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Ambitious yet homeless, Eric Bidwell runs for mayor of San Diego
“Revolutionary Potluck” in Old Town
San Diego mayoral candidate Eric Bidwell rolls across the cement floor of Cream coffeehouse on his Heelys, wheeled shoes that he found used on craigslist for $20. Impressive dreadlocks extend to his waist. He wears a black shirt that has a graphic of two hands shaking under a table, and below that, in white letters, “San Diego, the finest city money can buy.” A large patch with his logo, a wrench suspended above two gears, covers one of the bulky pockets of his baggy cargo pants. The T-shirt and the patch are both his design.
Bidwell sets his black, musty-scented trench coat next to his laptop computer on one of the few available tables and rolls back to the counter for a cup of coffee. The staff knows him by name, and they talk about an upcoming art show featuring his politically inspired stencil art.
Until recently, Bidwell has used the crammed coffeehouse, located on Park Boulevard in University Heights, as a makeshift office for his struggling T-shirt and button company, as well as a place for perusing the Internet. But for the past few months the café has become campaign headquarters.
According to Bidwell, his decision to run for mayor “is pretty multifaceted. I want to inspire more of the public to participate in the political process and to bring often-overlooked issues and perspectives into the election, giving people an option that is categorically different than the others. And to gain experience organizing people and promoting a cause is a good thing. Also, just the experience of building a political campaign is enough, because I want to eventually run for president.”
Bidwell looked up the requirements to run for mayor using Cream’s free wireless Internet. They seemed simple: the candidate must be at least 18 years old, must be a resident of San Diego and registered to vote in the city, must gather 200 signatures from registered voters, and must submit a $500 filing fee.
The first requirements were easy to meet. Bidwell will turn 26 in May and is a San Diego native, spending most of his childhood sharing small apartments in Hillcrest and Golden Hill with his mother.
“We moved a lot,” he says. “We were poor. I found out that my mom was using [drugs] when I was ten. She would leave me to go out, and I just thought, ‘I’m a ten-year-old kid. I shouldn’t be left alone!’ ”
The rocky relationship Bidwell had with his mom showed in his poor performance at school. He was expelled from Roosevelt Middle School in the seventh grade for bringing a pocketknife onto campus. A year later, after transferring to Pacific Beach Middle School, he and his mother were evicted from their Golden Hill apartment and became homeless. “I was really just stressed and uncomfortable and decided to drop out of eighth grade.”
Despite being homeless for most of his teenage years and spending three weeks in Juvenile Hall on drug-related charges, which were eventually dismissed, Bidwell managed to earn his high school diploma through the California High School Proficiency Exam.
By the time he turned 19, he was living under the I-5 overpass on Washington Street in an RV that he’d purchased from a distant relative. He continued to live in RVs and vans until a few months ago, when he moved in with a new girlfriend.
While the age and residency requirements were easy to satisfy, the remaining two were not.
The first was to gather 200 signatures from registered voters in a month’s time. The people signing had to print their names legibly and provide their addresses. Initially, Bidwell planned to collect signatures all by himself. Luckily for him, he got some help.
Adam Case, a 25-year-old political science graduate from the University of San Diego, noticed Bidwell’s campaign poster propped up against his laptop at Cream and was determined to help from the moment the two began talking. “I saw his poster that said ‘Revolutionary Mayor,’ ” says Case. “I started talking to him, you know, and the term ‘revolutionary’ is kind of overplayed. He’s got dreadlocks and stuff, but the idea of actually applying it to a political purpose, well, that’s revolutionary, especially seeing how he grew up and his perspective on things!”
The two mulled over places where they would attract registered voters willing to sign Bidwell’s petition.
They collected signatures at the Ocean Beach farmers’ market and on the campus of SDSU. They collected more at the Tribute to the Reggae Legends Festival, formerly the Bob Marley Festival, held at the San Diego Sports Arena on February 18.
Bidwell recalls the decision to go there. “I thought about it and was, like, ‘Hey, that’s probably a pretty good demographic.’ I mean, most of them probably signed because I have dreadlocks.”
After scratching out a hundred or so names that were illegible or missing addresses, Bidwell had nearly 300 signatures, well above the 200 needed.
He was left with the last remaining challenge, to raise $500 for the filing fee. “I had to spend a good deal of time getting that money. Five hundred dollars is usually what I live off of every month. So I had to do double of what I usually do to get it.”
While not wanting to be specific on all the ways he earned money, he says most came from working odd jobs on craigslist. “I picked up some labor gigs. I did a survey for TestAmerica at the Mission Valley mall and got 25 bucks for doing a taste test on orange juice. I also did a taste-test survey for Jack in the Box. A little of this and a little of that.”
Regardless of how unorthodox his methods, on March 6, Bidwell submitted the money and signatures to the City Clerk’s Office. On March 19, he received confirmation that his name would appear on the ballot.
