The Political's Getting A Little Too Personal In Daly City
Yes, the political is personal, but it's not supposed to be this personal -- Leah Berlanga (pictured at right), who's running for one of the three seats open on the Daly City city council against three incumbents, just found out that her allegedly-abusive ex-husband Frank has filed to run for a seat too.
Leah Berlanga claims that Frank had repeatedly threatened to run for office against her to embarrass her, and to use the public forum as an excuse to violate the restraining order she currently has pending against him. Frank is currently in custody at the San Mateo jail for violating an unspecified term of his probation in June, and thus was unavailable for comment.
Both Leah and Frank are active in local politics -- Leah is the former president of the Daly City Homeowners and Residents Association and a member of the Daly City Parks and Rec Committee, while Frank has run for the Democratic County Central Committee, appeared on behalf of a Daly City rep before the State Senate and has served on the Bond Oversight Committee (we think for Daly City, we can't tell from these Google searches.) The two of them were named the Daly City citizens of the year in 2000.
Leah and Frank separated in 2004, and she obtained a restraining order against him. In March 2005, Leah reported Frank to the cops for leaving a threatening letter at her house. Frank was found guilty of violating the restraining order, put in jail for 10 days, and placed on probation for 2 years. Leah would not discuss the circumstances of Frank's current incarceration, citing the ongoing investigation. Frank's scheduled to appear before the San Mateo court today.
In terms of the actual election, both Leah and Frank are in an uphill battle -- no city council incumbent has ever been defeated in Daly City history. Apparently there's been a lot of infighting in the Daly City council, though, and two of the incumbents running in the race are declining to endorse the third one, deciding to support Leah instead. This should be one to watch.