[ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]
Public Eye
Many savvy observers initially tabbed San Jose Councilwoman Trixie Johnson as the favorite over Elaine White Alquist in the race to succeed term-limited Assemblyman John Vasconcellos in the 22nd Assembly District. The reasoning: Johnson's track record of recent electoral success within the district coupled with Alquist's decade-long abandonment of her own political career following a stint as a school board member. But it does appear that at least some of state Sen. Al Alquist's magic dust is rubbing off on his much younger wife. Last week, Lady Alquist announced that she has been endorsed by Rep. Anna Eshoo and former Sunnyvale Mayor Pat Castillo, who herself dabbled with a state Assembly candidacy before jumping on the Alquist bandwagon. Ms. Alquist has also snared the support of super-lawyer Richard Alexander, the successful San Jose barrister who formerly chaired the countywide Century Club, made up of heavyweight donors to the Democratic Party. Eye tried to reach Johnson on deadline for her reaction to the notable endorsements, but her staffers claimed the councilwoman was too busy attending to city business to be interrupted. ... However, Johnson says Alquist's crowing is overblown, pointing to her own growing list of supporters, which now includes San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer, Santa Clara Mayor Judy Nadler and former Mountain View Mayor Dena Bonell. "The last fundraising report shows me outraising her [Alquist] by a 2-1 margin," Johnson tells Eye, "with the majority of my support coming from local sources and the majority of her support coming from sources in Sacramento," where Johnson notes that Alquist's husband retains some influence. Particularly telling, Johnson maintains, was the recent endorsement vote by the local group Democratic Activists for Women Now, which favored her by a margin of 50-17 and which was followed by an endorsement from the California National Organization for Women. "I think we have some real momentum going here," Johnson counters, doing her best to explain away Alquist's progress. "Besides, I never approached any members of Congress."
De-signing Women
It seems that Santa Clara County supervisorial hopeful Scott Mathieson's nascent campaign is getting by with a little help from some well-placed friends. First off, Councilmember Pat Dando's council assistant, Erik Schoennauer (the son of Planning Director Gary Schoennauer and a former Redevelopment Agency staffer), is taking a leave from Dando's office as of Feb. 5 to manage Mathieson's campaign. ... And, in a flurry of by-the-book compliance, the RDA decided last week it was high time to enforce its sign ordinance in the redevelopment neighborhoods where, coincidentally, county Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, Mathieson's opponent, had just mounted campaign signs. Stan Haugen, the assistant director of Streets and Traffic, admits that the RDA called to have the area de-signed but is quick to point out that this has happened before. Eye wonders when exactly that occurred, since over the years many campaign signs have remained up in the downtown for the duration of the campaign season. ... In light of all this cohesion, it's worth noting that San Jose Councilmember Frank Fiscalini has chosen to back Alvarado instead of siding with his usual allies, former Mayor Tom McEnery, Councilman David Pandori and Dando--all of whom have endorsed Mathieson, a political neophyte. Fiscalini was considered a key endorsement because Willow Glen, which Fiscalini represents, is a must-win area for Mathieson. Sources tell Eye that Pandori, upon learning that Fiscalini decided to endorse Alvarado, pitched a temper tantrum of sorts, posing the question: "What has Blanca ever done for you?" over and over again. No word on the answer. Joe Guerra, Fiscalini's chief of staff, refuses to give this scenario any credence, saying only, "Councilmembers' personal relationships should be respected." Oops.
Timber Man
And how's this for an unusual choice for a campaign headquarters: North County Assemblyman Byron Sher, often called one of the state's leading environmentalists, will open up shop this Saturday in the old McElroy Lumber Company building on First Street in Los Altos (the festivities start at 3:30pm). The HQ opening follows a campaign kickoff event at 6pm on Friday at Hyatt Rickey's in Palo Alto. Sher is running in the March special election for the state Senate seat abandoned by newly elected congressional representative Tom Campbell. "I think it's kind of cute," notes Sher campaign aide Emily Thurber, about tree-hugger Sher's new digs. The flurry of activity by the former Stanford Law School professor signals that his campaign is moving into high gear now that Sher's GOP challenger, Patrick Shannon, a former criminal justice adviser to Gov. Pete Wilson, has scheduled a series of fundraising events that he claims will generate $500,000. This would make up the war chest he needs to stop the longtime Demo office holder from moving up to the larger state Senate district, which has slightly more Republicans than Sher's old Assembly district. With the March election fast approaching, it appears that Sher, who is said to loathe the fundraising game, will need some rather quick help to fend off the promised GOP financial assault. With the special election just a few weeks away, Sher's most recent campaign finance reports list a grand total of just $71,897 on hand.
Job Expiration
North county supervisorial candidate Barbara Koppel has received word from the Santa Clara County Registrar's office that she will not be allowed to use the words "former Cupertino City Councilmember" as her official ballot designation. Koppel turned in the request along with her nomination papers despite the fact that state law specifically prohibits people from using their former honorifics. "The law prevents that," a staffer in the Secretary of State's office tells Eye, "because we want voters to have some idea of what candidates actually do for a living. Otherwise, if you allow people to list what they formerly did, it could be very misleading. They might list something they did 35 years ago and voters would be none the wiser." Koppel, it should be noted, left the Cupertino City Council last year when her term expired. After duking it out with the registrar's office, Koppel did agree to a ballot designation that satisfies both her and the legal beagles in the secretary of state's office: she'll be listed on the ballot as a "retired Cupertino councilmember."
Driving Forces
And maybe you caught the honorable mention given to the San Jose Mercury News on CNN's "reliable sources" program last week. The topic was influence-buying in the media, and host Bernard Kalb began the discussion by noting that such accusations are usually difficult to prove but kicked off the program by citing two examples where pipers were calling the tunes at major media outlets. Example No. 1: The Merc's decision some time ago to run a free, full-page advertorial designed to smooth the ruffled feathers of local auto dealers who had pulled their ads in protest of an earlier Merc story that offended them. Eye was just happy it didn't begin with the words: Dear Dealer. ... Gee, no one ever mentions us on national TV.
[ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]
This page was designed and created by the Boulevards team.
Magic Dust
Public Eye welcomes tips. Leave messages 24 hours a day by calling 408/298-7818 and then pressing 2, followed by 412, to reach Eye's voice mailbox.
From the Feb. 1-7, 1996 issue of Metro
Copyright © 1996 Metro Publishing and Virtual Valley, Inc.