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Politics Blog

Ammiano’s struggle on pot, BART cops

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By Tim Redmond

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano is finding that the moderate Democrats up in Sacramento can be just as annoying as the Republicans. Take two of his top priorities right now, a bill to force the BART police to adopt civilian oversight, and a measure to legalize marijuana.

The BART police measure is going to the Public Safety Committee, chaired by Jose Solorio, a moderate Democrat from Santa Ana.

Some of Ammiano’s Democratic colleagues are nervous about even bringing the bill up for a hearing. “They say is an incendiary situation, that even talking about this could cause riots. I’ve told them the opposite — that if there’s any whisper that we’re screwing around with this bill up here, that when the trouble is going to start.”

The pot bill is scheduled for a hearing in Public Safety March 31, and again, Ammiano worries that “they’re not taking it seriously.” They should — all the signs around the coutnry are changing. The federal government is going to stop chasing after medical pot clinics.
This is a way for the state, which is facing even more serious red ink than the governor admits, to bring in a billion dollars or so in taxes — not to mention the amount saved by not wasting police time (and jail space) on marijuana.

Feinstein MIA on Employee Free Choice Act

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By Tim Redmond

So why is Sen. Feinstein the only Democrat in the California delegation who hasn’t signed on as a cosponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, labor’s number one priority for the year?

Curious — she supported it in 2007, and it’s exactly the same bill. I called her press office, and they promised to get back to me. Haven’t heard yet, but I’ll let you know.

Meanwhile, Steve Smith, a spokesperson for the AFL-CIO in California, told me that Feinstein “has said nothing one way or the other in public. But she was very clear in her support for the bill two years ago, and we fully expect she will support it in 2009.”

Let’s keep on eye on her, eh?

UPDATE: Feinstein’s office got back to me with this statement:

Senator Feinstein has supported the Employee Free Choice Act in the past. She is not a co-sponsor of the current bill at this point, but is considering it very carefully. She is concerned about this extraordinarily difficult economy and is taking a very serious look at the legislation.

So .. maybe she’s backsliding a bit. We’ll be watching.

About Obama’s tax cuts

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Moveon.org is encouraging folks to pass on this chart:

tax_rate-chart550.gif

They saw it in the Washington Monthly and think it’s a good way to show that Obama’s plan to roll back Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans from 35 to 39.6 percent will still leave them ahead of what they paid under Reagan, Nixon and Eisenhower.

So feel free to share and use in that tax argument you just know are going to have with your wealthy Uncle Stan.

Why Chronicle workers need to see Hearst’s books

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Hearst and the Chronicle’s refusal to share its audited books should raise serious red flags for workers.

Text by Sarah Phelan.

We all know that the economy is in bad shape and that the newspaper industry is hurting. But before Guild members vote this Saturday at the Parc 55 Hotel on whether to accept a deal that cuts 150 jobs and eliminates seniority, they should demand to see the audited records of both the Hearst and the Chron.

Back in 2005-2006, Local 4, which represent pressmen at the Chronicle, hired Peter Donahue of PBI Associates to assess allegations that the Chron and/or Hearst could not meet its obligations to the pressmen and other Chronicle employees.

To assess these claims, Donahue suggested the union should request audited financial statements for Hearst for the past ten years, audited financial statements for the Chron, and detailed statements of non-operating and operating costs, “distinguishing clearly between actual expenditures, set-asides and inter-corporate transfers” for Hearst, the Chron, SFgate and the San Francisco Newspaper Agency, for the past 10 years.

“No such information was provided by Hearst,: Donahue advised Local 4’s then President Anthony Price. “Without such information, allegations that the newspaper or the Corporation are unable to meet their obligations are unfounded, only repeat claims that the company has been unwilling and unable to support with credible evidence.”

To see the full text of Donahue’s letter, click here.

Supervisorial candidate excuses police abuse

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By Steven T. Jones

Scott Wiener seems to have a real zeal for his job as a deputy city attorney defending San Francisco against police abuse lawsuits, but his attitude and public statements raise serious concerns about his goal of being elected to the District 8 seat on the Board of Supervisors next year.
Take this story, for example, in which Wiener is defending the city in an excessive force case in which Officer Sean Frost and other SFPD officers chased down Chen Ming after being called to a loud argument in SoMa. After they caught him and held him down, Frost hit Ming in the face with his billyclub, breaking Chen’s jaw and knocking out 10 of his teeth.
“The officer did not do anything wrong,” Wiener told the Chronicle, a statement he repeated to me the other day, although he wouldn’t say more about how he arrived at that conclusion (such as whether it was supported by an internal affairs investigation), claiming he could not discuss the facts of the case.
Yet excusing such obviously excessive force — including use of a billyclub in a way that goes against officer training and SFPD general orders, and using extreme violence against a suspect who was down and not threatening anyone — is commenting on the facts of this case.
Wiener could have simply denied the city’s culpability in a general way, but he chose to go further, excusing inexcusable police conduct and sending a scary message to the general public.

Weirdness at the Washbag

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By Steven T. Jones

There was a surreal air to last night’s celebration of the Board of Supervisors’ Class of 2000 at the Washington Bar and Grill in North Beach. That weird vibe was created mostly by the fact that the event was sponsored by Platinum Advisors and the Residential Builders Association, two groups that didn’t always see eye-to-eye with that progressive-dominated class.
That class – which included progressive firebrands Matt Gonzalez and Chris Daly, liberals Aaron Peskin and Jake McGoldrick, and independent conservative Tony Hall – were swept into office largely as a backlash against the top-down rule of then-Mayor Willie Brown, who shares both an office and a corporatist ideology with Platinum.
All those guys were in attendance and the mood was buoyant, helped by the free booze and food. Hall called the supervisors elected in 2000 “the original class of rebels,” while Peskin told the crowd, “Thank you for keeping the progressive spirit of San Francisco alive.”
But it was Brown who had the quote of the night in his not-so-subtle dig at the prickly current Mayor Gavin Newsom (who was rumored to be upset about the gathering): “My guess is if that class was still in place today, they would want me as their mayor.”

At LAFCo, more trouble getting CCA into gear

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By Rebecca Bowe

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who serves as chair of the Local Agency Formation Commission, frowned at what he characterized as “shadiness” at a March 6 LAFCo meeting, and ultimately moved to hold off on a decision to award a contract that would have pushed things forward with San Francisco’s Community Choice Aggregation program.

Ironically, many of the advocates who typically voice concerns that the municipal-power program is moving too slowly expressed relief that this decision was stalled, saying that if the contract had gone to the wrong firm, the integrity of San Francisco’s CCA program would have suffered.

LAFCo is charged with working alongside the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to implement a community-choice aggregation program, which would bring municipal electricity to San Francisco using locally produced, cleaner energy generation.

Talk about Chron’s demise, binge on green beer

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Text by Sarah Phelan

Just kidding about the binge drinking. But the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists has chosen St. Patrick’s Day to sponsor “A Conversation about the Chronicle,” a public discussion about the severe cutbacks and threatened closure of the Chronicle, and the impacts those developments will have for Bay Area readers.

And it’s likely that this meeting, (5:30-7:30 p.m, Tuesday, March 17, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin St.) will leave folks tempted to hit the bottle, given the grim situation that newspapers face nationwide.

Or maybe it will be an upper, in which folks will come together, figure out a way to buy the Chron and every other hurting paper in the nation, and we can all go drink champagne, along with our green beer. Which brings me to my dream of a world where everyone is literate and able to digest newspaper articles, online and in print.

Before we get to that, it’s worth reading David Carr’s analysis of the newspaper industry’s current problem. (Or at least, read Carr’s first suggestion, since research suggests that online readers only read part of an article before jumping to another link.)

Carr’s first suggestion–that there should be “no more free content”–is a tempting, but unlikely prospect, given that folks are already sucking for free on the Internet’s ever ready teat. Not unless someone sells the next generation and their parents on the need to pay for the news equivalent of an iPod– the “iPad,” if you will–if they want to avoid being brainwashed and brainshrunk by PR firms, Fox News and other celebrity news outlets.

Take, for instance, today’s second most read online story. It’s about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s 18 year-old daughter Bristol breaking up with the father of her baby.

