Each morning when I stroll out the front door of my dad's East Bay apartment, with my rollerblades slung over my shoulder, I never know what to expect. But I look forward to the uncertainty. The first objective of the day is to get across the Bay Bridge. Sure, I could take the traditional route and catch a bus or hop on BART in Oakland, but why bother? Lined up at the bus stop is a row of cars, each of whose drivers waits patiently for two extra bodies to join them -- to form that no-waiting and toll-evading magical number three that is the Bay Area carpool. And the excitement of the carpool passenger is in meeting a new slew of individuals every week -- from lawyers to fashion designers to Smurfs. Yes, I carpooled into San Francisco last week with a woman who was the voice of one of the Smurfs.

Upon reaching The City, the adventure continues. The luxury of door-to-door service does not exist in the world of the carpooler. Enter the rollerblades. I take a seat on the sidewalk among the crowd of people rushing to work, and strap on my blades. Moments later, the 15-minute jaunt from Market Street to my office begins -- a trip that would otherwise be a time-consuming headache.

Navigating around San Francisco during the day -- be it to look at an apartment or to meet someone for lunch -- is, essentially, a pain. The buses are crowded and unreliable, and even if I had a car, parking would not be an option. Thus, I must rely on the door-to-door (and pricey) service of local cab companies.

Whether I travel by foot or skate, bus or train, navigating my way to and around San Francisco is a daily challenge. Who would've thought that getting around in such a geographically small city could be an adventure unto itself?

Have a great week, and keep that feedback coming!

-Gabe

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The state party's executive committee, meeting privately, decided to change the existing system, in which all of California's 156 GOP delegates go to the candidate who wins the largest number of votes statewide.

That means if George W. Bush Jr., Elizabeth Dole and Steve Forbes fought a close GOP primary race in California, all of the state's Republican delegates would go to the winner -- no matter how narrow the victory.

The new system, however, will apportion delegates to candidates according to the election results figured district by district in each of California's 52 Congressional districts. An additional bunch of delegates would be provided to the statewide winner as a bonus.

That means that one candidate could win the statewide vote by carrying most of the Congressional districts, but not receive all the convention delegates. The second- and third-place candidates also would get delegates, depending on how many districts they carried.

The merits of the change aside, one thing is clear: The winner-take-all primary helps a well-financed frontrunner, and the proportional primary helps the second-tier challengers get a foot in the door.

It is no accident that the principal California opponent of the change to a proportional system was Sen. Jim Brulte, a Rancho Cucamonga Republican and a co-chairman of Bush's California campaign. Bush is the GOP's presumptive presidential frontrunner, and he can only be hurt by any change in California that enables his rivals to capture delegate support.

Conversely, the principal proponent was Sen. Ray Haynes, a conservative Inland Empire Republican who believes that the proportional system is fairer to a broad spectrum of GOP candidates and would prove healthy for the party and the electorate. Haynes, too, is a Bush supporter.

Haynes may be right that the change -- which requires the approval of the Legislature -- will foster more campaigning, but it is doubtful whether it will help Republicans in the long run.

The last thing Republicans in California, or anywhere else, need is a fractious primary. The GOP in California is licking its wounds after the debacle of the 1998 governor's race and the party is in considerable disarray. The party needs unity and strength above all, and a primary that splinters GOP support among several candidates could weaken the party as it heads into general election.

Thus far, polls show Bush in a strong position to capture the nomination.

So Republicans who favor a proportional primary might first ask themselves a simple question: Who among GOP ranks has a better chance of beating Gore than Bush?

With a change in governor and the first change in party in 16 years, the new governor has been making hundreds of appointments, but he isn't finished yet. We know that you need your State Agency Directory, so we've decided to process the information we have received to date and get the directory ready for the printers. Give us a couple weeks and the State Agency Directory WILL BE AVAILABLE. We apologize for the long delays and appreciate your patience. Please be assured that we will continue to pay utmost attention to the accuracy and timeliness of information, as we have for over 25 years.

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