THE DEMOCRATIC COUNTY Central Committee, packed with reformers and progressive activists, couldn't muster the courage last week to oppose a really bad measure that has nothing going for it other than the support of the firefighters' union. The measure, Proposition F on the November ballot, would require the city to maintain service at neighborhood firehouses at 2004 levels. As the Bay Guardian noted Aug. 10 (see "Money to Burn"), it would set staffing levels higher than those of any other comparable city – forever.

Nobody with any sense thinks this is good policy, but few people with political ambition want to pick a fight with the firefighters. Only Robert Haaland was willing to vote for fiscal sanity at the Central Committee; he lost, 32-1. And so far not one supervisor has come forward to officially oppose this thing. Profiles in courage, I guess.

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In (much) happier news, this is our fall arts issue. Senior arts and entertainment editor Kimberly Chun reports:

"This year we check the local heroes at the San Francisco Hip-Hop Dancefest. Meanwhile, in the multiplexes, we soak up A History of Violence, learn the value of Rent (SoMa-style, natch), discover Terrence Malick's New World, and hold our breath till we turn blue, pass out, and get a hallucinatory sneak peak at Narnia, Harry Potter's latest, and one big fat ape. The rep houses offer an intriguing array of films, including the critically acclaimed Winter Soldier, at the Roxie; longtime Bay Area filmmaker Bill Daniel's cut of Who Is Bozo Texino?, at Artists' Television Access; a 3-D fest, at the Castro Theatre; and a hearty, hairy smorgasbord of metal cinema, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

"In the music world, we'll be waiting to see what sort of righteous sounds will emerge from Kanye, Paul, Dre, Madonna, Franz – and OutKast – via new fall releases. Super Ego columnist Marke B surveys clubland in its autumnal finery. And last but certainly not least, we look, listen, and wonder, slack-jawed in amazement, at this year's bounty of new recordings by local artists."

Tim Redmond tredmond@sfbg.com