JOE ALIOTO, JR. ENTERS SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT 3 RACE - ‘BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HAS BECOME A ZOO’ - SMALL BUSINESS, TRANSPORATION, CRIME THE MAJOR ISSUES
21 March 2008
Joe Alioto, Jr., right, launches campaign for San Francisco District 3 supervisor
seat with Mayor Gavin Newsom asserting the candidate has an “extraordinarily
bright future.”
Photo by Bill Wilson © 2008
BY PAT MURPHY
Sentinel Editor & Publisher
Copyright © 2008
Attorney Joe Alioto, Jr. prioritized small business, transporation, and crime issues as spearhead of his District 3 supervisor campaign launched Wednesday.
Some 400 supporters, many interwined through family connection, attended campaign kick-off March 19 at Alioto’s Restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf.
DINING VIEW FROM ALIOTO’S RESTAURANT
“Luckily I’ve got family about three times the size of District 3,” Alioto scanned the crowd as he began remarks.
Anna Alioto
Photo by Bill Wilson © 2008
Angelina Alioto, left
Photo by Bill Wilson © 2008
Well known families Alioto, Callan, Farrah, Newsom, and Lazio merge through marriage, all long involved in San Francisco politics and community life.
Matriarch Frances Alioto, right
Photo by Bill Wilson © 2008
Mayor Newsom is attended by neices Siena Callan, left, and Talitha
Callan prior to the mayor’s second term inaugural Mass at Mission
Dolores Basilica. Seen right background, is Judge William Newsom,
Gavin Newsom’s father
From left, Geoff Callan, Gian-Paolo Veronese, Joe Alioto, Jr. Geoff Callan and Hillary Newsom Callan are the parents of Siena and Talitha Callan. Gian-Paolo Veronese is
the son of Angela Alioto and brother to Joe Alioto Veronese. Gian-Paolo Veronese
and Joe Alioto, Jr. are cousins
Photo by Bill Wilson © 2008
Current most prominent family member, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, credited Joseph Alioto, Jr. with an array of skills.
“Joe is incredibly articulate, he’s engaging, he’s personable, he’s bright, he’s got a good instinct and intuition,” Newsom told the Sentinel.
“He’s obviously from a very political background but also a principled background and he’s got a rare combination of those talents, and so I think — and I’ve said this to a lot of people — if he can actually succeed with this race he will have an extraordinarily bright future.
“I don’t say that, honestly, about a lot of people in local politics because you never know — local politics usually eats you up and spits you out.
“But I think he’s got an incredibly bright future.
“I think his hardest race will be this first race for supervisor.
“But he is a formidable person and I don’t think people should look upon him lightly in this race at all because, I think, a lot of people are just assuming that there are some insider picks that are sort of predetermined in terms of their destiny in this race.
“I admire, by the way, David Chiu. I think he’s a very bright person as well.
“But I think Joe has got a real shot at this and is going to be a formidable candidate.”
Newsom has not endorsed a candidate in the District 3 race but notes he will endorse soon.
The mayor will endorse a District 3 candidate, “Hopefully soon — it’s just whenever these guys want me to endorse him,” Newsom told the Sentinel.
Alioto grinned that choosing March 19 to launch his campaign held special significance.
“Some of you may not know that today, March 19, is the Feast Day of St. Joseph,” Alioto explained to laughs.
“So now you have some understanding of why this party is taking place today. It’s not an accident.
“St. Joseph’s Day — St. Joseph, of course, is the Great Carpenter — and St. Joseph is the Patron Saint of Carpenters.
“To me, it made perfect sense to have it today, to have the start and this great kick-off of this great campaign because it represents the building — we are laying the foundation and this campaign is going to be run on the very grassroots level.
“We’re going from one voter to the next, one voter at a time, one hammer swing at a time as a carpenter.”
The day also holds signifcance to families, Alioto continued.
“St. Joseph’s Day is also the day that Italians celebrate Father’s Day.”
Joe Alioto, Jr. with father Joe Alioto
Photo by Bill Wilson © 2008
“I just want to say a special word to all the fathers and to my dad Joe.
“He and his father, also Joe, the great mayor of San Francisco, they celebrated St. Joseph’s Day so this is a very special day not just for us but for all fathers.”
Mayor Joe Alioto with daughter Angela Alioto watching November
1992 vote tally which elected Angela Alioto to the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors
Joe Alioto, Jr. began campaigning two months ago.
