Jewish Citizen: Howard Wayne’s grassroots return

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO – George Washington was often compared to the Roman general Cincinnatus, who after winning a war returned home to become, once again, a farmer.  Washington, following the victory over the British at Yorktown, did just that, content to once again run his plantation.  But, as we all know, his country needed someone to become its first president.

My friend Howard Wayne is a modest guy, and I can just imagine his ears reddening at the comparison I’m going to make.  I can remember, quite a long time ago, that I misreported the neighborhood in which Howard and his wife, Mary Lundberg, live. Somehow, I thought he lived in Mission Hills, but in fact he lives in Clairemont, a less expensive neighborhood.  He complained good-naturedly that neighbors who read my story thought he was “putting on airs.”  So for him to be mentioned in the same breath as Cincinnatus and Washington, well, he’s likely to flush from head to toe.

Of course, I don’t mean that Howard was the leader of a country or a great general.  Rather, he has always represented to me the ideal that once you have completed your public service, you return with satisfaction and humility to your previous pursuits.  For many years, Howard was a grassroots volunteer in the Democratic party. On weekends and weekday evenings, he worked for candidates, attended meeting after meeting, walked precincts, voted on platforms, all in the name of helping to elect candidates who, like him, wanted to extend the benefits of democracy, jobs, and good environmental health, to the average citizen.  During the week, he labored as a deputy attorney general.

Then, in 1996, to perhaps everyone’s surprise, he got himself elected to the state Assembly, and served there for the maximum three terms.  I remember asking him at that time whether he had any support in the Jewish community, and his responding in low-key fashion that his mother and father were perhaps his most enthusiastic supporters in the Jewish community.  I remember people in the room turning to each other and saying, with surprise, “He’s Jewish?”  Yes, but at that time he was not so involved in the Jewish community as were his parents, who had helped to found Congregation Beth Tefilah, which later merged with Adat Ami Synagogue to form Ohr Shalom Synagogue.  Howard subsequently became involved with the American Jewish Committee, back when it had offices in San Diego, and was particularly interested in helping to form the Jewish and Latino Coalition.

I remember Howard’s legislative  tenure particularly for his concern for state beaches, wanting to protect them against pollution from runoff, but I’m sure others will remember him for other deeds.  He ran positive campaigns, with television commercials stressing his accomplishments rather than ripping his opponent to shreds.  One issue for which he became particularly known was his opposition to converting sewerage to drinking water—which he nicknamed colorfully “toilet to tap.”  Some people on the other side of the issue still gnash their teeth about that one.

When his time to serve in the Legislature was up, Howard returned to his job as a deputy attorney general and to his political volunteering at the grassroots.  He played with the idea of running for San Diego City Attorney, but withdrew when it seemed obvious that Mike Aguirre would get more support. Aguirre eventually was elected, and served one term.

Later Wayne ran unsuccessfully for the San Diego City Council.  He was disappointed but not embittered by his loss to Republican Lorie Zapf.  He got right back into the swing of Democratic party politics.  Today he is the Democratic County Central Committee’s vice chairman for the central area of San Diego County – a region that is within the City of San Diego. In that position, he will chair a meeting on Jan. 20 in which committee members will decide whether to retain the current county chair – Francine Busby—or to elect instead a challenger, Steve Rivera.  Because he’s chairing the meeting, he said, he needs to stay neutral.

Under California law, the Democratic State Central Committee-more popularly called the California Democratic party—has a tripartite system for choosing its large membership.  Approximately one third of the membership will be selected from caucuses to be held in each of California’s 80 Assembly Districts.  From each district, 14 people will be elected – 7 men and 7 women—during meetings that will be held this weekend (January 10-11).  Central Committees such as the one on which Howard serves will elect roughly another third of the state committee membership on a basis reflecting Democratic party registration in each county.  Yet another third of the membership will be comprised of elected officials and their appointees, with a fewer number of appointees to be selected by party nominees who did not win their elections.

The overall Democratic State Central Committee, with a membership numbering in the thousands, will meet later this year in Anaheim to discuss such party issues as rules and a platform, and also will elect officers.  In 2016, these same party activists will have another convention, in this case to make pre-primary endorsements in contested races.

The two endorsements that will be most watched, of course, will be those for President of the United States, and for U.S. Senator from California, now that incumbent Barbara Boxer has said she will not run for reelection.  Howard told me that Boxer’s decision was not a surprise to party activists because of one sure sign; she was not telephoning friends nor holding functions to raise the millions of dollars one needs to run in a statewide campaign.   Accordingly, he said, people have been anticipating that two statewide Democratic officeholders, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Kamala Harris, will maneuver for advantage in a race to succeed her.

So, though Democrats were drubbed in the last national elections, with Republicans winning control of the U.S. Senate and increasing their majority in the House of Representatives, hope still is a Democratic commodity. Wayne thinks there is a good chance Democrats could take the U.S. Senate back in 2016.

Party activists are not all that dissimilar from loyal baseball fans.  Didn’t win this season?  There’s always the next one!

*
Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  Your comment may be placed in the box below this article or sent directly to donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com