Matt Gonzalez

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Matt Gonzalez in 1999
Matt Gonzalez in 1999

Matt Gonzalez (born June 4, 1965) is an American politician, attorney, and editorial writer. He is a former member and president of the San Francisco, California Board of Supervisors and was one of the first Green Party candidates elected to local public office. In 2003, he ran for mayor of San Francisco but lost in a close race to Democrat Gavin Newsom. Regarded by supporters as a progressive reformer, his legislative record included enacting ethics reforms and environmental protections, and increasing transparency in government.

Gonzalez offered an alternative to what he believed was machine politics in the local Democratic Party. In 2004, he returned to private life following his four-year term on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Contents

[edit] Background

Matthew Edward Gonzalez was born in the border town of McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, but spent his first four years in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Besides San Juan, job transfers took the Gonzalezes to New Orleans, Maryland, and Kentucky, before the family returned to McAllen when Gonzalez was eleven years old. In an interview with the editorial board of the San Franciso Chronicle, Gonzalez described his father as a salesman who started out selling "cigarettes from the back of his car in south Texas" in the late 1950s or early 1960s, and who later started an import/export business selling medical and dental supplies.[1] However, a profile in the San Francisco Chronicle stated that Gonzalez's father was a division chief for the international tobacco company Brown & Williamson.[2]

"Eddie," as Gonzalez was called in his youth, was an Eagle Scout and president of his senior class. He discovered his talent for debating at Memorial High School, from which he graduated in 1983.[2]

Gonzalez said about his childhood in South Texas: "The Mexican-American–Latino–Chicano culture in California is different than my experience in Texas. I grew up in a town that is majority Mexican and Mexican-American. In McAllen, we didn't refer to ourselves as Latinos or Chicanos. We referred to ourselves as Mexican. There's a different feel in that border area." [3]

Gonzalez earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 1987, and a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1990. At Columbia, he studied comparative literature, political theory, and was a member of the debate team.[4]

While attending Stanford, he was an editor for the Stanford Law Review and member of the Stanford Environmental Law Journal. He worked on immigration issues at the East Palo Alto Community Law Project, pending death penalty cases at the California Appellate Project, and "gender discrimination and religious clause issues" as a research assistant to the Dean of the School.[4]

In 1991, he began working as a trial lawyer at the Office of the Public Defender in San Francisco. He represented and won eight out of nine life-in-prison cases (the ninth was later won at appeal) and was named "Lawyer of the Year" by the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association in 2000.[4][5] As a public defender, he was twice jailed for contempt of court and ordered arrested a third time (the contempt findings were overturned on appeal). [6]

[edit] Politics and public service

Gonzalez entered politics when he ran for San Francisco District Attorney in 1999. He campaigned in a field of five candidates, including incumbent Terence Hallinan. His campaign focused on cleaning up alleged political corruption, prosecuting environmental crimes, and fighting illegal evictions. Hallinan won the race but the campaign raised Gonzalez's profile. He finished third with 11 percent of the vote, or 20,153 votes.

[edit] Conversion to the Green Party

Gonzalez's conversion to the Green Party occurred at the spur of the moment, without aforethought, in what he called "a political or moral epiphany." Gonzalez was attending a rally at the offices of KRON-TV in San Francisco to protest the absence of Green Party senatoral candidate Medea Benjamin at a debate between Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, and her Republican challenger Tom Campbell. Gonzalez described his conversion to the San Francisco Bay Guardian:

I wasn't anticipating anything. I certainly wasn't expecting any kind of political or moral epiphany.
But as the event wore on, what was at stake became disturbingly obvious to me: a thoughtful, intelligent, and honest progressive candidate for senator was being excluded from the opportunity to reach voters and win electoral support.
I couldn't help thinking of how most of my support in last year's district attorney's race came as a result of being allowed into televised debates with my better-known opponents and how that support has eventually led to my being the frontrunner in the District 5 supervisorial race.
The more I thought about it, the more I knew I wasn't OK with it. I didn't want to be a member of a party that was urging the exclusion of a candidate solely on the grounds that the candidate didn't have enough support, when it's precisely television coverage that could win that candidate public acceptance. [7]

[edit] Election to Board of Supervisors

In 2000, a system of electing supervisors by district rather than citywide took effect. At the urging of Supervisor Tom Ammiano, Gonzalez moved his residence from the Mission District (in District 9) to Hayes Valley, and ran for supervisor in newly made District 5 (besides Hayes Valley, District 5 comprises the Haight-Ashbury, the Western Addition, Alamo Square, and the easternmost part of the Sunset District).

