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Why won’t Newsom name Jew’s real replacement?

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More and more City Hall watchers are focusing on the asterisk that the Mayor’s Office has left next to the name of the newest member of the Board of Supervisors, Carmen Chu.

“She’s an interim replacement,” Newsom flak Nathan Ballard confirmed for me yesterday. In other words, she may just be a placeholder until the Board of Supervisors votes whether to remove disgraced Sup. Ed Jew from office a few weeks from now.

“At the point when Ed Jew is removed from office…then the mayor would have the opportunity to appoint a permanent replacement or appoint Carmen,” Ballard said. Asked whether the mayor has made that decision yet, Ballard told us, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

This is unbelievable, particularly given the FBI raided Jew’s office and by his own admission found a wad of ill-gotten cash way back in May. Newsom has had plenty of time to pick a replacement, and probably already did well before Monday when he informed Chu of her selection. And I’m not the only one who smells the foul stench of a political power grab in Newsom’s strangely secretive ploy.

Let’s do the Jew Chu Dudum shuffle

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Meet the Dude: Ron Dudum outside City Hall, following Newsom’s Jew-Chu coup

Dude, Ron Dudum is polite. Maybe a little too polite, given that he just got passed over by Mayor Gavin Newsom for the job of temporarily replacing suspended Sup. Ed Jew.

Dudum is the dude who lost to Jew by 53 votes in an instant runoff race for District 4 last fall. Since then, questions about Jew’s residency have been raised, large piles of cash have been found in Ed Jew’s City Hall safe, the transcripts of some very incriminatory FBI tapes have been made public in which Jew appears to be demanding money for help getting permits for a chain of tapioca bubble drink stores, and charges have been filed against him at the state and federal level.

STRIKE!

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The October issue of Harper’s Magazine has an editorial by Garret Keizer (printed in the hole left by Lewis Lapham) titled “Specific Suggestion” and calling for a general strike on this election day, November 6, 2007.

“Of all the various depredations of the Bush regime none has been so thorough as its plundering of hope.” Keizer writes in the opening of the piece.

Stop whatever you’re doing and go read the rest of it. His remedy for the general despair, rather than twiddling thumbs until November 2008, is: Don’t go to work and don’t buy anything. If you’re frustrated with the war, annoyed that calls for impeachment have gone nowhere, and generally depressed by the Bush administration then let it be known by refusing to engage the cogs that keep the machinery of our “democracy” operating.

“Any strike, whether it happens in a factory, a nation, or a marriage, amounts to a reaffirmation of consent,” writes Keizer. “The strikers remind their overlords—and, equally important, themselves—that the seemingly perpetual machinery of daily life has an off switch as well as an on.”

It’s a beautiful idea, brilliant in its simplicity, and a potentially inspirational reminder that we, as a people, are responsible for our democracy. Of course, I’ve come across no mentions of this so far in the mainstream media so it’s going to require some real grassroots swelling to take off. Some lefty bloggers like DailyKos diarist conchita have picked it up. You should too: Tell your friends! Let’s shut it off!

Meet the candidates: Michael Hennessey

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The Bay Guardian is interviewing the candidates for the 2007 elections. We’ll be updating this entry as more information comes in. Post your thoughts or comments below.

San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey

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www.sheriffhennessey.com

“From about 1850 to 1895, the San Francisco police chief was elected. I think it’d be a very good idea for this city. It’s a small enough city that I think the elected politicians really try to be responsive to the public will.”

Michael Hennessey interview


Visit the Guardian 2007 Election Center for updates, more interviews, and 2007 election news.

Meet the candidates: Kamala Harris

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The Bay Guardian is interviewing the candidates for the 2007 elections. We’ll be updating this entry as more information comes in. Post your thoughts or comments below.

District Attorney: Kamala Harris

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www.kamalaharris.org

“It’s a self-defeating thing to say, ‘I’m not going to work because the DA won’t prosecute.’ … If no report is taken, then you’re right, I’m not going to prosecute.”

