By Tim Redmond
SEPTEMBER 21, 2104 – Assemblymember Tom Ammiano listened to jazz singing by the amazing Paula West, watched a video thanking him for his long years of service to San Francisco, cracked a few jokes from the podium and then, after introducing his old friend Harry Britt, made an announcement that caught a lot of the audience by surprise.
“In honor of the Folsom Street Fair,” he said, “I’m going to tie a knot.”
And just like that, I got to watch a wonderful and moving moment as Tom and his longtime partner, Carolis Deal, got married, Britt officiating.
It was the highlight of an afternoon spent celebrating the remarkable career of one of the city’s most popular, influential, and successful progressive leaders. Some called it a retirement party, and indeed, Ammiano will be out of office at the end of this year – but as he told me a long time ago, “in politics you never say never.”
So I’m not convinced that he’s ready to limit himself to an elder statesman role. There were plenty of people there who want him to run for mayor; there’s a state Senate seat opening up in 2016. At the party and wedding, he seemed very much the Tom we’ve known all these years, full of life and energy (and resplendent, I might add, in a purple shirt and bowtie).
Ammiano did acknowledge something of a passing of the torch when he noted that progressives “are always looking to the future, and right now the future is David Campos,” who is running for Ammiano’s seat.
But Ammiano’s been part of the fight for too long to just sit back. I’m not sure what he’s doing next, but I suspect it won’t be a quiet retirement from public life.
Check out the amazing video:
