DCCC and Prostitution; Rodel Rodis Responds ...Aug. 18‚ 2008To the Editor: As a progressive Democrat, I support the efforts to move our local Democratic Party's agenda to the left. Decriminalizing prostitution is not a progressive position. The exploitation of women's bodies for money is not a progressive value. Justifying that exploitation under the guise of "protecting women" is pure sophistry. Women do not sell their bodies because it's a fun career choice. They do it because they don't have better options. Let's put forward truly progressive options for women to earn a living wage - to escape oppression, including sexual exploitation- and make San Francisco a just, equitable place. Prosecute those who profit from the sale of the bodies of women - let's be the place that provides women opportunities, instead of our present dubious distinction as the place of destination for thousand of young women from poor countries sold into sexual slavery. As I had hoped that a progressive slate would mean a progressive agenda, I have wondered if the vote on Wednesday would have been different if more progressive women were members of the DCCC. As the new progressive majority and leadership of the party forges ahead to a new era, I challenge them to strive for gender equality and diversity - including among its own ranks, as the truly progressive value. Myrna Melgar San Francisco Dear Editor, As a regular reader and past columnist for BeyondChron, I was surprised by the August 14, 2008 article Paul Hogarth wrote about the SF Democratic Party County Central Committee (DCCC) endorsements. Hogarth chose to highlight in his first paragraph the fact that I only received 5 votes from the DCCC (“Even College Board incumbent Rodel Rodis only got five votes - hurting his re-election prospects.”) Paul must not have known that I did not submit my application for DCCC endorsement, that I did not make any calls to any DCCC member to lobby for DCCC endorsement and that I did not appear for any DCCC interviews. I did not seek the DCCC endorsement for two reasons. The first is that I have been extremely busy this past month, as president of the Ninoy Aquino Movement (NAM), coordinating the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, the act which inspired the People Power revolution in the Philippines that overthrew the Marcos Dictatorship. Your readers are invited to attend our Candlelight Vigil and March on August 21, 2008 at 6 PM in front of San Francisco City Hall and to watch the world premier of the documentary “Beyond Conspiracy: 25 Years After the Aquino Assassination” which will be shown at the Green Room of the War Memorial Bldg at 7:30 PM right after the candlelight vigil and march. The second reason I did not submit my application for DCCC endorsement is that I did not believe I would have a chance of securing the majority’s endorsement. I actively campaigned against Chris Daly when he last ran for reelection in 2006 because of the underhanded manner with which he maneuvered the defunding of the West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Center and then allotted the funds to community organizations beholden to him to create a personal fiefdom in District 6. I also have had disputes with Sen. Leland Yee and Supervisor Aaron Peskin over the City College Chinatown campus and denying me DCCC endorsement would be payback for them. I assessed that I could not even count on the “moderate” camp of the DCCC to support me because it is headed by Scott Weiner, the Deputy City Attorney who has brought my federal civil rights lawsuit over my false arrest by San Francisco Police Officers on February 17, 2003 all the way to the US Supreme Court (read the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s article “Real Money, False Arrest” July 9-15, 2008). Paul also chose to include a public comment by Roy Recio claiming that “the Pilipino community does not support (me).” I write a syndicated weekly column (“Telltale Signs”) that appears in at least six (6) San Francisco Bay Area Filipino community newspapers (12 nationally) and I have been elected and re-elected to the College Board since 1992 with the full enthusiastic support of my Filipino community. In all these past elections, Recio has not only never supported me (or any Filipino candidate for public office for that matter), but he has always actively campaigned against me. When I lobbied to change the street name of Phelan Avenue (named after a racist San Francisco mayor and California senator who advocated for Asian exclusion) to Marasigan Avenue after Violeta Marasigan, a Filipino American community activist who died in a San Francisco accident in 2000, Roy Recio opposed the move because, as he wrote to AsianWeek, my initiative did not come from his Pilipino community. Paul gave Recio far too much credit and he allowed his article to be used to discredit me in Recio’s vain hope that this time, with the support of his patron saint Chris Daly in the DCCC, he will succeed in seriously “hurting (my) re-election prospects.” He shouldn’t celebrate just yet. Rodel E. Rodis Elected Member SF Community College Board You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to: Beyond Chron 126 Hyde Street San Francisco, CA 94102 415-771-9850 (phone) |