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    Bob Filner, Mayor of San Diego Who Left Amid Scandal, Dies at 82

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    A progressive member of Congress for two decades, he resigned as mayor after 18 women accused him of sexual harassment.Bob Filner, a progressive Democrat who served two decades in Congress and then successfully ran for mayor of San Diego, promising to shake up City Hall — but whose career imploded within months amid a storm of sexual harassment charges — died on April 20. He was 82.His family announced the death. The announcement did not give a cause or say where he died, but The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that he died in an assisted living home in Costa Mesa, Calif.Mr. Filner, who was known for his brash and combative style, resigned as mayor under pressure in August 2013, after 18 women accused him of sexual misconduct in his time as mayor and during his years in Congress.The women included a retired Navy rear admiral, a university dean and Mr. Filner’s former communications director, who said that Mr. Filner had told her he wanted to see her naked and asked her to work without underwear.He left office denying any wrongdoing. But two months later, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of false imprisonment and misdemeanor charges of battery involving two other women. He was sentenced to three months’ home confinement and three years’ probation.“I never intended to be a mayor who went out like this,” he said.Mr. Filner, when he was the mayor of San Diego, at a news conference in July 2013 at which he apologized for his conduct toward women. He would resign the next month.Fred Greaves/ReutersWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Barbara Lee Wins Oakland Mayor’s Race in Her Return Home

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      The former congresswoman, a progressive Democrat, campaigned on a promise to unite residents in the beleaguered California city. Her challenger, Loren Taylor, conceded on Saturday.Barbara Lee, a progressive lawmaker known for her lone vote against military force after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, won the mayor’s race in Oakland, Calif., less than four months after she retired from a decades-long congressional career.Oakland, a city of about 436,000 residents across the bay from San Francisco, has struggled to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns, and frustrated voters last year recalled Mayor Sheng Thao after she had served less than two years in office. Ms. Lee, 78, was seen in the city as a trusted and experienced voice who could stabilize Oakland and help guide it out of crisis.Her rival, Loren Taylor, a former member of the City Council who ran as more of a moderate, conceded on Saturday after a dayslong vote-counting process. Mr. Taylor, 47, had gained traction with his detailed plan for improving Oakland, and appealed to voters who said they were increasingly fed up with crime and governance problems in the city.In the latest vote tally, Mr. Taylor trailed Ms. Lee by more than 4,700 votes, a gap that is unlikely to be closed by the remaining ballots. Mr. Taylor has received 45 percent of the vote and Ms. Lee 50 percent.After Mr. Taylor’s concession, Ms. Lee said she would address the most pressing problems in Oakland, working to unite a deeply divided city. “I accept your choice with a deep sense of responsibility, humility and love,” she said in a statement. Mr. Taylor said he hoped that Ms. Lee would fulfill her commitment to bring Oakland together by listening to those who had voted for him.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown Opens His Closet for Charity

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      Mr. Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco, has stood out not just for his politics but also his style. Now, he has opened his closet to raise money for charity.In January 1996, the newly sworn-in mayor of San Francisco noticed something wrong at City Hall. One of his aides was wearing a linen suit in the winter. The mayor, shocked, sent him home to change immediately.The moral of the story: Abide by the fashion calendar. And style matters a great deal to Willie Brown.Mr. Brown, who served as mayor of San Francisco from 1996 to 2004, is one of the sharpest dressed political figures in California.The handkerchief peeks out of his Baldini suit pocket at just the right angle, and is just the right color. And he once raced a Municipal Railway streetcar on Market Street to disprove an article that said pedestrians were faster than the train service — all while wearing a suit, wingtips and a wide-brimmed Panama hat.At the age of 91, Mr. Brown has opened his closet. His green Gucci high-top sneakers? Yours for $105.50. His ivory Kiton cashmere crew-neck sweater? $36. About 50 items Mr. Brown used to wear — shoes, track suits, T-shirts, sweaters, jackets — are being sold at an online auction sponsored by Goodwill, the nonprofit retailer. Once a year, Mr. Brown would get rid of a few old items in his closet and donate them anonymously to Goodwill thrift stores. Goodwill San Francisco Bay decided to create the Willie Brown Collection on eBay and auction his clothes and shoes to the highest bidders. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Florida Mayor Threatens Cinema Over Israeli-Palestinian Film

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      The mayor of Miami Beach wants to end the lease of a group renting a city-owned property because it is screening the Academy Award-winning “No Other Land” there.The mayor of Miami Beach is seeking to oust a nonprofit art house cinema from a city-owned property for showing “No Other Land,” the Oscar-winning documentary that chronicles the Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in Masafer Yatta in the southern West Bank.The mayor, Steven Meiner, introduced a resolution to revoke the lease under which O Cinema rents the space, he announced in a newsletter this week. He described the film as “a false, one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our city and residents.”Kareem Tabsch, the co-founder of O Cinema, said that the threat of losing its physical location in Miami Beach was “very grave and we take it very seriously.”“At the time, we take very seriously our responsibility as a cultural organization that presents works that are engaging and thought provoking and that foster dialogue,” he said. “And we take very seriously our responsibility to do that without interference of government.”The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, which is now co-counsel for the theater, criticized the mayor’s move, as did the makers of the film, which won the Academy Award for best documentary earlier this month but has not been acquired in the United States by a traditional distributor for either a theatrical or streaming release. Distributors in two dozen other countries had picked up the film even before it won the award.Daniel Tilley, the legal director of the Florida branch of the ACLU, said in an interview that “what’s at stake is the government’s ability to use unchecked power to punish those who dare to express views that the government disagrees with.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Elections

      D.C.’s Planned Removal of Black Lives Matter Mural Reflects Mayor’s Delicate Position

