The Other Crusading Alt-Weekly Publisher

See if you can guess who this is: He is the owner/editor/publisher of one of the most venerable alt-weeklies in the country. He is known for his devotion to one particular issue. And despite having his pet cause rejected by voters on numerous occasions, he continues to put the same issue on the ballot over and over again.

Who is this crusading publisher?

If you guessed Bay Guardian strongman Bruce Brugmann, you’re wrong. I’m talking about San Diego Reader maverick Jim Holman. For the third time since 2005, Holman is pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars from his personal fortune to pass a statewide proposition requiring an adult family member to be notified before a minor can get an abortion (the rival San Diego City Beat calls it “Jim’s Law”). Holman, a conservative anti-abortion Catholic, apparently doesn’t understand that no means no.

If the latest parental notification measure, Prop. 4, fails, will Holman finally accept no for an answer? For that matter, if San Francisco voters reject public power for the fourth time in seven years, will Brugmann accept no for an answer?

Nah. --Will Harper