Hisashi Sugaya, SF Planning Commissioner, Offends Tenderloin Residents With Drug Joke

• This guy is a smart ass punk I have watched him many times and he always comes off as "smarter than you". Got to love his skunk hairdo.

• __________COPY OF MY LETTER TO THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT: Mr. Rick Crawford, Planner San Francisco Planning Department 1650 Mission Street, Suite 400 San Francisco, CA 94103-2474 RE: Case # 2010.0969C - 90 Turk Street Dear Mr. Crawford, I first became a customer of Mr. Karim Rantisi’s store, Grand Liquors over a decade ago. While the neighborhood was rough and the crowds sometimes rowdy, Karim always provided extra staff to manage his crowd. He and his staff expertly and effectively managed a small space that was crowded with some very challenging and difficult customers. I was always impressed with how Karim and his crew were able to present a polite but firm response that maintained civility within the tight confines of his store. Blaming him for the transgressions in the surrounding area is both unfair and unreasonable. While small, his store provided many essential items in a neighborhood without many competing businesses. He also sold products at a reasonable price, forgoing the high markups many others would have charged. He showed genuine concern for others. Through a series of unfortunate events, Karim has not been able to transfer intact his liquor license to his new, enlarged and improved location across the street. He has shown a willingness to address his critics concerns by agreeing to drop some of his most profitable products including malt liquor, fortified wine and most significantly, hard liquor. Still, sadly, he is being challenged. Without the ability to sell beer and wine, he loses the ability to stay profitable, provide employment to the neighborhood and offer many essential products and services. Karim has also contributed to his community in many ways including sponsoring community meetings and supporting safety initiatives. The community would only be harmed by another vacant store front. Blight will increase and the neighborhood would suffer. In addition to all of the above mentioned issues, there is one more even more basic issue at stake. It is the issue surrounding temperance. In our own recent past, a wrong headed and very destructive prohibition of alcohol was executed by the Eighteenth Amendment to the US constitution, in effect from 1919 to 1933. That gave rise to organized crime, violence and much hypocrisy. Even the White House was spotted receiving regular liquor shipments. Fortunately, our nation finally came to its senses with its repeal by the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 5, 1933. I see the opposition to Karim’s liquor license as stemming from this ancient grievance - an ideologically based movement where a minority tries to impose their wills on the majority to prevent the drinking of alcohol. Surveys consistently show that two thirds or more of all adults drink alcohol. Those that would prohibit it are a minority. I personally have had enough of others, including government, telling me how to live, who I can marry or what I can put into my body. My choices as an adult need to be respected. This includes the right to drink alcohol. For me, this has become an issue of personal liberty. Affluent neighborhoods have their high priced liquor stores. Why should more impoverished neighborhoods be told they have to do without? Let the customers decide, not city hall. Let Karim enjoy the right to stay in business. Let our neighborhood continue to benefit from Karim’s offerings. Lets prevent even more blight in a troubled neighborhood. Thank you in advance for your willingness to consider my ideas and give them a fair and impartial hearing. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, David Elliott Lewis

• This is much ado about nothing. His humor may be in poor form but it was still humor - poorly executed. His joke was in bad taste but it was still a joke. Please get over it and move on to more important issues. Thanks. David Elliott Lewis

• When will Supervisor Kim weigh-in and condemn these flippant, callous and racially, class-based charged statements by Asian American Planning Commissioner Sugaya? Certainly if conservative, former Supervisor Micaela Alioto Pier from Pacific Heights, originally appointed by former Mayor Newsom to the Board, aggressively condemned Sugaya's racist remarks a few months ago about Sicilians at a Planning Commission meeting, Supervisor Kim, a civil rights attorney, formerly with the Lawyer's Committee on Civil Rights, will do the same in defense of a large section of impoverished, jobless Tenderloin constituents of color, namely African Americans, Latinos, and poor whites? Richard A. Marquez District 6 resident

• A correction is in order, as there were more community members there wearing large stickers in support of the Tip[ Top Market's request to sell 6 packs of beer and quality wines to it's neighborhood customers. Jeff Buckley, executive director for the Central City SRO Collaborative brought in a number of persons from his office that were reading from scripts. Randy Shaw, the Executive Director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic appeared to speak along with some persons from his buildings. Randy Shaw has made his fortune from the unfortunate residents of the neighborhood that live in SRO building that the Tenderloin Housing Clinic controls. I am not saying that I condone his joking comment, but I believe he was trying to say that it seems that illegal drug sales seems to have more financial success than a reputable merchant trying to make an honest living in the neighborhood.

• ​Planning Commissioner Hisashi "Bill" Sugaya is a fine example of why we should return to having ALL the commission members selected by the Mayor. When we went with having four selected by the Mayor and three selected by the Board of Supervisors that's when all the trouble started.

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