We bring interesting news.
In a political development that is, at once, hilarious, absurd, and yet eminently serious, Mission District blogger Kevin Montgomery has announced plans to run against David Campos, our incumbent District 9 Supervisor.
As you’ll see in Mr. Montgomery’s announcement video, Bernal Heights sits squarely at the center of his decision to run for office:
A few notable things about the video. First, nice pop-culture nod to Herman Cain at the very end. Second, we did not know that Mr. Montgomery owns a collared shirt. Third, he raises some pointed questions about the priorities of Supervisor Campos and much of San Francisco’s Progressive establishment, particularly as they relate to the development of the infrastructure we need to maintain our City’s economic vitality.
Mind you, Mr. Montgomery made this announcement on April Fool’s Day. Yet Bernalwood’s political analysts nevertheless believe he is at least 87% serious about his proposed Supervisorial bid. Our estimate is derived from a longstanding acquaintance with Mr. Montgomery, his blog, his passions, and his preparation for the campaign.
Long story short, Kevin Montgomery usually goes by the handle KevMo. (HINT: Visualize the sign outside the store on Bayshore.) His blog, The Uptown Almanac is an anthropologically revealing chronicle of 20something Mission life, as told from the point-of-view of the crowd that enjoys drinking beer and/or energy drinks while lounging on the grass in Dolores Park. We mean this affectionately.
Indeed, KevMo is Bernalwood’s standing archetype of the mythical Mission hipster, even though he actually can’t stand hipsters — which sort of proves our point. Bernalwood has teased him at times, with jokes about hipster ennui and fixie bikes, and delightfully, he sometimes rises to the bait. But he’s got a great sense of humor, a sharp wit, YIMBY sensibilities, and a deep interest in civic engagement.
It’s not yet clear if KevMo will, you know, actually run. He says he’s waiting to see how the whole redistricting thing shakes out. Yet Bernalwood hopes he does. There are some interesting cultural and economic trends coalescing in this particular place at this particular time in the early 21st century. Win or lose, it would be fantastic if a KevMo run for the Board of Supervisors helped energize that conversation within District 9.
Bernalwood 
Although the hand gestures make this presentation look like a FUNNY OR DIE sketch… I think we may be on to something here. Look how techies creamed Hollywood over SOPA. I’m just sayin’.
He got my vote by harping on a particular local issue where he is clearly on the right side.
It’s a pity that this is a joke, because I’d vote for him just based on this one issue alone.
Kevin, you have my vote! Either that or I’m voting for my cat. David who?
It isn’t funny enough to be a joke. Perhaps it is an inside-joke
To be clear: While it’s not yet firm that KevMo will run — he’s waiting to see how much interest his announcement generates — this is not completely a joke.
Sounds very much what I would expect from a 20-something Mission dude… wishy-washy.
Straight up. I pray this is a joke. “KevMo” would be the worst representative ever for longtime residents of the Mission and Bernal. He is so clearly just another Hipster transplant with a shortsighted perspective of the area that only goes back a few years, most likely to the time he first “discovered” the Mission.
You’ve already ruined Dolores park, try not to ruin politics in San Francisco as well.
I hear you my brother/sister. It does feel as if a great deal of our traditional culture is slipping away little by little (i.e.hipster after hipster). I too pray it is a joke. A big joke.
Which traditional culture is that?
You realize Campos isn’t from the city, right? In fact, he’s not even from the country. Not that I give a shit… I judge people on their ideas, not their city/state/country of origin. But don’t rag on kevmo for something campos is very much “guilty” of himself…
you realize kevin montgomery is also not from the city…
Anyone but Campos!
Well, he is an articulate dude, you have to give him that. He’s one of my favorite local writers, real east-coast-flavor sarcasm at it’s best. There’s something that smells like chicken here, though, like in the way it smells about 3% like that building on Chavez off Mission where that former mayoral candidate lives. Only 3% though — I think the PBR logo shot alone gets him that.
