More than 300 supporters joined San Diego City Attorney candidate, Jan Goldsmith, for a Wednesday morning breakfast reception at the Town and Country Hotel. Goldsmith, a Superior Court Judge, bested all comers in the June primary and faces incumbent, Michael Aguirre in the November general election.

Flanked by San Diego Mayor, Jerry Sanders, Police Chief Bill Kolender and District Attorney, Bonnie Dumanis, Goldsmith declared the event his 'campaign blastoff' in what is expected to be a hard fought effort to unseat the bombastic incumbent who has indicated a willingness to spend whatever it takes to keep his job.

Leading off the morning program was Andrew Jones, President of the Deputy City Attorney's Association, who is employed in the San Diego City Attorney's office. Saying the instability caused by Aguirre transcends partisan politics, the self declared life-long Democrat has thrown his support behind Goldsmith, as has the association he represents.

Mayor Jerry Sanders introduced Goldsmith and said change is needed in the City Attorney's office because the absence of sound legal representation and Aguirre's haphazard wading into policy issues is a major impediment to correcting the city's fiscal problems.

Goldsmith promised to bring clear, timely and independent legal advice to the City Attorney's office and took a moment to poke fun at Aguirre's litany of policy miscues. Goldsmith said he had no intention of running Balboa Park's pest control department, (the city attorney demanded a halt to the park's squirrel control efforts so he could conduct an investigation) or becoming the Director of Evacuations, (referring to Aguirre urging a city-wide evacuation during last year's fires) or being the program director of KPBS, (Aguirre initiatied an investigation of the public broadcast channel after it cancelled its interview show on which he frequently appeared).

Goldsmith urged the crowd to stay vigilant as the campaign unfolds, noting that his opponent would not go quietly into the night and that he expects a long, tough, race.