Published since 2005. San Francisco is a city that belongs to the people of the world. Hence this blog has a global focus. The name "Sam Spade's San Francisco" refers to an exciting era in the City's history, the time of Dashiell Hammett's fictional gumshoe and San Francisco character, Sam Spade. My name is Tom Dunn and I edit the blog. I'm not as exciting as Sam Spade, but I am definitely a San Francisco character.Contact or on Twitter -- Search blog below.
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Thursday, January 10, 2008
Gerardo Sandoval Wants to be a Bully
San Francisco Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval is tired of being a team player. He wants to upset the apple cart, make everyone perturbed with him, and step on toes to get what he wants.He wants things done his way. Period.
He's an ambitious man.
Sandoval is going to be termed-out of his Board of Supervisor's seat at the end of the year. He represents the 11th District - the Ingleside District. It would appear that Sandoval has decided that working as a part of a team is less interesting to him than being the sole king of the hill.
Sandoval cannot run for mayor. The job is taken. He can't run for District Attorney either. We already have a stellar D.A. in Kamala Harris who is solidly popular. Kevin Ryan just landed the Mayor's Office on Criminal Justice job, so that's not available to Sandoval either.
He isn't sufficiently connected to the local political "inside" to run for a statewide office, so he's decided to try and push and shove his way into the judiciary. It's very bad form by an overly ambitious man who wants satisfaction immediately, if not sooner.
Gerardo Sandoval has decided to challenge a sitting San Francisco judge in the election this spring. That's where the problem arises.The Superior Court judges in San Francisco don't think very much of Sandoval's idea. Neither do people like me. In fact, it seems that a lot of very intelligent, professional, good San Franciscans think Sandoval's idea is bad form.
Some people see it as unethical.Unethical behavior is not a good thing on the resume of someone who wants to be a judge!
San Francisco Superior Court Presiding Judge David Ballati said, "I'm hoping that no sitting judge is challenged by anyone. Having gone through the election process, I like the system where people who are considering a position on the bench go through a vetting process and their qualifications are evaluated."
Judge Suzanne Bolanos, who knows Sandoval personally, said that while she certainly supports judicial diversity, a challenge of sitting judges is the wrong way to introduce more diversity.
Judge Bolanos also told the Recorder: "I think the way to achieve greater diversity on the bench is by encouraging the governor to consider that in his appointments, and I don't believe that a challenge to our incumbent judges is a way to achieve that goal."
Judge Kevin McCarthy said there needs to be a compelling reason to run against a sitting judge.Currently, there is no such compelling reason.
As a supervisor Gerardo Sandoval never impressed me much as being really in the core of the action. He doesn't seem to be on the A Team. Rather, he is somewhere comfortably hidden in the middle of the B Team. He's a ho-hum Supervisor. Why in hell would anyone want to elect a ho-hum attorney to the judiciary?
I cannot imagine what contribution Gerardo Sandoval thinks he can make in the judiciary. Other than the fact that he is Latino and liberal, he doesn't seem to have any impressive or important qualifications for office.The incumbent judges all seem to have better qualifications for the office - and they are incumbent! Why would we want to throw one of the judges off the bench just because Gerardo Sandoval wants a job.
Listen, Gerardo: It doesn't work that way, pal. You need to slow down a bit, take a good second look at your qualifications, think about the mess you are about to create, and think about the support you are going to lose from a lot of members of the Bar.
Being a team player, Gerardo, is a lot better than being a Diva.
If Gerardo Sandoval wants to be a judge, he needs to slow down, calm down and behave like a mature, intelligent attorney who has a healthy respect for our judiciary. Sandoval's time will come if he waits, but if he tries to bully and shove his way to the bench and throw another judge out, then Gerardo Sandoval is going to be going up against the majority of the San Francisco establishment and the majority of fair, decent and honest San Francisco voters.
If Sandoval moves forward with his ambitions at the expense of sitting judges, I will do whatever I can to assure his defeat. San Francisco is my home and I want our judiciary protected from power-hungry politicians who are soon to be out of a job and see the bench as an easy meal ticket.
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