Politics

Hordes of (Paid) Ed Lee Supporters Invade Mission Street

For all of the Mayor's coyishness about running for a full term, he sure does look like he's running a campaign.  Just yesterday, multiple squads of “supporters” traversed Mission Street collecting signatures to (presumably) get Ed's name on the ballot.  While this group was generally more interested in gawking at lucador masks than collecting sigs, another at the 16th BART station were much more aggressive, literally following people asking them for support.

I tried to figure out what was the hell was going on, but they didn't seem to keen on talking to me, probably because I had alcohol on my breath and generally look like a crazy person.  I'm sure asking “Who pays you?” and “Do you even live in San Francisco?” didn't help.  Regardless, more sketchy electioneering from our astroturfing mayor.

Political Candidates Continue to Lay it on Thick for Mission Voters

This year's crop of mayoral candidates sure are doing their best to “connect” with the Mission's youth activist power bloc.  They've invaded Sunday Streets, swept through Dolores Park, collected signatures and volunteer information at Phono del Sol, hung out at taquerias, and Avalos even spun records at Knockout.

The latter was probably the most brilliant move of the all the campaigns thus far.  Not only did it give Avalos tons of free press, but it put him smack dab in the middle of Cool Kid Central, giving him a captive audience to show off the human side of the politician.  Who knows if it did his campaign any good though.  As one attendee put it, “I don't know if I'd vote for him because all I really know about him is that he thinks Twist & Shout is one hell of a jam.”

While Avalos “gets it,” the victim of this pandering race-to-the-bottom is George Gascón, the police chief-turned-district attorney running to maintain his Newsom-appointed position.  George recently walked around Dolores Park trying to connect with young voters who had no idea who the hell he was.  As he slowly meandered through the throngs of kids, he cautiously waved at the people sitting below him, who were visibly concerned if this white haired man was suffering from dementia and needed help finding his caretaker.  When he approached my crew, I shouted out “Hey, Dennis Herrera!” and the sorry son of a bitch so flattered that someone recognized him as a politician that he cracked a wide smile and waved for my lone cellphone.

With the sun overhead, he almost looked angelic in his desperation.

[First photo by Alissa]

Cesar Chavez Bike Lanes Canned

Looks like the bike lanes along Chavez that would have established a safe route from the Mission to the Dogpatch that everyone was so psyched about has been scrapped due to concerns about its impact on traffic. Mission Local reports:

The cause of the abrupt change of plan, said David Beaupre, planner for the Port of San Francisco, was lack of communication between groups working on different transportation plans for the city. […]

Removing one eastbound lane on Cesar Chavez and replacing it with a bike lane on each side of the street has been a part of MTA plans for Cesar Chavez since at least 2009. The plans themselves were the result of two years of collaboration between the San Francisco Planning Department, the SFTMA, Department of Public Works, the Public Utilities Commission, and multiple community groups.

But, said Beaupre, when the Cesar Chavez redesign was being planned by the MTA, the Planning Department’s visions for Cesar Chavez were not taken into account. Although the two agencies have been in talks for many months now, it was only recently that the MTA abandoned the bike lane plan as it stands now. […]
Turning an eastbound lane of an already narrow and busy street could lead to 1,200 to 1,500 foot-long columns of idling trucks, said James Shahamiri, an assistant engineer for the MTA. A number of businesses in the area had expressed concern about the lanes impacts on the flow of goods, he added. Belatedly, the MTA realized that their project was not being real consistent with the Planning Department’s  goals, he said.

Read on.

The Future of Mission Bowling Club Rests on the Board of Supervisors Amending Antiquated Liquor License Law

The Examiner brings us news that the anticipated Mission Bowling Club on 17th needs the Board of Supervisors to amend a 15-year-old liquor license moratorium in order to move forward:

Bowling and boozing — two inherently related activities — are the subject of city legislation designed to clear the way for a proposed new six-lane alley and bar-restaurant in the Mission district.

Supervisors Jane Kim and Scott Wiener want to tweak the planning code to make way for the new locally owned business, which wouldn’t otherwise be allowed because past problems with the area’s drinking culture prompted restrictions on new liquor licenses.

The liquor license restrictions mentioned were made way back in 1996 to help combat gang violence, preventing new bars, grocery stores and corner stores from selling booze.  Undoubtedly the reasons for the moratorium are not as pressing today as they were, so why not just strike down the restrictions altogether so the Mission can get more bowling alleys and breweries instead of boring condos?

I would also like to give a quick shoutout for Supervisor Wiener for once again filling in for The Mission's absentee Supervisor David Campos.

[Artist's Rendering by Andrew Dalton of SFist]

Politicians Take Over The Mission During Sunday Streets

Once again, Sunday Streets proved to be a solid community event in which San Franciscans were begged to imagine what Valencia and 24th could look like without traffic and given the opportunity to complain about the wind's affect on their collective haircuts.  Unlike Sunday Streets in years past, in which the event was dominated by art bikes, kids going ape-shit with boxes of chalk, and music, a few politicians were out there not letting you forget 2011 is an election year.

