Gloves Come Off In City Attorney Race

February 19, 2008 10:30 AM

SAN DIEGO -- The verbal jousting has begun in the San Diego City Attorney's race.  On Monday morning, San Diego City councilman Scott Peters officially announced his candidacy for City Attorney. Peters, 49, has served eight years on the council, making him one of the highest-profile challengers in the June election for the nonpartisan post. He lashed out at the current City Attorney during his news conference.

"Mike Aguirre needs to go," Peters said.

It didn't take long for Aguirre to fire back. At a one-man news conference, Aguirre read from a prepared statement.

"Scott Peters is not the solution. Scott Peters is the problem," said Aguirre.

Aguirre said that Peters was a member of the City Council when "city officials knowingly engaged in the largest municipal securities fraud in American history."

About an hour earlier, Peters had made his official announcement at a park in University City. He said the location was fitting because "Aguirre has turned one of the most important offices in this city into a playground of politics, posturing and dysfunction."

With Peters' name added to the list, there are now seven candidates running for City Attorney, including Aguirre.

Meanwhile, during his news conference, Aguirre got into a verbal spat with a reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Aguirre accused reporter Alex Roth of having a personal ax to grind and criticized Roth in front of other reporters.

"Clearly, I would say there's no substance to anything you write," Aguirre said. "It's unfortunate that you do not embrace any kind of ethics whatsoever."

Roth did not respond to Aguirre's criticism, but the two stepped away for a one-on-one discussion that lasted at least 20 minutes.

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