Just One Hit & The SF Party Party’s Over

I agree with SF Party Party’s assertion, “Newsom’s cops are targeting bicyclists.”

To which, I say great! Everyone is responsible for observing the law regardless of operating a bicycle or an automobile. And (Sanctimoniously) I’ll add, It USUALLY takes two to make an accident, but it’s ALWAYS one person’s fault. So, the cop’s are simply extending the message, DON’T let it be you, to bicyclists.

Yet, to SF Party Party’s point, enforcing bicycle laws should not come at the expense of ticketing motorists. I HEAR YOU, but the fact is accidents are not much better for surviving motorist as they are bad for dead bicyclists, so it’s welcome news to learn all parties are held accountable. Don’t get me wrong… I am, not a big fan of Gavin Newsom and would love to see homicides drop too, but not at a cost of traffic patrol. Cops are essential!

• Left in San Francisco: The Chronicle agrees with me by Sasha
• SF Party Party: Proof that Newsom’s Cops are targeting bicyclists by Ted

Remember, wear a helmet - an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of gray matter. Yet, don’t forget what really matters – your ass!

Don’t: Let the little brain make decisions for the big brain

Do: Let the big brain for the little brain.

That’s right. No topic concerns me more than saddle (dis)comfort: Numb genitals, burning pain in your crotch, bruised buttocks, saddle sores and raw, inflamed skin and erectile dysfunction and impotence. No single issue has been so grossly ignored by the Newsom administration as the need for a public service announcement to raise bicycle shorts awareness.

Night Of The Living Homeless

This of one of the best South Park episodes edited down to 90 Seconds that certaily its HOME and surely inspired by Venice Beach and San Francisco.

Reviewed by TVSquad.com Adam Finley

Baked Chicken, Herbs & Bitter Greens

A new proposition on the ballot for the next election could cook Gavin’s goose. Supervisor Chris Daly, who conceived of Proposition I, introduced a charter amendment May 22 that would end up on the November ballot if it receives six votes from members of the board.

In the aftermath of the vote, members of the Board of Supervisors feuded with Gavin Newsom over how to implement Proposition I. The board said they were following the will of the voters (56%) by adopting a policy that sets aside a portion of every third regularly scheduled meeting of each month for a question-and-answer time with Newsom. To date, Newsom has declined to attend any of the meetings. Rather, he offered up monthly town hall-style meetings focused on specific issues and held in city neighborhoods. The first such Fake Question Time meeting took place in January.

Daly said given Newsom’s “recalcitrance” about showing up at the board for
question time, “there’s good reason to move forward with it.”

This time voters could pluck Gavin’s Fake & Bake tactics for good, obliging San Francisco's mayor to be legally required to attend monthly board meetings. Question Time could become a staple of The City’s dinner repertoire. Bake four hours, twenty minutes. Vary the herbs as you like, but stick to the hardy ones -- thyme, rosemary, sage, and Chris Daly’s special blend oregano. Serve with a green party salad dressed simply with a little of the rendered fat whisked into vinegar and mustard.

Bon appetite!

• Examiner.com: Newsom, board sessions may go back to ballot by Joshua Sabatini.
• SFist: Political Junkie: Any Questions?

Tony Hall: The Gavin Slayer

While we’re waiting on the San Francisco Progressives Convention to nominate a candidate to run against the Mayor Gavin Newsom, we thought to introduce a series called Gavin Slayers and spotlight some of the eighteen challengers who have already declared their intention to run.

The first of which is Tony "The Tiger" Hall, an Independent candidate who ended months of speculation, Thursday, when he entered the ring and came out swinging:

"This administration for 3 1/2 years has been a triumph of politics over
performance and nothing else."

Weighing in as a conservative (by San Francisco standards), the 65-year-old father of seven came to prominence when elected to City Hall Board of Supervisors in 2000. Hall sponsored legislation as the District 7 representative (Twin Peaks and St. Francis Wood) to make it illegal for people to sleep in front of businesses and to ban public urination and defecation.

Today, Hall calls Newsom's Care Not Cash homeless welfare initiative a colossal failure and adds that if he is elected, he wants less city money spent on the homeless and would revisit some of the homeless policies he supported as a supervisor.

