Watching City Hall #364  (4-20-05)

Peskin attacks Ottomans & Irish on same day!

(Plight of 120 million Falun Gong ignored)

Let me get yesterday’s news straight.  …  I read that a member of the Hitler Youth who rose up to be the Grand Inquisitor of the Catholic church was chosen pope.  On the same newscast, the governor of California, whose dad was a Nazi suggests closing the Mexican border.  Turning on the tube, I watch the SF Board’s Jewish president, condemn a sovereign Moslem state for disputed atrocities committed in a war it fought against a half dozen Christian nations nearly a hundred years ago.  Board President, Aaron Peskin then sat passively while representatives of the Armenian community condemned the present Turkish government and called for a continual exclusion of the Turks from the all-Christian, European Community.  Taking the mike, Peskin promised to sponsor this same resolution every year until the Turkish government admits it’s responsibility for committing genocide.  No Turks were invited to speak. 

With the absent Turks vanquished, Peskin took out after Joe ‘Dances with developers’ O’Donoghue and his Residential Builders Association.  Only the intervention of District 8’s Bevan Dufty saved the RBA and their strapping chief from being buried with the Turks.

What happened to the Falun Gong?

I’m amongst those few who think the SF Board has a responsibility to weigh in upon the state, national and international issues of their time.  If Peskin and the entirety of the Board want to attack America’s most loyal ally since WWII, go for it.  Even if it is blatantly racist bigotry.  But, while we’re ironing out problems that happened a hundred years ago, what about helping those who are presently being murdered, tortured, and oppressed?

Of course, that’s the Falun Gong.  They’re in front of the Chinese Consulate daily and across from City Hall each morning.  Still, none of the street sheets mention them.  That’s because their owners do business with the government of Communist China and because virtually every member of the Board of Supervisors has taken money from lobbyists for the Chinese government.  They suffer silently.  Perhaps if they engaged in acts of terrorism as the Armenians have done, they’d be noticed. 

Naw, they’re the Gandhi type.  Not like Menachim Begin who blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on Christmas Day when it was full of British Officers and their families.  Not like Mursharif of Pakistan who took power in a coup that overthrew a democratically elected government.  Or, like George Washington who placed snipers in the woods to ambush lawful English troops there only to control the ‘insurrectionists’. 

When does a terrorist become a founding father?  That’s easy.  After they’ve killed enough of the right people.  …  But, let’s not study history too closely.  People have spent entire careers just studying the various genocides and diasporas recorded in the bible. 

Enough of that.  Let’s look at something more fearful than Peskin’s attacks and lack thereof.  There are those out there.  They are always watching.  And, they will use any excuse whatsoever to restrict your thought, movement, religion and speech whenever possible.  Unfortunately, our present mayor, his administration and the SFPD are closely allied with these forces on many levels.  They were out with a remedy for the latest political mud-slinging within hours.

Newsom attacks free speech!

“Just because you put sugar on shit, doesn’t make it ice cream.”
(Richard Marquez describes ‘Care Not Cash’)

Now, I don’t know what led the City’s #1 elections ground-pounders General to go around putting sugar on shit, but I’m sure he had his reasons.  Interesting thing was that Marquez’s comments came the day after the mayor sent out a lengthy document (helped along by Eric Steinberg and the Homeland Security crew, no doubt)  after Newsom’s people ordered every commissioner under his control (that’s most of them) to stamp out a variety of behaviors in public meetings.

Trust me, they can hardly wait.

Now, most political junkies love to watch or if possible, engage in a good fight as long as it doesn’t get physical.  But, you know, I’ve probably watched 5,000 of these meetings on tv and I’ve never seen anyone get more than their feelings hurt.  The humorous comments from Richard Marquez, for example never hurt anyone and I saw nothing but smiles around the audience.  I’ve seen entire groups go over the rail into the supes area to make a point.  Civil disobedience is a safety valve for uncivil disobedience.  That’s pretty important.

Point was that this was at a Board hearing.  If this had been before a Newsom appointee, Marquez would certainly have been gone.  The Newsom team seems to have accepted that they are simply unable to match the numbers or passion of the various stakeholders they are screwing and have decided to use parliamentary devices to limit the expression of the will of the majority.  When people show up to bitch, shut em out or shut em down.  Bully em and bore em.  The prototype of this model administrator is Louise Renne.  Dan Kelly excelled in stifling public comment.  Arlene Ackerman is a textbook bully.  Watch Ephraim Hersch, newly of the DBI (Chair) who is a natural dictator and ugly to boot, which always helps.

This is not new.  The School Board requires that anyone who wishes to speak at a meeting, register hours before the meeting.  The Planning Commission continues to hold Public Comment at the end of their meetings and thus escape the scrutiny of all but the hardiest. 

D6’s defender-of-the-poor, Chris Daly set an example for the most reasonable format at meetings.  General Public Comment should be at the beginning of every gathering and specific public comments should be heard first for every item on every agenda.  I can’t tell you how good it was to hear the public speak before City staff at Daly’s hearing.  I give credit to Randy Shaw who has pushed early public comment in his beyondchron.com.  Here’s the main reason.

Public personnel push power-point paralysis

Willie Brown used to brag that he sent the dumbest and least prepared of his troops to represent his various departments and agencies.  Just to fuck with the Board and make certain they never learned anything.  If you watch these assholes now, things haven’t changed much.  I swear to God, I think every single official in the staff seating area in the Board chambers (except for Harvey Rose) … have all been trained extensively in hypnotism.  …  Enough.

Odds & ends & odd ends

Someone is going to get maimed or killed on the corner of 6th and Market pretty soon.  It is an avoidable tragedy.  All the City needs to do is replace the sign that used to stand BEFORE the crosswalk just before 6th, headed downtown on Market.

I’m gonna repeat this here.  Someone is going to get killed or maimed and it is going to cost the City lots of money if they don’t replace that sign.  Also, the crosswalk needs repainted.  With the sign gone, the crosswalk is all cars on the inside lane here have to warn them of pedestrians.  Who are usually walking from behind legally paused buses or streetcars.  And, that section of crosswalk is long gone. 

I’ve seen a dozen people almost get wiped out in this spot over the past few days.  The missing sign is just like the one at the previous crosswalk on 7th and at the next one on 5th.  It reads:

STOP HERE
ON
RED LIGHT!

I wanted to send out a special thanks to my out-of-town reader who sent me the 4 losing lottery tickets for my birthday.  It’s the thought that counts and for a few moments there, my creditors held their collective breath.

Thanks to Alexandra for the fifth of Old Crow that I’ve only now opened and to Rachel for the map to her country place to be used in the event of the end of the world as we know it.  Again, to Gonzo for the Tom Schultz painting with the ‘H’s that form Golden Gate Bridge and for the little red book which we’ll surely carry to Cuba. 

Thanks to Downtown for not offering me a job and to God for equipping me with low expectations in these, my golden years.  And, of course, thanks to Richard Marquez for giving me this big bag of sugar. 

A guy can always use a little sugar.

You do better?