LENO'S NEW CAPITOL OFFICE NO JOINT

San Francisco has long enjoyed a reputation for sending one-of-a-kind
lawmakers to the state Capitol -- and from the looks of things, nothing's
changed this year.

"I'll be going to Sacramento with a joint in one hand and an 18- to
21-year-old in the other," newly elected state Assemblyman Mark Leno
declared at his recent San Francisco send-off party.

Leno's remarks (which were picked up online by the S.F. Sentinel) were
meant as a joke, playing off his recent success in getting San Francisco
involved in growing medical marijuana, and his not-so-successful effort to
get underage kids allowed into after-hours clubs.

They were also a play on his predecessor Carole Migden's declaration, when
she was first elected, that Sacramento would be getting a "lesbian with a
tube of lipstick in one hand and a bayonet in the other."

Leno seems to have picked up another trick from Migden as well -- the knack
for raising and spreading around gobs of campaign cash as a way of currying
political favor.

Leno -- whose donor list reads like the "A list" of San Francisco's and
L.A. 's well-heeled gay crowd -- already managed to raise and hand out
$250,000 to help fellow Democratic Assembly members in the recent election.

It isn't taking long for Leno to see a return on his money.

Unlike fellow rookie Democratic Assemblyman Leland Yee of San Francisco,
who doesn't even have a window in his office, Leno got a prime suite
located just a few feet from the Assembly chambers -- with a great view of
the Capitol grounds to boot.

"My neighbor is (lesbian) state Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, so we've
dubbed the hall 'Lavender Lane,' " Leno said.

"Dennis Mountjoy -- one of the less enlightened Republicans -- is up here
with us, too.

"He's got a copy of the Pledge of Allegiance up on his door, along with a
little American flag," Leno said.

"Christine and I were joking the other day about putting a copy of the
pledge up on our doors, too -- along with an American flag -- and a rainbow
one as well."