Kamala Harris interview


Visit the Guardian 2007 Election Center for updates, more interviews, and 2007 election news.

Meet the candidates: Harold Hoogasian

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The Bay Guardian is interviewing the candidates for the 2007 elections. We’ll be updating this entry as more information comes in. Post your thoughts or comments below.

Mayoral candidate Harold Hoogasian

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www.unplugthemachine.org

“I decided to run after this bozo took away 400 garbage cans and called it an anti-litter program.”

Harold Hoogasian interview


Harold Hoogasian news on SFBG.com

Visit the Guardian 2007 Election Center for updates, more interviews, and 2007 election news.

Meet the candidates: Grasshopper Alec Kaplan

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The Bay Guardian is interviewing the candidates for the 2007 elections. We’ll be updating this entry as more information comes in. Post your thoughts or comments below.

Mayoral candidate: Grasshopper Alec Kaplan

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Grasshopper Alec Kaplan interview


Grasshopper news on SFBG.com

Visit the Guardian 2007 Election Center for updates, more interviews, and 2007 election news.

Chicken’s in the news again

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And this time, it’s a total non-story. This is the big, three-deck, front-page banner head in the Examiner. And why? Who cares if a Newsom aide gave $95 to Chicken John Rinaldi’s mayoral campaign? Everyone knows Newsom is going to win; Rinaldi himself says he’s running for number two. This is a performance, a Chicken John special, and Rinaldi hopes to make some points along the way about the importance of arts in San Francisco. So Mike Farrah gave $95 to see the show.

That has Eric Jaye all agitated and the Ex in a tizzy? Come on.

Jew out, Chu in. Who? Chu

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Mayor Gavin Newsom finally stepped up today, filing official misconduct charges against the twice-indicted Sup. Ed Jew, and removing him from office pending permanent removal by the Ethics Commission and Board of Supervisors. A PDF of the charge and related letters is available here. That overdue action was long-anticipated, so the real news today is that he has named his 29-year-old deputy budget director Carmen Chu to fill the slot, starting with today’s board meeting.
Chu is a virtual unknown in local politics, but those who have worked with her tell us that she’s smart, attractive, not very political, and a sort of quiet, behind the scenes policy wonk. Given her age and the huge opportunity that Newsom has just handed her, most people assume that she’ll be a loyal vote for Newsom. Yet Chu did play a role in this year’s divisive and highly politicized budget battle between Newsom and Sup. Chris Daly, serving as the point person on two of Newsom’s most troubling (and ultimately unsuccessful) budget gambits: cutting funding for local AIDS programs and reducing the number of psychiatric beds at General Hospital. It was an understandable role given that she was with the Department of Public Health before moving over to the Budget Office.

Jew, You’ll be a Woman, soon

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Photo by Charles Russo
Or at least your District 4 replacement might be

With the legal noose tightening at the federal and the state level around beleagured Sup. Ed Jew’s neck, and City Attorney Dennis Herrera preparing to file a civil lawsuit to remove Jew from office, two San Francisco women, b have sent a letter to Mayor Gavin Newsom, urging him to name a woman to replace Jew.
In their letter Alix Rosenthal, President, National Women’s Political Caucus (SF chapter) and SaskiaTraill, President, San Francisco Women’s Political Committee note that during Newsom’s administration, “the number of women who serve in elected office has been reduced, after you replaced two women, Assessor Mabel Teng and Treasurer Susan Leal, with men.”

The full text of the letter follows:

Dear Mayor Newsom,

When you appoint a replacement for Supervisor Ed Jew, we strongly urge you to name a woman. It is important that you continue to demonstrate your commitment to gender equity at the highest levels of government.

On Saturday, September 15, forty-five elected officials and leaders of women’s organizations met at the San Francisco Women’s Policy Summit 2007, with the aim of determining our top priorities to improve the lives of women in San Francisco. The Summit participants agreed unanimously that our highest priority is to get more women elected and appointed to public office.

