One of the most important elements of leadership during crisis is being able to put your differences aside and surround yourself with the most qualified people people for the job, regardless of partisanship. We have seen this recently with President-elect Barack Obama. 

Not only has Obama tapped two former opponents to serve in the top two positions in his cabinet during this time of crisis in our country, he has asked the Secretary of Defense under Republican President Bush, Robert Gates, to stay on and see us through the tough times ahead in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

San Diego faces its own crisis in the form of a massive budget shortfall, and it is only getting worse. We need to put our partisanship aside and address the tough issues ahead of us so that our city does not continue to crumble on its path to certain bankruptcy. It is just too bad Councilman Hueso does not have a government reform expert at his disposal to chair the Budget Committee and help guide us towards workable solutions to help avert our impending disaster. 

Oh wait, he does. 

Councilman DeMaio has spent 15 years balancing budgets for governments of all sizes. He has helped balance the budgets of literally thousands of towns, cities and counties across the country. And he never let partisanship get in the way of who he worked with to balance those budgets.

Oh, and by the way, he just so happens to know our city inside and out. If there are 5 people who know this city better please introduce me, because I haven't met them. 

So did Council President Hueso tap one of the leading experts in budget reform to chair the Budget Committee? No. Ben Hueso does not follow the same leadership model as President-elect Obama. Instead, he obeyed orders from labor boss Lorena Gonzalez to appoint someone on their side of the aisle to control the committee. 

When I heard that Councilman Tony Young was going to chair the committee, I decided to ask Councilman DeMaio why he had not been chosen. He told me, very politely, that he "is ready to serve the city in any way possible." He had no comment beyond that. 

I find it hard to imagine that DeMaio's willingness to serve and experience working with Republicans and Democrats alike to reform budgets was lost on Hueso. This pick came down to partisanship and influence from labor unions, and every San Diegan is worse off for it. 

Unfortunately for San Diego, Councilman Hueso is no Barack Obama.