Mayor Bob Filner may preside over a City Council vote on his own political future.
The City Council is set to meet at 1 p.m. Friday to vote on a proposed agreement with city leaders and perhaps attorney Gloria Allred, who represents a former Filner staffer who accused the mayor of sexual harassment. (Allred did not immediately reply to an email Thursday.) Filner is largely expected to resign if the City Council approves the deal.
The proposed deal follows three days of mediation led by retired federal judge J. Lawrence Irving.
But before council members go behind closed doors to discuss the proposal the group reached, they’ll hear from residents in City Council chambers, said Katie Keach, a spokeswoman for Council President Todd Gloria’s office.
Then they’ll step into a smaller room to discuss Filner’s fate. The settlement is likely to wrap up Allred’s sexual harassment suit and a city lawsuit against Filner to recover any expenses the city could face in this and other legal cases.
City Council members could debate the matter for hours.
If Filner shows up, he’ll lead the meeting, per city rules. Gloria will lead the meeting if Filner doesn’t, Keach said.
Gloria and Councilman Kevin Faulconer, the senior Republican on the City Council, sat in on the mediation process so they may discuss the specifics of the deal at the meeting too.
If the City Council makes a decision, they’ll return to the main council chambers and Goldsmith or another city attorney will take the microphone and communicate the outcome to the public.
Much remains unclear about the process, including how the closed-door vote will be conducted or whether attorneys other than City Attorney Jan Goldsmith will address council members.
At least one councilman hopes he’ll get more information before the Friday meeting.
Councilman David Alvarez tweeted Wednesday night:
[fold-tweet url=”https://twitter.com/AlvarezSD/status/370412643829313536″]
We’ve contacted the city clerk and the city attorney’s office to get more details on the process and will update this post if they respond.
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