One of every three citywide elected offices in San Francisco is held by a woman. In addition, only two members of the Board of Supervisors are female. During your administration, the number of women who serve in elected office has been reduced, after you replaced two women, Assessor Mabel Teng and Treasurer Susan Leal, with men.

We are confident that you will select a woman who has the energy and the experience to restore District 4’s confidence in their elected representative. Until women hold half of the seats of power in San Francisco, a woman’s perspective will not be adequately represented in City Hall. We will be happy to meet with you at any time to discuss this further.

Sincerely,

Alix Rosenthal – President, National Women’s Political Caucus (SF chapter)
and
Saskia Traill – President, San Francisco Women’s Political Committee

Mahmoud Ahmadinegay

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This one’s a real corker. Iran’s national nightmarish, Holocaust-denying president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke today at Columbia University — in the interests of promoting democratic exchange, of course! And to help Americans who have “suffered in diverse ways and have been deprived of access to accurate information.” Columbia’s president Lee Bollinger asked him what he called a “tough question”: What about the persecution of gays in his country?

The response: “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country.”

No, Little Hitler, you just have hanged, flogged, and beheaded ones. (Oh! My bad. That last one was our fabulous Saudi allies. Rock on Saudi Arabia!)

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Pic from — oh dear, strange bedfellows — glennbeck.com

Hey Ahmadinegay, bite my gay Arab ass, and then work me on the wicked dance floor of your life. One look at your alterna-beard and sassy coif and my gaydar goes apewild.

PS. Nice shoes, Mahry.

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PPS. “Too hobbit”

Meet the candidates: Ahimsa Sumchai

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The Bay Guardian is interviewing the candidates for the 2007 elections. We’ll be updating this entry as more information comes in. Post your thoughts or comments below.

Mayoral candidate: Ahimsa Sumchai

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www.ahimsa4mayor.com

“Just as we looked at AIDS as an epidemic, we should look at violence as an epidemic.”

Ahimsa Sumchai interview (play time: 59:15)


Ahimsa Sumchai news on SFBG.com

Visit the Guardian 2007 Election Center for updates, more interviews, and 2007 election news.

Are the cops doing their jobs?

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For the first time ever, the San Francisco Controller’s Office (using outside consultants) is conducting a survey on the behavior and effectiveness of the SFPD. You can fill it out online here.

This is part of legislation by Sup. Ross Mirkarimi, and it’s important that all parts of the community respond. Cuz’ you know the cops will all fill out the survey ….

My only problem with the survey is that it doesn’t ask about police abuse or accountability, but it does ask about effectiveness, and there are places where you can type in comments.

Stopping the GOP’s dirty trick

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A ballot measure that would effectively guarantee that the next president is a Republican — and quite possible guarantee GOP control of the White House for years to come — is headed for the California ballot, and the Democratic party has been a bit slow to respond. Considering that this is a Very Big Deal — about as big a deal as you can imagine, with the future of the world literally at stake — the Democratic party needs to pull out all the stops to defeat this thing.

And the bloggers aren’t waiting around for that to happen.

Already, there’s a lively campaign underway at Nodirtytricks.com — and it features a stunning video from Bradly Whitford, better known as Josh on the West Wing. Check it out:

Hey, did Gavin think about this?

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We know at this point that Mayor Newsom didn’t seek legal counsel before he decided to ask for everyone who runs anything in town to resign. If he had, and he’d thought about it a little bit, he might have discovered what City Attorney Dennis Herrera did: This could cost the city big money.

I’m not talking about lawsuits by forcibly resigned employees — Newsom had ever legal right to do what he did. No, what’s fascinating is a two-sentence note at the end of the city attorney’s seven-page opinion on the mass resignations. It says:

“The resignations of certain department heads or commissioner may present other legal issues for the City depending on the particular facts and circumstances. For example, There could be questions about whether to make public disclosures under certain City bonds or municipal debt issuances.”

