San Diego mayoral debate abruptly canceled...due to pension truth?

There was to have been a debate tonight, October 24, among three mayoral candidates. It was to be sponsored by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Business Leadership Alliance. The U-T San Diego was to be a cosponsor, and the debate would have been televised on U-T TV. The debate was abruptly canceled this afternoon.

The explanation in the U-T is that candidates Michael Aguirre, David Alvarez, and Kevin Faulconer were to be there, but Nathan Fletcher would not. Then, it was claimed that Alvarez, because of a previous commitent, would have missed half the debate; Alvarez blamed a "miscommunication."

There is a chance that this is the reason, but another possibility looms larger.

Yesterday, Aguirre showed that pension spending, which is growing every year, is higher than spending on fire protection. In fact, as the accompanying charts show, pension spending tops spending on fire protection, and almost tops spending on fire protection and roads combined.

The San Diego regional Chamber of Commerce is headed by former mayor Jerry Sanders, who has been claiming in an ad that he cut pension obligations by $1 billion and that money is available for infrastructure. Aguirre says that is a lie.

You can make up your own mind on why this debate was canceled.