Names of All 16 Members of No on 8's
Executive Committee Made Public
Since September, I've tried with no luck to learn the names of the gay leaders on the No on 8 executive committee, the folks behind the passage of Prop 8 and the rescinding of gay marriage in California. A lot of other bloggers and gay reporters also wanted the names, but our state's supreme leader, Geoff Kors, ruled that the names should be kept in a closet. Like practically everything Kors and No on 8 touched, the closet and non-transparency ruled.
In December I filed a public records request with Debra Bowen, the secretary of state, for the original filings and declarations by the No on 8/Equality for All campaign. Today, the secretary's public affairs office called me and walked me through the maze of filings, to FPPC Form 410, the Statement of Organization Recipient Committee for the campaign, and, lo, there were the names of the executive committee members.
On January 12, the No on 8 committee filed the Form 410, and called no attention to the filing, even though many activists thirst for the names of the excutive committee.
I've said it before, and it needs repeating: it's easier to locate the names of the Chinese politburo than the name of the ruling body of No on 8. Just because the secretary of state has made public Form 410, regular visitors to her site won't know the info exists, never mind how to drill down for it.
Forthwith, the 16 names, plus the treasurer's, of the No on 8 executive committee:
Treasurer
Steve Mele
LA
Ph: 323-654-2387
Principal Officers
Heather Carrigan
LA
Ph: 213-973-5270
Oscar De La O
LA
Ph: 323-727-7896
Sue Dunlop
LA
Ph: 213-284-3200
Michael Fleming
Beverly Hills
Ph: n/a
Maya Harris
SF
415-255-1478
Dan Howes
LA
323-671-2400
Dennis Herrera
SF City Attorney
Ph: 415-554-4700
Delores Jacobs
SD
Ph: 619-692-2077
Lorri Jean
LA
Ph: 323-993-7609
Kate Kendell
SF
415-392-6267
Geoff Kors
Sacramento
Ph: 916-554-7681
Joyce Newstats
SF
Ph: n/a
Tawal Panyacosit
SF
Ph: 415-274-6750
Rashad Robinson
LA
323-933-2240
Marty Rouse
DC, Human Rights Campaign
Ph: 202-716-1659
Kevin Tilden
SD
Ph: 619-206-8099
May they all spend the next year sweeping the streets of their gay neighborhoods and doing many acts of penace for squandering $45 million of gay community dollars and losing gay marriage equality in California.
Lesson learned for me? It always pays to file a FOIA/public records/sunshine request, sometimes on paper as with the secretary of state, when looking for basic info, if you can't find it on the web.
7 comments:
Why? Why on earth would No on 8's leadership insist on remaining anonymous? Before November 4, that is?
There's been a great deal of talk about "accountability" in regard to Yes on 8 donors, and I don't dispute that they should be publicly known and held to account.
But from my perch here on the other coast, it seems like there is far too little concern in our own community about holding gay leaders accountable for the mistakes that led to a completely avoidable defeat. While it was a defeat that was only legally binding for Californians, it still affected the rest of us deeply.
Our opponents are only one side of the equation. Thank you for shining a light on the problems on our side.
LOL.
If you had asked any of the 60-80 people on the weekly NO ON 8 calls they could have told you the names of these people. Who did you ask?
IT WAS/IS NOT A SECRET.
Or at least maybe it's a secret like whether Anderson Cooper is gay is a secret.
What's amazing to me is that there are so many typos in the list "Rashid Robinson"? Doesn't exist--they mean Rashad Robinson--who lives in NY and works for GLAAD.
Maya Harris and Heather Carrigan were not on the committee on the same time, "Don Howes"=Dan Hawes from The Task Force,etc etc.
But I can see WHY someone wouldn't answer YOUR question, even if you asked politely, Michael if you just wanted the names in order to BLAME them for "squandering $45 million of gay community dollars and losing gay marriage [e]quality in California."
How is that language really helpful
in January 2009?
What did YOU do to win and defend marriage equality in California in 2008?
As Heather would say, "Bitter, much?"
hi ron mad professah,
thanks for pointing out my typos. i've corrected my mistakes.
you claim, in BIG letters that the names were/are public, yet provide no links to where the info in posted. where exactly on the web is that info public?
such basic info should have been made public long ago, whether the person requesting the info kisses the butts of No on 8 fools or not.
I think we'd be better off learning from the campaign and moving forward. You can debate the effectiveness of the leaders all you want but I'm sure they did their best and ran the campaign the best way they knew. I don't think attacking our own community is appropriate or warranted. These people worked hard to defeat prop 8so lets stick to constructive criticism and remember they did some things right. They raised more money than ever before, they moved public opinion in our direction, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of new activists were trained. The conservative churches will lose many of their supporters if they continue to focus on opposing LGBT civil rights. We will win in the end.
The ONLY way we can overcome the traumatic loss that is Proposition 8 is for the ultimately ineffective and incompetent leaders of No on 8 to hold public forums, take in feedback, identify and admit their mistakes, and develop strategy for newer, wiser leaders to replace them in the future. Stonewalling (pun intended) and secrecy is NO way to take stock and move forward. A brave and mature leader takes criticism, answers and mitigates it, and learns to lead better in a new day, or he/she steps aside in humble defeat to superior minds. Our community, which gave SO much of our personal, hard-earned money to these professionals, deserves better than the condescending, dismissive, patronizing secrecy, defensiveness, and avoidance. We will ALWAYS lose gay rights battles with this kind of attitude from our leadership. POWER TO THE PEOPLE - DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY -- WE PAID FOR IT!!
If there is accountability, then there is a chance they may not keep their lucrative, power-approximate jobs as "leaders." And they have nothing else on the horizon for themselves, do they? What would they do? Their "leadership" depends on a passive community that cuts them nice checks and expects mostly losses and victim posturing. Look at HRC. Isn't that what you've had 20 years of with them? The Prop 8 loss was avoidable. They blew it. They hired out the job and didn't bother supervising the consultants, who knew little about gay issues and had nothing to personally lose. It was a fiasco. I'm with Petrelis, they should be on mopping duty. And if you let them continue to "lead" you, it's your own damn fault.
It is no secret why such lists are kept secret. There are no angels here.
In an atmosphere of fear and suspicion the necessary conversations cannot take place, least of all those that would allow us to overcome our assumptions and move on.
It will be somewhat interesting to see what results from Tuesday's meeting and to learn what you've learned from these events, and most importantly, what you're willing to share with us.
After all, MoveOn.Org doesn't seem to have a problem sharing its strategies online with its members. And their successes are well known.
As for the enemy, they already have what they want. Why on earth would they want to listen in now?
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