In the run-off election, Gonzalez's opponent, Juanita Owens, tried to take advantage of his Green Party affiliation and capitalize on many Democrats' ill feelngs toward the Green Party in the wake of the acrimonious 2000 presidential election [14], but Gonzalez won the run-off election. Like all municipal elections in San Francisco, elections for supervisor are nonpartisan, but some Greens saw the election of their candidate as a significant achievement because, for the first time, a Green Party member had been elected to an important position in a major U.S. city.

He was elected on a slate of candidates who wanted to change the direction of city policy, in opposition to the "Brown machine," a Democratic Party political machine that had dominated local politics for over thirty years behind Mayor Willie Brown, the Pelosi family, and other Democrats.[8] His supporters saw his election as a turning point in local politics.[9][10] According to San Francisco State University political science professor Richard DeLeon,

"The beginning of the end probably was in 2000, when San Francisco returned to district elections...The results brought in Gonzalez and other new supervisors not beholden to Brown. It opened the door for a new wave of young neighborhood politicians who didn't need the type of citywide support political leaders like Brown and [John and Phil] Burton had provided over the years."[10]

[edit] Election to Board Presidency

Two years later Gonzalez was elected to President of the Board of Supervisors.

[edit] Policy positions

Gonzalez worked to enact the following legislation:

  • Animal rights: Supported legislation to prohibit the San Francisco Zoo from keeping elephants after concerns were raised about their health, and changed "pet owner" to "pet guardian" in city regulations.
  • Campaign and election reforms: Sponsored a voter-approved measure to implement instant run-off voting in order to reduce costly run-off elections and help third-party candidates get elected. He sought to curtail soft money in campaigns and expand the public financing of campaigns.
  • Gentrification: Supported legislation protecting smaller businesses from competition from chain stores, increasing the number of affordable housing units and renter protections [15] [16].
  • Tax code: Opposed settling a legal suit against the city's tax code. Plaintiffs included the Hearst Corporation, parent company for the San Francisco Chronicle [18].
  • Transparency in government: Supported legislation requiring lobbyists and political consultants to register with the city's Ethics Commission [19].

Additionally, he supported a grading system for homeless shelters, reclassifying city supervisors from part-time to full-time status (a move that raised supervisor's salaries from $32,000 to $110,000 annually), and granting non-citizens the right to vote in school board elections (Proposition F, 2004) [20] [21].

[edit] Ideology

Gonzalez continued to voice support for ideological views to the left of the Democratic Party. In March 2002, Gonzalez allegedly stunned a Golden Gate Breakfast Club audience by telling them, "Really, I am a Marxist."[11] “Untrue”, Gonzalez says he knew he was speaking to a conservative group, and said you might think I am, but “I don’t consider myself a Marxist…I was trying to tell them I don’t hold radical views.” [12] In a playful December 2003 manifesto on his reasons to vote Green, he wrote, "I read The Communist Manifesto and liked it."[13]

[edit] Criticism

Gonzalez's critics considered him a stubborn and willful idealogue. He walked out of Mayor Willie Brown's State of the City address in 2002; he refused to meet with Brown during his first two years on the Board of Supervisors. When the Board put forth a resolution commending Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, a San Franciscan, for being elected House Minority Whip and being the first woman to hold that position, Gonzalez was the only board member who voted against it.

Gonzalez hosted monthly art exhibits in his City Hall office. At the last reception, graffiti artist Barry McGee spray-painted "Smash the State" on the walls of the office as part of his exhibit (City Hall is a registered national landmark).."[14] Gonzalez told the press that he knew his office would be repainted for the next occupant.