Now, while it’s true, as TMZ’s celebrity news guru Harvey Lezin points out, that stories about Rihanna raise “all kinds of issues about domestic violence,” (and therefore Bristol’s breakup raises all kinds of issues about the inefficacy of politicians who promote celibacy and oppose birth control, n’est-ce-pas?) does this mean that the future of the news industry hinges on the reality that most people really just want to sit and look at pictures and articles that prove that the stars really are just like them, black eyes, teenage pregnancies, and dating boys who aren’t ready to be men, and all?

And what about those folks who can’t afford a computer at home? Or like to read the newspaper in the bath? Can’t the newspaper industry find ways to reduce the cost of newsprint, so that print products remain fiscally viable? California is already talking about legalizing cannabis, so why not talk about hemp as a low cost, environmentally friendly alternative to cutting down trees for newsprint?

If you are reading this and thinking you have a better idea, great: come on down to the SF Public Library on Tuesday and share your hopes and fears. Journalists the world over will be glad to hear that you cared.

Who can buy (and run) the Chronicle?

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By Tim Redmond

If Hearst Corp. isn’t satisfied with the concessions it gets from San Francisco Chronicle unions — or if the media giant never intended to keep the paper open — the time may come when the only major daily in San Francisco is circling the drain.

At this point, SF Appeal is reporting, the unions would like a chance to buy the paper , and Gawker is playing around with names of people who might invest.

A little perspective here.

First of all, the Chron isn’t worth much of anything right now. Hearst paid $660 million for the paper, but I’m sure the accountants have already written that off as a total loss and are ready to take the tax deduction. Nobody should be serious thinking that they have to raise a lot of cash to take it over.

The bigger issue is running the thing. Even with really smart management, and a new editorial plan, , the Chron will be losing money for a while, and it would take, say, $50 million to guarantee operating expenses for a couple of years. So any angel investor would need deep pockets and a willingness to lose money for quite some time.

But let’s stop and think about this. When Hearst bought the Chron, the bean counters in New York wanted to shut down the Examiner, but after the feds intervened, the company was forced to sell the Ex to the Fang family. Although “sell” isn’t actually the right word — the Fangs got the paper for nothing, and got $66 million cash to run it.

So why should we tolerate Hearst simply stopping the presses?

We shouldn’t.

Mayor Newsom, Speaker Pelosi, Senators Feinstein and Boxer — all the political leaders in this town — should be demanding that Hearst make a reasonable effort to sell the Chronicle. And by “reasonable,” I mean a deal no worse that what the Fangs got with the Ex.

If the Guild (or some other credible group with a reasonable business plan) wants to buy the paper, Hearst should give it to them — and provide $66 million in transition money. That’s still a good deal for the conglomerate — if the Chron is in fact losing $50 million a year, then the transition pay isn’t much more than one year’s losses. Hearst gets a major tax write-off, gets rid of a money-losing headache, and looks like a decent corporate citizen.

San Francisco gets to keep a daily newspaper, and somebody else gets a chance to try to make it work.

I’m not sure if the feds can order a company not to fold a newspaper right now, but I know that Congress has the power to pass a law preventing a newspaper closure unless and until every effort is made to find a buyer (at a cost the reflects the actual value of the asset, which in this case is about $1.75). Nancy? Dianne? Barbara?

Transbay Terminal still lacks rail solution

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By Steven T. Jones

It’s still an open question whether the trains will ever arrive at the new Transbay Terminal, an impasse that the Transbay Joint Powers Authority Board of Directors will discuss tomorrow morning in City Hall.
After breaking ground on the new terminal in December, the project was thrown into doubt last week with surprise revelations that officials with both the California High-Speed Rail Authority and Caltrain say there are fatal design flaws that could preclude their use of the multi-modal transportation hub.
Since then, there’s been lots of finger-pointing but no real progress, frustrating city officials and transportation advocates. As Dave Snyder, transportation policy coordinator for the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), told the Guardian, “The most important thing really is that the different agencies stop fighting and figure it out so we can get this downtown extension.”

Hollis Update: Gold for our (open-eyed!) girl

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The Guardian continues to follow the condition of local dancer and activist Hollis Hawthorne, who was in a serious motorcycle accident in India and is in a coma.

Miracles do happen! Hollis is doing better than expected. Though still not responding to commands, she is opening both eyes and squeezing the hands of her mom and boyfriend. She’s also been moved to a private room while her family works with several airlines to try to get her home. More info here.

