San Diego’s Judge Mayor: How Murphy’s Law Blindsided Leadership with 2020 Vision
Sunbelt Publications, Inc., 2011

Excerpt: “I had the honor of being elected the 33rd mayor of San Diego— and the first San Diego mayor of the 21st century. It was a good time to take the helm at the city. At the start of a new millennium, the mood was ebullient, and I believed that this public hopefulness would help support the development of important civic projects …

This book is about that journey—how events earlier in my life had helped me run for mayor, how we pulled off a surprise upset victory in the San Diego mayoral election of 2000, how we went about implementing my vision for San Diego in the year 2020, and how my leadership with 2020 vision was eventually blindsided by Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

Praise: “Dick Murphy left office too early to carry out many visionary ideas that he outlines in his memoirs. But as San Diego looks forward to resuming its path to greatness, following a decade of missteps, reform, and hoped-for return to economic prosperity, it is time to dust off that old agenda and think big once again. Here’s a good starting point for the next mayor and the public to consider, as well.” – Roger Showley, San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer for growth and development and author of San Diego: Perfecting Paradise