Watching City Hall #438 (3-2-06)

Cabal Parking Monopoly Surges Forward

(Wells Fargo forces grab Latino garage)

Warren Hellman protégés Stuart Sunshine (Wells Fargo ‘Employee of the Year’ in 2003 – now head of the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Authority) & Robert Stang (a ‘Jr.’ – old man and Warren go back decades – also tied together through Wells Fargo) just fucked a bunch of poor Latinos and they don’t give a shit if you know it.    There ain’t nothing you can do about it anyway.

If you get lost in my notes, just combine googles of Stuart Sunshine, Warren Hellman, Walter Shorenstein, Robert Stang, John Brucus, Wells Fargo, Ron Szeto, Mission Economic Development Agency, Rita Mandelinis, San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency, Eileen Left & h. brown … in different arrangements.

This is called ‘research’ and while I don’t do this kind of thing very often, I understand it’s very popular with people who get paid to write and others who might have integrity (so few, so few).    Anyway, I was watching District 9 Supervisor, Tom Ammiano go off on a lying sack of shit named Ron Szeto (‘Acting’ Head of MTA’s Parking Lots Section, or some such shit – keeping the top flunky-dunk in an ‘Acting’ capacity insures loyalty – an old Willie trick) … I digress.

So, Szeto is explaining how he gave ‘Disadvantaged Business Enterprise’ points to a Hellman spawn that already controls 16 SF City owned parking facilities and is raking in over 60 million a year … that operates on an international basis, is run through just a few well placed strings by a local cabal of billionaires who, frankly, don’t need any more money at all, period (boy is that heresy).

He was explaining why he had decided it was important to put the management of the Bartlett Street garage (worst neighborhood in SF, separated by only a small playground from the corner of 16th and Mission where you can buy phony passports, green cards, driver’s licenses, social security cards and, so I’m told, heroin and crack that are very real.

So, some 15 years back, this City owned structure is not making any money.    It is a combination toilet, shooting gallery, whore house and gang graffiti gallery.   Here comes Mission Economic Development Agency, a non-profit Latino agency helping to develop businesses for the poor locals (is this the real reason Hellman went after the garage?)  … without a contract, they agree to manage the garage, put their own money and labor into the enterprise (2 years without pay, some of them) … they clean the place up (using Renee Saucedo’s ‘Day Laborer Program’ as one source of elbow grease – you wanna clean up crack whore shit or should we pass that job on?) … after a couple of years, they get the garage going.   Respected in the community (gangs realize the people running the garage are their people and that all the money is going back into their community … they’ve left it alone) … they’re a huge success.    Now, who would be so greedy that they’d use the politicians, appointees and cops if necessary, to toss the Latino non-profit out and install a shadow front feeding cash back to an international cabal?

Why Warren Hellman, that’s who.   You remember Warren?  You should.   A couple of years ago, he promised you a free garage (not needed) in Golden Gate Park, then had you co-sign for the money he borrowed to build it … which, strangely enough, means that he gets to keep control of the ‘gift’ that he gave you for at least the next 35 years.  By my math, he’ll be 111 then.    I mean, really Warren, how much is enough?   How many people, how many lives will you smash to add to your stash of billions?    There seems to be no limit to his greed.   A Chronicle biographical picture of him done in 2001 quotes his former friend, Richard Goldman as blaming Hellman for the death by heart attack of Goldman’s wife Rhoda.    Seems Hellman broke her heart by stealing her family’s century old business in a leveraged buyout.   That company would be … da, da … Levi Strauss.    Yeah, Warren also owns a 25% interest in the NASDAQ stock exchange.    How much is enough?  Bury a few struggling Latino immigrants?    No problem.    Now let’s get down to accounting and check those daily numbers.    The Chron says this fucker gets up at 4:30am to pray.   I guess it’s for more money.

And, Walter Shorenstein too.    Wally’s real sensitive to immigrants too.    Remember the fire in the Filipino occupied Independent Hotel?   A terrible accident, to be sure.   But, two things happened that night 30 years ago.   One, an old Filipino veteran burned to death.   And two, Shorenstein got on the phone through the front he had doing the evictions at the Independent and sold the place to a shady South East Asian liquor concern called Mandalay.

I only bring up Shorenstein because he sent his ‘Mr. Toad’ look-alike, Robert McCarthy (Donald Fisher came himself) to twist the Mayor’s arm to amend parking legislation set for Board passage so that  … now why did Shorenstein want the Daly/Peskin legislation gutted? …  Cause, he decided he needs to build a nice old huge, above ground parking garage in the C3 area.

