San Diego Republican accused of openly masturbating in men's restroom

A possible Republican candidate for ex-San Diego Mayor Bob Filner's office must first explain why multiple people report seeing him masturbating at urinals in the City Council's men's room. According to the San Diego Reader, Republican Carl DeMaio was accused of the lascivious acts in 2009 and never answered the charges, but rather had the matter hushed up.

DeMaio was running to represent northern San Diego -- California's 52nd District -- in Congress but announced Friday after Filner's resignation that he would consider running for mayor.

"San Diego has been given a fresh start," he said in a statement. "Now is the time to put aside partisan differences to seek healing, foster unity and restore stability at City Hall."

The statement made no mention of the allegations of public masturbation, which were published in Thursday evening's Reader after surfacing on the VoiceofOC.org, a non-profit news organization based in Orange County, CA.

Rex Dalton of VoiceofOC.org wrote, "[T]here never has been a public accounting of how during 2009 DeMaio allegedly would leave the San Diego City Council dais during meetings to masturbate in a men's room -- events known by elected officials and suspected by members of the media."

"In the months before last November’s mayoral election, Ben Hueso, the City Council’s president in 2009, acknowledged to this reporter that he witnessed DeMaio engaging in the practice twice. Hueso, now a Democratic state senator, and others suspected DeMaio’s alleged inappropriate activity was more frequent," Dalton continued. "Describing the scene that spring when he walked in on DeMaio, who was in front of a urinal with his pants down, Hueso said: 'DeMaio was masturbating. He jumped, caught by surprise. He jumped to the sink … saying "I’m sorry, I’m sorry" about six times. Then washed his hands, darted out.'”

A spokesperson for DeMaio called the report "absurd and ludicrous," although, according to other city employees, DeMaio's habit of self-gratifying in public was common knowledge.

When asked who on the City Council knew of the incidents, City Councilwoman Marti Emerald told Dalton, "Everyone."

It was Emerald who first encountered Hueso in the hall that afternoon in 2009. "Ben was in a state of shock, face red, eyes bulging," she recounted. "“I said: ‘You look like you just saw the devil?’ He said: ‘DeMaio is masturbating in the middle of the room.’ ”

UPDATE 8/28/2013: DeMaio has denied the allegations in a sit-down interview with NBC San Diego.

[image of Carl DeMaio via DeMaio for Congress, official website]