Thursday, February 26, 2009
Set the TiVo
Have plans Friday night? Sure you do. You're watching Gavin Newsom vs. Bill Maher.
The mayor scored a spot on Maher's HBO show, "Real Time", in which guests debate with each other and the, er, heavily opinionated Maher on mostly political topics. The hourlong show starts at 10 p.m.
Newsom will be part of a rountable discussion along with actor Alan Cumming and author P.J. O'Rourke. We're guessing same-sex marriage might come up.
The appearance makes sense for Newsom as he ramps up his run for governor, said David McCuan, an associate political studies professor at Sonoma State University. The show's popular with Newsom's crowd -- young, hip, and socially liberal. (Hey, McCuan said "hip," not us.) And these days, appearing on an evening talk show is "de rigeur" for serious politicians.
"It's not a big enough show for him to make an announcement about running for governor," McCuan said, "but it puts him front and center for a national audience."
| Feb 26 at 06:00 PM
Newsom under fire
Lance Iverson/The Chronicle
Newsom and Campos at the supervisor's swearing in.
There were a number of attacks lobbed at Wednesday evening's forum on immigrant rights in the Mission District, and some of the harshest barbs were reserved for Mayor Gavin Newsom and his top crime adviser, Kevin Ryan.
Speakers --including Supervisor David Campos -- decried recent changes in the city's sanctuary city policy, called for Ryan's ousting, and slammed the mayor for not attending the meeting himself. Newsom was represented: he sent one of his senior advisers, Mike Farrah (who was booed). The Police Department also had Tenderloin District Captain Gary Jiminez there (who was also booed). Immigrant advocates also demanded a sit-down meeting with Newsom.
"Symbols matter -- it's important the mayor be here himself," said Campos, who vowed to legislate changes if the city won't change some of its policies on immigrants. "In my humble opinion, the mayor needs to (replace Ryan). It's not a personal attack, but he does not have the support of the community or many on the Board of Supervisors."
Frederic Larson/The Chronicle
Kevin Ryan.
Nathan Ballard, Newsom's spokesman, said the mayor supports Ryan but is "very interested in input from the community about immigration." Ballard also defended Newsom's absence
"The mayor was briefed on what happened at the meeting by his senior advisor Mike Farrah ... we had representatives there from the police department and a senior member of the mayor's administration," he said. "It was a gesture of respect to this coalition and a sign that we are listening to their concerns."
Ballard also said Newsom is "willing and eager to listen to feed back from the community." We're pretty sure that means no meeting has been scheduled -- yet.
| Feb 26 at 05:40 PM
No, really, it's not a ski trip
Gavin Newsom is on the campaign trail again today -- this time he's heading up to Truckee, where he's holding another town hall-style meeting.
But first, according to the schedule released by his City Hall staff, he spoke at a philanthropic luncheon at Squaw Valley. How this relates to his job as mayor is beyond us.
Newsom's got some pretty solid ties to the Tahoe area. He has $1.2 million to $3 million in business interests connected to the PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn resort, as well as retail stores and a cafe affiliated with the resort.
That probably means he'll get (another) warm welcome at his campaign event tonight. This will be his third meeting outside the immediate Bay Area, but he won't be truly testing the political waters until he heads down to Southern California in a few weeks.
| Feb 26 at 05:00 PM
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Better than "Bewitched" reruns
Amid all the gloomy news in the world, we were ecstatic to learn that, once again, San Francisco has been ranked No. 1 in something.
Sure, this is a great place for singles, healthy women and even one of the most eco-friendly cities in the nation, according to myriad magazines.
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SFGTV -- both online and cable channel 26 and 78 -- is the to-go place for watching meetings, news conferences and other city business. Many are aired live.
There are more than 2,300 meetings in the city archives, according to a statement from the mayor's office. So now you know, in case you wanted to watch a rerun of your supes meeting.
Coming in second was the city of Los Angeles and then the Arizona Legislature, according to the data from software company Granicus.
| Feb 26 at 04:19 PM
Guess who's no fun at all?