What that means is that the city might have to notify the financial markets — the bond holders and brokers — about the mass almost-firings, the same way a company that holds public debt would have to notify debtors that all of its senior staff had resigned.

If the bond-rating agencies decide that a mass exodus of all the experience and talent managing the city is a bad thing for San Francisco’s financial stability, we could see a downgrading of our bonds — and that could cost us a lot of money.

I wonder if Gavin ever thought about that.

Broken democracy

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The implications behind today’s big news that San Francisco has an unreliable voting system are mind-boggling. It’s bad enough that it’s going to take weeks of hand-counting ballots before we’ll know the results — not just after this November’s snoozer election, but also after the high-stakes February and June contests. But consider the fact that the state has found that the San Francisco system doesn’t count many ballots. Has that affected past elections? Did Sup. Ed Jew really win his squeaker of an election, or for that matter, did Gavin Newsom really beat Matt Gonzalez four years ago?
As the Chron story notes, the Board of Supervisors earlier this year elected not to switch from our current ES&S system to one made by Sequoia Voting Systems, mostly because they would allow an independent review of the computer coding, which is a valid concern. People have good reasons, and more all the time, to have no faith in this country’s dysfunctional democracy. This is serious stuff, people. If we don’t find a way to restore people’s faith in the system, it isn’t just trust and hope that will be lost. It could be the system itself.

UPDATE: After learning a bit more about this issue, it turns out that the scope of the city’s problems in the past aren’t as potentially far-reaching as the Secretary of State’s action might indicate. Respected election reformer Steven Hill tells us this is a drastic action based largely on ES&S not being the most responsive corporation in the world, as he and the Guardian experienced during the implementation of ranked choice voting. But the potential for votes not being counted only concerns those cast at precincts by voters who don’t use the provided pens and instead use their own with light ink. On absentee ballots where that’s most likely to occur, they are already read on more sensitive machines that will count the votes. Anyway, look for next week’s Guardian where we’ll have more on this developing story.

McGoldrick recall fails

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The Elections Department has notified proponents of move to recall Sup. Jake McGoldrick that their effort has failed. The campaign — sparked by business interests who oppose the Geary bus rapid transit proposal and McGoldrick’s sponsorship of Healthy Saturdays — turned in 3,844 signatures on Sept. 14, according to Elections officials. But a random sampling of those signatures found that at least 500 weren’t valid signatures from voters in the district, leaving them short of the 3,573 they needed to qualify for the February ballot. Proponents were informed in a letter that went out yesterday.
McGoldrick had been preparing to fight to finish his term, which ends next year, assuming that the campaign would meet the low threshold of 10 percent of those in the district who voted in the last election. But now, that election won’t happen and the mayor won’t get to appoint a replacement if McGoldrick lost.

A totally bogus arrest

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Alex “Grasshopper” Kaplan was at our office today to talk about his campaign for mayor, but he almost didn’t make it; the guy, who has been in and out of jail for the past few weeks, got popped yesterday on what has to be one of the more utterly bogus charges in recent memory.

See, Kaplan is under a restraining order; he’s supposed to stay away from Sup. Ed Jew. That goes back to his stunt a few weeks back when he parked his cab in the driveway of Jew’s San Francisco house and asked if he could live there. Jew apparently thought Kaplan was a threat, and got the stay-away order.

The problem is that Kaplan loves to speak up at public comment during Board of Supervisors meetings. And just approaching the front of the room, where the microphone is, puts him within 50 feet of Jew. So when he went to speak up this week, he was hauled out in handcuffs.

I realize this isn’t the biggest issue in the world, but please: Can’t the Powers that Be find a away around this one? How about giving him a cordless mike in the back of the room? You can’t just shut up a member of the public and stop him from speaking at a public meeting because of a questionable restraining order.

