Party Politics
While California teachers had to settle for “pink slip” rallies up and down the state, it’s good to know that their union, the California Teachers Association, had enough cash on hand to help fund an invitation-only block party in Sacramento for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
The party, headlined by Wyclef Jean, was held last Saturday in conjunction with the state Democratic Party convention. Newsom is running for governor.
According to published reports, the event was simultaneously underattended and over-restricted. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci reports:
The Gavin show, which had been billed as an extravanganza to draw 3,000, didn’t quite come off as planned. Half an hour before it was really supposed to get going, about 400 people were on hand. By showtime, cops told me they estimated about 1,000 to 1,500. And that was ironic, because apparently lots of people who wanted to get in couldn’t.
Nick Miller of the Sacramento News & Review liked the novelty of it all, but wasn’t too impressed with the execution:
Anyway, no one really knew about the event until Saturday afternoon, when a green chain-link fence went up around 20th between J and K streets and the general public—uninvited—started asking questions.
The show’s sponsors, the California College Democrats, expected 3,000 invite-only attendees, which is way more than the 12 people who typically show up at Convention after-hour hotel soirees. You know, open bars, Steely Dan, tequila shots, sodomy.
Ah, democracy.
By 10 p.m., the fenced-off area was a-third filled with guests. Wine by the plastic cup went for $8 and, onstage, a deejay looped Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” for 15 minutes.
“DJ Carnival Cruise,” as my friend put it.
The seven-hour party cost $100,000 – or about what it would cost to keep two rookie teachers for another year.
