( CNN ) -- The mayor of San Diego 's goodbye concludes Friday at 5 p.m. , when his resignation -- submitted last week after a string of women accused him of sexual impropriety and boorish behavior -- becomes effective . A spokeswoman for Bob Filner did not immediately return a call , and the city website -- still showing his photograph -- did not outline what he planned to do on his final day at the helm of the country 's eighth-largest city , which has 1.38 million residents . But attorney Gloria Allred , who represents several of his 19 accusers , held a news conference with `` some of his victims . '' `` San Diegans will finally be free of Bob Filner and all the shame that he has brought to the city , '' Allred told reporters . `` This is a day for celebration and a day for congratulation . '' The former nine-term Democratic congressman began what was to have been a four-year term last December , but resigned last week as the accusations grew . An apology and promise to seek help , delivered on July 11 , failed to save his job . `` I have diminished the office to which you elected me , '' he said in a prepared statement . `` I have reached into my heart and soul and realized I must and will change my behavior . As someone who has spent a lifetime fighting for equality for all people , I am embarrassed to admit that I have failed to fully respect the women who work for me and with me , and that at times I have intimidated them . '' He added , `` I am also humbled to admit that I need help . I have begun to work with professionals to make changes in my behavior and approach . '' Opinion : No room for lecherous mayors . But the City Council accepted his resignation on August 23 in a 7-0 vote , after which the 70-year-old mayor offered a `` deep apology . '' `` The city should not have been put through this , '' he said . `` And my own personal failures were responsible . '' Still , he insisted , he had `` never sexually harassed anyone . '' While he was `` trying to establish personal relationships , '' the mayor said , `` the combination of awkwardness and hubris , I think , led to behavior that many found offensive . '' He added : `` Not one allegation ... has ever been independently verified or proven in court . '' `` But the hysteria that has been created ... is the hysteria of a lynch mob , '' Filner said . Politicians and the news media had `` unleashed a monster , '' and the resulting `` hysteria ended up playing into the hands of those who wanted a political coup -- the removal of a democratically elected mayor purely by rumor and innuendo . '' City Council President Todd Gloria , a fellow Democrat who had called on Filner to resign , is to serve as interim mayor , and a special election is scheduled for November 19 . `` Obviously , the biggest deal is just to clean up City Hall , '' said Katie Keach , the incoming interim mayor 's deputy chief of staff . He will also review all of the city 's departments `` to find out what 's working and what 's not and what might have been hidden over the last nine months , '' she said . Gloria will work to `` restore some of the trust of San Diegans . '' The city website , which displayed a smiling picture of Filner , `` will be switched around five today , '' she said . `` I know that IT is on it . '' The agreement does not affect a lawsuit brought against Filner by Irene McCormack Jackson , Filner 's former communications chief . Though she remains a municipal employee , Jackson left her job in July , when she sued the mayor , saying he had subjected women to `` crude and disgusting '' comments and inappropriate touching . She has been offered her old job back , Keach said . The city 's liability does not end with his departure . And Filner himself is hardly out of the woods . He faces one lawsuit , and a spokesman for the state attorney general said a criminal investigation is under way . Numerous public officials , including all nine City Council members and the state 's two U.S. senators , had urged Filner to step down . So , too , did most locals , according to polls . Some of them voiced that view to City Council members last week . Others rose to support Filner . Scott Andrews said that `` everything but due process has occurred , '' while one woman called the political machinations `` a circus to get a good man out of office . '' CNN 's Greg Botelho contributed to this report .
Bob ##o 's suspension becomes effective at 5 p.m. ( 5 p . ET ) In all , 19 women have accused Filner of impropriety . Filner apologized but said he ` ` never sexually harassed anyone ''