October 2, 2002

Hall Monitor

And the award goes to: San Francisco columnist and District Two supervisorial candidate Harold Brown, who provided us with the wittiest responses to the Bay Guardian's election questionnaire. Brown, who has decided to take on incumbent Gavin Newsom, had us busting a gut over his creative and compelling answers. While coping with a flea invasion (the result of rescuing four homeless cats) by reportedly sitting naked and vacuuming the bugs as they sprang onto his desk and ankles, Brown typed answers to our 33-question survey.

Here are a few gems:

What would you do to raise revenues for the city?

"Tax the rich ... redistribute the income ... make love with their sons and daughters as often as possible ... I'll do the moms ... redistribute the wealth ... we have to ... greed is not the answer."

What are the most pressing issues facing your district?

"The main job for the District 2 Supervisor should be to try and keep his or her constituents from conquering the rest of the world."

Regarding Brown's position on November's ballot propositions:

"Prop 'N' sucks ... Newsom's 'Care Not' is obviously a poor man's deportation vehicle."

Finally, when asked to specify the most pressing problems facing San Francisco, Brown mused:

"Corporate control of the political establishment through manipulation of public views through corporate domination of the media. I'd rate gentrification of our little town second and the failure of the school system third.... And, fleas." H., we couldn't agree more. (Savannah Blackwell)

Brodkin battles: A majority of the Board of Supervisors has succeeded in overruling the board's Rules Committee and getting longtime children's advocate Margaret Brodkin reappointed to the Children and Families Trust Fund Commission. At the board's Sept. 23 meeting, Sups. Matt Gonzalez, Tony Hall, and Gerardo Sandoval named Terry Giovannini to replace Brodkin. Hall, who led the charge against Brodkin, argued that the commission needed a "new approach" because San Francisco had become "more hostile to families."

Gonzalez took a different tack. He said the commission, which oversees $8 million in state funds, needed to have members of color, especially Asians. Gonzalez added that Giovannini could represent Latino interests (even though he is not Latino) because he speaks Spanish. Gonzalez went so far as to accuse supervisors who supported Brodkin of doing so because they are afraid of her.

In the end Sup. Aaron Peskin led the move to keep Brodkin, a commission member since the panel was created three years ago. Board members approved her reappointment by a 6-4 vote. Sup. Gavin Newsom was absent, and Sup. Leland Yee voted against Brodkin with Gonzalez, Hall, and Sandoval.

Brodkin later told us that Hall has disliked her since the 2000 campaign, when kids asked candidate Hall about his support for school uniforms and curfews at a public debate. The children, who attended the Brodkin-run Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth forum, embarrassed Hall by chiding him for his answers, Brodkin said.

"I think [Hall] is hostile to [spending] money for high-risk kids, and he sees me as the powerhouse behind that policy," Brodkin said. (Blackwell)

Machine foiled: Supporters of Assessor Doris Ward and Superior Court judge candidate Sean Connolly were foiled in their attempt to undo the National Women's Political Caucus's endorsement of Mabel Teng and Gail Dekreon for those respective posts. Several of the club's longtime Willie Brown allies and Ward supporters met Sept. 19 without a quorum and revoked the Teng and Dekreon nods in violation of the club's bylaws.

Former caucus president Laurie Beijen and club member Esther Lee sent out press releases exposing the Sept. 19 move. And at the caucus's meeting four days later, Dekreon and Teng held on to their endorsements by a 17-12 vote – despite the efforts of machine supporters Linda Richardson (whom Brown picked to run for supervisor in District 10 in 2000) and Annemarie Conroy (whom he appointed as director of Treasure Island).

"I would have been dismayed if club members were disenfranchised and the vote was overturned," Beijen said. "It seems like a case where the new leadership just didn't like the endorsements the club had already made. It's unfortunate an effort had to be mounted to protect the results." (Blackwell)

Repeat offenders: For years the San Francisco Planning Department has appeared before the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force as, one by one, citizens complain about the department's lack of compliance with the local open-government law.

On Sept. 24, in the department's fourth appearance before the task force in the past four years, Marilyn Amini charged that the department failed to include in her official case file materials she had submitted. Amini also accused Planning Commission secretary Linda D. Avery of failing to notify the commission of her continuation request at a May 9 public hearing. The task force ruled that both the Planning Department and Avery had violated the Sunshine Ordinance.

Another repeat offender, the HIV Health Services Planning Council, was charged with failing to post meeting agendas and minutes for the Ryan White CARE Council on its Web site in a timely manner. "They want to keep the public out of the loop," charged AIDS activist Patrick Monette-Shaw.

Last summer, the task force had found the council guilty of failing to post notice of a meeting where $2.2 million in federal funding cuts was discussed. Once again the task force ruled that the council had violated the Sunshine Ordinance when it did not properly post notice of meetings held July 8 and July 22.

In another action, San Francisco Examiner reporter Michael Stoll charged that the city clerk refused to provide him with copies of unredacted telephone records of cellular phones issued to the 11 supervisors. Stoll argued their bills are public record. Deputy City Attorney Dorji Roberts claimed the bills must be edited to protect the privacy interests of callers. The task force voted to continue the case to the next meeting to investigate the issue further. (Shadi Rahimi)

A special Sunshine Ordinance Task Force meeting to hear Patrick Monette-Shaw's complaints against the Department of Public Health will be held Oct. 15, 11 a.m.-1p.m., City Hall, Room 408, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, S.F.