By Donna Westfall – April 2, 2018 – Former Senator Barbara Boxer (served 24 years) and Senator Dianne Feinstein, 84 years old (elected 1992 – that’s 26 years and counting) never called Bob Berkowitz. Not once. Not about anything.
Whereas Senator Kamala Harris’ office staff phoned Supervisor Bob Berkowitz on Friday, March 30th. She’s been in office since 2017.
Why?
Well, let’s take a look-see at the junior senator, Sen. Harris. She’s the daughter of an Indian mother that emigrated to America in 1960, and Jamaican father that emigrated to America in 1961. Both well educated and accomplished.
She’s 53 years old, married in 2014 to a man her own age named Doug Emhoff. They met on a blind date. She has no children of her own, but does have two step-children. His son graduated college and his daughter graduated from high school.
Formerly she was involved with former Mayor Willie Brown, and dated Monteil Williams. While involved with Willie Brown, he introduced her to the movers and shakers in the California and Sacramento political machine.
Her career started in the 1990’s as deputy district attorney in Alameda County. She spent eight years there. Then in 2003, she was elected District Attorney for San Francisco City/County. After that she became and won the spot as the 32nd Attorney General of California winning the election and re-election in 2010 and 2014.
But she made the decision to run for a senate seat with Boxer’s announcement to retire and she won in the November 2016 election. One has to wonder if she’s on a fast track for the 2020 Presidential election, but we’ll get back to that later.
Some basics about our Senator:
- She’s a member in good standing with the Democratic Party.
- She’s pro-choice. The National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL) gave her a 100 % rating.
- * In 2016, after altered hidden-camera videos were released accusing healthcare provider Planned Parenthood of illegally selling fetal tissue, Harris authorized the Department of Justice to seize the laptop, ID cards, and other property belonging to anti-abortion activist David Daleiden.
- The National Rifle Association gave her an “F.”
- She’s for raising the minimum wage.
- Against truancy and thinks parents allowing their elementary school children to be truant should be treated as criminals. Her thinking is that there’s a direct correlation between habitual truancy and turning to a life of crime.
- Created the Environmental Justice Unit while in the San Francisco DA’s office. An advocate for stronger environmental protection laws.
- She prosecuted banks for predatory lending after the 2008 real estate debacle and there’s more.
It’s not every day that our Senator’s office staff calls. Matter of fact, Supervisor Bob Berkowitz never got a phone call from any previous senators.
Her staff wanted to know which issues were his main issues and Berkowitz has this to relate:
- Last Chance Grade
- Federal loan forgiveness for the Harbor
- Problems with the California Coastal Commission
Whether or not her office will do anything about this information remains to be seen. When we get back to the original question, why did her staff call our supervisor, then one obvious answer is to drum up support for her run for the 2020 Presidency.
*In the December 2016 report, Human Fetal Tissue Research: Context and Controversy, The Judiciary Committe reported that there was no oversight which “…created a situation where costs and fees were not properly accounted for.” Their recommendation was to fully investigate Planned Parenthood, their affiliates and three companies involved in the sale of fetal tissue for potential crimes. In December 2017, a Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. She cited department policy to decline to comment or confirm the existence of any on-going investigation.
