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Complete archives for People

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So, when did you decide to run for mayor of San Francisco?

November of last year, after Jesse Ventura's victory in Minnesota. It proved that an independent candidate could win and could win a high office. At the time I was really frustrated also. I had lived in San Francisco for 10 years. I saw how politics operated in the city and was disgusted with it, but never felt like I could do anything besides vote. Even when I did do something else, it didn't seem like it ever mattered. All the newspapers were saying that Willie Brown didn't have any competition, that he would win hands-down. It made me really mad.

When I get frustrated, I usually do something creative. I decided to send out a press release to all the local papers, and the S.F. Weekly covered it. They ran this tongue-in-cheek article in the section called Riff Raff. The S.F. Reform Party found the article and they called and said, "We are interested in supporting your campaign. We would like to meet with you." I was somewhat nervous about that because it added a whole new level of seriousness.

But this all started as a joke, right?

It was kind of a joke, yes. It was publicity for my band, SuperBooty, and I thought at the very least somebody should stand up and do something. I met with the chair of the San Francisco Reform Party and we had this great hour-long conversation, met totally eye-to-eye on everything as far as what we see is wrong with politics on national, state and local levels. I have always voted independent, and I voted for Ross Perot. I knew at that point that I could run with my own party, which was then called the Booty Party, but it wouldn't have gone anywhere because I didn't have any resources at my disposal. So I decided to go for it.

Most people think of voting for a third party as throwing away their vote.

I think that is true in some ways. They think that third-party candidates don't have a chance in hell of winning. But I believe that voting for politicians, career politicians, people who are part of a corrupt system, like the Democratic Party seems to be in San Francisco, is throwing away a vote. That is just like saying, we accept mediocrity. We accept corruption and we accept things working out for a very small demographic.

Are people taking you seriously?

A lot of people ask me that -- how can we take you seriously, or why would anyone vote for you? We are taking it very seriously. If you look at the candidates so far and what the polls say, no one is really happy with the main candidates. Jesse Ventura proved that anyone has a chance and he was a straight shooter. He spoke from the heart. He wasn't afraid to make a mistake. He did make mistakes, but he didn't pull any punches. He spoke his mind and he didn't have any political baggage. That is what we are doing and I think that will really resonate with a lot of people.

What are your key issues?

Our platform is reforming the government. Getting all the money out of the campaigns. Getting just regular everyday people into office. All the experience that our elected officials now have hasn't made this city any better, because they are not really listening to the voters. They are not really putting them first. Everyone else is put first -- special interest groups and political insiders, lobbyists and developers.

Another thing that Minnesota had, which really helped Jesse Ventura, is same-day voter registration. If you weren't registered to vote, you could register and vote on the very same day. It is a wonderful idea; a lot of young people who had never registered before understood that, oh my gosh, this is Election Day. I can still go in and vote. Here in San Francisco if you have not registered by Oct. 1, you're out of luck.

Next page | Willie Brown's choice words for the Booty candidate