Watching City Hall #402 (11-3-05)

“San Francisco needs an Underground Railroad for artists.”

(Rachel)

The Bulldog salon last friday was eventful. These things are primarily brainstorming sessions amongst a bunch of people who actually have brains. That makes it a pleasant departure from the usual discourse and press fodder with which we normally clog our intellectual colons. There’s never a subject chosen beforehand, but each of the meetings eventually settle into a theme. Last week’s theme was the preservation of the San Francisco art community. Matt Gonzalez got us started.

Matt: “The concept of a monthly art opening in a district supervisor’s office at City Hall survived a transplant from my administration to Ross’s. Why can’t other supervisors do the same thing? Ross had 200 people at his last opening. If all 11 supes and the mayor sponsored a local artist each month, that could be upwards of 2,000 citizens a month coming to City Hall to enjoy the art and the building and one another. That would be a start.

h.: “The mayor tried to have an art party on Wednesdays as I recall and it was a flop.”

Matt: “I don’t believe that. It Gavin got behind the idea, he’d fill the place.”

Salomon: “If he showed up.”

h.: “Yeah. That’s a key for starters but you and Ross’s parties always run just as well when you aren’t there.”

Matt: “That’s the point, man! We got, what, a dozen … fifteen people here and we’re hashing out new ideas. The art openings draw a couple of hundred and the draw is specifically art. More people. More ideas. I’m just saying it’s worth a shot.”

h.: “I’ll run it up the flagpole in next week’s column but I doubt the mayor’s people are going to adopt an idea so closely tied to you.”

Rachel: “I’ve been thinking about this and the whole idea is to save the art community. The real art community. I’m tired of going to a couple of parties every week where we get drunk and say goodbye to another serious artist. Savannah Blackwell visits from Oregon now. Nicole Walters lives in Detroit, for god’s sake! Why? Gentrification. They lost their living space to pressure from rich, wannabe, loser yuppies. We need an Underground Railroad.”

h.: “What’s that mean?”

Rachel: “An electronic clearing house that connects artists in need with resources. Everything from a directory where anyone in genuine need can post a resume’, to real jobs & odd jobs … equipment, housing from pet & plant sitting gigs to a temporary couch on a back porch.”

Jens: “I like it but can you put the word ‘connect’ in there some place?”

Pot club legislation

Chris Daly is right. An honest move to add a layer of protection to San Francisco pot dispensaries has been hijacked by right-wing elements within and having influence over elected and appointed officials and City staff. These assholes want everyone to be as miserable as them and taking away your buzz is high on their list.

Pricks like Larry Badiner and Mike Garcia will undercut any legitimate effort to streamline the delivery of pot to the people. On the Board, Michela Pier and Sean Elsbernd will ammend until Ed Harrington’s cows come home and the result will be a structure that encourages graft, street crime and (worst of all) inferior bud. Seriously, look at the faces of the people who oppose pot. They are the most pinch mouthed, tight-assed, up tight sourpusses in the City. Thanks to Daly for stepping in, even if it will only be to get run over again by Newsom’s Downtown Express.

Solution?

Extend the moratorium for 18 months and get serious about alternatives. Free standing pot clubs were a bad idea from the beginning. Bring in some folks from Amsterdam who know how to handle hemp and its various products in a retail market. Explore the possibility of allowing willing pharmacies to dispense the finest green bud to card carrying Californians. And, what about dispensing the pot from all Department of Health Clinics?

Let’s have at least one hearing that shines a big light on the 800 lb gorilla sitting in the corner. That would be, recreational pot. Peskin is willing to listen and consider drafting legislation that puts that on the table. It’s obviously true that most of the people who smoke pot do so for recreational purposes. It helps you to relax and laugh. I’d predict that this hearing would instantly put SFGTV on the top distributor list of individual government dvd’s. I mean, “I am not a crook.” was pretty good, but listening to Diamond Dave Whittaker tell about getting high with Bob Dylan is better.

Ron Chun for Assessor

Calvin Louie for Treasurer

Ignore the bullshit. Put aside your xenophobia. Forget friendships and political affiliations. Simply go out there tuesday and vote for the best candidates for San Francisco Treasurer and San Francisco Appraiser/Recorder. We all know that those candidates are Ronald Chun in the Assessor’s race and Calvin Louie in the battle to be the City’s investment broker.

Then, vote for the person you promised to vote for second! Yeah, forget this is an RCV (Ranked Choice) contest? I plan to vote a write-in for Anthony Faber second, then Gerardo Sandoval third in the Assessor’s contest. Isaac Wang get’s my second place vote for Treasurer.

City Propositions

Props A & B … No on both. Not that the City College doesn’t need money or that our potholes don’t need filled. It’s just that the agencies that would be handling those funds
are full of thieves and hacks who have been siphoning off the lion’s share of these
kinds of monies for decades.

Also, you’d be taxing the wrong people. Personally, I think that Walter Shorenstein should pay for all street paving for the next 5 years. Reform the tax structure. Give me a chance to vote to increase Richard Blum’s tax burden.

Prop C … Easily the most important vote for you. Yes. Yes. Yes. And, Yes.

The Ethics Commission is the San Francisco equivalent of the Federal Office of Special Prosecutor that just brought down Cheney’s Chief of Staff.

If you hate crooked politicians and their fat cat consultants, vote to strenghten our very
own San Francisco Ethics Commission. Hell, they even caught me.