Brian Adams, assistant professor of political science at SDSU, likes the fact that anyone with the will to run for mayor can do so. “Personally, I believe there should be as few restrictions as possible: let the voters decide who is competent to be mayor.”
Adams does think it will be difficult for Bidwell to win. “I’m not aware of any person winning the mayoralty of a big city without substantial campaign funds. It’s even extremely rare for council seats in big cities.”
Former councilmember Floyd Morrow, who’s also running for mayor, suggests that Bidwell’s life experience could compensate for his lack of education or political expertise. “I do think education is crucial, but one of the things that he might have a very good education in, if he had been homeless, is common sense, and that’s an education in its own right,” Morrow says. “There are people who are degreed that really don’t have an ounce of common sense on the street. That type of education is very valuable. I was born in a tent, dirt poor, so I kind of identify with a young guy like that.”
When asked if Bidwell’s lack of knowledge regarding local politics might be a distraction for San Diego voters, Morrow responds, “I hope not. The issues of San Diego are the same for him as for me. I don’t think that any one of them is credentialed in the race, other than myself. I think that experience is the best teacher.”
Experience is one thing that Bidwell is gaining from this process. An issue early on was filling out campaign-finance paperwork, which requires a permanent address. “They told me that I could hire an attorney to seek ways of getting around it,” Bidwell says. “I found that pretty unhelpful, considering my current situation. I did contact the ACLU, and they said they couldn’t promise anything but would try, so for now, I just won’t fill out that one and not accept contributions totaling more than a thousand dollars.”
Of more concern are the mayoral forums. The most recent one, on April 3 at Rancho Peñasquitos, afforded Bidwell much-needed exposure. The following day in its coverage of the event, local online publication Voice of San Diego featured some of Bidwell’s comments and a photo of him, as well as a group shot showing Bidwell sitting between Jerry Sanders and Steve Francis. “The whole time I got a lot of laughs from the crowd,” says Bidwell. “A couple of the things, people just loved it, laughing and clapping. I did have to bust out laughing during some of the comments from them [Sanders and Francis], because they were going at each other pretty hard.”
As for Bidwell’s take on his two best-financed opponents, he says, “You know, Sanders, as much as he is a little typical, he really has a much better head on his shoulders and answers questions with a little less rhetoric. Francis, he kind of rubs me the wrong way.”
The next forum will be at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park on April 20. All candidates have agreed to participate.
Bidwell will continue to organize a “Revolutionary Potluck” in Old Town the first Saturday of every month. More information is available at revolutionarymayor.com.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Ambitious yet homeless, Eric Bidwell runs for mayor of San Diego
“Revolutionary Potluck” in Old Town
Ambitious yet homeless, Eric Bidwell runs for mayor of San Diego
“Revolutionary Potluck” in Old Town
San Diego mayoral candidate Eric Bidwell rolls across the cement floor of Cream coffeehouse on his Heelys, wheeled shoes that he found used on craigslist for $20. Impressive dreadlocks extend to his waist. He wears a black shirt that has a graphic of two hands shaking under a table, and below that, in white letters, “San Diego, the finest city money can buy.” A large patch with his logo, a wrench suspended above two gears, covers one of the bulky pockets of his baggy cargo pants. The T-shirt and the patch are both his design.
Bidwell sets his black, musty-scented trench coat next to his laptop computer on one of the few available tables and rolls back to the counter for a cup of coffee. The staff knows him by name, and they talk about an upcoming art show featuring his politically inspired stencil art.
Until recently, Bidwell has used the crammed coffeehouse, located on Park Boulevard in University Heights, as a makeshift office for his struggling T-shirt and button company, as well as a place for perusing the Internet. But for the past few months the café has become campaign headquarters.
According to Bidwell, his decision to run for mayor “is pretty multifaceted. I want to inspire more of the public to participate in the political process and to bring often-overlooked issues and perspectives into the election, giving people an option that is categorically different than the others. And to gain experience organizing people and promoting a cause is a good thing. Also, just the experience of building a political campaign is enough, because I want to eventually run for president.”
Bidwell looked up the requirements to run for mayor using Cream’s free wireless Internet. They seemed simple: the candidate must be at least 18 years old, must be a resident of San Diego and registered to vote in the city, must gather 200 signatures from registered voters, and must submit a $500 filing fee.
The first requirements were easy to meet. Bidwell will turn 26 in May and is a San Diego native, spending most of his childhood sharing small apartments in Hillcrest and Golden Hill with his mother.
“We moved a lot,” he says. “We were poor. I found out that my mom was using [drugs] when I was ten. She would leave me to go out, and I just thought, ‘I’m a ten-year-old kid. I shouldn’t be left alone!’ ”
The rocky relationship Bidwell had with his mom showed in his poor performance at school. He was expelled from Roosevelt Middle School in the seventh grade for bringing a pocketknife onto campus. A year later, after transferring to Pacific Beach Middle School, he and his mother were evicted from their Golden Hill apartment and became homeless. “I was really just stressed and uncomfortable and decided to drop out of eighth grade.”
