The people have spoken, and it's Merrittzilla.

Out of five choices nominated for the name of the Lake Merritt monster, Merrittzilla won by a convincing but not overwhelming margin in voting conducted during two weeks at OaklandTribune.com.

Of 633 voters, 36 percent (228) chose Merrittzilla. Thanks go to the Holland family, who sent in the winning pick.

The second runner-up was Felix, with 20 percent.

Although the voting didn't match the chicanery in the 2000 presidential election, the campaign was not entirely without incident.

The polls opened July 4. In the second week of voting, a former Oakland resident instigated a campaign to make Sammie the official name.

An excerpt from a post Ross Almazan wrote to the Rockridge Residents forum:

"The Oakland Tribune is sponsoring an election "... for a name for the Lake Merritt Monster. Polls are open until July 14. The winning name will be the OFFICIAL name for the creature. Right now, 'Merrittzilla' is in the lead at 41 percent. Don't let this happen!"

Almazan continued: —... I don't think the proud people of our city would be very happy if we ended up with 'Merrittzilla' as our moniker!"

He asked people to vote against the name.

Nevertheless, Almazan was a good sport when his attempts failed. He sent "Sammie's" official concession when it was clear the campaign that reached as far as New York had

Advertisement
failed, although "his performance was nothing short of AMAZING." In just three days of frenzied voting, Sammie managed to give Merrittzilla a tough fight. (Who said the monster was male?)

"Sammie ran a clear campaign to the end," Almazan wrote. "And by doing so he brought some great publicity to the much maligned city of Oakland: to people in America's biggest cities and across the country. "... Go Sammie!!!"

"Sammie" came in fourth, with 17 percent, or 107 votes.

Other choices sent in by readers included Messie (18 percent) and Deasy (9 percent).

The names came from readers who sent or called in their choices. I selected the top five that were also in some way colorful, sonorous or storied.

Deasy, for example, came from reader Doug Vance. Deasy, he said, was the nickname of a local character who built a clam chowder shack on top of an old barge that stood where the Oakland Civic Auditorium was erected in 1914 on the south shore of Lake Merritt.

Reader Vivian Perry called to say her family has always called the monster Messie.

Complaints of poll rigging, however, spread when some pollers tried to cast their vote. The process was not rigged as more than one voter stymied by the opaque design on the Web site claimed.

One voter even offered a list of alternative names: Doolittle, after a famous Oakland politician; Nepo, short for nepotism; Crony, for a favorite city employee; Crookneck, after a certain City Council member.

"Let's call her 'The Taxpayers' Payback," someone suggested. "She'll be visiting City Hall next Election Day. And she's a mother."

Dr. Richard Bailey from the Lake Merritt Institute even provided a photograph of the creature from the Oakland lagoon. The institute, it seems, discovered a monster lurking in the depths of the lake at least two years ago and named it the Oak-Ness monster. Some controversy arose about whether it was the same creature. Bailey said there may be two of them, adding that he would support naming the one spotted by this reporter Sammie as long as both are protected by a proclamation from City Council. "Other jurisdictions," he added, "have embraced their monsters with statues, official designations, mugs, T-shirts, etc. Why not here?" Neither Councilmember Nancy Nadel, whose district includes Lake Merritt, nor Mayor Ron Dellums' office returned calls requesting comment.