Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 | The highly politicized Firefighters Union has endorsed newbie Todd Gloria, a 29-year-old staff aide, in a race against Stephen Whitburn for an open seat on San Diego City Council from District 3. The Firefighters’ main man, Ron Satoff, is/was a member of the San Diego city employees pension board while voting on and accepting controversial retirement benefits from them. Regardless of such conflicts of interest, Satoff imagines himself a king-maker in local politics — he was a supporter and employer of disgraced Councilmember Michael Zucchet and a promoter of dark-horse waste management employee Johnnie Perkins in a failed bid for a school board seat a few years ago. Maybe Gloria should rethink that endorsement.