Wednesday, August 12 marked the official end of the filing period for all local elections in San Mateo County. Currently 13 cities, 14 school districts and 18 special districts are scheduled to hold elections but far fewer will actually end up on the ballot. For many jurisdictions, this will be a quiet election year as only the minimum number of candidates for the commensurate number of available seats – or even less – filed to run for election.
Despite the lack of interest in some races, others will be hotly contested. In a series of articles to come, many of the races will be profiled in this column, particularly those that provide interesting fodder for the politically passionate.
One such race with real dramatic potential is for two available seats on the obscure Broadmoor Police Protection District Board of Directors. Broadmoor is the small unincorporated village which is literally surrounded by Daly City but not part of Daly City. The residents of Broadmoor are governed by the county directly but maintain their police force governed by a three member commission elected by Broadmoor voters.
This year, two seats on the Broadmoor Police Commission will be on the ballot and for the second election in a row, the seats will be contested.
On the ballot will be veteran incumbent Joe Sheridan, appointed incumbent Ralph E. Hutchens who replaced former commissioner Glynis Carreira who resigned mid-term last winter, and newcomer Hanley Chan.
In this election, it is Chan who is among the more controversial candidates seeking local office. Chan is literally a newcomer to this community having only moved into Broadmoor from South San Francisco only months ago.
Chan is a member of the San Francisco Patrol Special Police, a quasi police agency that dates back to the gold rush days. The Patrol Special Police provide supplementary services on a contract basis primarily for commercial clients. Formed in 1847 by merchants to combat the insurgence of Barbary Coast outlaws, the Patrol Special Police was incorporated into the city’s charter in 1935. Since revisions pushed by San Francisco Police in 1994, Patrol Specials and their assistants have really lost any real police powers and can no longer issue citations or book their own arrests. In short, the Patrol Specials are more akin to security guards than police.
But the Patrol Specials remain under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Police Commission and, to some extent, the San Francisco Police Department.
That is where Hanley Chan’s troubles in San Francisco stem from.
At present, Chan is under suspension from the Patrol Special Police due to a variety of charges pending against him including wearing his Patrol Special Police uniform and badge at a Los Angeles Firing range while Chan and some buddies were firing off rounds and demonstrating and talking about what is known as “bump firing” semi-automatic weapons. To “bump fire” a weapon is to utilize the recoil of a semi-automatic weapon to depress and reset the trigger against a locked finger or thumb, thereby increasing the rapidity of fire and mimicking bursts of an automatic weapon. Videos of Chan posted on his own My Space account at the firing range made their way to the Management Control Division of the San Francisco Police Department, which in turn lead to Chief Fong making a complaint to the San Francisco Police Commission which regulates the Patrol Special Police as it does the SFPD.
In other words, Mr. Chan was busted for playing Rambo with some friends while showing off his badge and playing the tough guy, in violation of established Rules of Conduct.
The offending videos have since been removed from the internet but Chan’s difficulties have not been so easy to erase.
In fact, Chan is also, according to the Police Commission complaint, under investigation by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. It seems at least one Daly City Councilmember was concerned that campaign materials distributed by Chan gave the impression that he was a Broadmoor Police Commissioner. The District Attorney’s Office is then likely reviewing whether or not Chan has stepped over the line from campaigning for office to impersonating an office holder.
Still, the charges have not disabused Chan from adding his visage on his campaign web site in full Patrol Special Police uniform – which for almost every uniformed service is a major no-no.
But despite all of the controversy surrounding Chan, the investigations and questionable practices he has received some major endorsements from several local luminaries listed on his campaign web site including Assemblyman Jerry Hill, State Controller John Chiang, Daly City Vice-Mayor Mike Guingona, Daly City Councilwoman Carol Klatt, State Senator Mark Leno, Bart Board Member James Fang, San Mateo Board of Education Member Rod Hsiao, San Mateo Supervisor Carole Groom, JESD Trustees Adam Duran and Hans Hansen.
For Broadmoor residents, this should be the race to watch in 2009.
Revision, August 19, 2009 : Below is the assignment of disciplinary charges filed against Patrol Special Hanley Chan, Case #ALW C09-120 from the San Francisco Police Commission.
Contact Bruce Balshone at bruce.examiner@gmail.com
Visit Bruce Balshone's Examiner Blog
Visit Bruce Balshone's Twitter Page
10 comments: