"It seems clear to me the city needs a fresh start," said Murphy.
And with that, Repubican San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy announced his resignation, effective in July, from the office of Mayor. He will stay on until July to complete the Budget.
The Money Quote:"A good leader needs to know when it's time to move on," said Murphy.
Murphy, a 62-year-old Republican, at a press conference said staying in office until July will allow him to complete work on the seventh-largest U.S. city's budget. A special election could be held in November to replace him.
The mayor -- who won a second term in November by 2,108 votes after a court invalidated ballots cast for Democratic Councilwoman Donna Frye, a write-in candidate -- has faced criticism from opponents over a $1.2 billion deficit in the pension fund for city workers. Mistakes and omissions in documents for bonds sold to plug the gap prompted an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and led to credit-rating cuts for the city.
``When I ran for re-election, I had hoped that my second term would be as productive as the first,'' Murphy said in a statement. ``But that now seems unlikely.''
Six current city employees and one former city worker have been subpoenaed by the SEC as part of the investigation, city officials said in December, without releasing any names.
Earlier this month, Time magazine named Murphy as one of the three worst mayors in America. The magazine said Murphy was "discredited" by the city's pension-fund crisis.
San Diego's pension system has a nearly $1.4 billion deficit and is at the heart of investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. attorney and FBI into city finances, possible public corruption and securities fraud.
Too bad Dick could not have realized he sucked before now, and before the election last year. And Mayor Frye could have been fixing his mess.
Sources: [Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aWYPcqAzPqxA&refer=us] and [NBC San Diego http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/4413189/detail.html].