I’m off to Seattle this weekend and it looks as though I will be gone almost every weekend through next month. Last weekend I was supposed to be in Detroit, but I’m getting so old and forgetful that I completely missed my plane!

The local labor council takes a confidential poll before it endorses a candidate. One of my high-ranking sources gave me the results that showed that John Hartley received 39 percent of the vote, while Todd Gloria received 20 percent and Stephen Whitburn gathered four percent. With the primary in June, these early polling results don’t come as a surprise. As a former city councilmember, Hartley has the best name recognition, has walked the entire district more than six times and has continued to be active in neighborhood issues. Hartley has ran for city council four times and continually gets about 25 to 35 percent of the votes. Most political and community activists in the district expect the June primary to result in a run-off between Hartley and Gloria. As for Whitburn, while he has received some good support, he has only lived in San Diego for six years. He has had to loan his own campaign $43,000 and people have mixed feelings about a candidate trying to buy an election. No past candidate for office in District 3 has ever come close to loaning his or her campaign close to $43,000.

In my last column I discussed my plans to launch a Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast for the GLBT community, much like the Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King Jr. breakfasts that are held annually. Along with that there would be an entire weekend of events and parades, with the Milk tribute being held on a Friday morning. Of course, we all know that production of a major motion picture about the life and death of Milk is already under way. Now, Assemblymember Mark Leno will be introducing legislation to designate the first California state holiday in honor of a GLBT citizen – Harvey Milk. And it looks like everything is falling into place for the breakfast next year also.

Many of you continue to ask me about my proposal to name a street in honor of a prominent GLBT citizen. It would be the first time in San Diego’s history a street would be named for a GLBT citizen. I have proposed that a street be named in honor of Jess Jessop, who is a Vietnam Veteran, as well as co-founder of The Center, Pride, Lambda Archives and more. A few years agao, a committee was formed to start this project and the good news is that we will be meeting again to discuss this soon. This week, Councilmember Toni Atkins informed me that she has been getting things in order and laying the groundwork for this to happen. We hope to dedicate Jess Jessop Street this year during Pride.

As both a Latino and a gay citizen I have always been a labor supporter and a supporter of unions. But recent union actions have many people wondering if they are getting out of hand. First they try to stop free enterprise, as in the case with Wal-Mart, then the unions strongly support toll roads laying pavement right through the last state park and burial site of Native Americans. They have also pressured some councilmemebers to retreat on some of the city’s much-needed charter reform concerning the mayor’s veto. I, along with many others, are disappointed with all of these actions. Thank goodness the actions surrounding both Wal-Mart and the toll roads were defeated.

Last week I attended the California State Coastal Commission to voice my opposition to the proposed toll road. Approximately 4,000 people showed up and out of those, only 300 were in favor of the road. City Councilmember Donna Frye had to wait eight hours to testify and I had to wait 10 hours. I was speaking on behalf of the city’s Human Relations Commission, which stood with the Native American community who objects to the toll road going right by their ancient burial ground. Most people were opposed because of environmental issues. Thankfully it was defeated by a vote of 8 to 2.

The Queen Eddie Youth Fund, which Nathan Garcia and I established for the Imperial Court de San Diego, recently presented the GLBT Youth Housing Project at The Center with a much needed new washer and dryer, along with a huge dining set, so the clients can now break bread together at the same time. The fund is funded and administered by the Imperial Court, with help from many local businesses and community members. A lot of credit must go to Martinis Above Fourth and its very popular Annual Christmas Wreath Auction, which greatly helped make this purchase possible. A plaque in honor of the three Martinis owners has been place on the wall of the Youth Housing Project to show the sincere gratitude of the clients, The Center and the Imperial Court.

With information concerning our community and events being available, the Obelisk Bookstore on University Avenue has become its own mini-GLBT Center for well more than a decade. Owner Bruce Kerschner, along with the many staff members are always friendly and helpful to everyone who enters the store. The establishment has become more than just a bookstore – it’s a wealth of welcoming information for the entire community. Congratulations to Bruce and the staff at Obelisk on celebrating your 15th anniversary!

Hillcrest Mardi Gras broke all attendance records this year, with thousands more pouring through the gates than in year’s past. It was one of the most friendly atmospheres with great food, fun and entertainment, that truly captured the blow out event New Orleans is famous for. This year’s Hillcrest event was fabulous and everyone in attendance had a great time and didn’t want it to end. I found myself mostly staying in the GLBT Vote 2008 central headquarters. Bob Lehman and his crew made this into an extremely colorful and very popular booth. Bravo to the hard-working 2008 Annual Mardi Gras Committee, that includes: the one-and-only Matt Ramon, Chris Shaw, Warren Simon, In Magazine’s Russell Ponick, the sexy Tootie from Lips, Big Mike, Tom Abbas, Scott Crowder, Shawn Dooley and Jay Jones. You, along with all of the volunteers who made this possible, are all awesome. I had so much fun and stayed well past my bedtime!