Constant Readers,
I arrived in Sacramento from Alabama just in time to see the vote on Region 4 Director. As you may or may not know, Supervisor Chris Daly was running for the position against incumbent August Longo.
Daly lost, but we'll get to that in a minute.
I walked into the convention center where the State Democratic Party Convention was taking place and...what a mess. I don't recall it being this packed with slow-moving dorks last year. There are booths everywhere promoting candidates and causes - "Alternatives to Violence", "Go organic" and "Have a taco break for Hector De La Torre" - complete with free tacos, which made me strangely uncomfortable.
I got my press credentials and was looking for the room where Region 4 elections were taking place when I heard "GRIFFIN!" It was Brian Leubitz and he was very agitated. Waving his arms, he shouted: "I've been disenfranchised! This is bullshit!"
Wait, what in hell is going on?
Apparently, there were some folks who were late to the meeting by a few minutes and weren't going to get to vote. Oh boy, people were PISSED! Yelling the hallway went on until they found a nerd who knows meeting rules and there was a vote to give voters five more minutes to get their ballots.
Crisis averted by parliamentary procedure. Phew!
As I looked around, it was packed with marvelous folks like Greg Dewar, Luke Thomas, and Paul Hogarth. Politicians (there to vote) included Supervisors David Campos, David Chiu, Carmen Chu, Sean Elsbernd, State Senator Mark Leno, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, and former Supervisors Jake McGoldrick and Aaron Peskin.
"How do you plan to vote?," I asked Supervisor Elsbernd.
"I don't know yet. I have to hear the speeches," he said, smiling.
Hehe. Riiiiight.
Daly spoke first and emphasized his years of community service on "the streets of San Francisco." That's a quote, y'all.
Next Mark Leno spoke for August Longo. At this point, my applause-o-meter was giving this race to Longo, but you never know.
Leno said that the Director has to be able to take direction from the State Democratic Party regardless of personal views. A not-so-subtle jab at Daly's perceived passions.
The vote was 77-28 in favor of Longo.
And I ventured back out to the main hall to see if I could get one of those tacos.
--Melissa
Alright, you're post answered one question ("Who won?") but it didn't answer the important question, "How were the tacos?" (One assumes vegetarian tacos were available, what with it being a Democratic Party Convention and all.)
Posted by: kwk | April 25, 2009 at 16:22
I'm still dying to know what Longo's felony conviction was for.
Posted by: generic | April 25, 2009 at 23:21
@generic - The Snitch did a piece about Longo's criminal history - according to a letter they received, Longo's issues were related to "evading justice for identity theft, bad check writing and worse." http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/04/daly_says_he_wants_to_stay_pos.php
@kwk - no tacos left, I'm afraid.
Posted by: Melissa Griffin | April 26, 2009 at 11:47
Identity theft?
Didn't see that one coming.
Posted by: generic | April 26, 2009 at 12:22
Ouch! Must suck for member of the Board of Supervisors to get only about a quarter of the votes for a job with very few responsibilities. This does not bode well for Daly's chances in the upcoming and highly contentious race for Dog Catcher?
Posted by: be_devine | April 26, 2009 at 18:23
We saw that taco party in full swing and it looked lame. So Devine, Fadeff and I had lunch by the pool at the Hyatt where Sophie Maxwell sat inside on such a gorgeous day...
Posted by: Beth Spotswood | April 26, 2009 at 18:35