By Steven T. Jones
As if Gavin girlfriend Jennifer Siebel’s woman-blaming comments in the Sunday Chronicle weren’t bad enough, you ought to check out her comment (assuming it is her, that is) to the SFist. It’s downright batty, not to mention even more vicious in its attack on Ruby Rippey-Tourk. My favorite part: “i am not going to blindly support a woman who has cheated on her husband multiple times and watch while my boyfriend is the only one who gets punished..and, what, for something a long time ago when the man was going through a crises- divorce, the loss of his mother, the pressures of being mayor, etc. and he was vulnerable and lonely? and, what’s your definition of affair? he’s been so hurt by this all — personally and professionally- and it was a few nothing incidents when she showed up passed out outside of his door. come on guys, have a heart. I have tried to see Ruby’s side of the story but unfortunately everyone near to her has stories and says she is bad news.”
Just think about the many, many implications of that one for a second. The mind reels.
- No categories
Politics Blog
Gavin girlfriend continues digging their grave
SF Port to Vote (and maybe cash in) on the Trans Bay Cable
By JB Powell
Tomorrow could be ‘show me the money’ day for the SF Port Commission. Commissioners there will vote on the Trans Bay Cable, a privately financed, $300 million power cord that would run underwater from Pittsburg. For weeks, staff members from the port as well as various other city agencies have been hammering out the details of a community benefits package with the cable’s developer, Australian financial firm, Babcock and Brown. The Guardian has obtained a staff report with details of the proposed benefits package. Several officials had already told us it was “significant” and they were right. If the deal goes through, the port will reap millions in rent and licensing fees, a needed cash-infusion for the strapped agency. The package also includes hefty sums for waterfront open space and, in perhaps the biggest news for the city, millions of dollars for the SF Public Utilities Commission. The SFPUC plans to use the funds to bankroll sustainable energy projects, including solar, wind, and tidal initiatives.
Why the largesse? Many of the cable’s shore-side facilities would be on port land. That means Babcock and Brown needs port commission approval before the project can move on to the last local regulatory step, the Board of Supervisors. If the cable goes through, it would plug the city’s electrical grid into 400 megawatts of power from plants in and around Pittsburg. But green power advocates claim the “59 mile extension cord” would be a “waste of resources.” Their biggest fear is that bringing all those relatively cheap megawatts into the city from fossil-fuel burning plants across the bay will derail the city’s plans to rely on more eco-friendly energy.
But the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) insists the city needs the cable or it will see blackouts in the future. Cal-ISO is the “public benefit corporation” in charge of the state’s grid. Sources in and around city hall have described the bind local leaders are in: they would rather look to greener power projects to solve the city’s energy needs, but electricity can be the third rail of California politics. Just ask Gray Davis. So, in an attempt to have their megawatts and eat them too, staff from the mayor’s office and several supervisors, as well as the port and SFPUC, pushed hard for the best “benefits package” they could get from the developer. It remains to be seen if the money for renewable energy projects will placate the activist community. Stay tuned to the Guardian for more coverage on the issue in the coming weeks.
“The woman is the culprit”
By Steven T. Jones
Omigod. Like, omigod. Where do I even begin to dissect the comments by Gavin girlfriend Jennifer Siebel in today’s Chronicle Style section profile ? Let’s start with the money quote: “the woman is the culprit,” which she spoke in reference Ruby Rippey-Tourk, who had sexual relations with the mayor even though she was his employee and the wife of his right hand man. To be fair, maybe Siebel didn’t realize that she is the first Newsom proxy to attack Rippey-Tourk in print, something many journalists and women’s groups feared might happen in the election year. Because in reading this profile, she seems to be perfect for Newsom in several key ways: she’s gullible, good-looking, well-born, and not terribly smart. But that isn’t even the most interesting revelation in this article, which is that this relationship (which she claims is already “love” after six months) was arranged by Newsom’s political advisors (“after running a background check, one of the mayor’s staffers invited her”) and the Wilsey family (who is leading the oppositon to Healthy Saturdays and has convinced Newsom to oppose it) just as the news of Newsom dating a 20-year-old hostess broke and when the Rippey-Tourk affair was heading in that direction.
More layoffs at the Chronicle?
