Though it's only August, the campaign has already begun to take on a different complexion. The threats have become more real. The points of reference have become blurred.
"We'd better head back," he says. "I'm already in trouble with Nancy."
Jonathan Wayshak
Paul Trapani
Activist Aaron Peskin faces challenge.
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Into the Fire
District elections will undoubtedly alter the makeup of the Board of Supervisors for the better. For one thing, the city will see some new faces. Mayor Willie Brown has handpicked an unprecedented six members of the board, granting him a majority that undermines the entire concept of checks and balances in city government. Many of Brown's appointees will probably win re-election, but one or two might lose, which will at least loosen Brown's hold on the city's legislative branch.
Come November, it's likely the city will elect a more "independent" Board of Supervisors, but it will hardly resemble the broad cross section of interests the drafters of this new system had promised voters in 1996. The new electoral reform appears to have also fallen short of its pledge to remove money from the equation. Independent expenditures will play a dominant role in the coming races, and make them more bloody than ever before. "We didn't anticipate this four years ago, and to be truthful, it takes some of the fun out of these races," says Arthur Bruzzone, who now hosts a public policy television show. "You know, when you put something like this together, you have such high hopes. But things never turn out the way you thought they would."
A few days later, Peskin is facing the deadline for filing candidate's papers. It's getting close to 5 o'clock. Peskin has been up late completing his financial disclosure statement, and he's a little slap-happy.
As we speed through the Broadway tunnel on our way to City Hall, he turns on the CD player, coincidentally set at one of his favorite songs. It's called "Cold Missouri Water," about 13 fire jumpers who died fighting a wildfire in Montana. The fireman who survived escaped by deliberately scorching the earth around him, creating an oasis that burned him but protected him from the bigger flames.
"Why do I feel like I'm heading to my own funeral?" Peskin says, only half kidding. He steps harder on the gas. "Hell, what do you say we blow this whole thing off and drive up to the Headlands."
But no such luck. The Department of Elections is overflowing with candidates and political operatives, talking loudly and stinking of sweat. Edward Epstein, the Chronicle's City Hall reporter, sidles from person to person, notebook in hand, looking for a catchy quote.
Matt Gonzales, a young public defender, looks a bit pale as he stands outside the door. He has entered the race for supervisor in the Haight-Ashbury. "I just hope I can stay true to what I believe," he says earnestly. "I'll do all right as long as I don't get pushed away from my message."
Epstein smiles nearby. "They all start out so optimistic," he says to no one in particular, as Peskin disappears into the teeming crowd.
