Julian Guthrie Tells the Stories of Matt and Gavin

I had a chance to introduce Matt Gonzalez to my wife and her girlfriend on Saturday night at Studio Z on 11th and Folsom. He looked tired. I asked Matt how he felt, and told him that I had heard from a friend who caught it on the news that he was sick today. I told Matt that the local news was talking about his health, that it must feel like he's playing in the World Series, being tired but not saving anything. Matt said something to the effect that he had to look good. I agreed. My wife and her girlfriend were both wearing the green-on-white "Matt for Mayor" t-shirts. My wife asked Matt if he would go into the coin-op photo booth and have his picture taken with the two of them. "Maybe later," Matt said. He sounded tired.

Man, I feel for the guy. He's probably getting by on just a few hours of sleep, having been hit hard by the flu bug that is going around, walking around the Folsom club zone in the cold rain on a Saturday night, with less than 72 hours left until he learns whether a majority of San Franciscans want him as their mayor, dragging around his 70-year-old father, Mateo, in town from McAllen, Texas. I introduced myself to Matt's father, said that he must be proud, certainly we all are of what his son is doing. It occurs to me: Matt could be making a lot more than he makes working for us on the Board of Supervisors.

After graduating from Stanford in 1990, Gonzalez chose a post as a criminal defense attorney in the San Francisco public defender's office, a decision that surprised some back home, who thought he would go on to become a wealthy corporate lawyer.

"Given his educational background, he could easily have gone to a high profile law firm anywhere in the country," Rios said. "A lot of friends wondered why he didn't."

While Matt was making the rounds tonight, I imagine that Gavin Newsom was with the Gettys, having highballs with some high-rollers, planning his transition into Willie's vacant office. He's going to get a rude awakening on Tuesday when he finds out that he can't buy the Mayor's office, even when he's spending $4 million of other people's money, and then some.

Thanks to Julian Guthrie of the San Francisco Chronicle, for telling us the "truth" about Matt Gonzalez:

The ruminative 38-year-old is regarded as the bohemian champion of the poor. But, of the two candidates, he had the more privileged upbringing, although he chose a lower paying career in public service. One valuable possession he owns -- a Rolex watch given to him by his father -- he chooses not to wear.

Guthrie goes on to decry the Gonzalez campaign's hypocrisy on ethics, and Matt's support by "two of the most powerful men in the city's construction world who flourished under the Brown administration."

Guthrie's less than subtle bias is somewhat compensated by a generous account of seeing McAllen and Matt through the eye's of Oralia Gonzalez, his mother.

Don't believe me. Read the article for yourself, and then read Guthrie's accompanying piece on Gavin Newsom. It'll bring a tear to your eye.