Gavin Newsom came out pretty strongly last week in favor of protecting the rights of Californians to use medical marijuana. But what about the just slightly more controversial proposal from Assemblyman Tom Ammiano to legalize recreational pot?
"I'm not supportive of it," Newsom said on Wednesday after a press conference in the Western Addition.
Some political analysts, pointing to recent polls on pot use, have said it's a good time for proponents of legalizing marijuana. Ammiano's proposal would regulate marijuana like alcohol -- and, he said, generate more than a billion a year in taxes and fees for the state.
But Newsom's not buying the argument that legalizing the drug would help dig the state out of its financial hole.
"I don't know that that would solve the budget crisis by even a margin of error," he said. "I have no great expectation that it's going to be A) a successful effort or B) it's a necessary effort at this time."
| Feb 26 at 07:25 AM
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
B2B: booze or boycott
Backers of keeping Bay to Breakers boisterous, nude and, uh, hydrated say they're now 20,000 strong and calling for a registration boycott of the annual footrace.
The group said they're also ready to make their case Thursday before the city committee that will decide whether to agree to the street closures for the cross-city race/early morning party.
Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers -- shall we call them traditionalists? -- are opposed to the ban on race floats and public drinking announced earlier this month by race organizers.
At a meeting last week between the group, race organizers and other city leaders, a police lieutenant "made it clear it would be nearly impossible to enforce the bans as written, and the police would likely not enforce any of the restrictions unless there was a threat to public safety," Edward Sharpless of Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers wrote in an email to supporters.
Police Sgt. Lyn Tomioka disputed that account of the meeting.
"We will enforce the alcohol-related laws," Tomioka said. "Our goal is to make the race safe but still a fun event."
Regardless, Sharpless' group has 11,050 members on its Facebook page and is calling for a boycott unless the zero-tolerance policies are rescinded. Combined with website members and online petitions, like this one, the group claims "well over 20,000 people who have joined our cause."
The crackdown was decided upon by race organizers and police after neighbors last year were incensed because of a severe shortage of trash receptacles and portable toilets. Floats are often abandoned at the end of the race.
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose district includes much of the race route, introduced a resolution yesterday co-signed by five other supervisors calling for race sponsors to work with race advocates to "develop a comprehensive plan that protects the host neighborhoods while preserving the unique spirit of the race."
Stay tuned.
| Feb 25 at 05:50 PM
They'll have to keep the lights on for you now
So the apartment building you live in was foreclosed on, and then PG&E; shut off the power because the landlord didn't pay that bill either?
Well, that's now unlawful in San Francisco.
City officials today issued an order preventing private utilities from shutting off service to apartment and other multiunit residential buildings with master meters if the landlord fails to pay the bill.
Chronicle
Avelino Gonzalez and his daughter, Edith, saw the power disconnected in their San Francisco apartment after their landlord was foreclosed on in 2008.
Department of Building Inspection Director Vivian Day and City Attorney Dennis Herrera invoked a section of state law that allows the city to compel private utilities like Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to continue service when a building officer certifies it is necessary to protect public health or safety.
The declaration Day and Herrera signed says such shutoffs pose a "significant threat" to public wellbeing, in part because they prompt people to use dangerous means to heat their homes.
Herrera said the law was designed for "circumstances exactly such as these." The order is to remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2010.
The move comes after foreclosures spiked in 2008, increasing by as much as 450 percent in some city neighborhoods, according to Herrera's office. Foreclosures are primarily clustered in the city's southeast in neighborhoods like Bayview-Hunters Point and Visitacion Valley, officials say.
The Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, a nonprofit tenant advocacy group, reports seeing an average of one case per day where tenants' utilities were shut off through no fault of their own.
A PG&E; spokesman said the company tries to work with tenants, including putting notices in the common areas of buildings that list tenants' rights and the company's foreclosure hotline: 800-850-9587 (staffed during business hours).
"We don't want to shut anyone off," spokesman Joe Molica said. "(Tenants) can take over service in their name and not have any past due amounts."