By Steven T. Jones
steve@sfbg.com
Sources at the San Francisco Chronicle say that Editor Phil Bronstein and Hearst Corp. executives yesterday convened an hour-long emergency meeting at the paper to warn that more layoffs and other cost-cutting measures are on the way. They provided Chronicle staffers with few details, except to say that all temporary employees would be terminated at the end of the current pay period. Employees were simply told that the paper would be getting smaller and that more details on what that means would be coming in the near future.
Employee morale at the paper isn’t high right now, with this new round of cutbacks following a major staff reduction in 2005 (done primary through optional buyouts), new labor union contracts approved last year that significantly eroded employee rights and essentially broke the Pressman’s Union, an unseemly partnership between Hearst Corp. and competitor MediaNews, and the Chronicle’s recent decision to include advertising on the front of its Bay Area section and occasionally even on its front page.
We’ll have more on this unfolding story as it develops.
The kimono photo is real …
By Tim Redmond
Or so says the person who took it.
Remember: I was given a print of the photo of Newsom in a pink kimono with alleged stalker Han Shin from someone who says he got if directly from Shin. I had no idea who took it. But the photographer just came forward and called me. I can’t use his name, but here’s the story he tells (and it rings true).
The photo was taken at Sup. Bevan Dufty’s campaign kickoff. Newsom was there, wearing a Dufty t-shirt over his dress shirt. Han Shin showed up and presented Dufty with the kimono. Dufty tried it on, then Shin took it over to Newsom and draped it over the mayor’s shoulders. Then Shin handed his little camera to a person on the scene — the one who just called me — and that person snapped the pic.
It wasn’t a high-quality camera and there were lots of sources of light on the scene, which explans the weird shadow patterns.
For the record, the person who called me has a history in local politics and no reason to make this up.
What’s up, Carole?
By Tim Redmond
I’m still waiting to hear something from Carole Migden about this truly offensive blog post by her former aide, Michael Colbruno.
For the record, this attack on Mark Leno started when right-wingers went after him for opposing Proposition 83. We opposed Prop. 83, too. So did San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey. So, I’m told by Migden’s office, did Migden.
I left word for Migden two days ago. She ought ot come out and say that this is bullshit and that she won’t have her supporters pulling this stuff. (And if any of Leno’s people try to do the same kind os smear-stuff, I hope he smacks them down as well.)
Fun at the Village Voice
By Tim Redmond
Lotsa fun talk about the new editor at the Village Voice. That would be editor number five since the boys from Phoenix took the place over.
Apparently the new guy isn’t so fond of literary language. But it looks like the boss likes him.
And these guys are having a good time with Mike Lacey’s inability to spell the names of dead Soviet generals.
End the war!
By Steven T. Jones
Good for Nancy Pelosi! It’s great to see her finally get serious about ending this disastrous war and to start being a long overdue check on this out-of-control imperial presidency. Win or lose, it’s the right thing to do and a move that makes me proud to be from San Francisco. And if Bush indeeds vetoes this thing, maybe she’ll reconsider her opposition to impeachment. After all, the Constitution vests Congress with the power to start and end wars, not the president.
Killing closure
By Steven T. Jones
How desperate is the pro-car crowd to kill Healthy Saturdays? Sources tell us that De Young Museum matriarch Dede Wilsey and other allies talked rookie Assembly member Fiona Ma into writing state legislation that would have required voter approval for creating car-free spaces in San Francisco parks, and that she was talked out of doing so by financier and backer Warren Hellman — a supporter of Healthy Saturdays — just before the Feb. 23 deadline for introducing bills. Contacted by the Guardian, Hellman confirmed the basic story, telling us, “We talked and she had an idea of proposing something, but I thought it was unnecessary.” He thinks the issue is likely to end up before voters either way, either through a referendum on the passage of Healthy Saturdays or a measure placed on the ballot by four supervisors if it fails. Ma’s office refused to comment on whether she pursued legislation to prevent Healthy Saturdays — which she opposed last year as a member of the Board of Supervisors — and would say only, “I do not discuss private conversations with constituents in the media.”
Saturday closure is an emotion-packed issue for both sides, which may be why Newsom decided to announce his opposition fairly early, just to avoid the acrimony. But that left Sup. Bevan Dufty (who voted against it last year) as the swing vote and someone who admits that his phone has been ringing off the hook lately. But he’s pledged to stay engaged and try to do the right thing: “I’m trying to stay refreshingly open on the issue of Healthy Saturdays and consider different viewpoints.”
