Bulldog 2007 Article 112

(7-21-07)

You all know me by now. Well, you think you do anyway. For instance, you probably think that any juicy tidbit that comes my way which casts Gavin Newsom in a bad light … I’d print it, right?

This was even too much for me. I’m getting credible information that Ruby Tourk is shopping a book and that it is full of things that confirm all of the most incredible things you’ve heard and suspected about the Mayor.

I refuse to give details. They’ll certainly come out sooner or later. Team Newsom is not exactly tight-lipped. As far as I can determine, none of Gavin’s personal habits (well, most anyway) are illegal (Jens says the only illegal he recognizes is a sick bird) … nothing illegal, but not very regal either. Bottom line is that if this race comes down to me versus Gavin, if this shit is true, I could come out as being the conservative and circumspect candidate. Now there’s a big laugh.

I have enough signatures to enter the Mayor’s race. I want to gather another dozen or so this weekend and double-check everything before finally filing on Monday or Tuesday, but I’m pretty much set. You can’t be too careful when you’re putting the earnings of a lifetime on the line for one toss of the dice.

Eric Jaye wants to see me in the race. Sean Elsbernd does. Ross Mirkarimi does. Mark Sanchez does. Notice that all but Jaye are officials elected in their own right. It’s only high-profile wonks avoiding having their names associated with mine.

Marc Salomon refused to sign my petition. Chris Daly promised to, then reneged to “wait for Gonzalez� (Custer, I believe, said the same thing at Little Big Horn). Sue Vaughan wouldn’t sign. Other Greens too. All ‘friends’? Frankly, I was amazed and embarrassed at the lack of support for a run. It looks like that, except for the thousand friends I made in San Francisco before I ever met a Green, I’m all alone. It reinforces the old Harry Truman cliché’: “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.�. Political allies are never automatically personal friends. Hell, even your lovers are not necessarily your friends in this game. Just read Ruby Tourk’s new book.

Jimmy Dorenkott was friendly when I ran into him getting on the elevator at City Hall. Michael Petrellis said he’d rather have a hot poker run up his ass than sign my petition (this is news?). Loren Basham was proud to put down his John Hancock. Rick Hauptman jumped onboard.

Rumor is that Chicken John Rinaldi has 3,000 ‘in lieu’ signatures and that Team Newsom is committing election fraud with their drive by having unregistered petitioners collect inks, then pass them to registered staffers who take credit for hundreds of signatures they did not, in fact, personally collect.

No, I’m not into any of those. But, what other people do in their off-hours leisure time is certainly their own business. I am dedicated to making certain that this election does not devolve into personal issues. That’s just the kind of guy I am.

I had a hell of a day yesterday. I’ve been walking 6 or 7 miles a day to try and burn off some of my caloric overindulgence and it hurts like hell. I staggered in from my 9th workout and on into Salon where Hope Johnson and Tina Johnson and Jerry Jarvis and Janet Tandy and the whole crew met School Board prez, Mark Sanchez.

I pushed the assassinated ‘Urban Pioneers’ charter school killed by Newsom and Heather Hiles and a vastly expanded mentorshp program for At-risk kids. It’s clear that the mentorship endeavor is fraught with political dangers and will have to be administered by Juvenile Justice instead of the District.

Luke and Elaine. Hope and Doug. Jerry Jarvis and Tony De Renzo. Marc and Dan and Simon from South Africa. Me. Jens. Others. Hey, everyone brought their own beer and we settled in by 8pm but it is only an SRO room and management was there at one minute past nine to lt us know that we all had to leave. Pretty much the only room in the building not occupied by junkies or crack whores and it’s the one they choose to harass.

It’s funny, really. Jens has been through 6 managers in the last 5 years and they’ve seen 2 Board presidents, any number of supervisors and a bevy of political notables file into his room.

One manager knocked on the door when Matt Gonzalez came with a couple of his law partners and Tony Hall joined them soon thereafter. The manager couldn’t believe his eyes. Thought Jens had an alternative Universe going there I guess (just music and booze). Manager knocks on door and has mail for Jens.

The guy’s eyes grew wide as he looked at the celebrities sitting around the room listening to Black Oak Arkansas. He handed Jens the piece of mail that was his excuse to knock on the door. Later, when we looked that the letter, it was an advertisement addressed to some guy a couple of miles away on South Van Ness.

To the point, anyone know a bar near City Hall that wants some serious wonk business, let me know. It’s only gonna get worse as the elections season settles down amidst the falling leaves.

Enuff for now.