Meanwhile, friends and family have raised $75,500 as of Monday. Almost halfway there! And we’ve been blown away by the support we’ve gotten for tomorrow’s Gold Rush fundraiser at Slim’s. It’s truly going to be a spectacular night – one we only wish Hollis could be present for.

Highlights? Extra Action Marching Band, who Hollis danced to just hours before she left for India last month; A raffle for two Burning Man tickets or two tickets to Teatro Zinzanni; An art auction curated by Will Chase, also known as the man at the helm of Jack Rabbit Speaks; Bohemian Carnival favorites Gooferman; performances by both of the dance troupes Hollis helped found; Live auction by Chicken John; and so much more… Pre-purchase your tickets at www.slims-sf.com and get there early, because this is going to be one fantastic, and PACKED, show.

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The LA Times nails APRI

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Fascinating story in the LA Times today about the A. Philip Randolph Institute.

It focuses on James Bryant, the APRI president who earns $117,000 a year from the nonprofit while also working full-time for the city as a Muni station agent (at $68,000 a year), who hired his son as a $62,000 acting executive director and who charged APRI $5,000 in rent for the use of his half-million-dollar house.

“There is just a conflict of interest all over this thing,” said Ken Berger, president of Charity Navigator, an online review service. “It looks like something that should be reported to a government entity.”

Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, said Joseph Bryant’s job — the son says his salary last year was $62,000 — is similarly troubling.

“In effect, it’s like putting himself on the payroll,” Borochoff said of James Bryant.

The story also notes that Bryant is on the executive board for SEIU Local 1021 and that there’s an internal union complaint against him.

But it mentions only in passing that APRI has received $290,000 from Pacific Gas and Electric Company since 2005, and tens of thousands more from Lennar Corp;, and in many ways, that’s the real scandal here.

Because APRI, named after the legendary African American trade unionist, has become little more than a shill for PG&E and Lennar. APRI worked against the public power campaign, worked against city efforts to install peaker plants (and thus compete with PG&E for energy generation), and worked in favor of giving Lennar control of the entire Bayview Hunters Point revedelopment project.

It’s a bogus astroturf front group for corrupt big businesses. That’s the real issue with Bryant and his sleazy organization.

Why is this guy chairing the political committee for Local 1021, a progressive union that has always supported public power? Now that the whole world knows that he’s PG&E’s guy, he should resign from that job.

Leno picks up single-payer campaign

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By Tim Redmond

State Sen. Mark Leno has taken on the long campaign to enact single-payer health reform in California. He’s announcing tomorrow (Wed) morning that he’s introduced SB 810, which follows (and is nearly identical to) SB 840, the landmark measure by former Sen. Sheila Kuehl that passed the Legislature and was vetoed by the governor.

The bill is remarkable in its simple premise: Everyone — consumers, businesses, government — will save money if the public sector takes over the role of providing health care from the private insurance industry. “We don’t have a health-care policy right now,” Leno told me. “We have a risk-management policy. When the private insurers talk about paying for health care, they cal lit a ‘medical loss.'”

By Leno’s estimates — and those of about every other credible analyst and study — businesses would see lower costs, individuals would pay lower premiums and the state would spend less on health care if only the insurance industry were out of the picture.

“We pay more for health care than any other industrialized country, and we get worse outcomes,” he said. “The system is broken.”

But it won’t be easy. Leno is confident that SB 810 will pass both houses of the Legislature — and that the governor will once again veto it. “And that’s why we need to make sure we elect a Democratic governor in 2010 who will promise to sign this bill in 2011,” he said. “And we need to start organizing now to defeat the referendum the insurance industry will put on the ballot in 2012 and the hundreds of millions of dollars they will spend to confuse Californians.”

In other words, it’s a long-term battle. I wonder if any of these business groups like the California Chamber of Commerce will come to their senses and recognize that this is about the most pro-business thing you could do in this state. Health-care costs are slamming small businesses, hurting our ability to compete as a state and a nation — and the entire economy of California is more important than the profits of one industry.

We shall see.

Hearst’s Guild deal means Teamsters are next

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By Sarah Phelan

The California Media Workers Guild’s Local 39521 is recommending approval of concessions that Hearst and the Chronicle‘s management are demanding in connection with losses that, the privately-owned Hearst alleges, will otherwise force it to sell or close the 144-year-old newspaper.

