Jerry Sanders

While not quite a shoo-in, Mayor Jerry Sanders is going to have to make a misstep much worse than having an overly tall building erected nearly a mile to the side of a runway for him to not repeat as mayor.

Yes, Steve Francis has the passion, and the bankroll, to make a run. He even has clearly different positions on some social issues important to conservative voters and artfully zings Sanders for the slow pace of progress in some areas, the lack of it in others and some big troubles in keeping his top staff intact. Francis also has done the community a wonderful favor by funding the San Diego Institute for Policy Research, which despite its potential for partisan mischief has mostly turned out exemplary local research not being done elsewhere. Voters will not appreciate it, but should.

Meanwhile, Sanders is overseeing a slow recovery in city finances which the electorate is noticing. His only harsh critic is City Attorney Mike Aguirre, but he is harsh about so many people the public is tuning him out. If not quite hitting the mark like Supervisor Ron Roberts, Sanders was calming and authoritative during the fires. Two possible stumbles that face him are criticism he is short changing fire protection and a potential sharp drop in tax revenue as the local economy slows.