San Diego Mayor Bob Filner refused calls for his resignation Friday and instead said during a news conference that he planned to enter counseling amid accusations that he sexually harassed various women.
“I must take responsibility for my conduct by taking action so that such conduct does not ever happen again,” Filner said during the brief news conference. “Beginning on August 5th, I will be entering a behavior counseling clinic to undergo two weeks of intensive therapy.”
Filner’s announcement ended abruptly when the microphone at the news conference went out. He resumed the announcement after the technical issues were solved.
Filner went on to say that he would be at the clinic full-time over those two weeks, but intends to be briefed on city activities twice daily.
“My hope is that becoming a better person, I put myself in a position to some day be forgiven,” Filner said. “However, before I even think of asking for forgiveness, I need to demonstrate that my behavior has changed. That will only happen over time and only if such incidents never, ever happen again. So when I return on August 19th, my focus will be on making sure that I am doing right by the city in terms of being the best mayor I can be.”
Filner has faced calls to resign from prominent local and national figures in recent days as more women have come forward to accuse the mayor of sexually harassing them.
Here’s video of Filner’s announcment and his microphone going dead:
This post has been updated.
