Government
Nov. 28, 2001
ELECTIONS
SAN FRANCISCO - Following up on a pledge to run a grass-roots campaign for San Francisco public defender, candidate Jeff Adachi announced Monday that his supporters had collected 9,500 signatures towards getting his name on the March ballot.
Candidates had until 5 p.m. Monday to qualify for the ballot by submitting 11,536 petition signatures. The deadline to qualify by paying a $2,884 filing fee falls on Dec. 7.
Since Adachi fell short of the required number of signatures, he must pay approximately $500 to make up the difference.
Adachi said during a news conference on the steps of City Hall that more important than the money he saved through the signature drive was that his volunteers had canvassed many of the city's neighborhoods.
"Because of your efforts in getting these signatures, we touched thousands of potential voters, letting them know that they count and that they can make a difference in this election," Adachi told a noon crowd of about 40 people.
Adachi's only known competitor in the public defender race is incumbent Kimiko Burton.
Adachi underscored a second theme that will surely color the campaign.
"The fact that we were able to gather so many signatures represents the hope that the people can elect their leaders on the basis of qualifications and experience, not special interests and political connections," he said.
Adachi has been critical of the process by which Burton became public defender in January. Adachi, a longtime deputy public defender who served for several years as chief assistant to former Public Defender Jeff Brown, had been singled out by Brown as his hand-picked successor.
But when Brown resigned from the job after 22 years, before his term expired, to accept an appointment to the state Public Utilities Commission, he left the post open to appointment by Mayor Willie Brown. The mayor tapped Burton, the daughter of his close friend and political ally, state Sen. President Pro Tem John Burton. She then fired Adachi, who is now works as a private criminal defense attorney.
City elections officials said Kimiko Burton had turned in approximately 730 petition signatures as of Monday. Burton was out of her office and not available to comment. Her campaign manager, Nathan Ballard, also could not be reached for comment.
Adachi said in an interview following his news conference that the signature drive was consistent with his campaign plan.
"We will not be trying to match Burton dollar for dollar," Adachi said. "Ours is a people's campaign and our strategy is of going voter to voter as opposed to using the kind of slick media that comes with big money."
The most recent campaign finance disclosure reports filed Oct. 25 showed that Adachi had raised $185,847 and had spent $36,865. Burton had raised $511,025 and had spent $57,029.
Both candidates have vowed to stay within the city's voluntary $175,000 spending limit, but neither has ruled out spending more if the opposition breaks the limit first.
"We will continue to raise funds which will provide us with money in the likely event that the Burtons break the spending cap," Adachi said.
Political consultant Eric Jaye said that collecting the 9,500 signatures was "a small tactical achievement," for Adachi.
"[The Adachi campaign] had to pay a small filing fee, which I'm sure they did not want to pay at all," said Jaye, who runs Storefront Political Media in San Francisco. "But, they got a chance to train their field operation so they will know what they are doing in the future."
Jaye said $500,000 was an impressive amount for the Burton campaign to have raised so far. He said the amount was about what candidates in city-wide races for the board of supervisors typically might have raised before the city turned to district elections.
Robert Selna
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