[edit] Campaign for Mayor

In 2003, Gonzalez ran for Mayor of San Francisco, in a bid to replace outgoing two-term mayor Willie Brown. The campaign attracted national and international media coverage. In a run-off election on December 9, Gonzalez faced Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and another member of the Board of Supervisors. San Francisco would have become the first major American city with a Green Party mayor if Gonzalez had won the election.

Gavin Newsom was Gonzalez's main rival in the campaign for Mayor.
Gavin Newsom was Gonzalez's main rival in the campaign for Mayor.

Although Gonzalez was endorsed by several key local Democrats, including five of his peers on the Board of Supervisors, national Democratic figures, concerned about the Party's loss in the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election and Ralph Nader's role in the 2000 presidential election, became involved on Newsom's behalf.[15] Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jesse Jackson, Dianne Feinstein, and Nancy Pelosi all campaigned for Newsom:

"Make no mistake, the Democratic Party is taking this contest between two elected city supervisors extremely seriously. Having just surrendered the California governorship to Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, worried by the losses of key big-city mayoralties around the country, and fretting about the prospect that a Green win would strengthen the hand of the left-leaning third party going into the critical 2004 presidential election, the California Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee are pulling out all the stops to elect Newsom."[16]

In the left-leaning political newsletter CounterPunch, Bruce Anderson wrote, "If Matt Gonzalez, a member of the Green Party, is elected mayor of San Francisco, it will be a dagger straight into the rotted heart of the Democratic Party...he wants to represent the many against the fortunate few the present mayor has faithfully represented for years now."[17]

The candidate, however, saw the election in different terms. "They're scared, not of a Green being elected mayor," he said, "but of an honest person being elected mayor." [18]

On a ballot with nine candidates' names, Gonzalez finished second behind Gavin Newsom in the initial mayoral election on November 4. Gonzalez received 19.6 percent of the total vote to Newsom's 41.9 percent [22]. Many observers had initially predicted that either Tom Ammiano or Angela Alioto, both longtime local Democratic politicians, would come in second to Newsom; Gonzalez's strong showing was therefore surprising to many in the political establishment, although momentum for his campaign had been building through the fall.

Many volunteers flocked to Gonzalez's campaign in the run-off. "He's the indie-rock Kennedy," one supporter said of Gonazlez. [19] Said Rich DeLeon, professor of political science at San Francisco State University, "The Gonzalez campaign was truly a mobilizing campaign. It really attracted young people who had not been involved — who were perhaps cynical and apathetic — into the active electorate." [23]

Progressives championed Gonzalez as an alternative to a more centrist Democratic mainstream:

"Gonzalez was the first Mexican-American, non-Democratic Party candidate in the City's history to actually campaign, unabashedly, as a leftist and anti-corporate politician. He turned San Francisco's sordid and sold-out political history upside down, invoking an inspired and conscious resistance from the City's previous generations' experiences of exclusion, exploitation, disenfranchisement and dot.com displacement.[20]

In an interview in January 2005 on his last day in office as a Supervisor, Gonzalez said of his campaign, "After getting in the runoff, literally the day after, as I heard Mayor Brown and others start attacking me for being a communist and racist, well, I started thinking I was going to lose in the very landslide I had foreseen for other candidates. Naturally, I worked hard to represent progressive ideas and win the race. By the end, we started thinking, hey, maybe it’s possible."[21]

Despite the fact that only 3 percent of voters in San Francisco were registered Green,[24], the opposition of national Democrats, and a large spending gap[22], Gonzalez's candidacy reached beyond his party affiliation.