The Guild reports that management wants an expanded ability to lay off employees without regard to seniority.

“All employees who are discharged in a layoff or who accept voluntary buyouts are guaranteed two weeks’ pay per year of service up to a maximum of one year, plus company-paid health care for the severance term, even in the event of a shutdown – which today’s agreement is designed to avoid,” the Guild stated, in a bulletin posted to its Web site.

Pension changes are not part of the agreement, so far, the Guild observes. But they are being discussed and must be implemented under terms of the Pension Protection Act, due to the recent turmoil and decline in investment markets.

“Because those changes may affect the decisions of many members concerning buyouts, we are attempting to reach some key understandings now as to the nature of the changes and when they will take effect,” the Guild explains.

Will the Supremes take Healthy SF challenge?

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By Sarah Phelan

Next stop the Supreme Court?

That at least is where Kevin Westley, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, said his group would take its challenge of San Francisco’s Universal Health Care Program, after the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided this week not to grant GGRA a rehearing request.

But does this threat have any teeth and why is GGRA making it?

GGRA’s threat came even as Mayor Gavin Newsom was expressing his hope, by way of a press release, natch, that GGRA, “will work for, not against, the City and County’s efforts to expand health care access.”

“With an estimated 60,000 uninsured adults, it is time for all of us to collectively focus our efforts on providing health care to our uninsured residents,” Newsom said, after the Ninth Circuit upheld the city’s employer spending mandate.

That mandate requires companies with 20 to 99 employees to spend $1.23 per worker per hour, and companies with 100 employees or more to spend $1.85 per worker per hour.

Newsom called the court’s decision, “a significant victory for the thousands of San Francisco workers who now have access to health care.”

Deputy City Attorney Vince Chhabria said he found GGRA’s insistence on taking the case to the Supreme Court, “very disappointing.”

“26,000 San Francisco workers have become eligible for coverage in San Francisco’s program,as a result of the court’s ruling,” Chhabria told the Guardian. “One can understand why GGRA filed the suit, but now to continue and try to get this ruling overturned is to take away health coverage from thousands of workers.”

So, what are the chances of the Supreme Court taking the case?

“The Supreme Court will take the request seriously, probably, because there was dissent by a handful of the Ninth Circuit’s most conservative judges,” Chhabria said, as he listed the top three reasons why he believes the Supreme Court probably won’t take this case.

The budget crisis is getting worse, not better

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By Tim Redmond

Nice piece on Calitics about how the California budget crisis is by no means over. David Dayen explains how the state balanced its budget — so to speak — based on projections for tax revenue that were higher that what’s actually coming in. It looks as if the February numbers will be off by $900 million, and if the economy continues to get worse, we could be looking at ANOTHER $10 billion deficit by summer.

The same holds true for San Francisco. The mayor insists there’s no crisis, but even the numbers he used to make his mid-year cuts aren’t going to hold up. The way things are going now, the half-billion-dollar shortfall will be even bigger by the time the supervisors have to make next year’s budget balance.

It’s hard to imagine what this is going to mean. I was cautious about the Rainy Day Fund, but I think we’re going to need that money. And we’re going to need major, major new revenue sources. And we’re still going to face horrible cuts.

Mayor Newsom isn’t dealing with reality here. He needs to be preparing the city for what’s to come, and he needs to start now.

San Francisco reactionaries and their crackdowns

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By Steven T. Jones

Fresh off of a nearly averted city crackdown on partying at the Bay to Breakers race, the Chronicle has back-to-back reports that city officials are planning to crackdown on nightlife and on impromptu dance parties, zombie infestations, pillow fights, and other flash mobs. Further embarrassing this city that once embraced parties is the fact that this threat has already made international news.

Why must city officials use threats and zero tolerance as their first resorts? Problems with trash and noise can be solved if there’s creative leadership in City Hall willing to work with the community, and leaders that value San Francisco’s unique, messy, and fun culture. Instead, we have the absentee and conflict-averse Mayor Gavin Newsom, shorttimer Police Chief Heather Fong, and Newsom’s dour, judgmental special events coordinator Martha Cohen playing reactionary roles, time and again.