The hearing was uglier than I’m making it out and anyone can tell you that I do ugly well.    Szeto lied his ass off.   When asked how many parking facilities the Hellman enterprise controlled in the City and how much they made from them (MEDA had only the one and have a budget of just over one million but was ruled ineligible for DBE points because they are a non-profit … what a laugh Hellman & Fisher must have gotten out of this one … I mean, the arrogance of saying that being poor doesn’t make you a ‘Disadvantaged Business’ … no, it’s being an international cabal that puts you at a disadvantage  …  Szeto gave Hellman’s fronts (couple of hard working, dark skinned parking lot pros he bought out in another deal that gave him control of yet more parking lots) … Szeto gave the Hellman fronts more points, then the Mayor’s office entered the picture.

Cabal bitch-slaps Gavin again

The Mayor’s people (Mike Farrah – whose old man owned a business right up the street – and Wade Crowfoot), listened to the Latinos and felt sympathy.    They agreed to push for some kind of a compromise where MEDA could share the contract.

Stuart Sunshine basically told the Mayor to: ‘Fuck off!’.    He knows exactly who got him the job he holds and it sure as hell wasn’t Gavin Newsom.   Hellman’s people refused to meet with the Mayor or MEDA anymore.   They know the law.   Shit, they paid for passing it.   The MTA budget’s individual line items cannot be challenged by the Board of Supervisors.  They have to accept or reject the budget as a whole.

You wonks (hell, you all are, I know that) … you’ll be recognizing a pattern here.    You’ll be noting that this is the second time in a month that the cabal has overruled Mayor Newsom, his staff, his department heads and commissions over the matter of parking and garages.    And, they’ll win on both.   Keep in mind that no matter what you may think of Gavin Newsom or his staff (some damned good people there) … no matter what … they take orders from exactly the same people who gave Willie his morning to-do lists.    Hellman, foremost.

I really do want to get off this topic.   I get a little less popular every time I point out the existence of a local cabal.   It’s kind of like mentioning the Mafia to J. Edgar Hoover.

But, they keep popping up.   The Chronicle ran a piece last week that said that Richard Blum and spouse, Donna Feinstein had created some kind of computer program that erased records of Blum’s multi-billion dollar investment portfolio in China.   Two things on this matter.   First, you know that this means that he profits mightily from the slave labor of religious or political dissidents and secondly, that he doesn’t risk any of his money in the ventures.   For starters, he invests money he gets from CALPERS.    Uh huh, if there’s a board anywhere that controls any size pot of money (none is too small – witness the Bartlett Street garage caper) … the cabal will be there to see that the money is invested in their projects.    Did you know that over one 3 year period, Hellman took over 70 million (chump change) from San Francisco Employees retirement accounts and put it … God knows where but you can bet your ass that it wasn’t invested with any requirements that the party receiving the money not rape, torture, imprison or murder to increase profit.   Those are not considerations with this cabal.

Now, here’s the bad news

They are also intent upon controlling the content of the art that you view, the music that you listen to, the dance programs available … it never ends.    In planting the gigantic ODC (Dance depot) a few blocks from the Hellman garage on Bartlett, the gargoyle with no conscience and his even more dark-hearted business liaison, Donald Fisher,    announced through their media hacks that no ‘renegade’ dance would be allowed and that the ‘curtain will come down’ on those who insist upon presenting shows on such matters as Palestinian rights or the successes of the Cuban Revolution.

‘Renegade dancers’?    ‘Cuban Revolution’?   ‘Palestinian Rights’?    Those can only be a references to Krissy Keefer and her much lauded, lesbian dance troupe, Dance Brigade and their cavalcade of revolutionary theatre from out of Dance Mission at 24th & Mission.   So, having disposed of MEDA, why not go after lesbian left where they’re strongest?    So, how does a founding member of ‘The Wall Flower Order’ respond?

www.krissyforcongress.com

She announces that she will run for the District 8 seat in the Congress of the United States that is presently held by cabal bag lady, Nancy Pelosi.    That’s a tough hill to climb.    Just google: Chronicle, Pelosi, campaign contributions, Hellman, Shorenstein, Fisher, Blum, Feinstein in any order or combination.    Krissy is up against some of the most powerful people on the planet on their home turf.   Toss in George Schultz and Casper Weinberger & you get the profile of a scary group that rivals (when they’re not aiding) Texas oil in their pursuit of power and profits.

