Campaign 2000 Letters

Along with a dozen others, I ran for 5th District Supervisor in 2000 and tried---with little success---to get people interested in the homeless issue, among other things. It’s still rather shocking to me that progressives weren’t more interested in what is, after all, a life and death issue, even allowing for the fact that maybe I wasn’t the best possible messenger. In retrospect, I pinned too much of the blame on the Democratic Party, as the indifference was also typical of independent and Green Party “progressives.”

Rob Makes His Move in 2000
Subject: Thinking About Running in District 5
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000
From: Rob Anderson
To: clemens@pobox.com
Mr. Clemens:
I'm seriously thinking about running for supervisor in District 5 in November. Jim Reid just tipped me off to your site. Very interesting. The most important issue in the campaign should be homelessness in the city, since 169 homeless people died on our streets last year. This is an emergency, and the Brown administration doesn't even seem to know how many homeless people there are in the city. My candidacy will focus on this issue, though I'll have other things to talk about, too, like diesel fueled Muni buses. Muni tells me they use 6 million gallons of diesel a year. We need to phase this stuff out as soon as possible. Anyhow, interesting site, interesting election. Should be a lot of fun.

Ammiano Chooses Matt
Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2000
From: Rob Anderson
To: Jim Reid
Jim:
I presume you saw "Dog Bites" in this week's SF Weekly. So Ammiano has anointed Matt Gonzales as the next Fifth District Supervisor! What do you know about Gonzalez? I recall his running to the left of Terry Hallinan, who confided to Frontlines that he was a dialectical materialist, whatever that means. Like Ammiano, Gonzalez fancies himself as a leftist, but the thing about local politics, as you know, is that issues and problems don't necessarily arrange themselves in neat little ideological packages. I think the thing that annoys me most about Ammiano is his arrogance---which is mixed, oddly, with political timidity, as per his politically wimpy runoff campaign against Brown. We can make things interesting behind the lines against these guys. The impression I got of Gonzalez from what I read about him is, Young Turk. A lot of political testosterone, which means you can't flank him on the left! I of course won't try. But I will insist on making homelessness the most important issue of the campaign. Make them talk about it and where they've been on the issue for the last four years.

Rob Woos the Greens---in Vain
Subject: The Fifth District
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000
From: rmander@postoffice.pacbell.net
To: "bblong@igc.org
"Betty Traynor (E-mail)" <arisinc@netcom.com>,
"lucy j colvin (E-mail)",
"Nmarmol@aol. com (E-mail)"
CC: Joe Hoffman
Comrades:
If I had figured on Joe Hoffman forwarding my note, I would have included a little more info about myself to shore up the idea that I'm a plausible candidate from the Fifth District.
* I go back a long way in S.F. and the Fifth District: I first lived in what is now the Fifth District in 1962.
* I have leftist and green political credentials: I was a draft resister in the sixties and spent some time in prison for my political stand against US foreign policy. My green credentials involve mostly my writing for the Anderson Valley Advertiser on environmental issues, like Masonite in the Ukiah Valley and Cold Creek Compost in Potter Valley.
* The issues: I think the most important issue facing city voters is homelessness. Mayor Brown's policy, such as it is, is a complete failure. And the left has, unfortunately, let him get away with it. Since 169 homeless people died on our streets last year, it's time for some new policy proposals. I sent a copy of my proposals to the Green Party headquarters on Mission St. If you didn't see it and would like me to send some more, let me know.
* Other issues: I ride the Muni every day and don't own a car. Hence, I'm particularly interested in Muni-related issues. One Muni issue that's seldom mentioned: the Muni now uses 6 million gallons of diesel fuel a year. We need to phase it out and to get energy-efficient buses as soon as possible. When I asked Burns about his at a NOPNA meeting, he mumbled something about a small pilot project. That's not good enough, and we need to hold his feet to the fire on the issue. The bike people should be our allies on this. Housing: we need to support rent control, of course. And what comes out of the recently authorized housing study will need to be looked at carefully.
* The issue of the Green Party itself: Since the Democratic Party is essentially running the city---and is thus responsible for the city's disastrous homeless policy---we should try to sell the districts on the need for another party, a party that represents the neighborhoods and the neighborhood environment.
* I like to think I have the skills to make a plausible candidate: I'm a poised public speaker and can think on my feet. I'm a bit of a document dweeb and like to do all my own homework on issues. The big danger for the Green Party, it seems to me, is to allow Tom Ammiano to select the next board. I'm not saying that Ammiano is a bad guy, but politically he's in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. He supported Bill Bradley! He only looks good to a lot of people because he's one of the few liberals on the board. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king. He waged a pathetic campaign against Brown in the runoff. Can anyone remember a single issue he emphasized? Except suggesting that Brown is criminally corrupt, which I think is untrue. He's been completely absent on the homeless issue. Where's the left's program? In Seattle they've passed bond measures to finance programs for the underclass. We should propose the same for S.F.
* The above doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy to work with Ammiano on
a wide range of issues---the living wage is one that springs to mind---but we should avoid ceding the city's leadership to the liberal wing of the Demo Party. We should engage them on a policy level in a comradely manner and, of course, avoid any nastiness or personal stuff.
* I would like to talk to you folks and, of course, if I decide to run, would appreciate your support. On the other hand, your support is not absolutely essential if I do decide to run, since I'm convinced that we need to do something about homelessness, which I see as an ongoing emergency on the streets of the city. If I run, I'll cover the district on foot with door-hangers on homelessness and other issues. And I would hope to raise enough money to do some display ads in neighborhood papers.

