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Conversations with Nicole
Published Thursday, 12-Jan-2006 in issue 942
Get ready, San Diego, for a new weekly show premiering soon in one of our nightclubs: “What Would You Do for $2,006?” Plans are underway for this outrageously fun weekly “Fear Factor”-style reality entertainment night. Stay tuned!
I’ve just returned from an outstanding statewide civil/human rights conference held in Sacramento with major civil rights, people-of-color and GLBT officials and leaders. City Commissioner Julia Legaspi also attended, representing San Diego’s GLBT community as well as the Asian Pacific Islander community.
It was good to hear from Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, as well as Assemblymembers Alberto Torrico and Mark Leno. Mark and I had a good discussion about the proposed death penalty moratorium.
Among the conference workshops I attended was one entitled “The Elephant in the Room: African-American/Latino Tensions.” This was one of the most interesting and productive civil rights conferences I’ve attended in years.
Julia and I had dinner Monday night with state Senator Christine Kehoe, and all three of us were the guests of prominent Sacramento businessman Terry Sidie at his classy new restaurant, Head Hunters. I also had some private meetings with some Republican officials, but that part of my visit to our state capital I’ll keep private!
All in all, it was a very productive, busy but successful three days.
Last week, a private reception was held to honor the new chair of the powerful Centre City Development Corporation, Jennifer LeSar, and the new chair of the prestigious San Diego Convention Center Board, Kevin Tilden, as well as our new housing commissioner, Todd Gloria. It was a who’s who of GLBT movers and shakers, including state Senator Christine Kehoe, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, Councilmember Toni Atkins and Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla. Our new mayor, Jerry Sanders, took time off from his busy schedule to stop by and give congratulatory remarks.
Also recognized and honored were two of the mayor’s popular senior-staff members, Fred Sainz and Jeff Gattas. It’s important to note that LeSar, Tilden, Gloria and Sainz have all served on The Center’s board of directors. Also in attendance were two special guests, the very respected retired Rear Navy Admiral Ronne Froman and former Mayor Dick Murphy’s chief of staff, John Kern.
The food was great and the conversations – well, I’ll keep most of it “off the record.” Congratulations to these five outstanding citizens.
By the way, word is Robert Gleason is the leading candidate to replace attorney Rick Kerman on the Civil Service Commission. Kerman has served, with distinction, an unprecedented three terms as chair, and his term is up. He was appointed by Mayor Susan Golding.
Councilmember Toni Atkins is already collecting financial contributions for a possible run for Ron Robert’s District 4 San Diego County Board of Supervisors seat. While Atkins has stated she has not made a final decision, she does need to collect contributions for an exploratory committee, and probably poll to see if her candidacy would be a winning one.
Larry Scott has been announced as her treasurer, and the campaign limit is $500. (Mail to: Atkins for Supervisor, 330 Encinitas Blvd. Suite 101, Encinitas, CA 92024.)
Two other Democrats have also all but announced their candidacy. Many in the GLBT community have expressed their concern about a possible Atkins vs. Roberts race because of Roberts’ long history as a GLBT civil rights supporter.
I am getting tired of the negative and ugly attacks on Congressmember Susan Davis from members of our community. Some have even stated that we should not support her re-election and should find a challenger against her in the primary. Congressmember Susan Davis has been a consistent supporter of GLBT equality since her days on the school board. She has fought for our community’s civil rights and health issues for decades, and always receives near perfect scores and approval ratings from national and statewide GLBT political organizations.
State Senator Christine Kehoe will in no way challenge (nor should she) Davis, and is strongly and rightfully supporting Davis’ re-election. While I too would like Congressmember Davis to become a co-sponsor of the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, I will wait until she finishes studying the issue and fairly listening to all sides of this issue, as San Diego is a big military city. I will continue to support her re-election, and urge our community’s continuing support.
While I’ve gotten very used to organizing political fund-raisers for candidates over these last decades, a recent one for our new Councilmember-elect Ben Hueso was organized in just a week and raised about $3,000! A very big thank you to four individuals who played a role in helping make this event a success: City Commissioner Jess San Roque, San Diego Democratic Club president Stephen Whitburn, City Commissioner Bruce Abrams and San Diego Democratic Party chair Jess Durfee. Also, thank you to our honorary chair, Councilmember Toni Atkins. This event took place at the ever-popular Baja Betty’s, and a big thank you to Chris Shaw and his outstanding staff for hosting us. And to everyone who attended, thank you for making a difference in our community, keeping a friend in the City Council District 8 seat.
The Center’s monthly Community Coalition Breakfast, set for Friday, Jan. 20, will feature a very special and important speaker: Admiral Al Steinman, a former surgeon general of the Coast Guard who has received the coveted United States Armed Forces distinguished service medal and came out as a gay, high-ranking retired military officer in The New York Times. Admiral Steinman will address the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy at the breakfast. Joining Steinman will be Jim Maloney of the Military Education Initiative. I urge everyone’s attendance at the Jan. 20 Community Coalition Breakfast.
San Diego will once again play host to a major GLBT national convention, this time for Pride At Work, our national GLBT labor/unions organization. The dates of the 2006 convention are Sept. 7-10.
A special reception will take place with Nancy Wohlforth as the guest of honor. Wohlforth is the national board co-chair and secretary-treasurer for OPEIU International. The reception is set for Feb. 24 at the beautiful home of Bill Beck and David Huskey. Local San Diegan and labor leader/activist Brian Polejes is playing a major role in this convention, and our entire community is looking forward to hosting this important event. For more information, e-mail paw@aflcio.org or call (619) 865-6784.
Longtime GLBT community contributor, businessman and 2005 San Diego Community Wall of Honor inductee Darl Edwards, who co-founded the Imperial Court de San Diego, turned 76 years young last week, and about a dozen of his close friends threw him a dinner party at Martinis Above Fourth. It was a great time, with a lot of longtime San Diegans in attendance. Darl Edwards has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to countless GLBT organizations, AIDS agencies and civil rights causes over the last three decades. A big thank you to prominent businessman Jack Kisling for picking me up in his brand new, flawless Rolls Royce. And many more birthdays, Darl; thank you for all you do for so many.
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