The Madness of Mike Aguirre

Michael Aguirre, San Diego City Attorney, has descended beyond demagoguery to the brink of megalomania. His bizarre conduct over the past few weeks, when the city first faced the collapse of city streets in the Mount Soledad neighborhood of La Jolla and now the fires, calls into question not merely his capability but his mental soundness.

In an interview last evening with Kimberly Hunt on KUSI television, Mr. Aguirre alluded to secrets about the fire that he would reveal next week, suggesting some heinous cover up or gross mismanagement. As one of the still evacuated residents of Rancho Bernardo, I resent the City Attorney's politicizing the fires and using it as yet another bully pulpit.

Mr. Aguirre has ceased to be the city's advocate, preferring the role of devil's advocate. He postures as the last angry man and the only honest man in local politics. His relationship with Mayor Jerry Sanders is toxic. He files frivolous lawsuits, relishes battling everyone, has decimated the ranks of the city attorney's office, and has cost our cash-strapped city millions of dollars because of his shenanigans.

Why compromise when you can confront? Why accommodate when you can antagonize?

Mr. Aguirre seeks the microphone and then blurts out such nonsensical drivel that his behavior reminds you of a hyperactive and uncontrollable child.

Consider his suggestion that the entire city of San Diego evacuate in the face of the wildfires. The entire population, every man, woman and child, under Mr. Aguirre's plan, would take to the roads and leave, ostensibly for Arizona. Millions of people in perhaps one million vehicles on the already stressed highways fleeing the city. This plays more like a scene out of a poor Hollywood script; it is not the deliberate thoughts of a rational civic leader. Beyond the logistics, apparently Mr. Aguirre never thought about the aftermath of his suggestion. An abandoned San Diego, a vacuum that would be filled by to looters, criminals and illegal aliens.

And now we must wait a week until he unveils his latest conspiracy theory.

Enough.

As responsible citizens we can no longer merely wait for the next election to send this popinjay packing. Recall Mike Aguirre.