Matthew Edward Gonzalez (born June 4, 1965) is an American politician, lawyer, and activist. He was an important figure in San Francisco politics from 2000 to 2005, when he served on the San Francisco County Supervisory Board and became chairman of the Board. In 2003, Gonzalez, who ran for Green Party, lost a tough battle for San Francisco mayor to Democrat Gavin Newsom. In the 2008 presidential election, Gonzalez ran for Vice-Presidential candidate Ralph Nader. He currently works at San Francisco Public Defender's Office.
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Matthew Edward Gonzalez was born in McAllen, Texas. Her father, a division head for international tobacco company Brown & amp; Williamson, moved families to New Orleans, Baltimore, and Louisville, Kentucky, before moving to McAllen when Gonzalez was eleven years old. After graduating from McAllen Memorial High School, he studied at Columbia University, where he graduated in 1987. In 1990, he obtained his Doctor Juris from Stanford Law School.
Gonzalez began work as a lawyer in the Office of Public Defenders in San Francisco in 1991.
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Politics and Public Services
Gonzalez underwent a term of office in the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2001-2005. He was elected president of the Council in 2003. After losing the mayoral election in 2003, he chose not to seek re-election.
Run for District Attor
Gonzalez entered politics when he ran for office as San Francisco District Attorney in 1999. He campaigned to stop political corruption and prosecution of marijuana. Gonzalez lost to incumbent Terence Hallinan. In the field of five candidates, he occupies the third position with 20,153 votes (11 percent of the total).
Supervisory Board
Selection
In 2000, a district and non-district supervisory electoral system came into force. At the urging of Supervisor Tom Ammiano, Gonzalez moved from his home in the District of Mission to run for supervision in the newly created District 5. In early November, shortly before the second round of elections, Gonzalez switched party affiliations from the Democratic Party to a new-born party. Green party. His opponent, Juanita Owens, tried to exploit many of the Democrats' bad feelings against the Green Party after Ralph Nader's involvement in the fierce 2000 presidential elections, but Gonzalez won the second round of elections. He is part of a list of candidates who want to change the course of city policy, contrary to "Brown machine," the Democratic Party's political machine that has dominated local politics for more than 30 years behind Mayor Willie Brown, Pelosi's family and other Democrats. His supporters see his election as a turning point in local politics.
On the chalkboard
Critic Gonzalez considers him a stubborn and deliberate ideologue. When the Council submitted a resolution to the member of the San Francisco Congress of Nancy Pelosi for being elected a Minority House Censor and became the first woman to hold that position, Gonzalez was the only member of the council to vote against it. Gonzalez said that the superintendent should not raise praise for winning a partisan political position and that he has written a personal note for Pelosi congratulating him, for he has done him to be elected chairman of the council. Gonzalez refused to meet Brown for his first two years at the Supervisory Board, saying that he did so to avoid Brown's influence rather than as disrespectful. Two sources reported that Gonzalez opposed Brown by walking out of the Mayor's Mayor's speech in 2002. However, Gonzalez later told SF Weekly that he was never present.
As chairman of the board
In January 2003, Gonzalez was elected president of the Supervisory Board after seven rounds of voting, most of whom had Gonzalez competing for a majority vote with supervisors Aaron Peskin and Sophie Maxwell. When Peskin came out, Gonzalez emerged victorious, counting among his supporters of conservative Councilor Tony Hall, who said when asked why he chose Gonzalez, "Gonzalez is a person of integrity and intelligence who will carry out his responsibilities fairly and impartially."
Gonzalez held a monthly art exhibition at the City Hall office. At the last reception, graffiti artist Barry McGee sprayed "Smash the State" spray paint on the office wall as part of his exhibit. "Gonzalez told the press that he knew his office would be repainted for the next occupants.
Mayor's Campaign
In August 2003, Gonzalez ran for Mayor of San Francisco in an effort to replace the two-time mayor, Willie Brown. In a vote with nine candidates, Gonzalez came second in the primary election on Nov. 4 behind Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and a member of the Supervisory Board who has been endorsed by Brown. Gonzalez received 19.6 percent of the total votes for Newsom 41.9 percent. Since no candidate receives a majority vote, a second round of elections is held on 9 December.
