Schenk tells her reasons for supporting Dumanis

Editor’s Note:  Although San Diego Jewish World endorsed Bob Filner in the San Diego mayoral race, we are delighted to open the matter up to comment from members of our Jewish community.  The following appeal by former Congresswoman Lynn Schenk was sent out by the mayoral campaign of Bonnie Dumanis for mayor.

By Lynn Schenk

I am taking the liberty of asking you to please read this before voting in the Mayoral race on Tuesday. I am writing this with utmost sincerity from my heart.

Although I was a Democratic U.S. Congresswoman and will always be a Democrat,  I am endorsing Bonnie Dumanis for Mayor of San Diego.  Since Bonnie is not a Democrat, I have been asked  “WHY?” many times.  So, I would like to give you my answer and ask that you consider this in your own decision making.

First, the Mayor’s office is supposed to be non-Partisan.  Sadly, over the many decades in San Diego that Constitutional precept has been made a mockery as so many candidates have turned the race highly partisan, trying to use it as a stepping stone to partisan statewide office.

Bonnie Dumanis understands the non-partisan nature of the office and will not use it as a stepping stone.  Pot holes, traffic, education, neighborhood safety, redevelopment and quality of life should not be partisan issues in the city.

Second and more important, I have been friends, real friends, with Bonnie for more than 30 years.  I know her values.  They are the same as mine:  hard work, commitment to equality of opportunity, and justice. These are the core principles that Democrats everywhere believe in, too.

I am a founding mother of the Lawyers Club, created to advance the rights and opportunities for women in San Diego at a time when we couldn’t even get most jobs– even as a police officer or firefighter– just because we were female.  Bonnie is a past president of Lawyers Club.

For decades, she devoted her personal time, work and efforts to improving the lives of women in our community. Yes, there are men who support us, who will vote the right way, but women’s challenges have NOT been (nor will they ever be) a top priority for which they will “horse trade” and incorporate as a line in the sand in their decision making.

Bonnie will, of course, attend to all the important challenges of our city, but her life experience as a fighter for women, for LGBT rights and education (she understands the different obstacles for women and girls in getting an education) will bring a unique and very important ingredient to her vision of the way forward for San Diego.

So, unlike the other candidates, who may be sincere about there positions at this political moment, Bonnie has demonstrated during 30 years of dedicated work in the face of much opposition, her commitment to women’s reproductive rights, access to jobs, healthcare and housing–in other words, women’s basic dignity.

Third and finally, Bonnie and I have shared a mentor for decades. The late Midge Costanza  was appointed to the highest White House position by President Jimmy Carter–the first woman in history to hold that  office.  I met Midge in the White House when I was an aide to Vice-President Walter Mondate. There was no more ardent Democrat, gay and women’s rights advocate than Midge.  She retired to San Diego and met Bonnie. She was so taken with Bonnie’s common sense, her integrity and life values that she actually wanted to work for Bonnie!  Imagine, from President Carter in the White House to Bonnie Dumanis in the District Attorney’s Office.

Bonnie is a tested and true independent thinker who doesn’t tow the line for any party or dogma. She acts in the best interests of the people she serves. That is why her broad base of supporters include Democrats, Republicans,and Independents.

That is why she has my whole hearted unqualified support.  I ask you to join me in voting for this extraordinary woman, my friend, Bonnie Dumanis on Tuesday, June 5th.

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Schenk, an attorney, is a former congresswoman and chief of staff to former Gov. Gray Davis