Reporting by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

NGNO Coverage of Election 2001

Candidates for Defeated Utility Board Plot Moves

By Rosa Yum

SAN FRANCISCO, November 7 — News that thousands of ballots from Tuesday's election were left unguarded by law enforcement gave little hope to candidates for a proposed municipal utility district board that was narrowly defeated by voters.

With nearly final returns showed Measure I defeated by a 51 percent to 49 percent margin, many of the 23 candidates resolved to go on with their lives. A parallel ballot initiative, Measure F, which would also shift electricity sales in San Francisco from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to a government-run agency, narrowly passed.

Joe Alioto Veronese who won the race in Ward 2 for a seat on the non-existent board that would have been created by Measure I, said the issue of the unguarded ballots was "absolutely absurd."

"The attorney general should step in to investigate, because these (the ballots) should not have been left and unwatched," Veronese said.

Phil Ting, who lost to Joel Ventresca in Ward 3 said he's happy the election is over, "though I'm sad I didn't get passed." Ting predicted the uncounted ballots would not reverse the outcome.

He said, "(Measure) I is a completely new body, while F is changing an existing body into something new, so it's not as foreign to people."

Jim Reid, who lost to Crystal Chamness in Ward 5, said he will be persistent like "President Abraham Lincoln".

"He's such a great role model, I'd probably try to run for F (Municipal Water and Power Agency). I'm not going to give up," Reid said.

Pro-MUD San Francisco Port Commissioner, Pius Lee who stationed himself at City Hall election night to show his support for Chinese-American candidates Leanna Louie and Ting, noted that few voters showed up at the polls.

And, he said, "The Chinese voters were not clear about measure I, and that it was the first time for Phil and Leanna to run so not very many people knew them."

Louie said she plans on talking to other candidates to lay groundwork for next year's election. "Most of the candidates went into this without much detail. I plan on visiting Sacramento MUD and talking to people," said Louie.

Chamness, who carried Ward 4, said there is still a chance for a public power board like that proposed in Measure I.

"San Francisco voters are pretty finicky. For domestic partners, it took three times to pass," Chamness, a water quality engineer who works for San Francisco Public Utility Commission pointed out, "so it's not surprising that it (Measure I) didn't pass this time, but if it ran again, I bet it would (pass)."

Chamness, who took out a personal loan to pay for her campaign finances said she will run again for a board similar to the one that would have been created by Measure I. But she ruled out running for the board that will be created by Measure F because she is an employee at the about-to-be extinct PUC.

"I'm going to be my boss' boss," she said. "That's weird."