It's great to be granted tacit permission by our colleagues down the hall at the Guardian to cover matters relating to CleanPowerSF.

It's not so great, however, to read an article about the city's clean energy program essentially urging readers and reporters alike to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain -- to avoid quibbling over "details" because CleanPowerSF is The Way.

City residents must overlook even glaring shortcomings, as the program cannot advance toward the pot of local energy at the end of the rainbow -- the dreamed-of "local buildout" -- if we don't do our part. Our part would be not asking questions, paying the high rates for CleanPowerSF, and trusting that the revenue bonds issued against our premium rates will be used to transform San Francisco into an ecotopia.

Ronald Reagan didn't say too many brilliant things, but he was definitely on to something when he uttered "trust but verify." As SF Weekly recently verified in a cover story, CleanPowerSF has lofty "goals" to achieve laudable ends -- but no plan.

That is still the case.

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J. Wohletz

For $44, you could get around five of these soups in a bread bowl...

Sometimes a title really does say it all. For a city controller's performance audit of Pier 39 released yesterday, that's certainly the case:

Pier 39 Underpaid Its Rent by $44 Because It Did Not Report Subtenant Rent Underpayments for December 29, 2008, Through December 25, 2011

This 18-page document is prepared by the controller in concert with outside consultant KPMG. It contains a detailed rebuttal from Pier 39 and a five-point response from Pier 39's landlord, the Port of San Francisco. Per the controller's office, it required 112 hours of staff time to complete. And, in pinpoint detail, it reveals that $2,393 in gross receipts from several of Pier 39's "over 100 subtenants and concessionaires" went unreported. Since Pier 39 pays the Port a percentage of its revenue -- determined by a not-at-all-complex eight-tier system -- the audit claims the Port is owed $44 for the three-year period.

During that time Pier 39 reported $81.4 million in gross revenues and paid $7.97 million in rent to the Port.

"What you have to understand on these audits is they are compliance audits. So they are very -- how do I say this -- we look at whether you are complying explicitly with whatever your contract is," says Tonia Lediju, the director of city audits. Analyses like this, she continues, are mandatory -- there is no trigger. "The point is not the significance of the dollar amount but 'are you following the terms of the contract?'"

Per the controller's office, the answer to that question is "no." Per Pier 39, the answer is "yes." Lawyers and financial people get involved. And that's how you get an 18-page report arguing over $44.

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This train is so old you'd think it was going to Woodstock

If you're still recovering from the fact you had to dip into your savings to see the Rolling Stones play in San Francisco earlier this month, well consider yourself lucky that you didn't have to shell out even more money for your ride to the show.

Supervisor Scott Wiener today is planning to ask his colleagues to consider a new plan to tack on extra fees for anyone who is buying a ticket to a sporting event, concert, or any other major event. Those extra fees would go toward Muni.

First step is to have the controller assess this transit surcharge, looking at a range of fees that would generate more money for Muni which badly needs the cash to replace the light-rail vehicles that are getting kinda dumpy.

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Oakland's lone burglary investigator

Earlier this week, we probably shocked nobody with the news that Oakland was officially the robbery capital of America. But now we're going to tell you something that probably will shock you.

According to news reports, Oakland police assigned only one part-time investigator last year to solve more than 10,000 burglaries.

That's like trying to solve global warming with a single ice cube.

See Also: Confirmed: Oakland Has More Robberies Than Any Other American City

See Also: Second Chief Resigns From Oakland Police Department in 48 Hours

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Abilene Christian U.

Voter pamplet's here!

Update: Supervisors David Chiu and Scott Wiener introduce dueling ballot pamphlet measures.

Can a book topping 500 pages still be labeled a "pamphlet"? That's the situation San Francisco may be facing, as the gargantuan legal text of the referendum targeting the 8 Washington development portends a voter pamphlet of Tolstoy-like proportions.

Supervisor Scott Wiener will today introduce a measure to prevent gargantuan legal texts from weighing down voter pamphlets. Under current city rules, every last word -- all 500 pages worth, perhaps -- is mandated to be included in those voter guides. Wiener's ordinance would provide the option of cutting them off at 20 pages, with the full text readable online, in public libraries, or available to be mailed to voters free of charge. Considering the Department of Elections estimates that each printed page in the pamphlet corresponds to a $3,500 outlay, eliminating 500-odd pages from the booklet would save around $1.75 million.  