Let’s remember that District 9 includes a lot more people than techies whose main concern is their wireless coverage. Campos has done a great job representing the low income communities of color that our neighborhood is in danger of losing, as well as working families (see the current fight for free Muni for all SF youth). I’ve had great interactions with him personally and with his city hall staff about several neighborhood and city-wide issues, and I’ll proudly vote for him again in November.
i really hope this is a joke. campos has done an amazing job fighting for worker rights, families in our district whose homes are being foreclosed on, he fought to keep funding for the bernal neighborhood center (as well as vital services for seniors, homeless, healthcare services,etc.), helped reopen garfield pool, worked to create the first lgbt friendly homeless shelter in the city, the list goes on.
and this guy does what? oh yeah, he writes a blog. i can see why he would be qualified to help run our city…
Hmmm. Look, I think all those issues are important, and I’ll grant that Campos has done a lot with them. Sometimes I have applauded those efforts, and sometimes I think his policy preferences have been counter-productive. But I also know from conversation around the neighborhood there are a great many middle-class residents of the district who feel his focus has come at the expense of other issues that are important to middle class (and yes, techie) voters: Infrastructure, livability, fiscal realism, etc.
Of course, I realize that my comments here set up a (very familiar, very tired) discussion about rich vs. poor, newcomers vs. old-timers, tech vs. working class etc etc. We could go down that road, but I think that’s rather pointless. Those are false dichotomies, because we’re all neighbors here, and none of these priorities are necessarily either/or propositions.
Seemed to me like Kevin Montgomery is wanting to run on a single issue, meaning that all that is very relevant. It’s cool if you want to use this blog to promote your friends’ political aspirations, it’s YOUR blog after all, but I don’t think it’s “pointless” to use the comments section of what is clearly a political endorsement in a community blog to discuss the issues facing District 9, particularly since Montgomery was only interested in addressing a single one. While I appreciated the kitschiness of the ad and the ironic staging, it struck me more as a video by someone who has no idea what the Board of Supervisors actually does who wants to run for office because his friends will think he’s cool. If this is all just an April Fool’s joke, then good on him and I’ll be happy to wipe the egg off my face with a smile. If it’s not, then it’s just depressing.
Pointless? False dichotomy? Yeah, if you are the semi or fully affluent power holder with all the cards (except maybe a few like Campos) stacked in your deck, you can say that. If we are all neighbors, and those difference aren’t real, why is the work that one public official has done “at the expense” of the other? What I”m reading here is that when the decisons go against your newbie interests, the culprit is “us and them” thinking. But when you are speaking up for your interests, we should all pull together and be one community with a shared voice…. your voice that is. Sorry, but what really seems to be pointless is ever hoping that priviliged folks can at least fricken see the other side of the fence, even if you don’t live on it. I don’t get mad too often. I am at this moment. Sorry. And you know what? I don’t think keeping people in their homes ranks the same as making sure every person in Precita Park can talk on their cell phones. Call me crazy, but priority wise, which one should we care more about?
I could not agree with SAB more. Todd’s response is another clear example of the disconnect between newer additions to San Francisco who claim to be a part of and concerned about communities, which they have not taken the time to understand.
Lets be 100% real here Todd, the middle-class that you spoke is Upper-Class, maybe Middle-Upper if you really stretch it. The Middle-Class (fast approaching middle-lower/lower) are the 3rd and 4th generation San Franciscans who have called this city home long before there was a dot com boom & bust, hipsters or techies. They are the people who value things like social services to support their elderly. They are the people that access the community services that Campos supports. You have no idea about losing your home, no idea about struggling as a public school teacher or social worker in San Francisco. But the real problem is, you don’t really care to know. Why would you care about workers rights when these struggles don’t affect you? All you can see is that your cell phone doesn’t have reception and your super frustrated that you can’t tweet or post an instagram of the newest shop on Cortland.
To finish my angry rant, I’d like to post something I saw on your site a long time ago. Right around the time when you first started blogging: “Bernal today is special not because of the new wealthier and whiter white collar individuals, its because of the blue collar artist, activist and open minded people who settled here in the name of justice and struggle.”
I like it Mr. Lappin. A whole lot. Bravo.
I can’t vote for a guy who doesn’t know what to do with his hands when he’s on camera.
I agree with Neighbor_on_Elsie and bernal_neighbor about the good work that Campos has done. I’ll also add that he’s brought some new fiscal responsibility to the Board of Supes by refusing to rubber stamp sole-source contracts. One of these days I want to make a video compilation of Campos doing his Perry Mason impression when he grills some hapless city staffer trying to get approval for a sweetheart contract.
