Well, since old Cunningham decided to write about the OC Lincoln Club, I thought I’d finish the short report I was writing on the San Diego Lincoln Club.
Last Thursday night I attended the 22nd Annual Dinner of the Lincoln Club of San Diego County. It easy fell into the top few local political fundraising events I’ve attended over the last ten years or so, and demonstrated the meteoric re-birth of the organization. The dinner featured a moving tribute to one of San Diego’s truly great men, Corky McMillin, a Cardinal of the Republican Party who passed away this year, and a keynote address by new Mayor Jerry Sanders.
It’s no national secret that I really dislike speeches – particularly the run of the mill boring non-partisan ones, but also the long ones over say 10 minutes. Jerry Sanders was neither boring nor long. In fact, and this is a rare treat, I and the other folks at the Francis table were moved and excited. In about ten minutes, Sanders outlined a program of real reform at City Hall with the calm authority of a man that says what he means, and means what he says. He was very clear that he had every intention of living up to his campaign pledges – and I believed him. There was very little rhetoric. Very little concentration on the various non-issues that we spent years listening to to distract us from the growing fiscal and ethical crisis at City Hall. His clarity was singular… I may actually try to get a copy of the speech on Monday and republish it here.
From my exposure to Sanders and his team over the last few weeks I’ve actually grown optimistic about the future of our city. It’s not all smoke and mirrors. Frankly they are just more serious, and I realize we are just a little way into this administration, than any administration I’ve seen since I moved here. Less insider driven. And better armed to actually implement change (now that we have the strong mayor system he has the capability of reaching down into the management of the city and replacing folks who do not feel comfortable with the culture of change with folks who do).
Perhaps as important, Sanders is not afraid to spend his political chits. He’s engaged in the ferocious battle of reformers v. machine now raging in the 2nd Council District. The results of this battle will determine whether reformers or the status quo control the council, and how friendly the council will be to the Mayor’s reform proposals. Sanders has endorsed and actively supports Faulconer (disclosure: Coronado Communication’s client) against Bustamonte aid (need I write more) Gonzalez. The election is January 10, and out-of-state labor unions are already demonstrating their commitment to prevent reform by opening the financial floodgates in a barrage of nasty mail.
This leads us back to the Lincoln Club, whose leaders sagely determined a couple of years ago to mostly focus on the City of San Diego, and to update their organization’s campaign tactics from simple contributions (not helpful since contribution limits are the set at the incredibly corrupting $250 per person level, no corporate contributions) to independent expenditures. Note than independent expenditures by an organization are also limited to the number of $250 personal contributors the organization has, which gives labor unions an obvious strategic advantage since they tend to have hundreds or thousands of personal contributors who MUST pay up. This determination (and a renewed commitment to expanding and maintaining the large membership required to play under the $250 rule), quality events, and the incredible professionalism and dedication of Chairman Bob Watkins, his Board of Directors, and Executive Director Chris Niemeyer has made the Club major players in the city’s politics.