Gerardo Sandoval

Adriel Hampton gives the full scoop on the hopelessness of the campaign to re-elect Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval

Gerardo Sandoval is getting worked over royally in his District 11. The local Democratic Party last week declined to back Sandoval, with rival candidates uniting to push a "no endorsement." Behind the official story is yet another reminder that nobody forgets in San Francisco politics, let alone forgives. ...

Seems plenty of Democratic County Central Committee members remember that Sandoval had a poor attendance record when he was an elected member of that body, making meetings primarily when it was time to cast endorsement votes. His wife, Amy Harrington, also has a lackluster attendance record since her March election, but made it for the Wednesday endorsement vote. Topping that, folks are bringing up a couple of impolitic remarks Sandoval made about Jews and the Irish, back in 2001 and 2002, respectively. His apologies didn't take, apparently. ...

At this point, the story gets even more interesting as we learn of Harrington's crazed outburst after letting her husband down:

After the endorsement vote snubbing her hubby, Harrington piped up to pronounce the outcome "bulls---." DCCC member Arlo Hale Smith offered an explanation about "anti-Semitic remarks," prompting Harrington to shout another round of "This is bulls---," before threatening to resign. ... "There are lots of political reasons not to like Sandoval," said one DCCC member. "This came down to personal [reasons] for a lot of the members." ...

Remember the time Sandoval said the Fire Department employee list reads like the Dublin phone book. I went searching for the full quote, but it came from a Frank Gallagher column (07/10/02) that is lost in the gap of the Examiner's archives.Apparently, Sandoval denied making the comment. But my search did find a great H. Brown column on the subject that reads:

Sandoval imitates John Rocker To my able counterpart at the Examiner, Frank
Gallagher: Yes, Frank, Sandoval lied if he said he did not describe the San
Francisco Fire Department as being like "a Dublin" phone book." Let's see, that
makes him a lying, indecisive bigot ... a scumbag anti-Semite ... the man is
columnist material! I heard the boy make the "Dublin" comment to Joe Grubb of
the Rent Board, so it sure as hell wasn't off-camera.

Last year, under the subhead, Gerardo's Gotta Go, progressive scribe H. Brown explained the view of the left. Brown gives Sandoval an "F" grade for the year while saying, "Sandoval also ranks first in the 'horrible rumors' category. I'm gonna leave you hanging there and save the real dirt..."Brown closes by remarking, "Trust me on this one ... you can't trust him." Brown has also said, "give this man a raise so he can clean up his act, pleeeease!"Meanwhile, Joefire has noticed that every Sandoval speech on SFGTV should have the disclaimer, "Gerardo Is Running For Re-Election" and has awarded Gerardo Sandoval with a close-second in the "kicked out of the room" contest.

Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval's website demonstrates why Sandoval is just smart enough to make himself look like an imbecile.Visitors to the site get an updated greeting bragging about Supervisor Sandoval's new legislation which created a website to help seniors purchase prescription drugs from Canada. Obviously, this shows that Sandoval understands that websites can be powerful tools.Now click on the Community button and you're sent to the page where Supervisor Sandoval shows his knowledge of District 11. This is where he "Mary Harris" is spelled "Marry Harris" twice. But the real kicker is the map. Not only does the map have outdated District 11 boundaries and precinct information, but it shows a complete lack of knowledge about District 11.Sandoval knows enough about District 11 to list the contact info for CIA and New Mission Terrace-NIA, but posts a map that shows neither the Cayuga neighborhood nor Mission Terrace. Sandoval's website lists OMI-NIA and OMI-CAO, but his map neglects Merced Heights and the Oceanview, referring to the whole OMI as the Ingleside.If this is the map Sandoval has been using to guide his representation, then a whole lot is beginning to make sense.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has individual pages for each member on the official sfgov website. If you were to visit each page you'd see they are all have the same format and similar information. That is, until you visit the site for Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval.Supervisor Sandoval's page differs in that it has a big blue button in the middle linking to his Greeting Page. If you scroll to the bottom of this page, you see a button for a Private Page. A click on the Private Page button tells you the following:Disclaimer - Supervisor Sandoval Please NoticeYou are now leaving the Board of Supervisors web site for a private page maintained by Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval. Although you may find value in reading the contents of this site, the Board of Supervisors does not endorse, control, or take responsibility for this site, its views, or the accuracy of the information contained on the destination server.[Note, if you click on the Personal Link at the bottom of the Greeting Page, you are sent directly to www.gerardosandoval.org without the disclaimer.]Seal of ApprovalThe links on Sandoval's Greeting Page refer to www.gerardosandoval.org as either a "private" or "personal" page. Yet a visitor to www.gerardosandoval.org is greeted with the Official Seal of San Francisco (on every page).Here's what SF Code has to say about the City Seal:SEC. 1.6. CORPORATE SEAL.(a) A corporate seal of the City and County is hereby adopted and established as the official seal of the City and County.(b) The official seal is described as follows: A shield supported by a miner on the left and a sailor on the right, with a device of a steamship passing the Golden Gate; at the foot of the supporters, emblems of commerce, navigation and mining; at the crest, a phoenix issuing from flames, below which shall appear a motto consisting of the words "Oro en Paz - Fierro en Guerra" (gold in peace; iron in warfare); and around the margin the words "Seal of the City and County of San Francisco."(c) The Clerk of the Board of Supervisors shall have the custody of the corporate seal. The use of the corporate seal of the City and County of San Francisco shall be for purposes directly connected with official business of the City and County; and those matters approved by the Board of Supervisors by resolution.(d) The Clerk of the Board is empowered to authorize the use of the City seal on items that are offered for sale by the City and County of San Francisco for the purpose of promoting the City and County of San Francisco. Prior to authorizing such use, the Clerk shall procure from the Director of Administrative Services a plan describing the items that would bear the City seal. Such plan shall include the criteria used in determining the proposed items and an analysis of the marketability of each item. Only those items bearing the City seal that have been authorized by the Clerk pursuant to this Section may be offered for sale by the City and County of San Francisco. The Clerk of the Board is empowered to authorize the use of the City seal on the face of San Francisco Affinity Credit Cards and San Francisco Affinity Prepaid Phone Cards that are offered for sale in connection with San Francisco Affinity Credit Card and San Francisco Affinity Prepaid Phone Card Programs to be developed by the City.(e) Every person who maliciously or for commercial purposes, or without the prior approval of the Board of Supervisors, uses or allows to be used any reproduction or facsimile of the Seal of the City and County of San Francisco in any manner whatsoever is guilty of a misdemeanor. (Added by Ord. 534-79, App. 11/2/79; amended by Ord. 98-99, File No. 990407, App. 4/30/99)Take a moment to visit the other Supervisor's pages and you'll see that only Sandoval has added to his profile page and only Sandoval has links to outside pages. Ironically, Supervisor Sandoval uses his Greetings Page to point out that he is an attorney.

