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Dems Unlikely to Punish Ranks for Supporting a Green

GREEN POWER: Last week’s election of Green Party member Matt Gonzalez as president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors represents a stunning development in local party politics. For one, Gonzalez and his supporters defied the entreaties of San Francisco’s most powerful delegation: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, State Senator pro tem John Burton, future Board of Equalization chair Carole Migden, California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley and Mayor Willie Brown.

In particular, four Democratic supervisors supported a Green. Most notable are Aaron Peskin and Gerardo Sandoval, who both served as members of the S.F. Democratic County Central Committee. The elected 33-member committee represents the S.F. Democratic Party, provides the infrastructure for supporting party candidates and issues its endorsements.

The four Democrats endorsing Gonzalez could act with impunity, because the S.F. Democratic County Central Committee has not cracked down on their chartered organizations. Groups like the Latino Club and the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Democratic Club have also supported Greens like Matt Gonzalez for supervisor and Sarah Lipson for school board.

DONKEY DO OR DONKEY DOO-DOO: So, the Democratic Party faces a Catch-22. By cracking down on Green Party supporters, the Democratic Party risks alienating the progressive wing of their party. That could result in the Latino and Milk clubs breaking off from the party. The clubs would remain “Democrat” in name only and would likely support Greens, Independents, and perhaps Republicans.

But if the Democratic Party does nothing, more prominent Democrats like Peskin and Sandoval would be emboldened to support non-Democrats for office. They could point out that Burton, Pelosi, Migden and Shelley supported Republican James Fang (publisher of AsianWeek) for BART Board re-election last year and that Democratic Assemblyman Leland Yee supported Independent/former Republican Ed Jew for supervisor.

GREEN SCHOOL BOARD: The conundrum extends to school board member Eric Mar. He has tried to balance the politics of ethnicity, party and ideology. Mar is an elected member of the S.F. Democratic County Central Committee. But at the same time, the progressive Mar found himself aligned last year with Green school board colleague, Mark Sanchez.

In the November 2002 election, Mar ended up endorsing five candidates for a three-seat school board race. He recognized the need to have Asian Pacific American representation, in a district where half of the students are of APA descent. So, he supported Eddie Chin’s successful re-election.

But then, although a Democrat, the progressive Mar shared much in common with Greens — going so far as to speak at a Green Party candidate training workshop last year. Hence, he also endorsed teacher Sarah Lipson and attorney Whitney Leigh. But then, Mar supported Democrats: attorney Danny Guillory and pediatrician Dan Kelly. Lipson unseated mayoral appointee Guillory. Kelly won re-election.

Then, Mar and colleague Emilio Cruz are sympathetic to the Green Party platform. Cruz, with the support of Mar, Lipson and Sanchez, was expected to become president of the school board last Tuesday. Ironically, the Democrat Cruz is the son-in-law of State Sen. John Burton and was appointed by Mayor Willie Brown. Cruz, the director of a national Hispanic scholarship fund, served as Brown’s chief of staff and transit director.

PENALIZING DISLOYALTY: Local Democrats once penalized Chinese American activists for endorsing a non-Democrat. For the November 1986 election, the Chinese American Democratic Club (CADC) changed its rules to allow for the endorsement of a non-Democrat after a major floor fight at the Chinatown YMCA. The rule change contradicted the Democrats-only policy of a club formed in 1958 through the California Democratic Council with the help of John Burton’s brother — then Assembly member Phil Burton.

The club rose to become a major power. The club’s leadership included an elected school board member, Ben Tom, and two elected community college trustees, Julie Tang and Alan Wong. That year, they looked to have a Chinese American either appointed or elected to the Board of Supervisors.

Tang decided to run for supervisor after she lost a board appointment to Tom Hsieh, when Mayor Dianne Feinstein appointed him supervisor. After changing its bylaws, the club endorsed Independent Supervisor Quentin Kopp in his race for State Senate. Kopp went on to defeat Democratic Assemblyman Lou “The Enforcer” Papan. The “enforcer” reputation derived from Papan keeping Assembly members in line to support legislation of the Democratic majority.

CADC was roundly condemned for endorsing the conservative Kopp, a supporter of English-only ballots and making English the state’s official language. As CADC endorsed Kopp, the liberal Tang also supporting the conservative Kopp, who reciprocated by endorsing her.

CADC and Tang were roundly condemned for endorsing a non-Democrat. Critical support was pulled from Tang. For example, Claude Everhart, an aide to Democrat Assemblyman Art Agnos, unilaterally pulled her name off most of the Black Leadership Forum mailer of candidate recommendations to be distributed to African American voters. A few mailers printed with Tang’s name were sent to her supporters. In the end, Kopp won, but Tang lost, finishing as a runner-up for supervisor in 1986.

SPAM FOR SAM: Reach Samson Wong at samson@sfindependent.com. His column also appears at www.sfpolitics.com.