Free Muni: You read it here first
Tim Redmond
I’m glad to see the Mayor Newsom is looking into free bus service. It’s a great idea, even if, as Leftinsfnotes, it’s probably just a political ploy in an election year. And even if the Chron is already already trying to shoot it down.
When I first saw the headlines, I had one of those flashback moments; I realized that we’d already done this story, a long time ago. In fact, it was December, 1993 when the Guardian ran a cover story on the case for Free Muni. I dug it up from our archives; you can read it here.
Back then, the local economy was kind of a wreck, and beyond the environmental arguments, we wanted to make the case that eliminating bus fares would give the mostly working-class folks who ride the buses more moneny in their pockets, which would be a nice economic boost. The way to pay for it, of course, would be to tax downtown (making this a transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor, one of my favorite things in the world).
I don’t think Newsom is even looking at the economic arguments, but he should.
He also isn’t calling for a downtown transit tax increase to pay for this, either — but that’s the way to do it. Put the whole thing on the ballot — free Muni, paid for by, say, a $150 million annual assessment on downtown buildings. That might even win. Would Newsom support it?
Why we need a no-attacks pledge
By Tim Redmond
The shit is already flying in the Migden-Leno race. Check out this nice piece of sleaze attacking Mark Leno as “the Kiddie Porn King.”
No kidding.
That’s why Leno and Migden both have to tell their supporters to knock it off.
Sucking up to PG&E’s flack
By Tim Redmond
Isn’t this special? All of these liberal politicians in San Francisco happily sucking up to the chief hired gun for Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
For the record, Don Solem has made gobs of money over the years defeating public-power initiatives in San Francisco. That’s not something I really want to celebrate.
Does it have to be a bloodbath?
By Tim Redmond
Already, I’m hearing whistpers from both sides of the Leno-Migden contest, and already, they’re getting nasty. Mark Leno told me this week that he will run an upbeat campaign, and that any negative attacks on Midgen “won’t come from me.” I suspect I will hear the same from Migden. But it’s common in campaigns for elected officials to try to take the high road and let others — their allies and suppoerters — do the dirty work.
So queer/labor activist Robert Haaland is asking not only the candidates, but their supporters in the queer and progressive communities, to pledge to keep this fight out of the gutter. Here’s a piece he sent me; I think everyone ought to read it, take it seriously, and sign on.
Our community was divided. Our LGBT clubs were separated. The streets of the Castro were full of opposing forces and consternation. During the 2001-2002 campaign for the 13th Assembly District seat, we were split and it was a difficult time.
Following that election campaign, we made a decision to begin the process of healing those divisions. The leaders of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club and the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, and the leaders of the campaigns, met together to salve these wounds and form a new alliance. This was not easy. It took years and much work within each to heal, listen, understand, and move forward together.
In the years since that election, our community has been in a renaissance. Our two LGBT Democratic Clubs have worked together like never before. We have seen tremendous and amazing accomplishments through those efforts. Our coordinated efforts as a community in opposition to the statewide Special Election in 2005 are an astounding example of what we can do when we work together.
Additionally, as efforts have moved forward in the LGBT community on issues such as marriage equality on the stairs of our City Hall, opposing racial discrimination in the Castro, speaking out against anti-LGBT commentary from the news media about our LGBT families, supporting statewide efforts for the advancement of our LGBT rights, and stopping attacks from the right-wing on our community, we have been able to work side-by-side in a way that was unthinkable during the 2001-2002 campaign.
This newfound coordination and organization between our Clubs and within our community has been crucial in working for the betterment and strength of our community as a whole. And we will not allow this community to be torn asunder again. Our friendships are too strong now. Our knowledge of the power of our coordinated efforts and their success is too deep. And our realization that we can move beyond minor disagreements and continue forward as friends and colleagues and community brothers and sisters is definite.
As our community begins the process of working on the upcoming state Senate campaign for June of 2008, we will not allow this to break our bonds. We demand that the candidates in the race do the following:
–Pledge that there will be no negative campaigning, against each other or supporters on any side
–Pledge that they individually will work to strengthen our community’s ties with one another
–Pledge that they will not work to form wedges and divisions among us as a community
–Pledge that they will regularly form bonds with all sides in the campaign
–Pledge respect, honor, decency, and above all, civility, towards all parties
We also urge our community’s leaders to pledge that they do the same. Regardless of anyone’s personal affiliations during this campaign, we will continue to form our alliances and friendships and move this community forward together. We are not going back. We have too much to gain by moving forward together.
