Blogs

S.F. gives Dhaliwal brothers the bureaucratic kiss-off

By Joe Eskenazi

After thoroughly vetting complaints lodged in March by the survivors of the Christmas Day zoo rampage — that provided Fox news with astounding new ways to portray San Francisco as a hotbed of unholy bestial fury — the city has, in perfect legalese, told the victims of the tiger attack to go shit in their hats.

“An investigation of your client’s claim filed with the City and County of San Francisco has revealed no indication of liability on the part of the City and County. Accordingly, your claim is DENIED,” reads City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s Thursday rejoinder to Amritpal and Kulbir Dhaliwal’s claims of physical and emotional injuries resulting from the tiger attack that left Carlos Sousa, Jr. dead (and, yes, Herrera used the blog-like all-caps to hammer home his point).

The city’s rationale: This ain’t my problem!

Herrera, ever helpful, refers the Dhaliwal’s attorneys, Mark Geragos and Shepard Kopp, to direct their legal fury to:

San Francisco Zoological Society
1 Zoo Road
San Francisco, CA 94132

(Herrera included a line reading “attn: Wayne Reading” — in other words, the zoo’s CFO has been notified that he's just had a legal wolfpack loosed on him).

You can read the terse PDF here.

"Hello, I am America's sexiest mayor" — Shalom, ani ha'rosh ir hachi sexy b'artzot ha'brit.

"In most solemn truth I tell you that one of you will betray me — yes, Daly, I'm looking at you."

By Joe Eskenazi

Sometimes, you just can't resist. How many folks have posed for "I'm king of the world!" photos on the bows of cruise ships? How many of us have assembled a foursome to cross Abbey Road?

And, when in Jerusalem retracing the steps of Jesus, who hasn't suddenly portrayed himself as the Messiah? Well ... not everyone, actually. But our mayor sure did:

At one of the Stations of the Cross, Newsom placed his hand on a wall stone, said to be the one Jesus touched on his walk to his crucifixion. He then placed his hands on the cheeks of his fiancée and jokingly said, “I heal you.”

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By Benjamin Wachs

If two lesbians got married and moved to New York, would anybody notice?

While it’s received virtually no media coverage up here, the answer is yes – and the fight for gay marriage in New York took a cautious step forward yesterday when the state’s highest court announced that it would not hear an appeal of a lawsuit by an upstate New York county … making gay marriage, at least temporarily, the law of the land.

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By Benjamin Wachs

This just in: According to a communication provided to today's Board of Supervisors meeting, Mayor Gavin Newsom has vetoed the proposal to require all government meetings that can be recorded and broadcast to be recorded and broadcast.

The motion, proposed by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, would have opened up every government meeting in San Francisco to convenient public scrutiny - and only cost $70 thousand.

Spokespeople for Hizzoner have not yet returned calls for comment ... maybe they think the public doesn't need to hear that, either.

Is it just me, or could we probably find $70 thousand under the cushions of Gavin Newsom's couch? Maybe we should take up a collection. I'll pledge $100 for open government. Anybody else?

More on this as it develops.

By Benjamin Wachs

The audit of his signature homelessness program, Care Not Cash, is a chance for Gavin Newsom to preen extra hard. “Mayor’s Care Not Cash Achieving Its Goals” trumpets the city’s website. The Examiner offers a glowing testimony to the power of the program, only noting right at the end of the graphic that the source is the City Controller’s office, rather than an independent study.

To be fair, the results of the audit are legitimately good news, as far as they go. It’s just that they don’t go very far at all. Let’s peer behind the looking glass:

The Bad News is Bad

First off – and this is important – the only thing the audit tells us … the only thing … is that Care Not Cash placed 2,217 people in single room housing. That’s it.

Are they better off? Well, that it doesn’t say.

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by Benjamin Wachs

Ross Mirkarimi’s been thinking: Maybe the Chief of Police should report to the Board of Supervisors instead of the mayor.

That sound you hear is Gavin Newsom’s head exploding.

Can somebody say “Turf war?”

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By Benjamin Wachs

Something weird happened today at the city’s Budget and Finance Committee. A bunch of people showed up to talk about a proposed city plan for spending $7 million in development fees … and all of them maintained that the plan must be good because the committee worked really, really hard on it.

There are two things wrong with this. First: Um, no. It doesn’t work that way.

Second: Um, no. Even if it did worth that way, the committee didn’t actually work all that hard.

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By Joe Eskenazi

Barring another ship colliding with the Bay Bridge and triggering environmental Armageddon, Mayor Gavin Newsom is off next week for a 10-day "mission" to the place a disturbing number of Americans believe will host the real Armageddon (and soon!): Israel.

(Actually, don't kid yourself. He's outta here no matter what.).

On Newsom's agenda: Visits to Tel Aviv, San Francisco's sister city of Haifa and "a briefing from senior Israeli foreign ministry officials"

It's amusing to imagine a meeting of the minds between Gav and the Israelis:

— "Mayor, we need you to look handsome in the publicity photographs and avoid getting blown up."

— "I'll try not to disappoint you."

If Newsom wants to push for gay marriage in Jerusalem, well, good luck with that.

But, knowing our mayor a little, here's a few phrases he could stand to learn in Hebrew:

• Hello, I am America's sexiest mayor.

Shalom, ani ha'rosh ir hachi sexy b'artzot ha'brit.

•How much should I leave as a tip? For a taxi? For a massage? For ... something else?

Kama ani tzarich la'a'zov bishvil tip? Bishvil monit? Bishvil massage? Bishvil ... mashehu acher?

•Where can I buy hair gel?

Eifo ani yachol liknot mishchat-seh'ar?

•At home I am very popular.

Eifo she'ani gar, ani me'od pohpoolari.

