Interim Mayor Todd Gloria and Mayor-elect Kevin Faulconer promised Wednesday to work together to ensure a smooth transition at San Diego's helm following Faulconer's victory in Tuesday's election.
The two said at a news conference that they met for an hour Wednesday afternoon to discuss various issues facing the city and the budget for the next fiscal year. Budget planning is already underway.
"I'm really excited to turn over the reins to Kevin,'' Gloria said. "Over the next three weeks or so, we're going to work collaboratively to make sure this is a very smooth transition, that we don't miss a beat here at City Hall. I'm extremely confident we'll be able to do this successfully.''
Faulconer defeated fellow Councilman David Alvarez by a 54.5 percent to 45.5 percent margin in the mayoral runoff election. He is expected to be inaugurated March 3.
"The fact that Todd and I obviously have a great working relationship and had one in the past — we faced some issues before, certainly, in this city together,'' will make the transition an easy one, Faulconer said.
The two worked together to wring the annual red ink out of the city's budget and helped negotiate the exit of disgraced former Mayor Bob Filner.
They said the meeting wasn't awkward considering that Gloria endorsed Alvarez. Faulconer lauded Gloria for his performance as interim mayor after stepping into "a very difficult situation'' following Filner's resignation Aug. 30.
He added that he was "gratified and humbled'' by the election result, but remarked that it hasn't truly sunk in yet because he was operating on two hours sleep.
For his part, Gloria said he was looking forward to returning to his former role as City Council president and representative of downtown San Diego, Hillcrest and North Park.
