Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, who resigned in disgrace amid a sexual assault and harassment scandal, died this month at the age of 82.
Filner served 20 years in Congress before his election to the mayor's office in 2012. At the time he was the first Democrat to win the mayor's race in 24 years.
But shortly into his term he faced allegations of unwanted touching and verbal sexual harassment. He resigned only nine months into his term and later pleaded guilty to felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery charges.
Filner's first public accuser was his own communications director, Irene McCormack.
"He was a detriment to the city of San Diego and to the people who work there," McCormack told KPBS on Monday. "And I learned that community is everything. When you can gather people together to right a wrong, it can work."
McCormack filed a lawsuit against Filner and the city of San Diego, which she later settled for $250,000. All together the city paid out more than $1 million to resolve the multiple claims against Filner.
McCormack said she believed that justice was served and that Filner, who never returned to politics or public life, had been held accountable for his actions.
"If it hadn't been for the lawsuit I filed with my attorney, Gloria Allred, and then all the people that came to support me in what I was doing, it would have just continued for years," McCormack said. "Just three months later, he resigned."
In 2016 city voters passed a ballot measure inspired by the Filner scandal, creating a process to remove elected officials who are convicted of crimes or fail to perform official duties.
Filner's ex-fiance Bronwyn Ingram told KPBS that Filner died April 20 after suffering from a variety of health issues, and that his last residence was an assisted living home in Orange County. Ingram said she believed Filner's behavior was enabled by people around him who lacked the courage to intervene.
"I witnessed firsthand how your judgment gets lost when people are overly praising everything you do," Ingram said. "Ultimately Bob is responsible for his bad behavior."
