Our super-secret SFist sources have notified us that Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, repping the eleven for the Excelsior, is holding a rally today at noon, on the steps of City Hall.
, you ask. Is he that worked up about line-item veto power over the MUNI budget? Well, no. So when Sandoval was running for reelection to the Board of Supes, someone anonymously started putting out flyers calling him anti-Semitic. (Sandoval made some unfortunate statements back in 2001.) Sandoval handily won District 11, but was so upset about the anonymous mailers that he sued.
Funny, that First Amendment. So Duane Baughman, the political consultant whose clients put out the flyers (and who's now working with Mayor Bloomberg in NY), claimed that Sandoval's lawsuit impinged on his First Amendment rights to call anyone a Nazi that he wants -- and he won. So, under California law, Sandoval is now on the hook for Baughman's legal fees, to the tune of $143K. Sandoval is now saying he might have to sell his house to pay.
So Sandoval's holding a rally today to bring people's attention to the issue of anonymous mailers -- he's never figured out who paid for the flyers, but he suspects it's Don Fisher from the Gap -- and to protest the fees being assessed against him. It sounds like the whole progressive gang's gonna be there! And -- dare we dream? Maybe even Chris Daly? Oh, you better believe we're checking this one out!