Rob Stakes Out His Issues in 2000
Subject: 5th District Race
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000
From: Rob Anderson
To: Jonathan Curiel <curielj@sfgate.com>
Jonathan:
I don't have any literature ready yet but expect to soon. My campaign is based on two issues---homelessness and building a third party opposition in the city. As someone who has lived off and on in the city since 1961, I find it shocking that it's apparently acceptable to the city's political elite that 169 homeless people died on our streets last year. I hope to convince the voters of the 5th District that this is completely unacceptable. We need new policy initiatives on homelessness: a thoroughgoing census of the homeless, and a major outreach with services to help people get and stay off the streets. This will cost more money, but, since the city is running $100 million in annual budget surpluses, the money is there. The first thing we need to do is stiffen the political will to do something significant on the problem. The second issue: we definitely need a left opposition party in the city to challenge the complacent ruling Democratic Party. As a Green Party member, I think my party is in a good position to become that party. The Mexican people finally overthrew the PRI; why can't the people of San Francisco do the same to the Democrats? A vote for me is a vote for a new policy on homelessness and a serious third party movement in the city.

Subject: Most Important Issues
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000
From: Rob Anderson
To: Betty Culp
Betty:
This is a belated reply to your August 7 letter. I'm running for 5th District Supervisor. There are two issues that I think are important: homelessness and forming a serious left political opposition in the city. Since 169 homeless people died on the city's streets last year, I think we have an emergency on our hands. Soaring rents and increasing gentrification can only exacerbate the problem. We need a comprehensive census of the homeless to determine the dimensions of our problem. Once that's done, we need to appropriate the money to deal with the problem, possibly with a bond measure on the ballot. Secondly, we lack an organized left opposition in what is supposedly one of the most progressive cities in the country. I propose that we match Ralph Nader's national effort by uniting behind the Green Party as the opposition party in San Francisco. Hence, the Green Party would be the party of the neighborhoods, rent control, and all-out opposition to gentrification in general. For too long the Democratic Party has dominated city politics: all of the present supervisors and the mayor are Democrats. If the people of Mexico can overthrow the PRI through the ballot box, why can't we do the same to the Democrats? I'm also concerned about the use of diesel fuel in Muni buses; we need to phase it out as soon as possible, since cleaner technology is now available.
I'm a former 1960s radical who spent time in prison as a draft resister. The political front line is clearly now in local politics. Both the old and the new left need to engage on local issues, using much underused institutions that are available to us.

Candidate Demian Barrett wrote:
Mr. Anderson,
Regarding my party affiliation I have resigned from the Green Party and I have re-registered as an Independent. As to taking politics out the housing issue, I believe in housing for all. But part of the problem is the "red herring" of evil landlords and unfortunate tenants. I will as Supervisor immediately seek to look at rezoning commercial and industrial land to build new affordable housing. I will also seek to find a way to get landlords to release the 20k units that are off the market. These are only of few of the steps that need to be taken to resolve this issue. We must harness all this energy that is coming into the city and make it work for everybody. As to your assertion of[my] being out of touch. Unfortunately, Mr. Anderson it seems that you are out of touch since you have been completely been unable to move out of your little box and as a result you spend your time complaining about other peoples printed literature.
Regards
Demian

Subject: Chronically Lame
Date: Wed, 04 Oct 2000
From: rmander@postoffice.pacbell.net
To: demianb@idt.net
CC: Jerry Threet
Demian:
Obviously you didn't have much commitment to the Green Party in the First place. Don't let the screen door hit your butt on the way out, Demian. Who doesn't "believe in housing for all"? And who believes in "evil" landlords? The problem is that we're all caught in a system that makes it difficult for those of us with limited incomes to survive in this town. On your literature: Surely the reason we put out campaign literature is to let potential voters know where we stand on the issues. You are over-reacting to my rather mild criticism of your handout.

Barrett Defends the Carpetbagger
Subject: Chronically Lame II
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000
From: Rob Anderson
To: Demian Barrett, (list suppressed)
Demian, you need to check out the meaning of "carpetbagger" if you're
going to claim that Matt Gonzalez isn't one, since the minimum definition includes the notion of non-residency. You see "no benefit in replacing one parties[sic] dominance with another," an odd statement coming from one who is also registered as a Green Party member. In fact, you seem embarrassed by your party registration, since you never even mention it at candidate nights. But you are only marginally in touch with political reality, since you promise in your campaign literature that "I will take politics out of the housing crisis..." Not surprisingly, you offer no specifics as to how you plan to do this. Besides, why should "politics" be a dirty word? This is the way we govern ourselves---by the clash of opinions and interests in open, more-or-less free elections. If you are so with Gonzalez's "character," whatever that means, why don't you withdraw from the race right now? Maybe you can volunteer to distribute his lavishly printed campaign literature.
And to Jerry Threet: Actually, I think I've done rather well in the "debates," though it's not surprising to learn that Gonzalez's boosters like to think otherwise. On the carpetbagger issue: of course it may not be the most important thing about a candidate, but isn't the idea of district elections to elect someone who lives in and knows the district? I'm not bitter at all about not getting the Guardian's endorsement. Nor am I surprised, since I assumed Gonzalez would get it all along. I'm "bashing" the one-party rule of the Democratic Party, not individual "progressive Democrats." But Gonzalez's recent move into the district is surely relevant and something voters should know. Is that "bashing"? His supporters seem astonished to hear any criticism at all and seem to think that the left should fall into line behind the Guardian-anointed candidate. Finally, one of the main purposes of my campaign is to put the idea[into play] of a progressive local Green Party as a "visible" alternative to the ruling Democrats, which isn't going to happen overnight. But the seed has been planted and will, I think, bear fruit eventually.