Watching City Hall #470

Watching Krissy run for Kongress X

(8-11-06)

11th day in prison for Josh Wolf

(cops, feds no-shows at Rules hearing)

I didn’t know they weren’t invited to yesterday’s hearing of the Board’s Rules committee. I sat on the back row of the hearing room with my back against the wall (I learned that from the unfortunate end of Wild Bill Hickock). On my right sat the pondering, bearded, Zeus-like hulk of Guardian Publisher, Bruce Brugman. To my left sat a gorgeous and tiny nymphet with genes browned by a million years of South Pacific sunshine. I snuck an occasional surreptitious glance her way and tried to decide how I’d describe her in this column. ‘Cherub’? That fit, but cherubs were white to me and infantile. This tiny lady had a gold ring looped through her lower lip and was dressed all in black, topped by a t-shirt with anarchistic slogans front and back. Jet black hair. Perfect figure. Her beauty and friendly smiles belied her comrades’ call to chaos. She made Angelina Jolie look like an old hag. I wondered if she was in it for the excitement and romance.

Next to her sat Julian Davis, youthful and studly local field worker for Assemblyman Mark Leno. The two made a great looking couple and I was ready to start trying to pimp them out to each other (match-making is one of my skill subsets) when the hearing began.

It was a lame tease

Reason I say that, is because the hearing was poorly organized, shallow and played as a one-shot press op for Ross. While the issue should have been continued to every Rules agenda until Josh Wolf is released from prison, Mirkarimi chose to send the incomplete package to full Board where it will receive a meaningless endorsement on a 10-1 vote next week. The cops can argue they weren’t given an opportunity to speak because, first, they weren’t invited and, second, they were at a funeral for a cop killed in the line of duty. Mirkarimi left the committee open to that charge when he denied Sean Elsbernd’s request to continue the matter until the committee could hear from the cops and feds. Committee member, Tom Ammiano was perfectly willing to continue the matter, but yielded to Ross. Thus, in a move that can only be called stupid, Mirkarimi has allowed the cops to play victim and no one can argue with them. If I were Aaron Peskin, I’d hand the gavel to Ross for Public Comment next Tuesday at full Board, so that Ross can be the one telling Gary Delugnuts and his thundering herd that they can’t speak about the matter anymore because they had their chance but weren’t invited and were at a funeral anyway.

Of course that won’t happen. Peskin will announce early at next Tuesday’s meeting of the Full Board that: “Agenda item ‘xxx’ will be returned to committee to give all sides a fair chance to respond.” Or, something like that. Question is, where does he refer it? I think that if he wants a substantive hearing, he refers it to Budget and Finance. For several reasons.

First, the feds say they’re able to enter the picture here (violating press freedom and arresting Josh Wolf) because SFPD gets money from them through Homeland Security. That has to do with the budget as far as I can see. Second, while Mirkarimi carried a gun and badge for years and was president of his class at the Police Academy, Daly (Peskin’s chosen Budget chair) … has been assaulted by the cops. I trust Chris to run a more rigorous investigation.

Free Josh!

The next meeting of the Joshgate conclave needs to extend invitations (would that they could subpoena and jail for stonewalling) … should extend ‘invitations’ to:

Sgt. Neville Gittens

Locking Josh up is just the latest in a series of local and federal attacks upon local press freedoms. Did you know that the SFPD says that Sgt. Gittens has either suspended or refused to reissue press passes for hundreds of reporters and photographers over the last several years? On his own authority? Yeah, he says he’s been doing it because Chief Earl Sanders told him there were too many press passes out there. Says none of the chiefs who have followed Sanders (Lau, Fagan and Fong – right order?) told him to stop, so he just keeps removing press access as he personally deems fit.

Now, if you believe that shit, you are either institutionalized or should be. The Daly investigation should execute Sunshine requests beginning with the first order Gittens says he got from Sanders. I’m assuming they write this kind of thing down. Every chief and related command officer and their advisers should be called to explain their own relationships with Sgt. Gittens and the Department of Homeland Security. Have they shared files on dissidents such as Wolf or, God forbid, meee? And, what of cooperation with other federal law enforcement agencies? That’s certainly related.

Captain Tim Hettrich
And
Sergeant Marty Halloran

These guys work for the federal government but are paid by the City and County of San Francisco. They’ll tell you that. These POA thugs are not bashful. Hettrich is in charge of the SFPD narcotics unit and Halloran is his point man in the SFPD’s efforts (on behalf of the DEA) to infiltrate, then bust individuals in the network of growers, distributors and patients who constitute the San Francisco medical marijuana community. They work hand-in-glove with the DEA every day and will tell you up front that they disagree with the local pot laws and will enforce federal regulations whenever possible. These assholes take your money, then ignore local law.

Every cop and anarchist

On the scene and with knowledge of what transpired between the cops and the anarchist in the Mission after G8 demonstration. I don’t believe a friggin’ thing the cops say. For good reason. They’re a bunch of fucking liars, for starters.

Remember a month or so back when they trapped some poor kid in an attic, then shot him to death? Their first comments were that the guy had a gun and shot at them and that they had recovered the gun. Turned out they were lying sons-a-bitches covering their own asses and trying to beat a manslaughter charge. As usual.

Recall when they shot Cameron Boyd to death? First cop reports out of that described a running gun battle during which Boyd weaved through Western Addition streets firing at pursuing police units? They said at least one of their units was hit by Boyd’s murderous gunfire. However, they were lying again.

Yeah, not just me, but lots of mainstream press people tried to get pics of the bullet-riddled cruiser. Cops kept putting us off while keeping the car under wraps. Cause it didn’t have any bullet holes in it.

Hell, every cop involved in the Mission confrontation should speak and the Anarchists, themselves should be called to testify about the G8. Hell, given the cops’ track record, I want to hear a doctor say the cop did have a fractured skull (that story changed too) and, if so, how he got it. The only ones in the film I saw who were swinging clubs were the cops. It wouldn’t surprise me (nor you) if one of them took a wild swing and did a little ‘collateral’ damage. Remember, the second story the cops told in the attic murder was that one cop had shot the other one by accident. Yet another lie.

City Hall Building Manager

This guy’s a real dickhead. He gives cover to the Homeland Security (‘Media Security’) operative (Eric Steinberg). Gives him full run of the building. Control of cameras.

Talk to Steinberg and his new assistant. Where’d they come from? Who hired them? What’s his role with the press? All I’ve seen the new guy do is sit in the press box at City Hall and give dirty looks to reporters. What the hell does a ‘Media Security’ person do at City Hall? They saying the Sheriff’s deputies can’t handle security there? They did OK for the last 150 years.

Toss in the SFGTV staff. How much access does Steinberg have to their footage? What are their views of what he does?

Press freedom not a photo op

Shouldn’t be anyway. Note that I didn’t even mention OES which has been convinced by Homeland Security that the locations of the City’s fresh water systems should be a secret. And on and on. Fact is, your local government has sold out your safety and freedom to the federal government. It’s getting worse and a thorough investigation is warranted. In the meantime:

Make ‘Free Josh’ window signs

Hand made signs always carry more impact. Get out your crayons and magic markers and make bright signs for your windows. Let’s fill the City with them. Kind of like the ‘Gold mother’ signs my mom had in our ghetto window when my brother and I were overseas in the military.

Letter ‘Free Josh’ over old bumper stickers and campaign buttons. Answer your phone by saying: “Free Josh!”. And, above all … come to his fundraiser at Dance Mission, August 19th at 7pm and bring two friends. You don’t have to give much but we’re raising the guy’s rent here. We’ll get back to you on speakers and entertainment for the benefit.

Salon in an hour.