The cost of bad policy

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By Tim Redmond

The big front-page heqad in the Examiner screams: “CUTTING VOTERS SERVICES: Budget could close a quarter of polling places.”

The story is a bit milder, but still: Outrage over the fact that, to quote the inside head, “the cost of democracy takes a big hit.”

Just for the record, the reason this is all happening is that the mayor is promoting a cuts-only solution to the budget crisis, something even GOP Governor Schwarzenegger agreed was a bit much. And the Examiner has fully supported the mayor in that effort and opposed new taxes.

Just so you know who to blame.

Why we need newspapers

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By Tim Redmond

The Sunday Chronicle story on the power struggle at Your Black Muslim Bakery that led to the murder of Chauncey Bailey is a reminder of why the world needs newspapers. The latest installment of the Chauncey Bailey Project, which shows the tight connections between homicide inspector Sgt. Derwin Longmire and bakery leader Yusef Bey IV, is another.

These stories could never have been put together by part-time bloggers and citizen journalists. Investigative reporting on this level requires staff — experienced, full-time reporters who have the resources to did into stories.

This is serious stuff: WIthout the Chauncey Bailey Project and the Chron, it’s entirely possible that Chauncey Bailey’s murderer(s) would never be brought to justice. The Oakland cops were bungling the case; it took the newspapers, with a team of paid reporters, do get to the bottom of it.

So as much as the Chronicle drives me nuts, and as much as I’m not sure what the business model should be in the future, democracy is going to require some sort of old-fashioned newspapers.

UPDATE: Ken Conner, the Chron’s Metro editor, just sent me the following:

A minor point about the reference to the Chauncey Bailey project story about the link between the lead detective on the case and the bakery members. Actually we broke that story on Nov. 11, 2007 — months before the project. Both the New York Times and NPR have corrected stories about the project that made the same mistake.

Okay, then. My basic point remains.

Hollis update: Fundraiser March 12 , plus improvement!

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The Guardian continues to follow the condition of local dancer and activist Hollis Hawthorne, who was in a serious motorcycle accident in India and is in a coma.

By Molly Freedenberg

More news from the front lines!

First off, the interwebs are all atwitter about how much Hollis is improving. According to www.helpholligethome.blogspot.com”, Hollis opened an eye for the first time today. And according to the doctor quoted in a story in the Indian paper, The Hindu (which is published by a friend of Guardian publisher Bruce Brugmann), she may even be back to her normal self (which, lucky for all of us, is not “normal” at all) within the next six months.

The other good news? We have an amazing fundraiser planned for next Thursday. Thanks to generous help from Extra Action Marching Band, Slim’s, Robert Levy of 12 Galaxies, Will Chase, and a whole slew of fantastic, fun-loving people, we’ve organized (in under a week!) the following for March 12…

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Prop. 8 and American Theocracy

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This Christian minister had “gay’s” [sic] debating with him all day, but his main “argument” was simply a faith-based belief that God opposes homosexuality.

Text and photo by Steven T. Jones

I got a call from Sen. Mark Leno, who was frustrated by dealing with what he labeled “religious zealots” during yesterday’s Prop. 8 hearing and rally, and wanted to talk about my reporting on how churches bused in conservative Christians from former Soviet-bloc countries whose immigration was sponsored by Sacramento area churchgoers.

The problem isn’t with religion. After all, Leno noted that the California Council of Churches opposed Prop. 8 and the stripping away of same-sex marriage rights. People are entitled to their beliefs. The problem is with religious fundamentalists who want government and laws to conform to their religious values. Several Prop. 8 supporters told me they were trying to implement God’s will, and a couple even said that God told them to be there.

“These folks are theocrats. They want a theocracy,” Leno said. “We’re spending tens of billions of dollars fighting theocracies around the world, because they’re antithetical to the concept of democracy.”
Assembly member Tom Ammiano agreed, telling us that he’s drawing a line in dealing with these hateful religious zealots. He said someone from the Catholic League sitting near him in the hearing tried to be chummy with him, and he told him, “I don’t want to talk to you.”

Ammiano was also irritated by attorney Kenneth Starr, the darling of the religious right who argued their case yesterday, whose main argument Ammiano summarized this way, “I felt like he was saying, what are these slaves complaining about? They’ve got a house to sleep in. What, they want clothes now?”

Chronicle layoffs could top 225.

