Residents urge Councilwoman Marti Emerald to change her tone on Mayor Filner at a July 30, 2013 City Council meeting. Emerald follows with her statement. | Video Courtesy of CityTV
By Megan Burks
After 18 days of radio silence from Marti Emerald’s office, the District 9 councilwoman has broken her silence on the mayor. Emerald read a prepared statement at Tuesday’s City Council meeting admonishing Filner for allegedly harassing women, but stopped short of calling for him to resign.
Emerald said she does not believe it’s her place to be the jury for Filner and refused to join seven of her colleagues on the Council in asking him to resign. Instead, she urged the mayor to consult with God for the strength to “Do what he needs to do to end this horrible situation.”
“Today, I have a simple but serious request. My request is that the mayor take his time out and spend two weeks in thought and therapy, that he reach into his heart and make a connection with the pain and disgrace that he has brought upon so many women,” she said.
In a July 11 press release, Emerald called the mayor courageous for apologizing to the women he says he disrespected and intimidated. She then left town for a symposium at Harvard University and refused to comment further until Tuesday. Constituents had been urging her to revise her statement on social media and at Tuesday’s Council meeting.
District 4 Councilwoman Myrtle Cole has also not asked for a resignation.