Gonzalez faces a difficult second round of elections; only 3 percent of the voters in San Francisco are registered in his Green Party where he is from. Although Gonzalez is supported by several local Democratic figures, including five members of the Supervisory Board, national Democratic figures, who are concerned about Ralph Nader's role in the 2000 presidential election, campaigning on behalf of Newsom. Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jesse Jackson, Dianne Feinstein, and Nancy Pelosi all campaigned for Newsom. Gonzalez said of his candidacy, "They are afraid, not an elected mayor, but an honest man is elected mayor." Newsom won the runoff race with a margin of 11,000 votes, capturing 53 percent of the vote for Gonzalez 47 percent
Back to Private Life
After the mayor's contest, Gonzalez announced he would not seek re-election to the Supervisory Board. He left the office when his term ended in January 2005. He was replaced by Ross Mirkarimi, a Green Party member and community activist who also worked on the Gonzalez campaign. Gonzalez then opened legal offices with fellow alumni Stanford University, Whitney Leigh. In May 2005, Gonzalez unsuccessfully canceled San Francisco's school contract, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. His law firm brought a lawsuit against the San Francisco hotel for not paying the minimum wage to the worker; two wrong death suits against the Sacramento police for using taser; against the city of San Jose and Ringling Brothers Circus for disrupting the free speech rights of protesters; and against Clear Channel in a naming rights dispute over a locally owned Warfield Warfield Theater. It has also been involved in checking New Year's Eve attacks on the Yale a cappella group The Baker's Dozen in Pacific Heights.
Presidential 2008 race
In January 2008, Gonzalez, along with several other prominent Green Party members, launched the 2008 Presidential Exploration Committee of Ralph Nader to support the possibility of Nader's candidacy. On February 28, 2008, four days after announcing his offer as president, Nader named Gonzalez as his representative for the 2008 presidential election.
Nader announced that he and Gonzalez would not seek a Green Party nomination but would run as independent. On March 4, 2008, Gonzalez announced that he had left the Green Party and had changed its voter registration to independent. The change, he says, is to accommodate countries, including Delaware, Idaho and Oregon, which do not allow members of political parties to run as independent.
On October 18, 2008, Gonzalez and Nader held a major protest on Wall Street following the passing of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Their opposition to the bailout is a key issue of the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, unlike the Democratic and Republican candidates who support the bill.
Gonzalez participated in a third-party vice-presidential debate, along with candidates for Democratic Vice-President Darrell and Libertarian Wayne Allyn Root, held in Las Vegas on November 2, 2008. The event was hosted by Free and Equal.org and Free & amp; Equal Elections (FREE), an organization of political parties, independent citizens and civil organizations formed to promote free and equal elections in the United States.
In San Francisco, Gonzalez received fewer votes across the city when he ran for vice president in 2008 (3,682) than he received in District 5 (12,743) when he ran for supervisor in 2000.
Public Defender
In February 2011, Jeff Adachi appointed Gonzalez's chief lawyer in the Office of Public Defenders In 2012, Gonzalez was criticized for taking a month's paid leave to act as a legal advisor to a company, Cobra Solutions, in a $ 16 million lawsuit. against San Francisco. This is a violation of the ethics rules of the San Francisco Public Defender's office, which in part states, "No employee can provide legal advice or legal representation... to any person or entity other than in the employee's official capacity."
Gonzalez defended Jose Ines Garcia Zarate in a murder case on the news because the defendant was an illegal alien deported 5 times. Zarate, 45, was also found not guilty of being attacked with a firearm, convicted only of being a criminal with firearms after a trial lasting more than five weeks. The penalty can range from 16 months to three years. Mr. Zarate has spent more than two years in a county jail awaiting trial. Sentence date has not been set.
Matt Gonzalez - Natl Latino Congreso == Referensi ==
Interview Matt Gonzalez at the 2008 Latino National Congress in Los Angeles, CA
Further reading
- Carlsson, Chris, ed. (2005) The Political Edge , City Lights Foundation Books: San Francisco, CA. ISBNÃ, 1-931404-05-4.
- Walter, Nicole (2004) Go Matt Go! Hats Off Books: Tucson, AZ. ISBNÃ, 1-58736-346-1.
External links
- Reader Matt Gonzalez, Gonzalez's blog
- Gonzalez Nader/Camejo 2004 Campaign Kick-Off Rally Speech speech delivered on July 16, 2004
- Matt Gonzalez and Rosa Clemente respond to Biden-Palin's Debate Response to only broadcast the 2008 US Vice Presidential Debate, Democracy Now! October 3, 2008.
- A speech at the 2004 Green Party national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. June 26, 2004
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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