By Marke B.

Horrible murders of LGBT people have been out of control lately -- but the number of reported murders of transgender people has doubled over the past year. If you can stomach the statistics and seeing some of the faces (and it really does bring the point home, even without the dramatic music), then here:

While not all of the above people may have been killed because they were transgender, they were all killed and its a tragedy -- as well a reason that an inclusive ENDA bill and a stronger push for global transgender rights is so important. Today on Transgender Day of Remembrance, the community gets together to mark the violent passing of its members. Here's the plan:

San Francisco, California
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
7:00 - 9:00 PM
CIIS California Institute for Integral Studies
1453 MISSION ST
3rd Floor - Namaste Hall
—–
San Francisco, California
Friday, November 20, 2009
6:00 - 8:00 PM
API Wellness Center
730 Polk Street (corner of Ellis)
For more info: Leeza Edwards, Co-chair of SF TEAM
415. 724.1680 or lavendergoddess@mac.com
—–
San Francisco, California
Transgender Day of Remembrance Shabbat
Friday, November 20, 2009
7:30 PM
Congregation Sha’ar Zahav
290 Dolores Street (corner of 16th Street)
San Francisco, CA 94103
For more info: http://www.shaarzahav.org/node/1852

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Posted by SFBG at 12:48 PM • Comments (0)

By Tim Redmond

The mayor is speaking to the press again. Oh goodie.

First, Hank Plante of KCBS TV gets a sit-down interview that's stunning in its lack of substance. Newsom gets all pissy and defensive about his trip to Hawaii, says he doesn't read the newspapers and complains about inaccurate reporting without ever saying what's inaccurate. (I like Brock' suggestion at sfist:

Why couldn't Newsom tell CBS 5's Hank Plante, "Yeah, I took off to Hawaii. And what, hooker? Somebody hold my earrings."

Then when Plante finally starts asking about the budget deficit, the mayor totally ducks and won't say anything except that it's going to be a lot of work to resolve.

Then the mayor's office kicks the press out of a department head briefing on the budget and follows it up with some brief public remarks that show:

1. Newsom would much rather downplay this and say it's no big deal, and

2. There's no serious talk about raising new revenues (except from selling off the city's rental housing stock and creating lots of new condominiums) and

3. Every department is being asked to cut 20 percent and prepare for as much as 30 percent cuts -- but that's going to mean really, really ugly decisions that Newsom can't possibly make. For example, the Sheriff can only cut 20 percent by letting people out of jail -- many of them the same people who Newsom's new police chief, George Gascon, just put in jail with his much-lauded Tenderloin busts. Then the Tenderloin crackdown will become a joke, because nobody arrested will actually do any jail time, because the city can't afford to lock them up. Oh, and there won't be enough cops to arrest them, anyway -- unless Newsom has Gascon pull cops out of other, richer neighborhoods to patrol the Loin, which may be a fine idea but will create such political backlash among Newsom's allies that he won't dare do it.

And closing fire stations seems to be political poison, so the mayor won't want to do that.

Which means public health and human services and rec-park will have to cut way more than 30 percent to save police and fire, which means we won't really have much of a public health, human services or rec-park system any more.

4. The mayor is doing nothing to prepare the public to face the fact of life -- we're going to need significant tax increases, or we're going to see the devastation of the public service sector in this city.

Welcome back, Gavin.

Oh, and by the way: The last chief executive I remember saying that he didn't read the newspapers was Ronald Reagan. Great role model. Either Newsom is lying (which I suspect; I can't believe the mayor of San Francisco actually avoids reading the daily newspaper) or the guy is more out of touch, arrogant and clueless than even I am willing to believe.

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Posted by Tim Redmond at 11:49 AM • Comments (1)

Text and photos by Sarah Phelan

Mayor Gavin Newsom began speaking to reporters today, but not before members of the press were ejected from the plush velvety seats of Herbst Theater when the mayor, who was running half an hour late, arrived at the War Memorial Veterans Building to deliver his latest budget instructions.

Continue reading "Newsom warns of $522 million deficit" »

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Posted by SFBG at 06:17 PM • Comments (4)

By Steven T. Jones

There are facts and there are lies. And the fact is Mayor Gavin Newsom has been lying about whether he’s doing his job these days, a role that requires more than just hiding in his office or sweeping the streets. As the Chronicle piles on our absentee mayor for refusing to announce his schedule or talk to the press, Newsom has fired back, calling the reports “lies” and saying journalists are “delusional.”