Leno announces
By Steven T. Jones
Invoking the spirit of George Moscone and Harvey Milk “so that we may be worthy of their powerful legacy,” Assembly member Mark Leno today announced his candidacy for the Senate seat now held by Carole Migden, setting off a high-profile fight between the two for the Democratic Party nomination next year. “Welcome to democracy in action. Welcome to people power,” Leno told the large crowd that gathered under the warm noontime sun at Yerba Buena Gardens, adjacent to the Martin Luther King Memorial and Moscone Center, with its rooftop array of solar panels that Leno said he will work to bring to more buildings. MCing the event was Assessor Phil Ting, who introduced District Attorney Kamala Harris, who told the crowd, “I stand here in strong and unequivocal support for Mark Leno.” Among the other local notables on hand to support Leno were Fiona Ma, Susan Leal, Laura Spanjian, Julian Davis, Kim-Shree Maufis, Hydra Mendoza, Norman Yee, Lawrence Wong, Donna Sachet, Theresa Sparks, James Hormel, Natalie Berg, Randy Shaw, Bob Twomey, Jose Medina, August Longo, Linda Richardson, Calvin Welch, Jordanna Thigpen, Leah Shahum, Tom Radulovich, Melissa Dodd, David Wall, Tim Gaskin, Esperanza Macias, and Espanola Jackson. Notably absent were any members of the Board of Supervisors, but it’s still very early in a campaign that is bound to get heated.
Culture war at the Village Voice
By Tim Redmond
Good article in the Boston Phoenix on the fallout from the New Times-Village Voice merger. The basic point that writer Adam Reilly makes:
The core of the old New Times chain was Southwestern and Southern. And those regions of the country have a different political culture — more socially conservative, more reflexively anti-government — than coastal markets like Los Angeles and New York, or progressive Midwestern enclaves like the Twin Cities. “Phoenix, Denver, Miami — there’s something about the culture of those cities that’s similar,” says Robson. “There’s a frontier mentality that New Times’ libertarian nihilism matches up with.”
None of the old VVM papers fits this description, but New York fits it the least.
Considering that New Times (Now Village Voice Media) owns the SF Weekly and East Bay Express, the article is well worth a read.
Tourk for mayor
By Steven T. Jones
After an uncomfortable exchange with Mayor Gavin Newsom at the Project Homeless Connect event earlier in the day, Alex Tourk was out with friends (including a long list of prominent people, many still in Newsom’s camp) at Finnegan’s Wake last night celebrating his birthday and I happened to run into him. This guy’s a class act, standing tall and trying to do what’s right even after being so viciously betrayed by Newsom. We chatted a bit and he said that he appreciated how the Guardian has covered this episode. I asked how his job search was going and I emphasized my earlier published point that I hope he’s taking his sweet time given the fact that Newsom is paying his high salary until he finds one. But rather than soaking Newsom, Tourk said he was actively looking for work and eager to sever ties with his former mentor. I had just come from a dinner party where it was only half-jokingly suggested that Tourk run for mayor and I passed that along. And you know what? I sensed a twinkle in his eye and an openness to the idea. Wouldn’t that be something? Tourk was the guy who actually executed the things that Newsom will be claiming credit for this year, a genuine policy pro who has a sterling reputation and increasing name recognition to boot, not to mention the beautifully poetic narrative. If Jack Davis or any other political consultants are reading this, please, give Tourk a call.
Fast start in 9
By Steven T. Jones
The next Board of Supervisors race would appear to be only a faint blip on the horizon — coming as it does after this year’s mayor’s race, the presidential primary a year from now, and the state primary fight in June ’08 that will feature the Leno-Migden battle royale — but contenders are already starting to position themselves. Nowhere is that happening quicker than in District 9, where Tom Ammiano will vacate his seat and try to smoothly hand it over to the man he considers his heir apparent, David Campos, who has been quietly lining up support all over town. Police reform advocates were happy to see Police Commissioner Campos hold out for a tougher early intervention system, a bold move that showed he’s not as afraid of the Police Officers Association as too many pols are here in town. And Campos is likely to have the queer community solidly behind him. But the heart of Dist. 9 is in the Mission and Campos is likely to face a strong challenger from longtime Mission activist Eric Quezada, and maybe day laborer advocate Renee Saucedo, who ran against Ammiano last time. And from the more conservative side of the equation, Miguel Bustos will also likely throw his hat into the ring, although this is one of the city’s most lefty districts. So, almost two years early, this is already looking like it’s going to be a Campos-Quezada slugfest. Dontcha just love politics?