Despite being homeless for most of his teenage years and spending three weeks in Juvenile Hall on drug-related charges, which were eventually dismissed, Bidwell managed to earn his high school diploma through the California High School Proficiency Exam.
By the time he turned 19, he was living under the I-5 overpass on Washington Street in an RV that he’d purchased from a distant relative. He continued to live in RVs and vans until a few months ago, when he moved in with a new girlfriend.
While the age and residency requirements were easy to satisfy, the remaining two were not.
The first was to gather 200 signatures from registered voters in a month’s time. The people signing had to print their names legibly and provide their addresses. Initially, Bidwell planned to collect signatures all by himself. Luckily for him, he got some help.
Adam Case, a 25-year-old political science graduate from the University of San Diego, noticed Bidwell’s campaign poster propped up against his laptop at Cream and was determined to help from the moment the two began talking. “I saw his poster that said ‘Revolutionary Mayor,’ ” says Case. “I started talking to him, you know, and the term ‘revolutionary’ is kind of overplayed. He’s got dreadlocks and stuff, but the idea of actually applying it to a political purpose, well, that’s revolutionary, especially seeing how he grew up and his perspective on things!”
The two mulled over places where they would attract registered voters willing to sign Bidwell’s petition.
They collected signatures at the Ocean Beach farmers’ market and on the campus of SDSU. They collected more at the Tribute to the Reggae Legends Festival, formerly the Bob Marley Festival, held at the San Diego Sports Arena on February 18.
Bidwell recalls the decision to go there. “I thought about it and was, like, ‘Hey, that’s probably a pretty good demographic.’ I mean, most of them probably signed because I have dreadlocks.”
After scratching out a hundred or so names that were illegible or missing addresses, Bidwell had nearly 300 signatures, well above the 200 needed.
He was left with the last remaining challenge, to raise $500 for the filing fee. “I had to spend a good deal of time getting that money. Five hundred dollars is usually what I live off of every month. So I had to do double of what I usually do to get it.”
While not wanting to be specific on all the ways he earned money, he says most came from working odd jobs on craigslist. “I picked up some labor gigs. I did a survey for TestAmerica at the Mission Valley mall and got 25 bucks for doing a taste test on orange juice. I also did a taste-test survey for Jack in the Box. A little of this and a little of that.”
Regardless of how unorthodox his methods, on March 6, Bidwell submitted the money and signatures to the City Clerk’s Office. On March 19, he received confirmation that his name would appear on the ballot.
Brian Adams, assistant professor of political science at SDSU, likes the fact that anyone with the will to run for mayor can do so. “Personally, I believe there should be as few restrictions as possible: let the voters decide who is competent to be mayor.”
Adams does think it will be difficult for Bidwell to win. “I’m not aware of any person winning the mayoralty of a big city without substantial campaign funds. It’s even extremely rare for council seats in big cities.”
Former councilmember Floyd Morrow, who’s also running for mayor, suggests that Bidwell’s life experience could compensate for his lack of education or political expertise. “I do think education is crucial, but one of the things that he might have a very good education in, if he had been homeless, is common sense, and that’s an education in its own right,” Morrow says. “There are people who are degreed that really don’t have an ounce of common sense on the street. That type of education is very valuable. I was born in a tent, dirt poor, so I kind of identify with a young guy like that.”
When asked if Bidwell’s lack of knowledge regarding local politics might be a distraction for San Diego voters, Morrow responds, “I hope not. The issues of San Diego are the same for him as for me. I don’t think that any one of them is credentialed in the race, other than myself. I think that experience is the best teacher.”
Experience is one thing that Bidwell is gaining from this process. An issue early on was filling out campaign-finance paperwork, which requires a permanent address. “They told me that I could hire an attorney to seek ways of getting around it,” Bidwell says. “I found that pretty unhelpful, considering my current situation. I did contact the ACLU, and they said they couldn’t promise anything but would try, so for now, I just won’t fill out that one and not accept contributions totaling more than a thousand dollars.”
Of more concern are the mayoral forums. The most recent one, on April 3 at Rancho Peñasquitos, afforded Bidwell much-needed exposure. The following day in its coverage of the event, local online publication Voice of San Diego featured some of Bidwell’s comments and a photo of him, as well as a group shot showing Bidwell sitting between Jerry Sanders and Steve Francis. “The whole time I got a lot of laughs from the crowd,” says Bidwell. “A couple of the things, people just loved it, laughing and clapping. I did have to bust out laughing during some of the comments from them [Sanders and Francis], because they were going at each other pretty hard.”
As for Bidwell’s take on his two best-financed opponents, he says, “You know, Sanders, as much as he is a little typical, he really has a much better head on his shoulders and answers questions with a little less rhetoric. Francis, he kind of rubs me the wrong way.”
The next forum will be at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park on April 20. All candidates have agreed to participate.
Bidwell will continue to organize a “Revolutionary Potluck” in Old Town the first Saturday of every month. More information is available at revolutionarymayor.com.
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