Open step forward

Thank you for reporting on a big step forward for open government – the courageous ruling of the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force in favor of my complaint that San Francisco Public Library failed to provide timely public access to its $8.5 million Richmond Branch expansion and renovation plans [Hall Monitor, 4/30/03].

Cuts in relative space for books and absolute cuts in reader seating are among the planned changes I believe the library wants to keep hidden.

In reaching its decision, the task force affirmed two important legal standards on required timeliness of response that your article did not fully explain. First, a city department must provide requested information without unreasonable delay, as soon as possible, and within 10 days. The department does not automatically have 10 days, as the library argued. Second, the department must provide documents, especially larger ones, on a "rolling" basis – in other words, it may not withhold parts that are complete just because one part is unfinished.

All in all, the favorable task force ruling on my complaint was an excellent step forward for openness in government, requiring much faster citizen access than what the library argued.

Peter Warfield
San Francisco

End the madness

Kudos to Annalee Newitz for an excellent column on the downside of zero tolerance [Techsploitation, 5/14/03]. If harsh penalties served to deter illicit drug use, the elusive goal of a "drug-free" America would have been achieved decades ago. Instead of adding to what is already the highest incarceration rate in the world, we should be funding cost-effective drug treatment. Drug policy should focus not on incarcerating users of politically incorrect drugs, but rather on reducing the death, disease, crime, and suffering associated with both drug abuse and prohibition.

Drug prohibition fuels organized crime and violence, which is then used to justify increased drug war spending. It's time to end this madness. At present illicit drug users are reluctant to seek medical attention in the event of an overdose. Attempting to save the life of a friend could result in a murder charge. Eliminating the stigma and penalties associated with illicit drug use would facilitate rehabilitation and save lives. I think it's safe to say that turnout at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings would be rather low if alcoholism were a crime pursued with zero-tolerance zeal.

Robert Sharpe
Drug Policy Alliance
Washington, D.C.

Exposing the zoo

I'm writing to thank you (so much) for your article "The Zoo's Losers" (5/7/03).

The zoo needs to be exposed for its animal abuse and misspending of funds. Thank you for speaking up for those who can't speak for themselves (the animals).

Eva Hoerler San Francisco

Earlier this month

The San Francisco Chronicle ran articles by Joel Selvin detailing the "disappearance" of the Bay Area music scene. His reporting on the economic, technological, and cultural factors that have changed the local scene over the past several years is factual and beyond reproach. But the tone of the articles also suggests that the hard times have broken the spirit of the Bay Area music community, and I can't disagree more. In the course of a few days, by sending e-mail to 20 or so musician friends, I've compiled a list of more than 120 musicians and bands, all active in what we believe to be a thriving Bay Area music scene.

While the corporate music industry is going through difficult changes, arguably brought about by its own greed, a vibrant independent scene has been building to fill the space left by the fallen giants. Selvin concedes that "underground rock still percolates in warehouses and lofts," but he forgets to take note of an extremely active electronic, experimental, and improv scene, the strong Bay Area hip-hop and DJ culture, jazz, African, Latin and blues bands, as well as traditional folk and "alt-country" bands. If his measure of the health of the Bay Area scene is the number of major label success stories who reside here, we still have our Bonnie Raitts, Tom Waits, and Tracy Chapmans, not to mention local underappreciated gems such as Michael Franti and Spearhead.

My belief is that there is still a fantastic creative music community in the Bay Area, and I would hope that the Bay Guardian readers who appreciate and support local music will disregard Selvin's bleak assessment and come out and join us for some great music.

Please visit www.jicamasalad.net/pages/community.html for a growing list of local musicians who know where the scene is.

Kent Sparling Berkeley

For the record