Donna Frye | |
---|---|
Member of the San Diego City Council from the 6th district | |
In office June 2001 –December 6, 2010 | |
Preceded by | Valerie Stallings |
Succeeded by | Lorie Zapf |
Personal details | |
Born | Pennsylvania,U.S. | January 20,1952
Political party | Democratic [1] |
Spouse | Skip Frye |
Residence | Clairemont,San Diego,California |
Alma mater | National University [2] |
Profession | Businessperson |
Donna Frye (born January 20,1952) is an American politician who served as a member of the San Diego City Council from 2001 to 2010,representing District 6. A member of the Democratic Party,she was twice an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of San Diego and was among the first to call on then-San Diego Mayor Bob Filner to resign over accusations of sexual harassment and assault.
Frye was born in 1952 in Pennsylvania,the second of three children. Her family moved to San Diego when her father took a civilian job with the Navy.
After a failed first marriage in late 1979,Frye had problems with alcohol abuse. That changed within months of meeting her current husband Skip Frye at a Mexican restaurant in December 1980,and Frye stopped drinking in early 1981. In 1988,they opened a custom-made surfboard shop in Pacific Beach and they married in 1990.[ citation needed ]
Frye first became concerned with coastal water pollution problems when her husband repeatedly became sick after surfing. She soon became an environmental and community leader. In 2001 she was elected to the San Diego City Council in a special election. [3] She was later elected to full term on the council in the regular 2002 city council elections.
Frye ran for mayor of San Diego in the November 2004 run-off election between Dick Murphy and Ron Roberts as a write-in candidate,without having run in the primary. A plurality of voters wrote in her name,but a controversy arose when she lost the election because a number of voters did not fill in the bubble next to her written name or misspelled her name (usually spelling her last name "Fry"). If those votes had counted,Frye would have had more votes than either of the moderate Republican candidates officially in the runoff,but still far below a majority vote. [4] Whether Frye would have been allowed to serve as mayor in any case is uncertain,as her write-in candidacy was at odds with the San Diego City Charter. [5]
Dick Murphy was re-elected as mayor after a series of legal challenges to the election results,but resigned on July 15,2005,as the city's fiscal crisis and legal woes with regulatory and law enforcement agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Bureau of Investigation worsened and became a matter of increasing public awareness.
Frye ran for mayor in the special election that took place on July 26,2005,with a platform advocating open and honest government and restoring order to the city's financial situation,points found in nearly all of the candidates' platforms. Frye was endorsed by Mike Aguirre,the city attorney who has confronted the city council over releasing documents.
Frye placed ahead of ten opponents,including former police chief and runner-up Jerry Sanders (27%),by receiving 43% of the vote. However,a majority was needed to win outright,and so a run-off election was held between Frye and Sanders on November 8,2005. Frye was defeated in this election,receiving 46.1% of the vote to Sanders' 53.9%. She did,however,win reelection to her council seat in the 2006 city council elections,retiring in 2010 due to term limits.
In December 2012,Frye joined the administration of San Diego Mayor Bob Filner in a new position he created called Director of Open Government. She resigned in April 2013 to become president of Californians Aware,a nonprofit that advocates for open government statewide. [6]
In July 2013 she and two other former supporters of Filner publicly called on Filner to resign as mayor,alleging that he had sexually harassed numerous unnamed women by forcibly kissing them,fondling them and making sexually suggestive remarks. Though refusing at first to step down,Filner eventually resigned in August 2013. In October of that year,he pleaded guilty to state charges of false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery.
Frye was nominated and inducted into the San Diego County's Women's Hall of Fame in 2011 for the 'Spirit 2011' title. The Hall of Fame's aim is to "acknowledge and honor women who have significantly contributed to the quality of life and who have made outstanding volunteer contributions in San Diego County." The annual Women's Hall of Fame induction is co-hosted by Women's Museum of California (Located in San Diego),Commission on the Status of Women,UC San Diego Women's Center,and San Diego State Women's Studies. [7]
Robert Earl Filner is an American former politician who was the 35th mayor of San Diego from December 2012 through August 2013,when he resigned amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment. He later pleaded guilty to state charges of false imprisonment and battery. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Richard M. Murphy is an American politician who served as the 33rd mayor of San Diego from 2000 to 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Jim Bates is an American former politician who served as a Democratic elected official from San Diego,California. He served four terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1991. He was the first congressman to be disciplined for sexual harassment.