Bad day for board conservatives
By Steven T. Jones
Sup. Sean Elsbernd is the smartest conservative on the Board of Supervisors, but he may now be regretting his latest effort to challenge city spending. This afternoon, he took issue with a $642,000 budget appropriation intended to offset federal cuts in funding for AIDS programs. Given the city’s commitment to provide universal health care this year, Elsbernd said, “We need to be very cognizant of how we spend Department of Public Health money.” He wasn’t convinced that the programs actually needed the money, a stand that drew impassioned replies from several supervisors in defense of the city’s barely adequate response to this deadly epidemic. Ultimately, only newbie Sup. Ed Jew joined Elsbernd in voting against giving more money to help fight AIDS in San Francisco, a stand that probably took more balls than brains.
It wasn’t a banner day for the board conservatives. Jew also lost on his effort to send back to committee a proposal by Sup. Jake McGoldrick to ask the Municipal Transportation Agency to reduce the price of MUNI Fast Passes for 18-24 year olds. On Feb. 21, Jew and McGoldrick were the only members present on the City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee because Sup. Michela Alioto-Pier was absent once again. The two men deadlocked on whether to pass the measure on the full board, so McGoldrick later exercised his right to get the signatures of three other supervisors and call the measure to the full board. This prompted Jew to write a petulant commentary in today’s Examiner. McGoldrick was willing to continue the matter for a week (which the board ultimately did) so there wouldn’t be an appearance of trying to avoid a full public debate, but Jew and Alioto-Pier insisted on sending it back to committee. It was a fairly audacious stand for Alioto-Pier, who has by far the worst attendance record on the board, but hardly surprising. Jew, for his part, once again proved himself a quixotic and ineffective rookie. But hopefully he’s learning his lessons.
Making Lemonade of the Chron’s Lemon
By Sarah Phelan
It’s hard to stay in the public eye when you’re stuck in jail and denied in-person and on-camera interviews, as freelance journalist Josh Wolf has been for the over six months. So, I have to give it to Chronicle columnist Debra Saunders for reminding everyone of Josh Wolf’s plight, even if what I really have to give Saunders is a Lemon Award.
Saunders tries to spin Wolf’s case with the old smear that Wolf isn’t really a journalist. It’s a spin that began in the SFPD and the US Attorney General’s Office, as the Bay Guardian discovered months ago, but doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. The minute Wolf sold his footage to KRON-TV, his work qualified as news. And journalism is about gathering and spreading the news, not sitting in a corporate headquarters and drawing a pay check to write spin.
Saunders also tries to smear Wolf by belittling his efforts to tell stories compared to those of “real journalists, such as the Chronicle’s Lance Williams and Mark Fairanu-Wada.” If Saunders is going to refer to the whole “confidentiality source agreement” business, then maybe she should remind readers of the whole sordid story behind that affair.
Next, she tries to smears Wolf case by accusing the Board of Supervisors of not having done everything they could to find out who attacked Officer Peter Shields, who was out of work for a year after his skull was fractured during the protest that Wolf filmed. Too bad, she didn’t figure out that
investigators have federalized the case on bogus grounds: there was no arson of a police car, just a broken taillight. But, hey, how else were they gonna get around California’s reporter shield laws. (Other than by claiming that Wolf wasn’t a journalist.)
Finally, Saunders tries to smear Wolf with a bait and switch: apparently, this isn’t about an attack on a cop. It’s about an attack on a gay man. Last time, we checked, Wolf did not attack any cops, straight or gay. Nor did he film the attack in question. What he did film was the other officer beating up an anarchist. But who cares about the truth when you’re busy spinning?
The only thing that seems to concern Saunders about Wolf being caged is that it’s costing tax payers dollars. Yeah. Along with trying to turn Wolf into an investigative tool of the government and chill dissent in the process. But who cares about free speech?