But I also agree with what Todd_Lappin is getting at about the divide between the constituencies that Campos and KevMo represent. That’s why I think KevMo’s campaign could generate some good discussion about that segregation in our neighborhoods–if he takes it semi-seriously and is respectful of Campos and the parts of the mission that he doesn’t know about.
Run KevMo, Run! Just don’t be a douche about it.
Thank you very kindly for that good answer Neighbor_on_Elsie. Point well made, I must say. I have had great interactions with Mr. Campos as well right here on Folsom St. It is true that he is working hard on tough and important issues that effect real people who often are not seen or heard about because they are put out on the sidelines or just are flat out ignored. For this reason, I too will be voting for him again.
Let me see if I get this. In summary, there is a guy who not so long ago moved here and started a blog on the mission night life. He goes by the name of “KevMo”; I have never heard of him or seen him around here; he is running against Campos because Bernal has an issue of dropped calls. Hmmm, I cannot help but wonder what Mr. Chavez would say to this issue being prioritized on a political agenda and gaining enough momentum that it would end by holding political office as a result.
With all this said, please keep in mind that there are still some of us left on this hill that where seven, eight, or nine years old when Mr. Chavez was making history. We remember our parents and grandparents who new him on a personal level, discussing his/our political conflicts at supper on these same streets (many of them where still unpaved consisting of dirt /gravel and even cobble stoned) and for some in the same homes.
I do not wish to disrespect any of my fellow neighbors, I love this neighborhood as this hill was my playground as a boy. I have fond memories of it and have witnessed its transformation all the way from even before Supervisor Mr. Milk began “pick up your poop” at our parks. I am specially grateful of this one. Absolutely brilliant of him.
The point is, our supervisors are important. And in like manner, there are important issues that they must attend to. Dropped calls at Precita Park while blogging on A Mac at the new cafe that recently opened up is far from one of them. At least not for me it isn’t and probably never will be.
The discussion has turned relatively interesting, thank you commenters
Say what you will about KevMo, he does a pretty good Chicken John impression in that video- scripted sincerity is so painful to watch! Nice job.
Not all tech people in Bernal spout the Bernalwood/Telstar Logistics/Todd Lappin line of “community matters only when they agree with me”. False dichotomy is a copout, protecting yourself from a discussion on race, class, and gentrification. I bet the 1% consider the 99% a false dichotomy too, one that they’d rather not talk about or acknowledge.
Mr. Lappin: Since you seem pretty clued in to the Middle Class, maybe you could give us some figures – what income levels qualify as Lower Class? Middle Class? Upper Class? It would really help this fascinating neighborhood discussion if we were all on the same page about what constitutes “middle class issues”. Give us some numbers, show your work! Great blog by the way, you don’t find this level of discourse on sfgate.
NYT uses quintiles to break it down, starting with lower class at the bottom 20th percentile of earners, lower-middle/middle/upper-middle constituting the 20th through 80th percentile, with upper class being 80th through 100th. Seems like a pretty fair method.
I was able to find a map and breakdown for SF, though I can’t guarantee the accuracy of the source it seems pretty reasonable. http://www.thehdmt.org/indicators/view/146
By that measure, you enter the lower-middle class at 39k, middle class proper at 63k, upper-middle at 84k, and upper at 114k.
I sorta like both of them. Maybe they could run as co-supervisors and share the job! That way we have the experience and know how to navigate the political minefields while KevMo (which will have to be changed! Maybe KevMont) can bring in that fresh, CURENT and tech savvy, as well as be able to do great PR for the team skills! Maybe together they could run as CampMo! Thats it! I am voting for CampMo!
You got to give Kevin credit to give it a try. Hopefully, someone else will run against Campos. District 9 needs someone who will help the district overall & not just shove his agenda down everyone’s throat. He is the perfect reason to bring back citywide elections as he really has done nothing to improve District 9. The only areas that have shown any improvement has been Bernal Heights, St Mary’s Park, & most recently Precita Park mainly due to educated, white collar professionals moving into these neighborhoods.They have taken the time to upgrade their homes/properties, plant trees, open new businesses, become mainstream, part of the community. The rest of it, particularly the Mission, is still a crime infested garbage dump – Or is that the culture?!