The recall money

In the name of plain ol' unsexy truth I respectfully request a complete retraction of your story about the fictitious "dirty money" titled "The Recall Mystery" [8/18/04]. Steven T. Jones got carried away connecting small irrelevant facts from near and far to weave a big lie, which culminates in the statement "a big player behind the scenes was Wade Randlett." Randlett was no player behind the scenes. That is a false conclusion drawn from fragile inferences.

The simple truth is that Randlett attended the first strategy meeting planning the recall tasks. He only committed himself to help get support from Potrero Hill people. He never promised money, nor did he spend money on the recall. I delivered some flyers to his house shortly after the Election Department gave us approval for our petition. After that, it became impossible to reach him. It is a lie that I said Randlett committed himself to funding the recall. I did not make that statement to Jones, who interrogated Mel Washington and myself in an aggressive and accusatory fashion and constantly interrupted every attempted answer to his questions. It seemed like Jones was so convinced of his version of things that he thought he didn't need to listen to the people he chose to interview for his story.

Washington was attempting to field Jones's questions on the phone while also serving his customers at his copy shop. Realizing that he was not being listened to and getting frustrated with Jones's manner of interrogation, he referred Jones to me. Even from the quiet of my home I found it maddening to speak to him.

Please retract the statement that Randlett came by my house to pick up some leaflets. As I said above, the plain and simple truth is he came to the first strategy meeting, promised little, certainly no money, and disappeared.

Washington and Willie Ratcliff have more similarities than differences. They are both African American owners of small business on Third Street. There are personality clashes between the two, but both care passionately about their community, Bayview-Hunters Point, and both put out similar amounts of money from their own pockets. Washington, who attends many meetings of merchants and businessmen, shared his hope that he would be able to solicit other financial help, but it didn't happen.

Our November attempt at a recall had no money at all behind it, and that is why we found it impossible to collect the 4,000 signatures required.

This year, with the sacrifices of two businessmen, Washington and Ratcliff, one of whom grew up in Double Rock with eight siblings, we had just enough money to print petitions, district maps, and leaflets and to pay signature collectors thereby giving local folks a small income.

We had no other funding and each of these two are now making a full accounting with documentation to the Ethics Commission.

But the destructive allegations made by Jones and printed in the Bay Guardian will live on as fact in some readers' minds. So while you'll never be able to repair the damage you have done to this community's credibility by presenting as fact a total fiction, and then publishing it, we do expect a clear alteration of your story in print.

If you cannot find it in your heart to support an ignored and suffering low-income, minority neighborhood, at least you could refrain from slandering it.

Kevyn D. Lutton, Facilitator
Recall Sophie Drive Member, Shipyard Restoration Advisory Board

San Francisco

Steven T. Jones responds: We stand by the accuracy of the article (except for our statement that a recall election was "expected to be certified," when the announcement was made Tuesday, just after press time, that it didn't qualify for the ballot). Lutton did, in fact, confirm to me in a phone interview Randlett's involvement with the recall campaign. The article never claimed Randlett had provided money but quoted Lutton as saying that he pledged to do so. As for my interview with Washington, Lutton wasn't a party to that conversation and misrepresents both its tenor and substance.

What Lutton said

It's come to my attention that Kevyn Lutton is denying a conversation that she and I had at the Potrero Hill Merchants Association on July 13, where she told me that the source of funding for her latest recall effort against Sophie Maxwell was a private citizen on Potrero Hill.

The problem with her new story is that on July 13 she said exactly what I described (see "The Recall Mystery," 8/18/04). At that time, she also disavowed Willie Ratcliff's role in the recall, saying "he doesn't speak for the recall." Now, at the very time she acknowledges that fines from the city's Ethics Commission depend on her statements, Ms. Lutton conveniently changes her story, changes the recall's leadership, and charges me with initiating a false rumor. Again, all I have done was relate what was truly said.

I look forward to continuing the work I've been doing for years, with the Potrero Boosters, the Potrero Hill Merchants Association, the city's Southern Waterfront Advisory Committee, and many other individuals and organizations, for the improvement of the city's southeastern neighborhoods.

Tony Kelly, President

Potrero Boosters

San Francisco