Perhaps the real highlight of the whole day had to have been our human-mustache hybrid mayor, Ed Lee.  There he was, walking down the middle of Valencia with two or three innocuous bodyguards with his head slightly down and a Giants cap and sunglasses hiding most of his face.  Gavin Newsom, this man is not.  Rather than making the entire event about how he attended the event, Lee generally kept to himself, yet kindly offered to chat with people and crack a wide smile for a photo when approached.  He didn't even seem to give a shit when a bunch of kids holding brown bags and Red Stripes ran up for a photo.

And like every quality Ed Lee photo-op, the scene turned into a high-five party.  Joined by Phil of Philz Coffee and mountain bike pioneer Gary Fisher, the mayoral crew began 'giving skin' to passersby:

Then, sensing an opportunity to be hip, President of the Board David Chiu ran up to the scene like a high school math nerd who was just waved over to the cool kids' lunch table, dolling out slaps, fist bumps, and immediately making the situation kinda awkward.  That's not to say I don't like David Chiu—I'm sure he's a fan-tastic guy—it's just if you're going to throw up your sweaty palms with the mayor, you best bring your A game.

Shortly after the high-five party crash, David Chiu mounted his conference bike, cranked up “Hey Ya!” and rolled down the street while a girl dressed in pink shaggy carpet blowing bubbles acted as sweep.  Gutsy music choice.  On one hand, it's a Top 40 hit safe with families and Noe Valley, but on the other hand, it wasn't Gucci Mane.  We'll give him a pass on this.

Supervisor Avalos was also there, who's apparently trying to ride 'Giants Fever' all the way to the ballot box.  From what I can tell, he really impressed the hulking dude in camo shorts holding a hula-hoop with his vision of San Francisco.

Thankfully, the event wasn't all politicians and awkward high-fives.  For example, this local badass was riding down the street on a bike fashioned to look like a deer.

There were also some dudes that didn't realize Cinco de Mayo was last week.

And some shirtless people practicing yoga amongst broken bottles and hungover people who really didn't need to see this.

This pigeon had a shitty Sunday Streets.

Anndddd… scene.

The Mature Debate Surrounding the Commercialization of Dolores Continues

I still haven't heard a good argument in favor of leasing the parks over to private businesses. That's not to say there's isn't a case to be made, I just haven't heard one presented beyond “yay tacos!,” “Chicken John BAD,” and “it's more money for the park.”  No arguments with the first two, but $12k a year doesn't really seem like it's going to make a hole in the $6.8m Rec & Park deficit.  Plus, I'm not sure how permanently handing over a part of The Park over to a private business for so little cash is a good precedent.  Yeah, Chicken John might be nauseating (zing!), but can someone point me towards a good analysis of why these trucks are good for the public?

[link]

Beyond Four Loko: Dennis Herrera Now Trying to Ban Alcohol Merely For Being Sugary

Back in 2007, City Attorney Dennis Herrera led the charge against Sparks, claiming caffeinated malt liquor presented a danger to the public and was inherently marketed to adolescents.  Those antics inevitably worked: in late-2008, MillerCoors announced they were removing caffeine from Sparks, making it an everyday beer that happened to taste like SweeTarts.  He then went on a similar crusade against Four Loko that yielded the same results.

Apparently Herrera was not satisfied with companies only removing caffeine from their drinks, as today the now-mayoral candidate is going after Pabst for making fruit-flavored beer:

City Attorney Dennis Herrera today joined 17 attorneys general from U.S. states and one territory to call on Pabst Brewing Company to stop selling “Blast by Colt 45,” a highly intoxicating, supersized alcoholic beverage marketed to young consumers. The Woodridge, Ill.-based company launched the new product earlier this month in a colorful array of 23.5 ounce single serving cans and assorted flavors that include grape, strawberry lemonade, strawberry watermelon, and blueberry pomegranate. With an alcohol concentration of 12 percent, a single can of Blast contains the equivalent of nearly five servings of alcohol — which, if consumed within an hour, meets the standard for “binge drinking” as defined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. […]

“Just as we're seeing real progress from companies and regulators to address the dangers of 'alcopops,' along comes fruit-flavored 'binge-in-a-can,'” said Herrera.  “When people open a chilled, carbonated beverage, they tend to drink it before it goes warm and flat.  That Pabst actually printed 'Please drink responsibly' on a 23.5-ounce can, with 12 percent alcohol, is just absurd.  You can't drink it responsibly unless you throw most of it away.  There's nothing responsible about 'Blast,' and Pabst needs to fix it.”

Is he next going to go back after Four Loko for selling caffeine-free tall cans of fruity beer?  Perhaps ban wine coolers?  And as SFist's Andrew Dalton says, “someone should ban pre-mixed Cosmos because they make dopey Cougars all violent and horny.”

Street Artist Protests Unnecessary Museum Exhibits

An anonymous reader sent us this snap of the Banksy-parodying piece on Divis and Oak:

I was walking by yesterday and saw this stencil made by Eddie (streetartist? Im not from here so I dont really have my streetart culture up to date).. anyways, the bartender from the winebar this advertisement is attached to, Vinyl, on Divisadero St and Oak st told me it was in response to some street art exhibit at the MOCA.

I figured I'd pass along the news to you guys. I thought it was pretty cool.

Definitely cool.  I hate museums!

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