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which operates the city's publicly-owned water and wastewater utilities, has a policy against shutting off services to tenants because of landlord non-payment, so toilet flushing was not a worry.
| Feb 25 at 04:33 PM
It just keeps growing and growing
More budget bad news is on the way in San Francisco: That unprecedented deficit for next year is about to get even bigger.
Mayor Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that he'll be revealing new budget estimates sometime soon, probably later this week, that show a widening gap. The current estimate is about $565 million. (Although, that depends on who you ask -- Newsom says it's smaller after the city made $115 million in cuts this year that will offset next year's deficit.)
And remember, Newsom will be announcing new layoffs on Friday, something on the order of "hundreds" of job cuts, he said.
The mayor also is reviewing 25 percent budget cuts to every city department. He asked for the proposed cuts earlier this year, but at the time, slashing 25 percent was considered a "contingency," worst-case scenario. Not so much anymore.
"Even at 25 percent we're still short," Newsom said. "That's why I need to get creative now. What sounds terrible today might not sound so terrible on the last day before we turn in the budget."
On the plus side, San Francisco got another decent bond rating out of Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday -- in fact, the rating actually climbed a little. The analysis by Moody's (which is just such a perfect name nowadays for a bond-rating company) makes note of next year's looming budget deficit and the generally not-so-great economy. But compared to the rest of the country, at least, we're not doing too badly, says Moody's.
| Feb 25 at 01:34 PM
Warning: great horned owls at work
And you thought the tiger story was scary.
A fearsome predator is breeding in San Francisco's Presidio, and officials are warning people not to approach the animals.
The Great Horned Owl is one of the bird world's most fearsome predators. Standing about two feet tall, with wingspans of up to five feet, the brown and white bird with piercing yellow eyes is powerful enough to carry off a Red Shouldered Hawk or a large rodents. (They are one of the few birds that regularly feed on skunks.)
The Presidio is home to at least four owl couples that are now mating - and they are highly protective of their young. Peter Erlich, the Presdio's forester, said maintenance crews are taking care not to disturb the very territorial birds, which have been known to attack humans that get too near their young. "They are often called the tiger of the night," he said.
The owls begin courting in the fall and by mid-February the females begin laying eggs in nests commandeered from ravens and crows. The babies hatch in mid-March. Because the parents so fiercely defend their young, he says, "People are advised to avoid any young owls walking along the ground."
The Great Horned Owls are among some 7,301 birds representing 111 different species tallied in this year's avian census at the Presidio, including 12 Red-shouldered hawks and 117 tiny song birds called Ruby-crowned Kinglets.
The owls are crepuscular, meaning they feed at dawn and dusk. And that's when birdwatchers will most often hear the male's distinctive hoot. "He's telling other owls this is my territory, keep out," said Erlich.
Presidio Trust
Who? The Great Horned Owl, one of nature's most fearsome predators, now breeding in the Presidio.
| Feb 25 at 12:52 PM
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Just be glad it's not the IRS
Here's one way to make up a budget deficit: Send out a bunch of fake tax collection notices.
Apparently the city Treasurer's Office sent out a whole lot of erroneous collection notices to San Francisco businesses last week. So many, in fact, that the phone system clogged up and folks wanting to challenge the fee had to come down to City Hall in person.
We're joking about the city sending out such notices on purpose. But one person who received a letter (and asked to remain anonymous) said the business being taxed had closed three years ago -- and the tax claim was from 1992. She argued her $310 bill, but other taxpayers might just trust the city and pay up, she pointed out.
David Augustine, a spokesman for the treasurer's office, said the city sends out hundreds or thousands of collection notices every week and that, sometimes, the tax bill is wrong. But he would not say that there was a recent problem that led to a flurry of letters being sent by mistake.
"If any taxpayer feels like the letter is erroneous, we urge them to contact the person listed on the letter and our staff will respond within 40 hours," Augustine said.
Sounds like great service -- except when you call the contact person listed in one particular letter, all you get is a full voicemail box.
| Feb 24 at 06:01 PM
