Since District Elections were often dull, it took someone special to liven them up.
Wavy Gravy, Berkeley's best known clown, ran against Shirley Dean for her District 5 City Council seat in the November 1990 election.
His campaign slogan was: "Let's elect a real clown for a change."
Wavy Gravy's flamingo poster/lawn sign was probably the best campaign art of the District Elections era. Wavy also gave away clown noses to supporters instead of buttons.
A child of the 60s, Wavy Gravy is perhaps most famous for being on stage as master of ceremonies at the original Woodstock in 1969. He's also a Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor, world humanitarian, and runs a children's summer camp. For more, check out the Wavy Gravy website.
Whether Shirley Dean felt insulted by having a clown as her opponent is unclear. BCA had helped to send in the clown, but could not offer any real support in such a conservative district.
District 5 voters remained unamused, and Shirley Dean was easily re-elected over Wavy Gravy on November 6, 1990.
A decade later, the City of Berkeley did proclaim May 15, 2001 as "Wavy Gravy Day" to help celebrate his 65th birthday.
