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To the Editor: 

I don't even blanch anymore when incumbent candidate for mayor Shirley Dean gives herself credit for others' achievements, like the improvements in downtown that her predecessor Loni Hancock brought about. Or when she claims to have built bandwagons she jumped onto at the last minute, like the Interstate 80 pedestrian bridge she resisted for years until Councilmember Dona Spring finally made it happen. 

I'm also tired of, if inured to, her regular appeals to divisiveness, such as pushing for playing fields in the new shoreline park. Having lost the Sierra Club endorsement to Tom Bates, she doesn't hesitate to suggest carving out a huge block of what wildlife habitat remains in the park, pitting parents against environmentalists to get a few more votes. 

But now she's gone too far, even for my roughened sensibilities. 

Fresh off losing the East Bay Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club endorsement to Bates just last week, she's now making an unabashed attempt to splinter that vote as well. I refer, of course, to the 11th-hour bombshell she dropped in Monday's Planet interview: “I'm the person with the finger in the dyke holding back the big machine from rolling over everybody.” Lesbians, don't be fooled. 

Dave Blake 

Berkeley