Richard and Joe were joined by Mayor Bob Filner for their first live broadcast from the La Valencia Hotel. Mayor Filner was sworn in as Mayor of San Diego on December 3, 2012 for a 4-year term. The City Council approved Mayor Filner’s balanced budget on June 10 with a 7-2 vote, and the budget went into effect on July 1st. The mayor has also grappled with the much-debated employee retirement system, coming to an agreement with the City Council that will save the city 108 million dollars over the 5-year term of the agreement.

Bob Filner earned a Ph.D. in the history of Science from Cornell University in 1969 and has spent 20 years of his career as a professor at San Diego State. Fighting to for people’s civil rights has been an ideal that Mayor Filner has upheld since first entering adulthood when he became known as a Freedom Rider and was arrested and served 2 months in the Mississippi State Penitentiary during the Civil Rights Movement.

Since his election, Mayor Filner has continued to fight for the rights and interests of the working-class, small business owners, and the public school systems. While not all of these endeavors have been controversy-free, Mayor Filner has maintained the path that he believes is the best for San Diego as a whole.

Listen to a podcast of the show