Tom is still faithful

In your endorsement you suggest that Tom Ammiano has moved to the center [Endorsements, 10/15/03]. The Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club, long known to be the most progressive Democratic club in town, endorsed Tom for mayor because he has remained faithful to his progressive values. The perception that he's moved to the center does not recognize the distinction between moving to the center and reaching out to others who may disagree with progressives. We support Tom because of this, not despite this. Tom has shown maturity by understanding the importance of hearing from people who may disagree with him. These are the qualities that we support, and we proudly endorse Tom for mayor.

Robert Haaland

San Francisco

Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club president

Gonzalez is a winner

I am highly disappointed by the Bay Guardian's endorsement of Angela Alioto for mayor.

Matt Gonzalez has the best chance of defeating Newsom in a runoff. (A recent poll confirmed Gonzalez, not Alioto, neck and neck with Newsom in a runoff). Gonzalez can articulate to the downtown boys the wisdom of responsibly paying more taxes to help the communities of our city. Gonzalez has the freshest, most progressive and workable solutions to our city's most intractable problems, like the homeless and housing crisis. Gonzalez is a no-nonsense, honest politician without any hidden agendas and beholden to absolutely no one but the disenfranchised communities of San Francisco, whose needs have been long abandoned by the current mayor.

Sujung Kim

San Francisco

Greens are the way

Green candidate Peter Camejo was the class and conscience of the recall. He raised issues of working people, immigrants, and the environment that other candidates ignored. He respected opponents and audiences, while others engaged in name-calling and mud-slinging.

Our corrupt two-party system may never allow California to have a Green governor. But San Franciscans can still elect a Green mayor. As president of the Board of Supervisors, Matt Gonzalez has consistently fought for low-income workers, small businesses, and a cleaner environment. He has gotten the board to cooperate and solve long-standing problems.

Democratic politics as usual brought us Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Greens like Matt Gonzalez are the way forward for San Francisco and California.

David Spero

San Francisco

Alioto's no progressive

There is one word to describe the Bay Guardian's endorsement of Angela Alioto for mayor: pathetic. Your disjointed endorsement neglected to mention, even in passing, her positions on housing, development, and land use; the most significant issues facing San Francisco today (sorry, it's not public power). Alioto's "Housing Opportunities for Working People," from her Web site, proposes contradictory recommendations with one central thesis: the S.F. affordable-housing crisis can be developed away by private developers unhindered by impediments like inclusionary zoning. It is no wonder that Alioto is Joe O'Donoghue's girl in the race. Why is she yours?

Ron Morgan San Francisco

Beyond public power

I was stunned to see the cover of your Oct. 15 issue endorsing Angela Alioto for mayor as "the one who can make sure, right here and now, that Gavin Newsom is not the next mayor of San Francisco." While I applaud the intention to stop Newsom, your choice of Alioto is marginal at best. In fact, your decision seems to be based primarily on her support for public power, since she certainly doesn't carry the progressive banner on many other issues and still comes across poorly in public despite spending thousands of dollars for expensive political consultants.

In the end, you have made your choice, but I find it sad that the Bay Guardian has become such a repetitive one-issue paper (yes, we're all aware of the Raker Act) that you have trivialized what used to be an important left-progressive endorsement for the sake of public power. I can only hope that you will pull your head out of the waters of Hetch Hetchy sometime soon and reclaim your voice representing interests of the poor, working class, and communities of color in San Francisco. And in doing so, you may also want to remind yourselves that you should be supporting political movements, not simply pushing your own.

Colin Smith