"This makes a lot of sense," Wiener says. "You'll save a lot of money and a lot of trees."

Wiener noted that this is how they do it across the bay in Alameda County. This came as a surprise, however, to personnel at the Alameda County registrar of voters.

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A day late. A dollar short, too?

If the city intended to give Jon Golinger a heart attack, it came ever so close. More »

For a shrill time, just add abortion. Or, in the case of Planned Parenthood's "invasion" of South San Francisco -- as Catholic Radio put it -- plan to not offer termination of pregnancies and suffer the preposterous parade regardless.

There are about 10 Planned Parenthood and related clinics in the Bay Area, but most are in the East Bay. Now Planned Parenthood Mar Monte wants to open a clinic at 435 Grand Ave. in South City -- which would make it the closest clinic to many residents in San Francisco -- and the local Planning Commission appears ready to sign off on this.

Since the building doesn't meet state regulations, the clinic would not offer abortions (and, as Planned Parenthood as repeatedly tried to convince people, pregnancy terminations represent 3 percent of all services offered). That hasn't stopped Planned Parenthood foes from rolling out the dead babies -- including the old "dead baby livers in Pepsi," the "dead babies in cosmetics," and "sexually active" children arguments.

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Misunderstandings abound...

Andrea Shorter, the longtime city commissioner who spearheaded a group of well-funded domestic violence activists that drove Supervisor Christina Olague from office, has been fined for failing to report her own sources of funding.

The Fair Political Practices Commission yesterday approved an $800 fine for Shorter, a member of the city's Commission on the Status of Women, for neglecting to report sources of outside income while serving as a city commissioner in 2008, '09, '10, and '11.

Shorter told SF Weekly "I've amended the forms and there was a misunderstanding in terms of what was instructed. I've gone on with my life." Former Board president Aaron Peskin, who filed the complaint with the FPPC earlier this year, reiterated earlier claims that "anybody with a basic junior high school education can figure out these rules.

"It's very clear. You don't need a lawyer. It's like it says: If you make more than however many dollars, you have to report the source of income."

Shorter's filings with the city's Ethics Commission were not flagged in those four offending years.

Also, in a coordinated effort, near-identical complaints were filed against Shorter with both the state FPPC and the city's Ethics Commission -- on the same day. Calls to Ethics have thus far gone unreturned, but it appears that no action has been taken against Shorter.

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Joe Eskenazi

Many, many thank-you cards to write...

Politicians receive some odd gifts. Not as odd as the stuff thrusted Queen Elizabeth's way -- but odd nevertheless.

San Francisco public officials must report as a gift "Any source of income aggregating $500 or more invalue, or any source of gifts of $420 or more in value, provided to, received by, or
promised to the public official within 12 months prior to the time the decision is
made. ..."

As such, ertwhile Mayor Gavin Newsom was made to report his wedding haul, which included not one but two coffee pots priced at more than $1,000.

It's uncertain how useful a pair of such pots are. But if you're seeking a man who received truly useful gifts, look no further than Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. The man Mayor Ed Lee attempted to boot from office is still there with a little help from his friends -- $28,117 worth of help from 156 friends.

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Audrey Fukuman

A million-dollar idea...

Did you know there's a guy who sings topical songs set to popular tunes at city meetings? Well, there is.

If that's what passes for levity at a City Hall meeting, you can imagine the joys of neighborhood meetings regarding contentious issues. Yes, there's juice and chips in the back. But you'll need 'em: These things often last for hours, and everybody -- everybody -- gets up and talks. No one sings.

So, we're willing to concede that C.W. Nevius was likely accurate in summing up the joy that was a heated North Beach meeting regarding the Central Subway project and Pagoda Palace boring machine extraction.

But he was inaccurate in summing up what it's gonna cost. In fact, he was off by a factor of 12.

See Also: Boring Stories -- Muni's Drilling Plan Strains Credulity

Central Subway: Muni's Grout Plan May Be All Fracked Up

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