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Public Eye
Wondering Eye
Only in an election year would some concerned citizen go out of his or her way to come to Metro's office and anonymously drop off a 30-page packet of information designed to link District 2 County Supervisor Blanca Alvarado with gambling interests. The "campaign literature" accuses Alvarado of taking more than $2,000 in campaign contributions from the Dalis family, former owners of the Garden City card club. ... While the information runs down the entire San Jose City Council's voting record on the issue of card clubs since 1982, it doesn't mention any of the other councilmembers--namely Mayor Susan Hammer, Alice Woody and Frank Fiscalini--who have received contributions from gambing interests. ... Obviously the Alvarado camp was nonplussed to hear of this little campaign missive, with chief aide Sylvia Gallegos harumphing: "Someone should have the guts to put their name on it." Eye thinks someone could probably do an accurate handwriting analysis of the notes scribbled in the margins (not to make any concerned citizens out there switch to block print). ... Wondering who would do such a thing, Eye called opponent Scott Mathieson, who said he had no idea who would do such a thing either, throwing in for good measure that he would "never" take money from people who make their living running card clubs. ... Speaking of money, Eye recently learned Mathieson tallied $23,406 in campaign funds during January and February, while Alvarado collected $13,825 ... not enough to make political insiders talk about an upset, but cause for contemplation. One well-placed Blanca supporter assured Eye that the race will be closer than anyone thinks.
Liu's Losses
The District 6 race gets stranger every time Eye looks in on it. This week we found that candidate Doris Liu is not having a good time at all. A week before Christmas, campaign manager Stefan Phillips disappeared and stopped returning her phone calls. Three weeks later he came back and Liu officially fired him. ... Trying to imagine what kind of campaign manager walks out on a client for three weeks, Eye launched an intensive search effort (OK, two phone calls) and found Phillips shacked up in his Oakland office, happy to give a candid interview ... Phillips admitted he left Liu to work on the volatile Pick-Your-Part issue here in San Jose, which gobbled up all of his time. He refused to tell Eye which side he was on, but he was more than willing to continue spinning Liu's good points and slamming incumbent Frank Fiscalini ... After the Phillips' fiasco, Liu turned to another Oaktown political consultant, Lyle Brown. In February, she fired him, too. Now Liu's campaign is being managed by longtime San Jose community activist Janet Dailey. "Those guys were just thinking of more ways to get money out of me," Liu said. "Now I have a woman, who is much more superior" ... But when asked about Dailey's campaign experience, Liu admitted she didn't think her new campaign manager had any. Liu, who has yet to report any monetary contributions, said she has begun her fundraising and should be able to catch the Fiscalini machine in the final weeks. ... As for catching anything, Liu wishes she caught herself Christmas night when she tripped over a tree root in front of a neighbor's home. Liu couldn't smile or walk for a month, which for a politician is like being hog-tied. Liu relates, however, she learned a new word from this experience, namely "frenulum," the area between the lip and the nose, which Liu damaged.
Fan Flaming
On a recent foray through newsgroups ba.broadcast and ba.general, Eye found KTVU's erstwhile morning weatherman Brian Copeland stuck in bed with a neck injury saying that the good folks who participate in the newsgroups are the only thing that's been "keeping [him] going these last couple of days." Perhaps, Eye speculates, to excess. Unfortunately, "Copie," as he signs his email missives, has raised the ire of some regular denizens by suggesting a moderated--read controlled--Bay Area broadcast newsgroup, akin to skin removal for some self-appointed Internet guardians. One poster, who signs his email as Bill Di Scipio, has accused Copie of harrassing him via email and of being hypocritical, arrogant and a tyrant (this private war goes back into December when Di Scipio said something negative about Copeland and questioned just how authentic his grief was over the death of talk-show host Duane Garrett). Copeland took offense and replied with a few choice words of his own, calling Di Scipio an "asshole" and a "mean, hateful, viscious, miserable prick," just to give a few of the highlights. ... After he got wind of Eye writing about this flamefest, Copeland called our office and verified that he is indeed the Copie who has posted the missives, and wanted to clarify things for Eye, if needed. ... As for the rather intense flame of Di Scipio, Copeland said, "In hindsight, maybe I was harsher than I should have been, but I make no excuses." ... Copeland claims he was good friends with Garrett and he was fed up with people who didn't know him making unfounded remarks ... .
Fried Green Republicans
Being a gay Republican has never been easy, and it's certainly become much more difficult during the ascendancy of Pat Buchanan. The gay Log Cabin members in attendance at the GOP's statewide convention in Burlingame earlier this month were cringing when former White House aide Lyn Nofziger joked with the 2,000 delegates that Bill and Hillary Clinton first met because "they were both dating the same girl." ... Buchanan placed second to Bob Dole in the convention's straw poll, but at least one of Buchanan's California supporters is waving the rainbow flag. Justin Raimondo of San Francisco is running against Democrat Nancy Pelosi for the 8th district U.S. House seat. Raimondo is gay and he supports Buchanan--a rare combination that's netting him newspaper and TV exposure. ... Republican state Sen. Richard Mountjoy of Arcadia, who's coordinating Buchanan's California campaign, says he's never heard of Raimondo. But Mountjoy notes, "If the guy agrees with us, what the heck."
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