Good mayor is hard to find

SAN DIEGO — Voters in the nation's seventh-largest city couldn't agree on a new mayor yesterday, so this fall they'll head back to the polls for their third mayoral election in just over a year.

Donna Frye, a surf-shop owner and maverick councilwoman, took a strong lead in yesterday's race but couldn't get the majority needed to win outright.

Instead, the Democrat advances to a Nov. 8 runoff against former police chief Jerry Sanders in a race to take over a City Hall that has been left in shambles. Earlier this month, San Diego's former mayor resigned amid a scandal just seven months into his term, and his interim replacement was convicted of corruption a few days later.

"I feel embarrassed to say I live in San Diego with all the corruption that's going on right now," voter Margarita Carmona, a lifelong resident and retired school administrator, said after casting her ballot. "We need a good strong leader to pull us out of this mess and to unite us."

Sanders, a Republican who portrayed himself as a turnaround specialist during the short campaign, survived a late surge by businessman Steve Francis, who poured about $2 million into his bid for mayor.

With 97 percent of precincts reporting late yesterday, unofficial results showed Frye with 43 percent of the vote, Sanders at 27 percent and Francis at 24 percent.

San Diego's political image has been severely tarnished in recent years by a series of scandals and fiscal problems that have threatened the city with bankruptcy.

Former Mayor Dick Murphy, a Republican former judge, left office earlier this month amid widening federal investigations of a pension fund with a deficit of at least $1.37 billion. He said he wanted to give the city "a fresh start."

Less than 72 hours after Murphy stepped down, his interim replacement lost the job when a jury convicted him of corruption charges for taking payments from a strip club owner in a failed scheme to overturn a ban on patrons touching dancers at nude bars.

Frye, who nearly defeated Murphy with a write-in campaign last November, has defied expectations since she emerged on the political scene four years ago. She has vowed to reform City Hall by ending a culture of backroom deals that she says led to the city's woes.