So, thanks, Saunders, for reminding us about Wolf. Enjoy the lemonade.
PG&E is radioactive
By Tim Redmond
A couple weeks ago, we gave Mark Leno a little slap for showing up to celebrate Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s solar project at the LGBT Center. Today, Beyond Chron is whacking Carole Migden for being too frinedly with PG&E.
The nice side of all of this: It clear that both candidates consider PG&E to be politically radioactive, and simply proximity can breed political fallout. It’s about time.
Who will be with Leno at the kickoff?
By Tim Redmond
That’s the question all over San Francisco politics now that Leno has announced he’s running against state Sen. Carole Migden. His campaign kickoff is at noon this Friday, at YBC, and it will be the first sign of what sort of support he’s been able to line up.
The people who show up will risk infuriating Migden, which is nothing to trifle at (and will make it tougher for city officials, who have to work with her on legislation). Leno is much calmer and milder, but he’ll also remember who his friends are (and aren’t).
Sup. Tom Ammiano, who is running for Leno’s seat (with the endorsement of both Leno and Migden) tells me he’s staying neutral. It would be hard for him to do anything else at this point. But soon, lots of local politicos are going to have to take sides, then live with it for a year as the race gets hotter and hotter.
Friday is Opening Day. Let’s see who comes out to play.
SF Democrats and the war
By Tim Redmond
The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee is going to vote Feb. 28th on a resolution against the war. That shouldn’t be a big deal; everyone in San Francisco is against the war, right?
But the resolution, by Rafael Mandelman, Robert Haaland, and Michael Goldstein, does more than oppose the war; it calls on the Democratic leadership in Congress — that’s our own Nancy Pelosi — to overturn the resolution authorizing the president to use force and to cut off all funding for further hostilities, “except as necessary to provide for the safe and orderly withdrawal of all troops in Iraq.”
It ought to be a slam dunk in this city, but I bet there will be some strong opposition to the resolution — from people who fear embarassing or confronting Pelosi.
Crazy: This doesn’t hurt Pelosi a bit. In fact, it gives her leverage with the moderates in her party to say that back home, her constituents are demanding action.
This ought to go to a roll-call vote; I’ll keep you posted on how it comes out.
Will they have to cancel Easter?
By Tim Redmond
About 20 years ago, a group of crazed anarchists put out a parody of a major national newspaper with a banner headline that read:
EASTER CANCELLED! CHRIST’S BODY FOUND!
I can’t quote the exact language of the story, since that was way back when, but it read just like a standard New York Times report, except that it focused on how several major world religions had been thrown into chaos by the news that Jesus’s bady had been found — something that undermined one of the fundamental tenets of Christianity, the ressurection of Christ.
To a Catholic-school kid like me, it was funny largely because the Roman Catholic Church was, and is, so utterly paranoid about any historical evidence that might cast doubt on any of the scared rules of the church. (Most biblical historians, for example, agree that Jesus never said anything about priests being celebate or women being unable to serve as priests; that comes from medieval popes, who were not always a savory bunch.)
So I loved the Da Vinci Code, and I loved Cross Bones, just as I’ve always loved discussions about the historic arcania of Jesus, the Holy Family and the Popes. And now I love this.
I’ve already read a few books and articles that get into the Jesus Cave — the idea that archeologists have found bodies in a cave that may be Jesus, Mary Magdelene and their son (think about it: If Jesus had a son, presumably — immaculate-conception powers aside — he had sex, which would means this whole celebate priest thing would be utterly bogus).
But this documentary is getting a fair amount of blog press; my fave is the argument that James Cameron wasn’t satisfied with sinking the Titanic; he now wants to sink Christianity
Go team.
PS: My colleague Cheryl Eddy worries that if Easter is cancelled, she’ll have to stock up quicly on Peeps.
Middle of the Pack
by Amanda Witherell
The Earth Day Network just released its Urban Environment Report ranking the environmental conditions of the top 72 cities in the US. The study takes into account 200 different factors and ranks for best conditions regarding toxics and waste, air quality, health and human services, parks and recreation, quality of life, drinking water, and global climate change. Oh boy, you’re thinking. It’s going to be so cool to see how San Francisco stands out, with a Mayor who brags about how clean and green the city is.
Good thing he’s pledged to make it better. According to the weighted rankings, we’re just above average. See for yourself.
At least we beat Detroit!