Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005

CONTRA COSTA TIMES
By Rebecca Rosen Lum

McLaughlin Proves a Pragmatist

Her strong November showing stunned Richmond's political establishment, but since Green Party candidate Gayle McLaughlin joined the City Council, she has earned respect, even from some who saw her as an ideologue ill-suited for the tedious, brick-by-brick work that elective office requires. Since her grass-roots campaign paid off in votes -- she was third in a field of 15 -- her push for transparency has helped build bridges on the council and with the public. She said: "I try to let others see me for who I am and I try to see people for who they are."

She enjoyed success early, marshaling support for a resolution to transfer oversight of the controversial Campus Bay cleanup to the rigorous Department of Toxic Substances Control. "I feel very good about that," she said. "It was a collective effort."

Her mark as a skilled pragmatist mirrors the maturity of Greens, who embrace transparency in government, environmental protection, and community-based economics. As of June, at least 222 Greens hold elective office in 27 states and Washington, D.C., including 67 in California: five mayors, one county supervisor and 20 city council members.

Greens are no longer the odd elected officials on a handful of special district and school boards. They make up as much as a half of some city councils -- many of them in Northern California -- and are capturing county and even a few statewide offices.

"When we got the party on the ballot 15 years ago, people were running for about anything that came up -- people would get elected because there's a wetlands or because there's a big box (store), or a tree cut, or something that needed to be talked about," said Beth Moore Haines, a state Green Party spokeswoman.

The party opted not to run a candidate against Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, tripping off internal infighting. "We didn't have the experience," Moore Haines said. "We've matured a lot politically. We host a candidate school once a year in California. We tell people, we can't be so single topic-focused."

Now, Greens have held office for as long as 20 years. Berkeley Councilwoman Dona Spring has 14 years. When San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonzalez called it quits, voters replaced him with another Green, Ross Mirkarimi. Lynda Deschambault sits on the Moraga Town Council, and Rebecca Kaplan is director-at-large for Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District.

Not everyone recognizes the Greens as a party with longevity. Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson, asked if she knew that Andres Soto, a contender for a recent council vacancy, and McLaughlin are both Greens, she said, "Yes, I'm aware they both belong to the same special-interest group."

No matter, said Moore Haines: "The Sierra Club began 100 years ago as an upstart. Today they're the landed gentry."

Before the election, McLaughlin came to every meeting, reliably berating the council, most often for failure to protect public health and the environment or for giving ChevronTexaco too wide a berth.

"She's been a pragmatist," said Supervisor John Gioia. "There's a difference between advocating outside of office and making decisions in office, and she's made the transition." Since being elected, she has often been a lone voice.

Recently, she stood alone in rejecting a $2 million crime-fighting package drafted by Richmond's police chief, protesting that the largest part of the general fund now goes to police to the exclusion of nurturing programs to prevent crime. She rejected a call for a state of emergency in Richmond, saying the city suffers instead from "a state of deprivation."

McLaughlin has most frequently clashed with councilmember Nat Bates and Richard Griffin, such as during discussions of toxics cleanup.

McLaughlin is not loath to stand alone, but she has ably developed support on the famously fractious council. She has developed an alliance with Councilman Tom Butt, particularly around environmental protection and government transparency. She's also found common ground on health issues with Mayor Anderson, the county's former director of public health nursing.

She has railed against a casino at Point Molate, advocated for tighter control over toxic cleanup at the former Stauffer Chemical, and pushed renter protection.

"She's not afraid of anybody," Butt said.

Maybe so, but she said she was not fully prepared for "the dynamics of the council." Discussions frequently erupt into accusations, arguments roar late into the night and grudges last forever. "It's an evolutionary process," she said of her relationship with the council. "Respect is the key."

No one argues McLaughlin does not do her homework. That was obvious when the council discussed revoking ChevronTexaco's Richmond refinery's flat utility tax. The coil giant balked at making public its energy use, saying it would compromise it with competitors.

Councilwoman Maria Viramontes proposed allowing figures to be kept private, but a skeptical council rejected that when McLaughlin recounted many cases when ChevronTexaco withheld key information from state and U.S. Justice Department investigators.

Green council members here and elsewhere say they must be tough to survive politically, particularly because they are often alone.

"It's easy to be lofty and 'Green' on a national level," said Larry Bragman, a city councilman in Fairfax. "It's safe. If you say 'no' to a developer on a local level, you definitely feel the heat." That's because, "for a long time, local politics have been run by development forces," said Berkeley's Spring. "Greens are for citizen participation, increasing citizen involvement -- grassroots democracy. People start thinking, 'Maybe we can have an effect on the kind of development that's going to happen in our town.' Then you come smack up in the face of reality: the money they bring to the table."

The test is here. The Richmond council is choosing from three developers for a Macdonald Avenue complex. McLaughlin favors R.K. Woods' Hometown Developer, a local firm. "It is community-based, committed to local business and keeping money in the city," she said. "With the bigger developers, you might get a big chunk at first, but that's all you get."

Although many Greens align on political bodies with Democrats, Greens, as a third party, forfeit the backing of a machine and accompanying bankroll -- no small sacrifice when an assembly candidate can spend half a million dollars to run in a primary alone. Most support publicly financed elections.

"We, as Greens, see ourselves as the living arm of a social movement," McLaughlin said. "I don't consider myself to be the only one to be courageous in the face of adversity, (but) there really is no hiding from the problems I see. That's what gives me drive."

Reach Rebecca Rosen Lum at 510-262-2713 or rrosenlum@cctimes.com.

BIOGRAPHY

Gayle McLaughlin

AGE: 53

EDUCATION: Bachelor's in psychology, Bridgewater College, Mass. Graduate work, Rhode Island College. Lives in Richmond with longtime partner Paul Kilkenny.

QUOTE: "I see myself sticking in Richmond. A lot of positive things can happen. We can make a Richmond-with-a-heart. But it will take a lot of work."