when I saw him during press conferences during the fires, he lacked the passion that I saw in Brian Maienschein and Dianne Jacob-even if her passion was misdirected. I saw no emotion from the mayor.“

Davis doesn’t say Murphy should be held responsible for what some perceive as a delayed response in getting firefighters and equipment on the scene. But he does believe the mayor has mishandled a budget that might have included more firefighting resources.

“We’re in a financial crisis that affects everything from potholes to police and firefighters,“ says Davis. “Public safety needs to be a priority, and we're under manpower restraints. On that, the public can draw their own conclusions.“

So can other politicians.

“I think the mayor did a terrific job of getting the word out-telling people to stay home from work, and closing the schools,“ says Frye, who says she's “80 percent“ sure she won't run for mayor. But the outspoken former activist says politics will definitely play out in the fire’s aftermath.

“Will some people use the fires to push an agenda?“ she asks. “Probably. But it all comes down to us getting our financial house in order. Then we’ll have the option to improve fire-prevention money. We did have discretion on that-choices were made. In our defense, we did build some new fire stations. We didn’t completely ignore the problem.“

History shows that a major crisis-handled with aplomb-benefits a sitting politician. Call it the Rudy Giuliani effect. New York City’s mayor was termed out at the time of the 9/11 tragedy. His out-front style prompted some to call for a special extension of his term in office. President George Bush also saw his popularity rise in the aftermath of those 2001 terrorist attacks.

Davis may see Murphy’s crisis-management performance as scripted, but Murphy’s support team doesn’t.

“Dick’s leadership style is quiet and steady; that lends perfectly to a crisis like this,“ says campaign manager Jennifer Tierney. “I have to say, I hadn’t been coaching him in anything. He jumped in and did what he felt was right. He didn't ask me a lot of advice on this.“

It was definitely a trying time, says Murphy. “This was the most intense crisis we have faced,“ he says. “Literally, for seven days, we were consumed with addressing fire issues.“ Murphy adds that when the fires started, he felt a calming presence was needed more than finger-pointing and roof-rattling.

While Frye believes the political aftermath of the fires will be fiscal, Tierney also thinks voters will look back at the scenes and assess their politicians’ reactions. “People will want to analyze how they behaved,“ she says.

So can we expect campaign mailers and TV ads featuring the mayor in his yellow coat, calmly presiding over a firestorm progress report?

“We haven’t yet talked about what we’ll do,“ says Tierney. “Obviously, right after the fires, we temporarily shut down the campaigning. Our future efforts will be tasteful. We won't do anything that’s going to offend people.“

Tierney points out that political fund-raising efforts also had to be suspended as the public naturally turned its attention to donating money to organizations aimed at helping people whose homes had burned down.

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