This whole Sandoval website fiasco keeps on getting weirder. Not only is Sandoval the only member of the Board of Supervisors to modify his sfgov profile page to link to an outside "private"/"personal" page displaying the City Seal, but you might be paying for www.gerardosandoval.org.Here is what you will see with a simple whois search on www.gerardosandoval.org:Registrant Name:San Francisco Board of SuperviRegistrant Organization:San Francisco Board of SuperviRegistrant Street1:Room 280Registrant Street2:1 Dr. Carlton B Goodlett PlaceRegistrant City:SAN FRANCISCORegistrant State/Province:CARegistrant Postal Code:94102Registrant Country:USIn the middle of a budget crisis, did Gerardo Sandoval really have the City pay to have a private website named after him?Compare www.gerardosandoval.org to www.jakemcgoldrick.org:Supervisor Jake McGoldrick is a first term Supervisor representing District 1. Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval is a first term Supervisor representing District 11.Supervisor McGoldrick is facing a contested re-election this fall.Supervisor Sandoval is facing a contested re-election this fall.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick has a website -- his full name dot org.Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval has a website -- his full name dot org.Supervisor McGoldrick's website lists his biography.Supervisor Sandoval's website lists his biography.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick's website has a Press Release page with his press releases.Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval's website has a News page with his press releases.Supervisor McGoldrick's website has an Events page that lists Town Hall meetings.Supervisor Sandoval's website has a Calendar page that lists Town Hall meetings.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick has a Contact Us page that lists his info at City Hall.Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval has a Contact Us page that lists his info at City Hall.Supervisor McGoldrick asks for neither money nor votes on his website.Supervisor Sandoval asks for neither money nor votes on his website.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick pays for his website with his campaign account.Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval has the City pay for his website???

The worst political website ever (sandoval2004) sheds some more light on the Supervisor from District 11.After discovering that Sandoval's last website (gerardosandoval.org) was registered by the City, I thought I'd look into who was paying for the his new site:
Registrant: Committee to Reelect Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval (37515627O) 2370 Market St. #460 San Francisco, CA 94114-1575 US Phone: 415-812-4640 Domain Name: SANDOVAL2004.COM Well, at least Sandoval is paying for the site this time. But what is he doing running his campaign for re-election in District 11 from Market Street?District 11, or Inner Siberia as it has been nicknamed, is often forgotten by the decision makers in San Francisco. So why would Supervisor Sandoval contribute to this perception by running his campaign from Market Street instead of from his District? Probably, because he doesn't care.It has already been documented that Sandoval couldn't find the OMI with a map and this latest revelation only furthers the notion that Sandoval's heart couldn't be further from District 11.

- Bob Brigham
Bay to the Beltway
+ San Francisco Campaigns + San Francisco Politics + San Francisco Elections