Politics

No Hope For Gitmo Detainees

I love it when street art gets political and I'm not exactly sure what the artist is getting at.  Is this a criticism of Obama not closing Guantanamo despite his campaign promises to do so?  That detainees don't have any hope of seeing a fair trial(or a trial at all)?  That the artist hopes to get their master of fine arts?

Coming Soon: 'Community Courts' to Deal With Graffiti, Drug Possession, Quality-of-Life Crimes

This morning we received an email from one of the Mission's 'concerned citizens' email lists sharing news of a new “Community Court” system, spearheaded by sit-lie champion George Gascón, coming to the Mission.  The reasons for the program seem reasonable — the city's court system is currently tied up with petty crimes, taking resources away from prosecuting serious crimes and leaving many misdemeanor offenses left unpunished.  Rather than letting these quality-of-life crimes slip through the cracks, District Attorney Gascón wants to move 20% the misdemeanor caseload to a panel of volunteer neighborhood residents that will sentence the accused to community service and/or restitution.

While optimizing and improving the justice system is a noble task, outsourcing the role judge and jury to the segment of the citizenry that campaigns for banning drinking in Dolores Park, restricting the quantity of public events held outdoors, putting more rules and regulations on people looking to enjoy themselves, advocates against cycling infrastructure in our city, and harasses nightclubs strikes us as a troubling solution to the problem.

The idea that these people, with their bias against marijuana, public intoxication, and street art, could impartially judge the accused dances in the realm of absurdity.  As the government gives these activists the same power the courts enjoy, we're one step away from institutionalized vigilante justice.

If you have any interest in telling our DA and Supervisors what you think of this program, or would like serve as a community court justice and bring a little balance to the bench, feel free to attend tonight's meeting:

You are cordially invited to attend a special community meeting on Wednesday, April 13 from 6 to 8 PM.

Come hear District Attorney George Gascón discuss the forthcoming Neighborhood Prosecutor and Community Courts program. DA Gascón is launching a new initiative to quickly resolve low level crimes through community leadership and restorative justice. Low level crimes will be immediately referred to the community court neighborhood panels for non-criminal resolutions that combine accountability with neighborhood improvement.

DA Gascón will be joined by Supervisor David Campos and Supervisor Scott Wiener, and representatives from SFPD.

At the meeting, you will learn about the new model, get a chance to dialogue with the DA, and learn how you can volunteer to serve as a community court adjudicator

The meeting will be held at:
Centro Latino Community Center
1656 15th Street

NYT: The Sit/Lie Campaign Has Damaged Haight Street Commerce

The New York Times reported last week that Sit/Lie, which was marketed as a measure to clean up Haight St. and improve business, has actually harmed Haight commerce:

The antivagrancy measure, which passed with 53 percent of the vote in November, has yet to be enforced in a significant way. The police began issuing citations only last month.

But the Haight has already felt the impact. Many believe that months of relentless, negative news coverage that painted the neighborhood as a war zone where gangs of young street thugs preyed on innocent pedestrians was a public relations debacle.

The publicity definitely hurt us,” said Jimmy Siegel, owner of Distractions, a Victorian steampunk clothing and head shop, which has operated on Haight Street for 35 years. “My business went down $100,000 last year.”

Read on.

TONIGHT: Hang With Supervisors, Raise Money for Japan

If your idea of a good time involves rubbing shoulders with politicians, drinking overpriced Red Stripe, and raising money for disaster relief efforts, then tonight is your night.  From 5:30-8 at SOM on 16th at Capp, the SF Board of Supervisors will host a fundraiser and silent auction to aid the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, featuring goodies such as:

  • A bike ride with Supervisor Chiu (brag to your friends that you dusted a mayoral candidate!)
  • Live Jazz at Yoshi's with Supervisor Mirkarimi (maybe he'll smoke weed beforehand!)
  • Lunch with Supervisor Wiener at Squat and Gobble (too many body function jokes, I don't know what to do with myself!)
  • One dozen golf balls (four boxes of 3), with City seal, autographed by Mayor Lee (collectors item!)
  • SFFD Fire Boat Tour for 4 (boats!)
  • A pair of Luxury Box Seats to a SF Giants game and two tickets to Burning Man from Supervisor Jane Kim's office (wtf?!)

There's a bunch of other stuff, like the opportunity to lobby Mayor Lee over a game of golf, a romantic dinner and drinks at The Summit and Dalva, and get a behind the secene tour of the SF Zoo.

$20 suggested donation at the door.  Free food from Papalote and Bar Bambino.  Win tickets to the Zoo.

