Latest in San Diego’s Gadfly Lineage Has His Eyes on the Mayor’s Office

Wednesday morning and the San Diego City Council election is over.

A tidy affair, miniaturized by district elections.

Still, the season should not be allowed to pass without proper mention of Don Stillwell, the last-minute write-in candidate in the 6th District.

He of the Old Testament beard (grown to protest the Persian Gulf War), flash cards (“Council Members, What Was Your Price?”) and Vermont lineage he traces to the Mayflower.

He of the home-brewed political philosophy that incorporates the Bible, the Federalist papers, Blackstone’s common law and engineering concepts.

If he persists in future elections, Stillwell may have a chance to join that select group of idiosyncratic characters who have provided much-needed tang to San Diego politics in years past.

To name but a few:

* Ken Matsubobo, known for his colorful garters and stack of ever-shuffling papers.

* The late John Kelley, who once sued a newspaper for taking an unflattering picture of his toupee.

* Ken Bremen, who saw himself as the incarnation of Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis, a 19th-Century Austrian physician scorned by his contemporaries.

* Rose Lynne, ombudscientist and “trainer of great mayors.”

The emergence of Stillwell couldn’t have come at a more opportune time, an upstart weed in a dull garden.

The only other off-the-wallish candidate this year was Loch David Crane, 42, the magician.

A decade ago, Crane was a kooky addition to the political roster. A decade from now, he may be pleasantly eccentric.

But middle age is tough for a political performer, and Crane may need to lie fallow; even his rap songs fell flat.

At 61, Stillwell, an ex-Convair employee, is perfect. Old enough for respect, young enough to run again and again and again.

“I’m not through by a long shot,” he said on election eve. “What I want to do is run for mayor next year.”

My interest in that race is increasing already.

Blues for Betty

Betty the newspaper and magazine story. And soon Betty the movie and Betty the book.

So why not Betty Broderick the song?

Michael Angel, 30, a San Diego singer and guitarist, has now given us the ballad of Brenda Bombay (name changed to avoid legal hassles).

You always wanted to be special

You always wanted to be known

Sometimes life is just not fair

But you wouldn’t leave it alone.

A middle verse:

You couldn’t stand to lose

And let them get away with abuse

And so you thought you’d even the score

As you headed out your front door.

The close:

You can’t just take another life

Then claim to be the battered wife

But when it’s said and done

You’re still holding the smoking gun.

Angel sings five nights a week at Rock Lobster Cafe & Cantina on Mission Gorge Road. When the crowd wants something new, he gives them Brenda:

“It just blows people away.”

Street Crime or Campaign Taunt?

Tough stuff.

* Late in this campaign, Councilman Ron Roberts ran a TV commercial about “taking back our streets from the gangs, the drug dealers and the money launderers. “

Dick Silberman, the soon-to-be-ex husband of Roberts’ mayoral opponent next year, Supervisor Susan Golding, is doing time for money laundering.

Is the ad a dig at Golding?

Heavens no, says a Roberts strategist, just a coincidence. Right.

* A group of Catholic nuns returning to Tijuana from Disneyland got clobbered Sunday night by a hit-run driver on Interstate 5 near Encinitas.

So the seven nuns gave chase in their GMC Suburban. Off the freeway, through several stoplights, before getting the guy’s license plate.

The nuns are leaving the rest to God and the CHP.