The mayor of the City of San Diego is the official head and chief executive officer of the U.S. city of San Diego,California. The mayor has the duty to enforce and execute the laws enacted by the San Diego City Council,the legislative branch. The mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two successive terms.
Juan Carlos Vargas is an American businessman and politician who has been a U.S. representative for California since 2013. His district includes the southernmost portions of San Diego County.
Jules Michael Aguirre,more commonly known as Michael Jules Aguirre,is a politician who was the San Diego City Attorney from 2004 to 2008.
Nathan Blaine Fletcher is an American politician who most recently served on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for the 4th District since 2019,serving as chair from 2021 to 2023. On March 26,2023,he announced he would seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism. On March 29,2023,news broke of a lawsuit by an employee of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System alleging that Fletcher had sexually assaulted her and that she was then fired after resisting his advances,and that evening,he announced his resignation from the board of supervisors,effective at the end of his medical leave.
Mary Casillas Salas is an American politician who served as the 40th mayor of Chula Vista,California from 2014 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party,she previously served as a member of the Chula Vista City Council from 2012 to 2014 and as a member of the California State Assembly from 2006 to 2010,representing the 79th Assembly District. She was an unsuccessful candidate for California's 40th senatorial district in 2010,losing narrowly to fellow Democrat Juan Vargas.
Sherri Ann Lightner is an American politician,businesswoman,engineer,and community activist who served as a member of the San Diego City Council for District 1,from November 2008 to 2017. She is a Democrat,although council positions are officially nonpartisan.
Todd Rex Gloria is an American politician serving as the 37th mayor of San Diego since 2020. As mayor,he is the chief executive officer of the city of San Diego. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Carl David DeMaio is an American politician from San Diego,California. DeMaio hosts a radio show on NewsRadio 600 KOGO. He also founded and served as Chairman of Reform California,a conservative political action committee.
The San Diego City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of San Diego,California. The city council was first established in San Diego in 1850. The council is part of a strong mayor system with a separately elected mayor who acts as the executive of the city. There are currently nine members of the council. City council members serve a four-year term and are limited to two successive terms.
Kevin Lee Faulconer is an American politician who served as the 36th mayor of San Diego,from 2014 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party,Faulconer served as the member of the San Diego City Council for the 2nd district from 2006 to 2014.
The 2012 San Diego mayoral election was held on Tuesday,November 6,2012,to elect the mayor of San Diego. Incumbent mayor Jerry Sanders was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election.
The 2005 San Diego mayoral special election was a special election held on Tuesday,November 8,2005,to elect the mayor for San Diego. The special election was necessary due to the resignation of former Mayor Dick Murphy.
The 2004 San Diego mayoral election was held on Tuesday,November 2,2004 to elect the mayor of San Diego. Incumbent mayor Dick Murphy stood for reelection for a second term.
Municipal elections were held in San Diego in 2012 for mayor,city attorney,five seats to the San Diego City Council,and propositions. The primary election was held on June 5,2012,and the general election was held on November 6,2012. This was the first city council election to use nine council districts. Two city council incumbents ran for reelection in their same district and one ran for election in the newly created ninth district.
The 2013–2014 San Diego mayoral special election was a special election to elect the mayor of San Diego. The election was made necessary by the resignation of Bob Filner on August 30,2013. The winner stood to serve out the balance of Filner's term,which ended in 2016.
The 2020 San Diego mayoral election was held on November 3,2020,to elect the mayor of San Diego. Incumbent Kevin Faulconer was ineligible to run for a third term due to term limits.
Monica Montgomery Steppe is an American politician in San Diego,California. She currently serves as a member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors representing District 4 after winning a special election to succeed Nathan Fletcher. Previously,she served on the San Diego City Council representing Council District 4. She is a Democrat,although county board positions are officially nonpartisan per California state law. She serves on the board of the California Reparations Task Force.