Prop D … Giving voters more power over Muni. Yes indeed.

Like Willie before him, Mayor Newsom appoints conservatives into all of the power positions on major Commissions, authorities and agencies. He gets by with this because the transaction is a step removed. For instance, the acting head of the Department of Public Works is a guy named Mohammed Nehru. Gavin appointed him.

Just like he appointed Gerald Green whom he fired last week when they caught him sitting like a wee leprauchan in Robert McCarthy’s back pocket. Newsom even admitted that he’d “heard rumors” about Gerald being on the take. Of course, he didn’t let that stop him from handing Gerald a post at PUC paying over 150k yearly. Nehru’s worse.

Much worse. He compromised newly released convicts who came to work for the non-profit Willie put under his charge (SLUG). These guys were supposed to be working in gardens on City land. Nehru had them driving around in SUV’s and vans carrying ‘Newsom for Mayor’ signs, packing political meetings and intimidating voters.

Then, it turns out the guy is an illegal immigrant! That’s not enough? How about word from inside DPW where Gavin promoted him (the Board of Supes wisely killed the SLUG program). And. And. And, Nehru takes all the ex-cons who went along with the program of 3rd World type intimidation of voters of color … and, he moves them to DPW with him. And, he fires all the workers who didn’t cooperate. These poor workers came before the Board over and over begging for their jobs back. The Mayor’s people said that due to the new Civil Service Reform giving Mohammed the power to choose new employees over long term employees (gosh, wonder what makes you a good worker to Nehru?) … due to the Mayor’s new policy that these people were shit out of luck and the thugs were there to stay. Hmmm, wonder if Gavin would have done that if these guys had been strong-arming for Gonzalez votes?

Enough? This is a top Newsom choice, mind you. Then, word comes that Mohammed is banned from meetings of DPW senior staff because he has a terrible temper and they’re afraid of him. … It even gets worse but I’ll let it go at that.

Point is, give the people more voice at the Municipal Transportation Agency’s Board of Directors. Gavin will give you people chosen by Downtown. No way, for instance would any of them ever back higher taxes on the Getty’s and Fishers and Hellman’s to pay a fair share of the cost of bringing their employees downtown on Muni.

Prop E … Yes.

Prop F … Yes. Never cut your fire defenses. Don’t ever confuse firefighters with cops.

Prop G … No. Katherine Roberts is correct. This just sets the the Concourse/Hellman double-cross in stone. No entries to the garage inside the Park. That’s not what we voted for.

Prop H … No. You never know when you may need to go out and buy a gun.

Prop I … Yes. Although I think we’re being hypocritical if we don’t also stop gangs, pimps, drug dealers and politicians from selling their viewpoints on school grounds.

State Propositions

Prop 80 … No. This one is missnamed. It does nothing to reregulate the big guys. ‘Parent’ or holding companies remain unregulated and are able to siphon off funds and act in the same manner they did under Gray Davis. The only entities subject to increased ‘regulation’ are the ‘Utilities’ which include all of the alternative energy providers. Bad legislation.

Prop 79 … Yes. Only one I’m gonna endorse. A genuine chance to force the bloated drug companies to give a break to poor dying people.

Prop 78 … No. Arnie’s drag queen. Looks like the real thing, but it ain’t. Entered into the race to confuse voters so’s they won’t vote for 79.

Prop 77 … No. Strictly a Republican power grab.

Prop 76 … No. We don’t need no stinking spending cap. We need more taxes on Arnie & his pals.

Prop 75 … No. Have all the shareholders of the Gap vote before Donald Fisher cuts another check for Wade Randlett. This legislation is aimed at disarming the middle class and that is in no one’s interest. If these dickheads read history, they’d know that it isn’t the poor who lead the mobs. It’s the middle class. If Fisher can use shareholders profits to hire a scum-sucking dog like Randlett, the cops should be able to give Gary Delugnuts cash to make soft-porn of the OCC Director in action.

Prop 74 … No. Like Newsom’s phony ‘Civil Service Reform’, the real aim here is to get rid of employees who don’t toe the line for shithead administrators. Teachers should get tenure for just coming back for a third year to face incompetent principals, insane superintendents and criminal parents.

Prop 73 … No. A woman’s body belongs to the woman wearing it.

I hope you’ve had as much fun as I have. These are perilous times and sometimes you have to really dig to find the humorous side of dead teenagers with clotheshangers hanging out of their vaginas which is what Arnie is calling for with Prop 73. I got another place to stick that clotheshanger, Arnie.

Prop 80 will eventually kill more people if it passes. By scuttling emerging alternative energy providers, it maintains the country’s dependence upon oil which means more war and hate and death.

Prop 76 could be the new Prop 13. Last I looked, California was around 48th in spending per student. Prop 76 will cut more services to the poor. It won’t hurt the rich. Again, for a local comparison, look at Newsom’s Golf Course. He closed recreation centers and swimming pools in poor neighborhoods and built a PGA Shangri-La that is too pricey for all but the wealthy. Soon, he’ll re-open the Golden Gate Stables but it will only be for the polo ponies of the rich. He’s proposed throwing the small sailboats out of a rebuilt Marina Harbor to make room for larger yachts. It costs $10 to get into the new ‘free’ de Young museum. Same for the Asian Art Museum built on donated City property. Hellman’s new ‘free’ garage costs $6.50 an hour for the poor. Which suggests a question.

“Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?”

I liked it fine.