Migden Hijacks Milk Club; Meeting Ends in ChaosPaul Hogarthbyline‚ Oct. 24‚ 2007At last night’s Harvey Milk Club meeting, State Senator Carole Migden’s campaign stacked the club with East Bay attorneys, and then rammed through an early endorsement schedule that disenfranchised 39 regular club members. Basic appeals to reason about having a fair process that everyone can agree on were ignored – as the Migden camp knew they had the votes in the room as long as their motions got speeded through. After passing a flawed endorsement process, Migden supporters tried to adjourn the meeting – but Club member Paul Melbostad (who supports Mark Leno) made a motion to reconsider the vote at the next meeting because the current attendance was an unrepresentative sample of the club. His motion prevailed, at which point the Club President adjourned the meeting – but Migden supporter Rafael Mandelman insisted he was now in charge, and moved to undo Melbostad’s motion. It was a truly ugly moment for the club – one that can only make people more cynical about politics. If Carole Migden thinks she can get away with a club endorsement through this process, she is sorely mistaken. |