Newsom won the run-off election, held on December 9, by a margin of 14,217 votes (5.7 percent). Gonzalez garnered 119,329 votes (47.19 percent) to Newsom's 133,546 (52.81 percent). [25]

Gonzalez described the campaign as "something that everybody said I shouldn't have done. I ran a basically unapologetic, progressive campaign. I said that our ideas were better. Let's go out and defend them instead of always watering them down. That really sets us apart as Greens from what the Democrats want to do. They always want to outflank the Republicans by being more conservative than the Republicans, and not allow the Republicans to ride a particular wave of sentiment...That's what was attractive about my campaign."[citation needed]

[edit] An unorthodox politician

He was an unorthodox politician. Newspaper accounts from the San Francisco mayoral election noted that Gonzalez slept on the uncushioned slats of a futon frame because "it's more comfortable," didn't own a watch, and wore Dr Martens and baggy suits [23] (some of which were given him by former San Francisco mayor Art Agnos). [24] The "floppy-haired, slump-shouldered champion of the counterculture," as the Christian Science Monitor called him,[25] never married or owned property. He gave away his 1967 Mercedes-Benz sedan because, he said, he found it easier to get around on public transportation.[26]

Gonzalez hosted monthly art exhibits in his City Hall office. He was fond of playing chess and reading poetry. In 1997, at his own expense, he published a collection of poetry by Beat poet Jack Micheline called Sixty-Seven Poems for Downtrodden Saints. He served on the Board of Directors for Intersection for the Arts, a non-profit organization, and in 2004 taught a course called "Art & Politics" at the San Francisco Art Institute. Gonzalez played bass guitar in a rock band (called John Heartfield) and still plays occasionally with his brother Chuck and his law partner Whitney Leigh.[27]

[edit] Return to private life

Following the mayoral contest, Gonzalez announced he would not seek re-election. Explaining his decision to retire from politics, he said:

I like the whole idea of disengaging from politics for a while and looking at things from the outside. I think the world would be a better place if politicians returned to private life from time to time... Hey, you've got to follow your instincts, you know. That's how I got into politics in the first place, joined the Green Party, ran for the board presidency and later for mayor. What am I supposed to do now? Not listen to myself?[28]

Gonzalez left office when his term ended in January 2005 and opened a legal practice with Whitney Leigh. In May 2005 Gonzalez vowed to pursue legal action in order to overturn the contract of San Francisco school Superintendent Arlene Ackerman.[29] His firm has brought suit against a San Francisco hotel for not paying its workers the minimum wage[30]; two wrongful death suits against Sacramento police for their use of taser guns; against the city of San Jose and Ringling Brothers Circus for interfering with free speech rights of protestors; and against Clear Channel in a naming rights dispute over the locally owned San Francisco Warfield Theatre. It has also been involved in examining the New Year's Eve attack on the Yale Glee Club in Pacific Heights.[31]