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      Mayor Muriel Bowser’s decision comes amid calls by the president and other Republicans for more federal control of the city.On Wednesday morning in downtown Washington, D.C., Keyonna Jones stood on her artwork and remembered the time when she and six other artists were summoned by the mayor’s office to paint a mural in the middle of the night.“BLACK LIVES MATTER,” the mural read in bright yellow letters on a street running two city blocks, blaring the message at the White House sitting just across Lafayette Square. In June 2020, when Ms. Jones helped paint the mural, demonstrations were breaking out in cities nationwide in protest of George Floyd’s murder. The creation of Black Lives Matter Plaza was a statement of defiance from D.C.’s mayor, Muriel E. Bowser, who had clashed with President Trump, then in his first term, over the presence of federal troops in the streets of her city.But on Tuesday evening, the mayor announced the mural was going away.Ms. Jones said the news upset her. But, she added of the mayor in an interview, “I get where she is coming from.”The city of Washington is in an extraordinarily vulnerable place these days. Republicans in Congress have introduced legislation that would end D.C.’s already limited power to govern itself, stripping residents of the ability to elect a mayor and city council. Mr. Trump himself has said that he supports a federal takeover of Washington, insisting to reporters that the federal government would “run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely, flawlessly beautiful.” In recent days, the administration has been considering executive orders in pursuit of his vision for the city.Potential laws and orders aside, the administration has already fired thousands of federal workers, leaving residents throughout the city without livelihoods and, according to the city’s official estimate, potentially costing Washington around $1 billion in lost revenue over the next three years.Given all this, Ms. Bowser, a Democrat, described her decision about Black Lives Matter Plaza as a pragmatic calculation.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Adams to Sue Trump Administration Over Clawback of Migrant Shelter Funds

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      The decision to sue over the $80 million in seized funds comes as the New York City mayor has been accused of supporting the White House’s immigration agenda in exchange for legal leniency.Mayor Eric Adams intends to sue the Trump administration by the end of next week over its clawback of $80 million in federal funding meant to cover the cost of housing migrants in New York City, according to a letter from City Hall.The letter, which was sent to the city comptroller on Friday, said the Law Department was in the process of “drafting litigation papers” in an effort to reverse the administration’s clawback of the funds, which were transferred to New York by the Federal Emergency Management Agency this month.Liz Garcia, a spokeswoman for Mr. Adams, said the suit was expected to be filed by Friday. The mayor’s intention to sue was first reported by Politico on Friday.The decision by Mr. Adams to take a legal stand against the Trump administration on an immigration-related issue comes at a critical moment for the mayor, who this week faced mounting calls to resign after Manhattan’s acting U.S. attorney, Danielle R. Sassoon, accused him of trading concessions on immigration policy for the dismissal of the corruption charges against him.On Monday, the Justice Department’s No. 2 official, Emil Bove III, ordered Manhattan prosecutors to drop the case against Mr. Adams.Mr. Bove said the move had nothing to do with the case’s legal strengths, but rather that its prosecution would impede Mr. Adams’s ability to cooperate with the Trump administration’s immigration policies, a highly unusual justification for dropping criminal charges.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Elections

      Who’s Running for NYC Mayor in 2025?

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      The 2025 New York City mayor’s race is unusually volatile and will have major consequences for the nation’s largest city. As a Democratic incumbent seeking a second term, Mayor Eric Adams would not typically face a serious primary challenge and would be heavily favored in the general election. But this year is different. Mr. Adams […] More

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      San Francisco Mayor-Elect Plans to Declare Fentanyl Emergency on Day 1

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      Daniel Lurie is a man in a hurry.He said in his first speech as San Francisco’s mayor-elect on Friday that he would declare a state of emergency on fentanyl on his first day in office in January.In brief, clipped remarks, he said he intended to shut down the open-air fentanyl markets that had proliferated in the city’s Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods and had infuriated many residents.“We are going to get tough on those that are dealing drugs, and we are going to be compassionate, but tough, about the conditions of our streets, as well,” Mr. Lurie, 47, said at a gathering in Chinatown that lasted just a few minutes.Fentanyl, a cheap opioid, is responsible for most of the 3,300 drug deaths that have occurred in San Francisco since 2020, killing far more people in the city than Covid-19, homicides and car crashes combined.Mr. Lurie, a 47-year-old heir to the Levi Strauss fortune who has never held elected office, appealed to an electorate that was tired of rampant drug use and property crime in the city and was looking for a mayor who could revitalize the struggling downtown area. He was effective in getting his message out to voters, spending $8.6 million of his own money on his campaign and receiving another $1 million from his mother, the billionaire Mimi Haas.Mr. Lurie, a Democrat, addressed reporters the morning after Mayor London Breed, also a Democrat, called him to concede. He did not provide additional details about what his emergency declaration would do.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Eric Adams Is Indicted After Federal Corruption Investigation

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      Eric L. Adams, a retired police captain who was elected as New York City’s 110th mayor nearly three years ago on a promise to rein in crime, has been indicted following a federal corruption investigation, people with knowledge of the matter said.The indictment remained sealed on Wednesday night, and it was unclear what charge or charges Mr. Adams will face. But the federal investigation has focused at least in part on whether Mr. Adams and his campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations.When the indictment is made public, Mr. Adams will become the first New York City mayor to face a federal charge while in office.The indictment promised to reverberate across the nation’s largest city and beyond, plunging Mr. Adams’s embattled administration further into chaos just months before he is set to face challengers in a hotly contested mayoral primary.And, if it contains allegations of conspiring to commit crimes with foreign nationals, it will have landed on the same week that the city was playing host to leaders from across the world at the United Nations General Assembly, including Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.In a statement, Mr. Adams said he had done nothing wrong.“I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became,” he said. “If I am charged, I am innocent, and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More