Watching City Hall #271, (3-22-04) “I’m not into people making noise and causing trouble. I think if 400,000 people just came here and stood silently to protest the war, it would make a difference.” Jonathan Richman, poet & musician Richman was like a little kid as we got closer to the demonstration. He danced around the little posse Chuck Gonzalez & Liz Ross put together to go join last Saturday’s anti-Iraq War peace march. No one knew who he was! The top button on his shirt was firmly attached to the woven hole provided for the … second … button. And, the shirt was wrinkled. Was he trying to be funny? Was he that unconcerned as to his own appearance that he didn’t even look at the mirror before he walked out in the morning? I kept trying to peg him. I couldn’t. … Fame aside, Jonathan is a massive talent and an impressive human being. I’ve been pushing hard to get him to provide principle score for Rich Hillis and Courtney Haslett’s documentary about many of the principle characters in the fight against gentrification in San Francisco. It’s about Gavin Newsom and Matt Gonzalez and Tony Hall and Jens Nielsen and Diamond Dave Whittaker … and, me … there’s lots about me. … Anyway, the movie has tons of great footage and I’m predicting it will be an instant cult classic (that means it will lose money). You’ll like it, though. … Hell, you’ll love it. Since you read me, you’ll know everyone in it and that’s the kind of formula you want to see emerge from any work of art. … You know, like T.S. Eliot described in that essay about people paying more attention to art that evokes a memory of a past or present reality in the viewers’ lives. (he called it ‘objective correlative’) … So, we’re at this demonstration. Richman makes Matt Gonzalez look like a snappy dresser. … That’s not easy. The boy has the natural gait and charm of the kind of combination court jester and wandering minstrel he played in ‘Something about Mary’. … He adds an honestly open and searching kind of eye contact that can be both flattering and disconcerting. Given his dark hair and bouncing manner, it’s kind of like walking down the street with a combination of Rasputin & the Road Runner (from da cartoon). … Hey, I dug it. Anyone with a brain would. We talked about African music and various percussion instruments and dancing and I found myself wishing he’d brought his guitar or mandolin, or whatever the hell it is he plays. … He was a founder of ‘The Modern Lovers’ whose members went on to create ‘The Cars’ and ‘The Talking Heads’. … He reminds me of Linda Rudman aka Linda LaFlamme aka ‘Neska’. Playing alone (‘dramatic piano’ she calls it) for 30 years after founding ‘It’s a Beautiful Day’ in the 60’s and basking in the temporary glow of a much deserved stardom, … went solo, and … to everyone who has heard her … unappreciated. I’ve ranted to Hillis & Haslett from the start that if they could get Neska to do the music behind the film, it would make money and be nominated for an Academy Award for the score. … I’m right, too. … Add Richman to Neska? … Lord, Lord, Lord. … I don’t mean, money-wise, although it would certainly eventually make money. … I mean, as the best piece covering the exodus of true, old-fashioned talent out of San Francisco due to the pressures of gentrification. … It will be, as I said … a cult thing. … People will come to see it because they like Gavin Newsom. Or, Matt Gonzalez. … … they’ll come away saying stuff like: “Where can I get a cd of the soundtrack?” … I know that I spend lots of time talking about this project but that’s because we need an accessible history of the defeat and diaspora of San Francisco’s last hippies and beats. A record to prove that we fought in some way right up until the time when Care Not Cash II combined with Patriot Act II to cleanse the City of the last of its poor. … Let’s see … this is a political column, right? … To those of you with no minds of your own who might wish to pass off my opinions as yours on a few current issues, let me give you something to say to surprise your friends: Bravo for the War in Iraq Some people don’t understand anything but violence. … Some people are simple and pure evil. Sadam Hussein was like that. … Now, George Bush (pick em) is no different. I’m all in favor of tossing out an evil dictator once a year for the duration of this (certain to be short) period in which we are the world’s only ‘Super’ power. … I liked dumping the Taliban in Afghanistan (anyone who likes to stone women instead of getting stoned with them needs guidance) I kid you not a bit when I tell you that I think the GI’s serving in these places where brutal sexist regimes were destroyed are heros. … you get the idea. Come the end of the year, if Diebold hasn’t fixed all the machines, we can toss Bush out of office. … Just emote with some of those ideas at the coffee house. … Response guaranteed. … Furthermore … Furthermore Furthermore, you should announce that you favor dissolution of the San Francisco Unified School District and a 5 year program in which all schools revert to neighborhood control through State Charters. I personally realized it was time to dissolve the district when a Shorenstein offered to rescue a program that had been cut so that the Shorensteins could get a tax break. … She only had two requirements before she’d restore the program cut so’s Walter Shorenstein could have more cash from not paying his share of the taxes. … It’s so friggin’ … her requirements were: 1. You must vote for Heather (‘Sieg!) Hiles for the Board. And 2. You must oppose ALL charter schools (local control – Ackerman – District Superintendent in a battle for killing all Charters – she lost 29 schools to Charters in D.C. from whence she came to us – tossed out of the back of a fast-moving limo some say – Charters are the future, folks – the larger the bureaucracy formed from growing districts and unions, the more neighborhood concerns are likely to be sacrificed. Kids, phony charity is worse than no charity (see Margaret Brodkin) … seriously, these rich people put very strong chains upon their charity. Speaking of which, we get to Gavin’s replacement on the Board of Supervisors. Vote ‘No’ on Alioto-Pier Every tenant in District #2 should vote against Michela Alioto-Pier until she backs a tenant friendly piece of legislation (a’ la rent control) … really, you should. … There are lots of renters in District #2. Those folks should realize that Michela voted against them when she voted in favor of tearing down the homes of a thousand or so people at 8th & Market in favor of a new huge complex to be constructed by the ‘father of rent control’ himself, Angelo Sangiacomo. … ‘No’ on Alioto-Pier until she finds it in her heart to oppose the destruction of rent-control housing. (since I wrote this, she voted in favor of chain stores in the neighborhoods – I thought she couldn’t lose in November, but she might find a way) I see helicopters OK, they’re not SFPD helicopters. … You won’t be seeing any of that variety, either. I spent 2 hours last Friday night bickering with retired SFPD captain, John Newlin (he ran the Mission and DPT) … I pushed kiosks and helicopters and he countered with the department rationale for dumping the fleet (City is too small; events are passed before bird can get up to help; don’t get enough practice) … I’d cornered former chief, Alex Fagan outside Gonzalez’s office a few days before and he’d refused to answer direct questions (‘Whose idea to dump fleet?’, etc.) … while he’d dodged most questions as to why the City doesn’t have an ‘eye in the sky’, he made one offhand comment. … “We can always use Oakland’s.” … Yep, he said that. … He did too. OK, San Francisco depending upon Oakland! Imagine that. … I won’t get into any Gertrude Stein speculations but let me say this and be done with it. I’ll settle for 3 good helicopters We had 9 helicopters. Chief Fagan said that most of what we had was from the early 70’s. We need a minimum of 3 new copters for a very simple reason. … Command and control. … We must be able to command and control at least 2 of our own helicopters during any number of emergencies and for any number of other purposes. Sure, Oakland might lend you a chopper but if their citizens needed it too, we’d have none. Same with news copters and the military. They mean well but they aren’t going to put their manpower and equipment under our control. It’s simply a matter of modern technology. Whether it’s tracking a runaway stolen car you’ve chosen not to pursue on the ground or alerting ground forces to breakaway teams of anarchists leaving a peace march … ya just can’t beat the eye in the sky. This one will take political muscle. The threat of disasters either visited directly upon us by God or channeled through any variety of earthly entities is real. The hammer is going to fall and any sensible mayor and police chief and fire chief are going to push for the birds. They don’t have to be big. If you need to transport firefighters or equipment around collapsed buildings and fissures, use available local military craft. The new SFPD copters should be small enough to land at any clear intersection. … Blah, blah, blah. Maybe I’m losing it here. It seems me and Warren Hinckle are the only two people in town who feel that a helicopter ‘fleet’ is essential. … My, my, my … This is one case where I really and truly don’t want to be singing ‘I told you so’. I’ll settle for the bathroom in the Panhandle It’s all about the cops when you get down to it. They don’t want to ride the buses or sit in kiosks in high crime areas. They don’t want helicopters. They can’t even guarantee the safety of a bathroom a few hundred yards from Park Station in Golden Gate Park. The Housing Authority spends upwards of 2 million a year on private security because the cops can’t handle the projects. Private businesses hire their own security and push for more BID’s (Business Improvement Districts) so’s they can hire more security to do the job the SFPD should be doing. Even the Department of Park and Rec increased their security force from 5 to 8 in Golden Gate Park because the cops did nothing but ticket elderly dog walkers and people enjoying the beach. … What happened to the cops? There are more police than ever before on the payroll in San Francisco. They are more highly paid than they’ve ever been. Still, the bathroom next to the playground where we take my granddaughter, has been closed for 5 years! I went over to that particular rest room in the Panhandle with a film crew last Saturday. We filmed a huge puddle of urine in front of the padlocked door to the men’s room. Nearby (within 50’), a couple of dozen toddlers and small children played in the handsome playground while dozens more citizens played ball or exercised or jogged or cycled or sat and a bench full of winos drank 40 oz’ers out of a brown paper bag. Of the hundreds of people using that portion of the Panhandle on any one day, the drunks and homeless are the only people the City sees and reacts to. It doesn’t want them to have any place to urinate or defecate because that would make them more comfortable and make them want to stay. They won’t open those bathrooms because the homeless use them and the City of San Francisco is determined to make life as unpleasant as possible for the homeless so that they will get the fuck out of town. … That’s the truth. … Regular citizens who are inconvenienced by the absence of localized public services? Screw em! … Who can help? The cops are basically extortionists these days. … Anytime you ask them to do their job, they start saying they need overtime and to get your wallet out. … Cover the Housing projects? … No problem. … IF you’re willing to pay extra. Protect your business? … No problem, but you have to hire me when I’m off-duty and available to your ‘Business Improvement District’. … What am I saying here? I’m saying that there isn’t a politician in San Francisco who has the balls or power to get those 2 restrooms in Golden Gate Park open. That’s because the cops won’t do it and the politicians are scared to death of the Police Officers Association which is bought and paid for by Downtown. For the same reason, you won’t see police helicopters or kiosks in problem areas. You won’t see cops on the buses and most of the ‘cops’ you see on the beat are Village People wannabe’s. … Ask em and they smirk and shrug and ask for more money. … Enough for now. I’m having a hell of a time getting my columns up these days. Please bear with me and I’ll give you a ride in my police helicopter next year. … Gavin will pilot. The cops wanted overtime. Don’t write: