Hall Monitor

The dog ate Yee's homework: On May 30 school officials and community members made a mockery of Sup. Leland Yee's controversial proposal to chop the San Francisco Unified School District in two – though he probably would have managed on his own.

"Proud of Diversity, Don't Resegregate" and "Back to 1954? No Way" read two of the signs being waved on the City Hall steps as people rallied behind Sup. Mark Leno's resolution in support of a single, unified school district. Leno, who also happens to be the Democratic nominee for the east side's state assembly district seat, introduced his resolution in an attempt to head off Yee's west-side succession plan. Yee is the assembly nominee for that part of town.

At the Board of Supervisors' Neighborhood Services Committee meeting held immediately after the rally, Leno explained that he sees the merit of parental choice and neighborhood schools but believes diversity and equity shouldn't be sacrificed.

Yee, however, was not so easy to follow. First he said, quite adamantly, that he supports a unified school district. Minutes later he added, "The situation with the SFUSD causes us to rethink our commitment to a unified school district." It wasn't clear what "situation" he was referring to, but he did highlight one problem: the increase in private-school enrollment.

Yee said 31 percent of San Francisco kids now go to private schools – up from 20 percent when he was on the school board. But a recent district-commissioned study of demographics that was presented to the public April 30 shows the figure has hovered right around 32 percent since back in 1983. Yee served on the school board from 1988 to 1996.

Next time Yee thinks about making such a drastic proposal, he should probably hit the books. After hours of public comment, the committee endorsed Leno's resolution and sent it to the full board, which passed it unanimously June 3.

That's right – even Yee agreed Leno should undermine his plan. (Tali Woodward)

Smooth move: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission general manager Pat Martel quieted some of her most vocal critics last week when she proposed postponing fixes to the city's aging sewage service. Sewage improvements were to be incorporated into Martel's closely watched effort to repair the entire Hetch Hetchy water system. But on her recommendation, the commission voted May 28 to sever the sewage plans, giving the agency an estimated 18 months to develop a community consensus on how to proceed.

The move showed Martel's political acumen. Environmental justice advocates, upset that problems with the sewage system most heavily affect low-income communities of color, were preparing to oppose Martel's larger capital improvement plan if the sewage proposal was not vastly improved. Their opposition could have stymied Martel's effort.

Now, for the first time, they're praising the SFPUC for listening. "What it's going to be able to do is create the opportunity for San Francisco to really do some great visionary things that are going to achieve environmental justice goals," said Alex Lantsberg, of the Alliance for a Clean Waterfront.

Still, Martel's remaining proposal to fix the water system – which requires placing a $3.6 billion bond request before local voters this fall – retains its share of critics, including Lantsberg. "We still have some questions about the bond," he told us. "We need to be sure it has a truth squad of sorts to make sure the projects moving forward are the best ones."

The bond request, which the Board of Supervisors must vote on by July 22, has been crafted under pressure from state lawmakers who are threatening to take control of the system from San Francisco if certain repairs aren't completed soon. Three related bills are making their way through the state legislature with little dissent. About two-thirds of the city's customers live outside city limits. (Rachel Brahinsky)

Sunshine update: The Sunshine Ordinance Task Force – the 11-member panel that hears complaints of violations of the local good-government law – elected new officers May 28. Joshua Koltun won the chair position by unanimous vote; new member Garrett Jenkins was elected vice chair. Doug Comstock, Richard Knee, David Parker, and Alexandra Nickliss (as well as Jenkins) joined the task force as new members. The task force meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Call administrator Donna Hall at (415) 554-7724 for more information or to file a complaint. (Diwata Fonte)