Is Ballard the new Byorn?

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Newsom press secretary Nathan Ballard — who got the job after his predecessor was caught lying to reporters — has always seemed to me a fairly robotic center-right spinmeister, delivering carefully scripted comments without much feeling or human warmth. Or maybe he just hates me and the Guardian, as I’ve heard from others at City Hall, which is why he’s generally fairly unresponsive to our requests and terse when he finally does answer. For example, I had to hound him for days, even after he’d missed the Sunshine Ordinance deadline for the resignation letters Newsom requested and blown off a 10 a.m. appointment with me, before I could finally see the documents and ask him a few questions about them in his office on Monday, which he answered while distractedly looking at his computer almost the entire time.
That was when I was able to finally corner him into admitting that Newsom didn’t seek legal advice before announcing his unorthodox and overreaching demand for everyone’s resignations, a scoop that the Fog City Journal followed up today with a story on whether Ballard had lied to them and other reporters. So today, I followed up with an e-mail to Ballard (CCed to FCJ, the Chron, and the Examiner, who have also sought a straight answer) asking a simple question: Precisely when did Newsom seek legal advice on his resignation request plan? His answer, delivered a couple hours later, follows:

Newsom’s rash purge creates legal mess

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Newsom’s decision to ask for the resignations of hundreds of city employees and appointed commissioners was a impetuous one made with no legal advice, his press secretary has admitted to the Guardian. And now, the strange and sweeping gesture is raising troubling legal questions and potential long term problems for many city employees.
“The mayor did just make the decision more or less on the spot,” Newsom spokesperson Nathan Ballard told the Guardian yesterday, referring to the Sept. 7 meeting with a couple dozen senior staffers. “It was in the context of an inspirational speech to the staff.”
Ballard said the big moment caused the entire room to applaud, a response that was definitely muted by Sept. 10 when Newsom sent resignation-demand letters out and informed all department heads at a regular weekly meeting. Then came the confusion, the return of some letters that amount to an immediate resignation, and the close work with the City Attorneys Office (whose representatives say they can’t speak on the record about this attorney-client matter) to fix the mess.

Who will SEIU endorse for prez?

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Since this is one of the fastest-growing unions in one of the fastest-growing sectors of the workforce — and since it’s president, Andy Stern, is a leader in the rebel group that walked out of the AFL-CIO, this should be a fascinating choice.

Robert Haaland is there, live blogging it.

Meet the candidates: Josh Wolf

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The Bay Guardian is interviewing the candidates for the 2007 elections. We’ll be updating this entry as more information comes in. Post your thoughts or comments below.

Mayoral candidate: Josh Wolf

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http://joshwolf.net/JoshWolf4Mayor

“Let’s make the police a part of the community, not an occupying force.”

Josh Wolf interview (play time – 48:15)


Josh Wolf news on SFBG.com

Visit the Guardian 2007 Election Center for updates, more interviews, and 2007 election news.

Meet the candidates: Lonnie Holmes

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The Bay Guardian is interviewing the candidates for the 2007 elections. We’ll be updating this entry as more information comes in. Post your thoughts or comments below.

Mayoral candidate: Lonnie Holmes

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http://campaignwindow.com/lonnieholmesforsfmayor/

Lonnie Holmes interview (play time – 46:25):

“The crime in this city is absolutely outrageous”




Visit the Guardian 2007 Election Center for updates, more interviews, and 2007 election news.

Meet the candidates: Quintin Mecke

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The Bay Guardian is interviewing the candidates for the 2007 elections. We’ll be updating this entry as more information comes in. Post your thoughts or comments below.

Quintin Mecke: Mayoral candidate

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http://qformayor.com/

Quintin Mecke interview (play time – 1:04:39)

“It’s hard to find an innovative, non-PR-type initiative coming out of the mayor’s office.”



Visit the Guardian 2007 Election Center for updates, more interviews, and 2007 election news.

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