Chron says that during one election cycle, the SF Swells pumped over 20 million bucks through Pelosi for distribution (payoffs really) to other members of the House of Representatives.    Her reward?    Well, despite being a staunch Republican, Warren Hellman now controls the seat of Minority Leader of the U. S. House of Representatives.    Hey, you give me some cash to help me prevail against some crack-pot Green Party environmentalist and I’ll vote for your candidate for Minority Leader.   Things work that way in Congress.

And, just like always, here comes Krissy, all uppity and opposed to wars for oil and global warming and in favor of Palestinian rights and normal relations with Cuba … and she challenges the puppet they spent so much money installing.    How’d they react?

Pelosi has Town Hall Meeting

They brought Pelosi back to speak to a crowd in a rich neighborhood of San Francisco where she was certain to receive a friendly welcome.

Didn’t happen.    Medea Benjamin and Vicki Leidner brought their Code Pink troops out and buried the Oligarchy’s congressional stooge.    Did you see the footage?    It was pitiful.   Pelosi starts by making excuses to the audience that was supposed to be in her favor and they started booing back at her.    Exasperated, she exclaims:  “Well, what do you expect in San Francisco!�

It kind of sums things up.   She was right about the demonstration being just the kind of thing you’d expect in San Francisco.    However, what she revealed was that she’s not a part of that scene.    You know, the anti-war, environmental, lefty politics that are the essence of the town that gave us the best of Mark Twain & Ambrose Bierce & Allen Ginsberg & Carlos Santana & the Dead & Hendricks & Joplin.   And, now more than ever, of Krissy Keefer and Dance Brigade.

Nancy’s scene is more about the great legacy of Ken Garcia & Nathan Nayman & Stanley Gatti & Kenny Cleaveland & Eric Jaye & Willie Brown.

So, they took Nancy to some ‘undisclosed location’ for her second ‘Town Hall Meeting’ and made certain only cabal supporters were allowed into the studio.    Well, that was a big dud.   How the hell can you have a town meeting if you don’t invite the town?    Pelosi read answers prepared in advance to questions her staff planted in the audience.    Pretty boring theatre and San Franciscans will not tolerate bad theatre.    Having failed to help the struggling Pelosi’s terrible poll numbers (the Bay View quoted an internal Pelosi poll that had her losing to Matt Gonzalez) … having failed with the canned event, they moved forward in what can only be described as outright panic at this point in an election year.    They planned a bold stroke.

Let’s buy some friends!

Let’s do a Keefer and get right in the opposition’s face.    Let’s leave the Marina and go right into the ‘opposition’s’ territory.    Let’s have a rally a block from Krissy’s house in the Mission.   We’ll hire people identified with the anti-war movement to praise Pelosi at a private fundraiser at Medjool’s!   You know, kind of like when they brought in Al Gore and Jessie Jackson to prostitute their values for a hundred grand apiece at the end of the last mayoral contest in which Matt Gonzalez and his legions literally swept the streets in a sea of yellow placards.

Wanna see em in person?

Medjool’s on March 11th.   I’ll get back to you with the time certain.    The cabal is bringing in Senator Barbara Boxer (couldn’t’ have Feinstein – just came out that hubby, Dick Blum has made over a billion off the Iraq war on just 4 of his contracts) … and, sadly, they’re paying Rep. Paul Murtha to appear.   It is sad.   Like when Willie Brown brought, then President, Bill Clinton out to endorse Amos Brown for supervisor and Gerardo Sandoval beat his ass anyway.

That’s a week away and we need to figure out some way to let this gang of hypocritical Latino garage grabbing, war-mongering, art censoring assholes know that we are not fooled for a moment.    Pelosi is not suddenly anti-war.   She wasn’t before the Gonzalez poll showed her losing and she’ll revert to her normal support of foreign wars and the privatization of national parks the day after Keefer boots her skinny ass.

Christ!  I just went back and this thing is longer than the bible.   Let’s end it here but those of you still not afraid of sitting near me, don’t forget Salon tomorrow.    There are lots of cross-hairs trained upon our little Taqueria.    We’ll see who still has some balls.

*aside* … V.P. of the new cabal garage monopoly (John Brucus) came from company that makes miniature cameras?    What you make of that?

Practice your secret handshakes: