San Diego Mayor Bob Filner announces he'll enter a two-week rehab to correct his behavior and the reaction rolls in.
San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria: “Bob Filner’s announcement that he will be taking a leave of absence prolongs the pain he is inflicting on our city at a time when San Diegans are calling for an end to this civic nightmare. The Mayor has finally acknowledged his very serious disorder which prevents his ability to govern and seriously affects his ability to interact with people. As would be the case with any leader in government or business, the standard he has to uphold is greater than to simply get treatment.
San Diego City Councilmember Mark Kersey: “Mayor Filner needs to wrestle with his demons as a private citizen—not on the public's time or the taxpayer's dime.”
San Diego City Councilmember Kevin Faulconer: “Two weeks of therapy will not end decades of bad behavior. Bob Filner should leave to receive the help he obviously needs, but he shouldn’t take the office of the mayor and San Diego city government with him. He needs to resign and seek long-term treatment as a private citizen.”
San Diego Councilmember Lorie Zapf: “At the end of the day, Mayor Filner continues to put his needs in front of the needs of his victims and the needs of citizens of San Diego. He is the mayor of the 8th largest city in the country and he must be held to a higher standard. By not stepping down, it is an insult to the victims, and an insult to women everywhere.”
San Diego Councilmember Scott Sherman: “San Diegans should accept nothing less than Bob Filner’s resignation and/or arrest.”
High-profile attorney Gloria Allred, who’s representing Irene McCormack Jackson, one of Filner’s alleged victims: “Mayor Filner has harmed many women including my client Irene McCormack Jackson. He should resign immediately. I view his decision to seek therapy as a ploy to stay in power and to try to gain sympathy. If he feels that he needs therapy, he should resign first and then seek it. It is ridiculous to think that he needs therapy in order to understand that women deserve respect and should not be treated like pieces of meat.
