Battle for the hoods
Newsom got a high-profile neighborhood nod, but even his endorser has problems with his undemocratic agenda

By Steven T. Jones

The mayor's race is going to be close. With Matt Gonzalez backed by an energized progressive coalition and Gavin Newsom supported by the downtown machine interests, the outcome could be decided by how the neighborhoods in the middle come down.

Newsom has gotten a boost in this realm from the endorsement and prerecorded telephone calls of support to voters by Barbara Meskunas, president of the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods (the organization itself does not endorse candidates), which have left the impression that Newsom is the candidate who will fight for the neighborhoods.

Yet in some key ways, that impression is false, because Newsom is pushing an agenda that will actually give residents less of a voice in contesting neighborhood projects they don't like. His "Better Neighborhoods" policy paper calls for fewer projects to go through the public hearing process (see "Dissecting the Newsom Agenda," 11/19/03).

There's plenty of confusion on the issue. When the San Francisco Chronicle wrote about the Meskunas endorsement and neighborhood issue Nov. 23, reporter Rachel Gordon noted, "The best solution, [Newsom] said, is to let neighborhoods decide what they want on a case-by-case basis."

That's not what Newsom's agenda calls for, not even close. Even Newsom spokesperson John Shanley agreed the quote in the paper was inaccurate: "I don't think the Chron got that right," he told the Bay Guardian. In an email, Gordon said she sees how the statement could be read as talking about projects, but she meant Newsom would allow neighborhood by neighborhood differences in planning documents.

"We want the neighborhood to be part of the planning process but not the review process," Shanley said.

And Meskunas, a former San Francisco Housing Authority commissioner who now works for a conservative think tank, told us Newsom's approach is not what she wants for her Western Addition neighborhood. "In my neighborhood, we like to go over every single project," Meskunas said.

Both Meskunas and the CSFN also oppose the centerpiece of Newsom's housing plan, the Workforce Housing Initiative being developed by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, which Newsom is trying to get on the March ballot (see "The Branding of Gavin Newsom," 10/22/03).

"The coalition as a group is opposing the Workforce Housing Initiative," Meskunas told us, calling it a dangerous measure that circumvents normal planning channels to fast-track middle-class housing development along the Third Street rail corridor.

"It's carte blanche for anything they want to build down there," she said. "It's handing two huge neighborhoods over to special-interest lobbyists."

So why exactly has Meskunas endorsed Newsom? She said she likes his calls to fire top officials in the planning and building departments and to throw out and start over on the Housing Element, which calls for higher density development along transit corridors.

Meskunas and Newsom say such an urban planning concept – which Newsom supports in some parts of town – shouldn't be forced on the neighborhoods. Meskunas is also mad at Gonzalez for supporting an ordinance that would make it easier to develop secondary units.

Yet many neighborhood activists are backing Gonzalez, including Daniella Kirschenbaum, a former board member for the CSFN, which she left to form her own group called Neighborhood Network.

She told us neighborhood activists "would get more consideration from a Mayor Gonzalez than a Mayor Newsom."

The main problem with Newsom, she said, is that he parrots the positions of the Chamber of Commerce, which is often at odds with neighborhood interests. Whereas Gonzalez is open-minded, "with Gavin, his mind is made up every time, and he always seem to favor big business."

Indeed, Newsom's economic development platform relies almost entirely on accelerated growth and development for San Francisco, while Gonzalez advocates a more measured approach. In the general election, Kirschenbaum was a Susan Leal supporter but said it was an easy call to oppose Newsom (who represents her Marina neighborhood, but with whom "I never felt that I got a fair hearing").

"Being a neighborhood person," Kirschenbaum said. "I feel that I have no choice but to support Matt."

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