Watching City Hall #294, (6-13-04) “When Gonzalez quit, the result in District 5 … it was like Yugoslavia when the Soviet Union broke up … all the pieces he was holding together flew apart.” Ross Mirkarimi (former Gonzo spokesman and leader in D5 supe race) I laughed when Ross made those comments but the more I think about it, the more accurate it seems. Mirkarimi should know. He was in the former Soviet Union as soon as the Iron Curtain came down to help build democracy. … What an extraordinary group of candidates are running in San Francisco’s District 5. I claimed you had a right to know But, of course I was just being nosey. And, a “bully” as Robert Haaland noted after I’d harassed and bullied him all day yesterday on e-mail for his IRV picks. … Yeah, he was right. I alternated sarcasm with insinuation & threw in just enough fact to keep him answering. Hey, I’ve been a shit-disturber for a long, long time and I can get to most people. I used decades of training to see if I could get him to unravel. I’d heard he rattled under pressure and lost his temper. … Not so. … I got two things from him that I needed. First, Robert can take a punch And, he regroups and responds with logic and humor. … Now, keep in mind that I’m vetting these people to choose 3 I’d most prefer to be my closest elected official. … I don’t want someone who’s gonna start cursing and threatening and running out of the room. After 6 wives and at least that many live-in girlfriends, I can do that by myself. … I don’t want my supe to be unable to absorb and positively respond not only to honest criticism, but to the lies, plots and outright insanities that are business as usual at City Hall. … Yeah, that’s important. … If anyone directly represents you in government, it is your local councilperson or selectperson or supervisor. Whatever you call them, they live in your neighborhood. You’ll see them when you go for groceries or a beer or coffee. They’re the first one you call for help when the bureaucracy stomps you like a ripe grape. Robert remains my 2nd choice He’s an alliance builder. As a long time 790 union organizer, he has more local contacts than a centepede. He’s credited in my bcc world with bridging the gap between the Harvey Milk & Alice B. Toklas clubs. I do like leaders. … I pushed him hard and got my second nugget. Haaland endorses Michael O’Connor! IRV has been a mantra of the progressive movement for years. The voters as a whole like it big time too. Since all of the major candidates in the D5 supe race are progressives, I thought I’d push them now for their ‘Ranked Choice’ (IRV) picks in the race. Since, technically I’m a candidate, I started the process myself a few weeks ago. For a variety of reasons, I chose Mirkarimi, Haaland & Bill Barnes in that order. Today at the Haight Street Fair, a half dozen candidates met the voters … and, they met me and Patrick Murphy of the Sentinel, probably along with any number of other reporters. Here are the candidates IRV choices to date: Ross Mirkarimi says: 1st – himself 2nd – Julian Davis 3rd – undecided Robert Haaland says: 1st – himself 2nd - Michael O’Connor 3rd – undecided Jim Siegel says: 1st – himself 2nd – Ross Mirkarimi 3rd – Lisa Feldstein Tys Sniffen says: 1st – himself 2nd – Michael O’Connor 3rd - Jim Siegel Lisa Feldstein says: “It’s too early. Registration won’t close til August. I haven’t made up my mind.” … When pressed for ANY preferences on candidates, she became abrupt and hostile. … Bad attitude. Guess if I’m gonna come back in August and ask her anything. If she’s that hard to talk to as a candidate, guess how she’d be as an incumbent supervisor. I couldn’t help but contrast her reactions to those of Robert Haaland who weathered the storm and won my respect. Matt Gonzalez says: “On the subject of IRV endorsements in District 5. … When you’re building a party like we Greens are, you’re going to have to step on some toes of friends. … (glancing across the room at Bill Barnes) … And, not just Bill Barnes.” Everyone laughed (including Barnes) but the message was clear. I didn’t get names from him, but there are 6 Greens running and I’m betting he’ll go with Feldstein, Mirkarimi and Susan King (he didn’t tell me this and the order is always subject to change). Feldstein’s representative at the Harvey Milk Club endorsement claimed that Gonzalez invited Lisa to run and that although he’d not endorsed her yet (“You know how Matt is” she said) … they expected him to come out for her. I’d cornered Matt at a Green Party function last night and encouraged him to come out with his choices early so the 3 individual candidates could have the benefit of using his name for a longer period of time. Clearly the Greens are going to have a battle to hold this seat. … Other candidates I interviewed: Susan King says: Bill Barnes says: Diamond Dave Whitaker says: Susan and Bill and Diamond Dave were at the party last night and I asked them about their IRV choices and they all told me something but unfortunately I was too drunk by that time to remember what they said. And, stoned. … Don’t you hate that? What I think I’m told that you can place bets in Vegas now on the supe races in San Francisco and that the odds they use are the ones I published last month when I handicapped the races. … So, you should listen when I speak. Personally, I’ve tried to stir up enough shit to make the race weirder and more competitive. (hey, no need to thank me … like you, I love chaos) … The wild cards in this contest are Ranked Choice and the Candidates Collaborative. Frankly, I hope none of the candidates drop out of the race. I want them all to have to worry about what the other candidates think of them until November. … I want every candidate to develop constituencies of at least a thousand each. I want Haaland and Barnes to attend every meeting of the Candidates Collaborative because they cannot afford not to. (they both missed the last meeting) Adriel Hampton, (the Examiner’s prescient political editor) opined that in the end, the D5 race would be won with a thousand first place votes and a whole hell of a lot of 2nd and 3rd place votes. I agree. The next meeting of the Collaborative will be June 29th at candidate O’Connor’s night club on Divisadero (The Independent). Bring a few bucks to buy your own drinks and you can listen to every candidate and question them. I’ll get back to you with time and the like. What else I think Louise Renne is to San Francisco’s rich what Henry Kissinger was to the Republican party. … That is, a hired gun who can put lipstick and perfume on the worst piles of crap the elite lays upon the citizenry. In this function, she’s conflicted with Ross Mirkarimi before. Renne’s chief client (unofficially) for the past 30 years has been PG&E. As City Attorney, she made certain the City did not invoke the Raker Act which required San Francisco to run their own public power company. … As a little side benefit, the utility gave her lawyer husband’s firm millions of dollars in work. Hey, it’s a great trade. The stories Savannah Blackwell did for the Guardian estimated that the City could make a hundred million a year in profit from a legally mandated Municipal Utility District. So, it did not surprise me to hear that Renne has been working behind the scenes to cut down IRV for the coming election. … Don’t count on IRV anytime soon. … Funny thing, it could just be about nailing Mirkarimi who many believe, forced PG&E to fix the last public power election. … You remember that one? … Yeah, you recall. We went to bed with PG&E’s metaphoric pelt hanging on the wall and awakened to find that huge numbers of absentee ballots had gone missing during the wee hours and when they ‘resurfaced’, Renne’s client had made up a gap of thousands and ‘won’ by 562 votes. … Yeah, then all these ballot box tops from what many think were the actual absentee ballots were found floating all up and down the coast. … Remember that? Bottom line The new supes in Districts 1, 5 and 11 will chosen in a traditional December runoff. Lillian Sing will smoke Jake McGoldrick to win in 1. … Ross Mirkarimi will beat Robert Haaland 55% to 45% in 5. … And, Randy Knox will defeat Myrna Lim 54% to 46% in district 11. (Newsom will double-cross Rebecca Silverberg) … Aaron Peskin (3), Tony Hall (7), Tom Ammiano (9) and Michela Alioto-Pier (2) will all win outright in November. … Place your bets in Vegas and buy me a beer with your winnings. Be good or wear a disguise.