[Facebook, h/t SFist]

Sitting and Lying Now a Walking Problem

I found myself strolling along the post-Sit/Lie Haight Street last night.  The dozen or so 'undesirables' usually found planted on the corner of Haight and Masonic that are the bane of C.W. Nevius and grumpy old dude that owns FTC Skateboarding were no where to be found.  The sidewalk in front of the Goodwill was vacant.  Looks like the likely-unconstitutional law that recently went into effect worked, kicking all the gutter punks out of the Haight once and for all?

Nope, instead of people sitting on the sidewalk asking for change, Haight now has homeless people walking up and down the sidewalks, following people, begging for change and cigarettes.  One guy paraded himself from Amoeba to Cha Cha Cha yelling “THERE ARE DRUG ADDICTS ON THE SIDEWALK. HEY EVERYBODY, THERE ARE DRUG ADDICTS ON THE SIDEWALK.”  Another jumped in front of a Muni near the new Whole Foods, dancing and yelling “Who's my bitch?”  Another honed in on my friends and I, asking for a cigarette until one of us obliged, at which point he attempted to sell some banger weed.

I'm guessing this is not what SFPD and Haight businesses had in mind…

Haven't We Moved Beyond This?

Look guys, I know this was counter-culture and badass and stuff in the 70s and 80s, but I don't run around the Mission spraypainting “the revolution will not be printed” on derelict Chronicle boxes for the exact same reason I don't do this.  If you don't want to date yourself and your grasp on technology by a good five presidencies, why not just spraypaint “the revolution will not be streamed” on the window of The Summit?

[photo by octoferret]

Dolores Park Winter Meet-up TONIGHT

If you're not already completely burnt out on Dolores Park politics this winter, Dolores Park Works has organized a meet-up tonight at The Summit.  Speakers include Supervisor Scott Wiener and some other people with important sounding qualifications.  See you there!

Incontrovertible Proof that Barack Obama was at Zeitgeist

I heard Barry was eating at flour & water, then got the tip and stopped by Zeitgeist where I was barely able to snap this photo (Secret Service dudes are no joke!). Bartenders were dicks and make a crack about showing his birth certificate. Twitter has the latest on his sensational SF exploits. 

Word on the Street: Supervisor Mirkarimi Set to Announce Run For Mayor

Multiple sources tell us that progressive Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi is preparing to announce a run for mayor.  One source, a Valencia Street business owner, tells us Mirkarimi was on Valencia Friday night talking to a group of residents about his planned campaign.  The business owner noted Mirkarimi was “wearing a very slick suit” and “looked like a fashionable heir to Gavin Newsom.”

The second source, a person currently volunteering for the Supervisor's organization, said that she and other volunteers are expecting paid contracts once he formally declares his candidacy for the office.

Now, this isn't a blog dedicated to city politics (we recommend checking out SFist, The Snitch, and Greg Dewar's blog for such things), but we mention this because Mirkarimi is the first interesting candidate set to throw his hat in the ring.  He's similar to Gavin's 2003 mayoral rival Matt Gonzalez, who, like Mirkarimi, used to be in the Green Party, has been a darling of San Francisco's progressive community, and really, really likes weed.

However, Mirkarimi has already taken steps to avoid some of the pitfalls of the Gonzalez mayoral campaign.  Whereas Gonzalez narrowly lost to Newsom largely because the Democratic party, fearing a Green mayor, threw a lot of money and weight (Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jesse Jackson) behind Newsom, Mirkarimi has already abandoned the party he helped found in favor of the Dems.  He has also worked to rebrand himself as a more pragmatic, less-tempermental progressive following his ill-fated 2009 run for Board of Supervisor President, which left him exposed as having both a bad temper and a poor management style.

Additionally, Mirkarimi's recent support of saving KUSF was a brilliant way to bring a large group of student activists, whom were instrumental in relative success of Gonzalez's 2003 run, into his campaign prior to a formal announcement.  That's not to say he wouldn't have taken up the cause anyway—I'm not that cynical—but rather it was a strategic way to spend his limited time.

If Mirkarimi is able to successfully rally his base, the mayoral race will likely come down to Mirkarimi vs. David Chiu (who hasn't announced his candidacy but is expected to run) or Dennis Herrera.  Either match-up will look a lot like Newsom vs. Gonzalez, with the progressive community split between economic classes (tenants, students, the Dolores Park crowd, and die hard liberals vs. business, older people, and conservatives with no other options).  Will he be able to pull it off?  I'm no pollster, but if he manages to minimize concerns over his temper, we might be able to get a mayor who can do more than wear a suit well.

(photo via Streetsblog)

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