•Nobody knows why.

Af echad yodeah lama.

CLICK "MORE" FOR MORE, INTUITIVELY ENOUGH...

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By Benjamin Wachs

Hey, I blinked and missed it – but apparently Ross Mirkarimi’s bill requiring all public meetings that can be recorded and broadcast to be recorded and broadcast finally passed.

And by “passed” I mean, “squeaked through.” It was a 6 – 5 vote, Mirkarimi, Peskin, Daly, Ammiano, Dufty, and Gerardo Sandoval voted for it, making them heroes for a day.

No word from the Mayor’s office about whether he plans to sign or veto it: a spokeswoman at the Mayor’s Press Office said she’d get back to me, which almost never happens.

It’s sure to be an unpopular measure with many members of San Francisco’s volunteer boards, some of whom have gone out of their way to avoid public scrutiny. The mayor’s going to be in a tough position: he hates having to decide whose side he’s really on.

San Francisco waves bye-bye to black people for a second time.
by Benjamin Wachs

In 1858, 800 black San Franciscans were fed up with life in the United States and moved … en masse … to Victoria, British Columbia, where the governor had issued them a personal invitation. Once there, according to many accounts, they lived much better lives.

You’re going to be hearing a lot about the 1858 exodus over the next few weeks. April 20 – 26 is going to be declared “1858 Black Exodus Commemoration Week” in San Francisco. On April 20 there will be an ecumenical service in memorial for it at the African American Art and Culture complex. On April 22 there will be a “symbolic launching of the Commodore” – the ship that carried the expatriates to their new lives, as well as presentations and receptions at the Port of San Francisco and Ferry Building. Still more events will follow. The full schedule is here, if you’re inclined to go.

At today’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting Sophie Maxwell will introduce a resolution “expressing profound regret for the 1858 exodus of hundreds of Black residents of San Francisco to Victoria, British Columbia because of the legalized brutality and injustices that were visited upon them.”

The Supes are sure to pass it, because that’s what they do. We are, to be clear about this, really, really, really sorry.

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Mayor Gavin Newsom rolls up his shirt sleeves, unbuttons the first three buttons of his shirt, and takes a tour of a state-of-the-art green dwelling in the Mission while murmuring things like, "Oh, are those LED lights? That's great."

Watch the video here. --Andy Wright

Obama supporters: "It's getting hot in heeeere..." All photos | Joe Eskenazi

Blood, sweat and tears – but mostly sweat – as 71 would-be S.F. delegates vie for three spots. Yes, we’ll tell you who won.

By Joe Eskenazi

As hundreds of perspiring Barack Obama supporters braved the amusement park-worthy line and filtered into SEIU headquarters’ own Black Hole of Calcutta, more than one organizer of San Francisco’s Obama delegate caucus was heard to exclaim that “this is what democracy looks like.”

Unfortunately, this is also what democracy smelled like. Sunday’s confluence of Arizona-type weather, the stress of a contested election and scads of tightly packed bodies led the caucus floor to be permeated by the pungent mixture of sweat and Old Spice. The temperature in the cramped room was such that one would have expected to see elderly gentlemen in seersucker suits lazily fanning themselves while enjoying sweet tea. In short, it wasn’t just hot, it was Atticus Finch hot.

Who would have thought a caucus to select the Congressional District No. 8 representatives to August’s Democratic National Convention in Denver would become the city’s hot ticket (in every conceivable way)?

A full 90 minutes before doors opened at the Service Employees International Union’s Potrero Hill headquarters, the first voters began lining up, like Star Wars geeks camped out for Phantom Menace tickets. In most years, the role of a delegate requires little more than wearing a boater hat and waving a placard. Not so in 2008. Fear of closet Clintonites led the Obama campaign to scratch a draconian 900 would-be delegates off the California rolls. That decision was reversed on Thursday, April 10, which led to massive delegate races and unprecedented numbers of voters (roughly eight times as many ballots were prepared in San Francisco this year than in 2004).

The notion that the national convention might feature turncoat maneuvers worthy of a professional wrestling match -- “Oh my God! Is that Hillary Clinton’s music?” -- brought out the voters.

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By Benjamin Wachs

It’s a classic San Francisco “half-assed legislation” story: In 2006, the Supervisors pushed a major police overhaul, demanding foot patrols across most police beats beginning in 2007.

A year later, now that the first evaluation has come out, someone’s finally noticed: we have no way of telling if foot patrols are effective.

We’re five pages in to the first annual “SFPD Foot Patrols Final Report” before the authors admit, almost off handedly:

“The SFPD does not have adequate documentation capabilities to capture data needed to analyze or report on the effectiveness of foot patrols.”

Oh. So … this whole thing is pointless, then?

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By Benjamin Wachs

Is it getting more expensive to build in San Francisco? You bet it is. New estimates call for the city to spend $2.3 billion (with a “B”) more on almost the exact same list of capital projects it put together a year ago.

The City’s Capital Planning Committee will present the Board of Supervisors with its annual revision to SF’s “10 year capital plan” this week, and only around a billion of the increase is due to new projects. The rest, as the report openly admits, “is due to inflation” and more accurate estimates. In all, it’s a 13% increase over the costs established just last year.

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Image courtesy of the Flanders Group

by Benjamin Wachs

San Francisco produces so many “studies” about itself that it must surely be the most looked-at place on earth. Feasibility studies, development reports, slavery disclosure evaluations, new special use district plans … given the chance to stare at itself in a mirror, San Francisco would rather do it on paper.

These studies cover a dizzying array of subjects and concerns, but they tend to have one thing in common: most of them appear to be written by college sophomores. They make classic English 101 term paper mistakes – and so are fit for little more than sitting on a shelf in a nice glossy binder.

Here’s three recent examples:

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