“I know this is the kick-off event but the fact of that matter is that I have been hustling for the last two months,” stated Alioto.
“I have been walking the streets, and talking to community leaders, and meeting people in the district, and talking to voters, one at a time.
Nathan Nayman, vice president for Government Relations at Visa Inc., seen at left
Photo by Bill Wilson © 2008
“I’m out in the coffee shops meeting the people one at a time. That is what it’s going to take to win this race, I think.
“What I’m hearing are two main questions.
“The questions are, number one, ‘Why are you running for office?’ and immediately before that is, ‘What, are you nuts?’
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HAS BECOME A ZOO
“They say to me, ‘Look, the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco has become a zoo,’ present parties excepted.
Alioto’s sister, Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, nodded gratitude.
“The main problem that we’re experiencing in San Francisco is a very, very basic issue.
“And that is, ‘Can the people that are entrusted with making the laws in San Francisco, can these people get along and figure out ways to use the legislative process not for personal political reasons, not for pay back, not for any of that.’
“But rather to use the legislative authority and power that they have to forward policy in San Francisco for the betterment of San Franciscans.
“I don’t think the Board of Supervisors has been doing that, and I want to be elected in order to bring a fresh face to San Francisco politics, to see if we can figure out ways and solutions — you know, a lot of supervisors from the far left to the far right have some great ideas.
“But these ideas are getting lost in some of the venom and in some of the personal ideologies, some of the personalities.
“We have to put that aisde.”
THREE MAIN ISSUES
“We really need to be working on small businesses,” Alioto maintained.
“Small business needs to be revitalized, not just in North Beach, and not just in District 3, not just at Fisherman’s Wharf, but throughout San Francisco.
“If you walk up Columbus Avenue you will see five boarded up storefronts in the heart of North Beach.
400 Block of Columbus Avenue
“That is inexecusable, and I am currently working on a proposal that will give incentives to small businesses, that will serve the community, giving them incentives to come into the City.
NORTH BEACH THE CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO BOHEMIA
Suble yet unmistakable sense of escape from the United States
“That’s number one. Number two, of course, is transportation.
“One of the big issues on transportation in San Francisco right now is the Central Subway.
“The Central Subway is currently scheduled to go from Market Street into Chinatown.
“That’s a great idea, but there’s a major problem with the Central Subway — it doesn’t go far enough.
“So a second prong is that we need to make sure that we are making San Francisco have a better infrastructure for transportation, which will allow us to take additional cars off the road which, of course, has great enviornmental impact.”
Alioto’s third priority is crime reduction.
“Finally, the third thing is crime,” continued the candidate.
“You don’t have to far to see the problems of crime in San Francisco.
“Ninety-eight homicides last year — a record in San Francisco.
“And that number is already up in just two or three months.”
ENTHUSIASM ESSENTIAL
“I see candidates out on the trail… and they look at me and they go, ‘Oh man, it’s just so exhausting.’
“They’re having a hard time, and it is exhausting.
“But I have to tell you that I’m having so much fun running for office it’s a joke — this is the best job I’ve ever had!“
Erica Galos Alioto with husband Joe Alioto, Jr.
Photo by Bill Wilson © 2008
Anna Alioto with Sentinel Editor & Publisher Pat Murphy
Photo by Bill Wilson © 2008
PAT MURPHY
Sentinel Editor & Publisher
In his youth, Pat Murphy worked as a General Assignment reporter for the Richmond Independent, the Berkeley Daily Gazette, and the San Francisco Chronicle. He served as Managing Editor of the St. Albans (Vermont) Daily Messenger at age 21. Murphy also launched ValPak couponing in San Francisco, as the company’s first San Francisco franchise owner. He walked the bricks, developing ad strategy for a broad range of restaurants and merchants. Pat knows what works and what doesn’t work. His writing skill has been employed by marketing agencies, including Don Solem & Associates. He has covered San Francisco governance for the past eleven years. Pat scribes an offbeat opinion column of the human family. Email Pat Murphy at SanFranciscoSentinel@yahoo.com.
BILL WILSON
Sentinel Photographer
Bill Wilson is a veteran freelance photographer whose work is published by San Francisco and Bay Area media. Bill embraced photography at the age of eight. In recent years, his photos capture historic record of the San Francisco LGBT community in the Bay Area Reporter (BAR). Bill has contributed to the Sentinel for the past four years. Email Bill Wilson at wfwilson@sbcglobal.net.
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