Gathering of Dem women turns into angry showdown

Heather Knight, City Insider columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, is seen on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. Heather Knight, City Insider columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, is seen on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Russell Yip, The Chronicle Photo: Russell Yip, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Gathering of Dem women turns into angry showdown 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

It was supposed to be like "A League of Their Own," but it's showing shades of "Mean Girls."

We told you recently about an effort by the 18 women running in the June 5 election for seats on the city's Democratic County Central Committee to band together to publish slate cards, hold fundraisers, walk precincts and mentor each other. It was supposed to show that women can change the often nasty tenor of politics.

But the group's most recent meeting devolved into an angry showdown featuring a wagging finger, shouting "Shut up!", accusations of sabotage, a fuming early exit by three members and at least one upturned chair. And former Supervisor Chris Daly wasn't even there!

At issue was some progressive newcomers' inability to pony up the $1,000 they'd all agreed to contribute to publish the slate cards. Those will be going out soon to the roughly 23,000 "perfect women voters" in the city, meaning females who've voted in the past five city elections.

Apparently, Supervisor Malia Cohen told the cash-poor women they had to "pay to play," and attorney Kat Anderson accused them of sabotaging the entire effort. Then somebody accused Anderson of "living in the Marina," which is a fact, but apparently a mean one.

That's when Hene Kelly, a progressive stalwart and self-described "den mother" for the newcomers, told school board member Hydra Mendoza - who was trying to calm everybody down - to shut up and wagged her finger. Then, Kelly upturned her chair (she says that was out of sheer clumsiness) and stormed out of the room with the newcomers, Wendy Aragon and Kelly Dwyer.

"I just didn't want people to be shamed in there or to feel like second-class citizens," Kelly said. "What is this saying about women ... they can't help each other? It is breaking my heart."

Aragon said she's definitely not participating in the women's slate anymore.

"It turned into animal farm - it was even worse than watching men fight," she said. "It was mean girl bullying in that room - that's not why I'm here as a woman or here in politics."

Sounds like Kelly is out too. She said, "I am comfortable with being on a slate who wants me for who I am, not because I have ovaries."

Cohen, Anderson and women's slate founder Alix Rosenthal said they'd like all to come together again, but also point out that anybody who can't raise $1,000 doesn't have a shot at winning anyway.

"Running for office is more than a notion," Cohen said. "There's a certain level of organization that has to exist, and part of it has to do with fundraising."

Rosenthal said what happened is a sign of a larger problem in San Francisco politics.

"I think it's a symptom of this male-dominated political system we have where progressives and moderates have been conditioned to hate each other in this city," she said. "We all have to practice kindness."

That three-hour Ethics Commission hearing Monday to launch the investigation into whether suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi should be removed from office left far more questions than answers.

The chief one: Just how long will this drag on?

"Two months, 27 days, 14 hours," joked John St. Croix, director of the commission. "It's hard to say, but maybe two to three months from now, it should be resolved."

Well, not fully. That's his guess for when the Ethics Commission will turn over its findings to the Board of Supervisors, which then has 30 days to decide Mirkarimi's fate.

That means the supervisors could be voting right around Labor Day, the traditional start of full-fledged campaign season leading up to the November election in which six seats are up for grabs. It'll take nine votes of the 11-member board to remove Mirkarimi, and his closest friends and political allies are all up for re-election.

Like they say, timing is everything - and the timing couldn't be worse for the progressive supervisors.

Count another former commission member who's irked by Mayor Ed Lee's handling (or lack thereof) of his removal. As we've reported, Police Commissioner Jamie Slaughter and Health Commissioners Jim Illig and Steven Tierney were told by Lee's secretary in phone calls that they were off their boards.

Tom Pier, husband of former Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, wasn't surprised. Appointed in 2010 by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom to serve on the Human Rights Commission, he, too, got the boot. Right after his wife spoke out in October against questionable voting practices by Lee's supporters during the mayor's race.

"The next day or the day after that, I got a call from some woman in the appointments office who said not only are you not getting reappointed, but she explicitly told me not to attend the next meeting," Pier recalled. "I think people would appreciate a little thank you note or something at least recognizing their services."

Christine Falvey, spokeswoman for Lee, said Pier's term had simply expired and any link between his dismissal and his wife's mayoral campaign "would be pure fantasy."

The recent column on rude Muni riders who won't give up their seats for pregnant women prompted a deluge of response - but no change in the courtesy level on buses.

I was riding an underground train the other day with my toddler. We were standing alongside an elderly man. The seats for disabled people and seniors were filled with hipsters who stayed seated the entire time.

"I wanna get off," my boy said. Yeah, buddy, we know the feeling.

Heather Knight is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer and covers City Hall politics. hknight@sfchronicle.com