His successor to the Board of Supervisors is Ross Mirkarimi, a Green Party member and community activist who had also worked on Gonzalez's campaign.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Segment of SFGate.com video of Gonzalez interview requires Quicktime7. See also: "Chronical Editorial Board interview with Matt Gonzalez. Retrieved on May 10, 2006. San Francisco Chronicle December 4, 2003.
  2. ^ a b Guthrie, Julian. "Gonzalez: Giving back in San Francisco after childhood of privilege.". Retrieved on May 10, 2006. The San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, December 7, 2003
  3. ^ Jones, Very Rev. Alan, interviewer. "Matt Gonzalez: Passionate Politico" May 16, 2004 interview conducted at Grace Cathedral
  4. ^ a b c Matt Gonzalez campaign website biographical information: "Matt Gonzalez". Retrieved on May 10, 2006.
  5. ^ Roth, Gabriel. The San Francisco Bay Guardian, December 6, 2000. "Taking a stand. Public defender Matt Gonzalez's progressivism runs deep.". Retrieved on May 10, 2006.
  6. ^ Guthrie, Julian. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/12/07/GONZALEZ.TMP "Gonzalez, Newsom: What makes them run Gonzalez: Giving back in San Francisco after childhood of privilege."] San Francisco Chronicle. December 3, 2003.
  7. ^ *Gonzalez, Matt (15 November 2000) "Why I Turned Green." San Francisco Bay Guardian.
  8. ^ Shaw, Randy. Beyondchron, January 03, 2005, "Matt Gonzalez's political legacy.". Retrieved on May 10, 2006.
  9. ^ Reed, Christopher. The Guardian, December 7, 2003. "Democrats face fresh votes blow.". Retrieved on May 10, 2006.
  10. ^ a b Wildermuth, John. The San Francisco Chronicle December 16, 2003, "Fall of the machine.". Retrieved on May 10, 2006.
  11. ^ Wong, Samson. "Gang Green Retreats". Retrieved on May 10, 2006.
  12. ^ Guthrie, Julian. "Gonzalez: Giving back in San Francisco after childhood of privilege.". URL accessed on 2006-05-10. The San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, December 7, 2003
  13. ^ Gonzalez, Matt. "Why I vote Green.". Retrieved on May 10, 2006.
  14. ^ Lelchuk, I. "Last word on government: Graffiti installation in Gonzalez's office gets mixed reviews.". Retrieved on May 10, 2006. San Francisco Chronicle on the web, 10 December 2004.
  15. ^ McCarthy, Kevin. The Nation, December 5, 2003. "Gonzalez for Mayor". Retrieved on May 10, 2006. See also: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/07/national/07SANF.html?ex=1133240400&en=415a06a3a7f74b6b&ei=5070 (registration required)
  16. ^ Nichols, John. The Nation blog, December 8, 2003. "San Francisco Showdown.". Retrieved on May 10, 2006.
  17. ^ Anderson, Bruce. "The Fate of America's Most Corrupt City.. Retrieved on May 10, 2006. Counterpunch, December 6-7, 2003.
  18. ^ Sappenfield, Mark (December 9 2003)"Poets and Yogis: Green Party mayoral candidate taps the city's distinctive culture." Christian Science Monitor.
  19. ^ Wellman, Laurel (21 December 2003) "See How They Run." San Francisco Chronicle
  20. ^ Marquez, Richard. "Going for Broke: The Gonzalez Legacy.". Retrieved on May 10, 2006. BeyondChron April 7, 2004
  21. ^ Harrison, Scott. "Gonzalez's Final Exam.". Retrieved on May 10, 2006. San Francisco Call, January 2005.
  22. ^ Gonzalez was outspent by $4.4 - 4.9 million, spending $800,000 - 900,000, [1] [2][3]. Gonzalez sought to tighten spending caps and expand public financing, and Newsom was accused of campaign improprieties and violating spending limits [4] [5] [6][7] [8] [9] [10] [11]. Newsom spent between $5.3 - 5.7 million and won with 52.8% or 133,546 votes [12] [13]. Given these figures, Gonzalez spent $6.70 - $7.50 per vote, and Newsom $38.90 - $42.70 per vote.
  23. ^ Cheevers, Jack and Lesley Anderson (October 8, 2003) "The Great Left Hope." SF Weekly.
  24. ^ McKeethen, Richard (February 2, 2005) "Matt Gonzalez Runs, but Not Too Far."Golden Gate Xpress Online.
  25. ^ Sappenfield, Mark (December 9 2003) "Poets and Yogis: Green Party mayoral candidate taps the city's distinctive culture." Christian Science Monitor.
  26. ^ Martinez, Mariam (Febraury 20, 2004) "Matt Gonzalez (Interview)." Latino Leaders.
  27. ^ Editors (October 24, 2004 "John Heartfield Rockin' the House." SF Mesh.
  28. ^ Hampton, Adriel (March 29, 2004) "Supe Walks Away." San Francisco Examiner.
  29. ^ Woodward, Tali. "Cutting the Golden Parachute". Retrieved on May 10, 2006. See also Knight H., "Lawsuit filed to toss school chief's raise." San Francisco Chronicle, 23 June 2005, accessed 8 April 2006
  30. ^ Hogarth, Paul (January 3, 2007) "Gonzalez Law Firm Scores Minimum Wage Victory" Beyond Chron
  31. ^ Matier, Phil; E. Ross (January 17, 2007) "Yalies' case -- not mayor's race -- brings Gonzalez back to spotlight." San Francisco Chronicle.

[edit] External links

[edit] External links to articles written by Gonzalez

[edit] Further reading

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