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Text by Sarah Phelan

The chips are down at the Chronicle–and it sounds like the California Media Workers Guild tried, but did not succeed, in striking a bargain with the devil.

According to a bulletin posted at the Guild’s website, Hearst Corp. ultimately told the union that even if its members agree to cutting the bejeezus out of the paper, it won’t be enough to save 150 layoffs and won’t necessarily prevent Hearst from shuttering the Chronicle. Hot damn.

No wonder a Chronicle employee by the fabulous name of Delfin Vigil posted a paid advertisement in the San Francisco Examiner, describing Hearst’s suggestion to close the 144-year-old newspaper as “unacceptable, unforgivable, or even un-American.”

Vigil suggests that Hearst give Chronicle workers the “right of first refusal” to takeover the paper, or “a newly formed group of past and present Chronicle employees who still believe in its value.”

So far, online comments suggest that the blogging public doesn’t care about or understand the value of newspapers. At least not in this modern world, where you can bounce around online to multiple postings and links for free, but end up, perhaps, never actually getting to the end of, or fully digesting, anything you read.

But as Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, points out, ” this nation will be in a world of hurt,” particularly concerning the battle to create open and transparent government, if major daily newspapers like the Chronicle go down.

As Dalglish notes, for the last 50 years, mainstream media organizations—not the alternative press—waged most of these battles, suing the government to access documents and information.

And then there is the fact that newspapers, unlike laptops, can be left in the car, taken to the beach or read in the bath without fear that a $1,000 piece of hardware will be stolen or destroyed. They make great hats, birdcage liners and fish wraps. They are recyclable and biodegradable. Heck, a drag queen once even made a dress out of a cover story that was written about her. And, occasionally, the words printed on their pages will bring you to laughter or tears, thanks to a team of largely invisible, but always overworked and underpaid workers.

Meanwhile, a “negotiations summary” posted at the California Media Workers Guild shows just how many pounds of flesh Hearst wants Chronicle workers to give—and then bleed them to death.

Why Alioto-Pier didn’t get BCDC nod

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By Tim Redmond

According to the Chron, it’s all personal — Chris Daly doesn’t like Michela Alioto-Pier, so he engineered a way to keep her off the “plum assignment” of a seat on the Bay Conservation and Development Commission.

Actually, there are very good public-policy reasons why Alioto-Pier shouldn’t be on the BCDC. That’s a powerful agency, whose job is to make sure developers don’t run amok with bay-fill and shoreline projects. People who represent San Francisco need to be able to hold the line with developers, to say “no” on a regular basis to people who have a lot of money and clout. Alioto-Pier has always been one of the most pro-developer members of this board — and if, lord help us all, she’s actually serious about running for mayor, she’ll be shaking down that same crowd for money.

So forget the personalities — Daly did what any progresive would have done and made sure the developers didn’t get a friendly vote on the BCDC.

Plus, the last time she was appointed to an outside board it didn’t go too well.

Chris Daly’s corrections

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By Tim Redmond

Gavin Newsom got some attention when he announced that he would start running “corrections” to news media stories he doesn’t like. His corrections site is pretty lame, not a lot on there (maybe because the mayor doesn’t get much bad press, or maybe because everything negative we write about him is true).

But it’s inspired Sup. Chris Daly to issue a few corrections of his own. This arrived today:

March 5, 2009

Correction to Article: “S.F.’s New Community Court Opens”

Nathan Ballard, Newsom’s press secretary said, “the mayor won’t be
balancing the budget at the expense of mental health and substance abuse
treatment providers – and that the court will go along way to help the same
population.”

Not true. In fact, Newsom’s 2008-2009 mid- year cuts to mental health and
substance abuse treatment programs include approximately $5.32 million
dollars in cuts to mental health and substance abuse treatment.

The Newsom Administration is currently contemplating an additional $6.58
million cuts to mental health and substance abuse programs for the
2009-2010 budget year.

In today’s Chronicle article, the Mayor’s Office provided false information
by obfuscating their $11.9 million dollar in mid year and proposed cuts to
mental health and substance abuse treatment programs. Supervisor Daly
expressed concern about the impacts of the Mayor’s cuts. “These cuts will
devastate treatment and services for San Francisco’s most vulnerable
residents.”

Mr. Mayor?

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