When Nathan Ballard announced Monday that he was stepping down from his position as Mistermayor’s chief spokesman, I’ll admit I was a little heartbroken. Ballard will stay on until February as an adviser, but it won’t be the same. Granted, he and I didn’t always see eye to eye, but he was great at his job and on more than one occasion I opened the paper to see one of his hilarious quotes that made my day.
Here are my five favorites:
- On the Board of Supervisors passing up the lowest bidder on a sewage contract: “We’re facing a huge budget deficit and Aaron Peskin is throwing around money like Eliot Spitzer in a brothel.”
- On a proposal to eliminate horse-drawn carriages in The City: “A ban on the horse and buggy? What’s next, a ban on powdered wigs, monocles and dueling?”
- On new Bay to Breakers rules: “Don’t worry, you’ll still be allowed to dress up as Michael Phelps taking a bong hit.”
- On the time Terry Childs locked city computers and would only give the password to Mistermayor: “Working for Gavin Newsom is sometimes like being in the middle of a novel by Tom Clancy. In this chapter, the mayor questions the hacker, who hands over the secret code.” (L.A. Times, July 25, 2008 - problem with the site.)
- On a proposal that The City get into the business of dispensing pot: “The mayor will have to hash this out with public health officials. It’s the mayor’s job to weed out bad legislation. And to be blunt, this sounds pretty bad.”
The "he and I didn’t always see eye to eye" sorta' implies there are some with which you always see eye to eye, yes?
Posted by: kwk | November 19, 2009 at 10:43
No, I just mean that my admiration isn't ideological. I can appreciate humor even if I disagree.
Posted by: Melissa Griffin | November 19, 2009 at 12:36
What's with the redesign and the generic portrayal of Comcast's mistress of mediocrity, Katie Rice Jones?
No more Bulldog love?
Posted by: Ysae McCoppin | November 19, 2009 at 22:19