"My detractors would like to say I'm a right-wing conservative, but that's not
true."

After Newsom took office, he appointed Hall to Treasure Island. By moving Hall off the board, Newsom was able to appoint an ally, Sean Elsbernd, to the vacant seat, and move former island director Anne Marie Conroy to head the city's emergency operations. Hall says, he was fired in retaliation for having blown the whistle on a sweetheart deal involving Newsom and the former Navy base's main developer, Darius Anderson, a big Democratic fundraiser and Newsom supporter. Hall adds that his run has nothing to do with his very public feud between him and Newsom; rather, he wants to be San Francisco's mayor because "the major problems facing the city have been ignored" under Newsom's watch.

"I am running for mayor to solve the biggest problems facing the city, not
because of Gavin - Gavin is a nonentity."

Among the major problems facing San Francisco, he said, are a growing gap between rich and poor and an erosion of family values.

For more coverage:

• Chronicle: Tony Hall finally decides -- files to run for mayor by Cecilia M. Vega
• abc7news: Tony Hall Anounces S.F. Mayoral Run by Dan Noyes

Another Free Public Event Goes KaBoom!

According to SF Party Party, the annual firework display, KaBoom! won’t be free to spectators any longer. After 14 years as a free public event, you will need to pay 10 bucks to get on the grounds this year. Why? You guessed it. The Newsom administration has increased fees 100%.

Even with a major corporate sponsor, KFOG, this free public event couldn’t survive the Newsom administration. Added to the endangered species list is Dolores Park Movie Night which will likely go the way of the How Weird Street Fair, Haight Street Fair, the North Beach Jazz Fest, and KaBoom!.

However forces of fun seekers are now organizing as you read. Check out: NIMBY assault! Crackdown on nightlife and outdoor events continues, even as the backlash gains strength by SFBG Steven T. Jones and Amanda Witherell for more details.

Can Too Left, Make it Right?

Just because Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer is too hot to date me, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t take her seriously. Seriously, when she asks, how left can left go without leaving the building, and the voting booth?

San Francisco Progressives will be gathering at the Tenderloin Community School to hold the largest ‘community congress’ since 1974. Supervisor Chris Daly, who represents the beautiful Tenderloin neighborhood, hopes use the Progressive Convention, June 2nd, to caucus with possible contenders ranging from Green Party member, Matt Gonzalez; Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi to former Mayor, Art Agnos to produce a platform and contender that can challenge Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Richard DeLeon, the San Francisco State University professor who wrote a book on local progressive politics called "Left Coast City," said the movement peaked during the city's last mayoral race in 2003, when Green Party member Matt Gonzalez narrowly lost to Newsom. But the city's progressive contingent could mount a credible challenge to the mayor -- if it finds the right candidate, he said:

"If you add up all the different potential blocs across the issues of racial and
ethnic politics, gay politics and land use, you could have more than enough to
mount a challenge against Newsom."

"But the question is whether there is a candidate that can pull all the
different groups together and come up with a coherent platform to challenge
Newsom. Until that happens, he will probably cruise to a re-election."

The question of who will run against Newsom has stumped progressives for months. Cecelia Vega suggests, behind the scenes, most [potential progressive candidates] are put off by the prospect of being a sacrificial lamb in a run against a popular mayor who, though disdained by some at City Hall, enjoys high approval ratings from voters.

Click: Convention date set, but still no candidate to learn how Left of Moderate Democrat the Left can go without leaving the party.

Matt Gonzalez Mulls Political Future

As a June 2 convention looms for progressives to select a candidate to oppose Gavin Newsom in November, Matt Gonzalez was interviewed by Beyond Chron about the Mayor’s race this week by David Sloane, a Green Party member originally from Australia.

Question:

Matt, thank you for your time. My first question, and I am sure this is everyone’s question, are you running against Newsom?

Answer:

I think I’m doing exactly what I said I would do -- beginning about 6 or 7
months ago. I said I thought someone should run against Newsom and initiate a
public dialogue about the failings of his Administration.

Click here for more of the answer and the restof the interview by David Sloane.