But those descriptors are better applied to the mayor’s own behavior and outlook. The City Charter requires the mayor to announce his daily schedule. He’s never been good at showing he actually works a full day, but since his gubernatorial campaign tanked, he hasn’t announced any events (check for yourself at this site that the mayor is required to keep).

Apparently, he finally talked to reporters this afternoon, and they dutifully quoted his claim to have attended 62 events since his flameout – despite a dearth of evidence supporting that. Whatever. The reality is that Mr. Sensitive can’t pout for long, not without violating the law and breaking the public trust.

For once, I actually agree with the Chron's Chuck Nevius: Do your job, Mr. Mayor, or resign.

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Posted by Steven T. Jones at 05:06 PM • Comments (2)

By Tim Redmond

Calitics reports this morning that the California Nurses Association is preparing a split-roll ballot initiative for 2010. The outline of the measure looks good, both in terms of impact (billions and billions in extra tax revenue for local government) and politics (a clear message to homeowners that this won't raise their taxes). As Robert Cruickshank notes, the proposals would

• Tax commercial property at fair market value, and frequently reassess property taxes at fair market value (instead of locking in a value and rate, as Prop 13 currently does). The main difference between the two initiatives is how that reassessment is accomplished.

• Provide a small business exclusion of up to $1 million

• Double homeowners' exemption from $7,000 to $14,000 (as a sweetener to voters)

It's a clever approach, one that almost certainly polls well with voters, since the initiatives offer tax relief for residential owners and small businesses - making it crystal clear, at least in the initiative language, that this is NOT an attack on the sacred cow of residential property protections offered in Prop 13.

CNA has the money and the clout to get this going, and it could become one of the most important campaigns of the year. If the group goes forward -- and I hope that happens -- wafflers like Jerry Brown will have to take a stand, and tell us whether they're with big business and commercial landlords or with the millions of Californians who are getting screwed by an unfair tax system and deep cuts in public services.

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Posted by Tim Redmond at 12:09 PM • Comments (5)

By Tim Redmond

It's gotten surprisingly little press (outside of the NY Times), but the decision by Russell Athletic to rehire 1,200 workers in Honduras who had been thrown out of work when the company closed a factory in the wake of a union-organizing effort is a very big deal.

It's easy to criticize student activists; they're too idealistic, they're just kids who don't understand the real world, nobody listens to them anyway, or maybe (as one of my professors at Wesleyan once said about anti-apartheid activists) they just don't have enough homework.

But the folks at United Students Against Sweatshopsnot only took on a good cause -- they developed a brilliant strategy that actually worked. Targeting Russell Athletic made perfect sense for college students: Russell makes millions of dollars off university licensing deals. So students at hundreds of college campuses could work locally, demanding that their school cut its ties with Russell until it settled with the union in Honduras.

The local pressure worked. More than 80 colleges and universities, including Harvard, NYU and Stanford, agreed to cut off the deals that allowed Russell to use their logos on sportswear -- and that convinced Russell to turn 180 degrees around and accept the union in Honduras.

"This is the culmination of 12 years of student organizing around this issue," Shaun Martinez, a 2008 graduate of USC and a national staff organizer for USAS, told me. "We have never before been able to reverse a decision when a company closed a factory to stop union organizing efforts."

The student group was able to leverage its success with colleges and universities to put pressure on Russell's other major partners -- like the NBA -- and when NBA officials started hearing the message, Russell had no choice but to settle.

So chalk one up to the students; they've won a major victory not just for organized labor and the anti-sweatshop movement but for campus organizing everywhere.

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Posted by Tim Redmond at 12:09 PM • Comments (0)

By Tim Redmond

Arnold isn't running again -- for anything. Or so he says. After eating some Wienerschnitzel.

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Posted by Tim Redmond at 05:03 PM • Comments (4)

By Steven T. Jones

Bicyclists and city officials are anxiously awaiting word from Superior Court Judge Peter Busch on whether he will lift the three-year-old court injunction against any bike-related improvements to the city. He’s now considering recent filings by the city and anti-bike blogger Rob Anderson’s attorney, Mary Miles, and could issue his ruling at any time.

At issue is whether the environmental impact report on the San Francisco Bicycle Plan, which the city completed early last summer, is adequate and addresses the concerns that led to the injunction. The far-reaching plan was originally approved with no EIR. A full hearing of the EIR’s adequacy won’t happen untill next year, but the city wants to be able to start making some improvements now.

Activists and city officials have long been frustrated with the breadth of the injunction, which bans all projects mentioned in the bike plan, even simple bike racks and sharrow markings (which indicate the safest area for bikes to ride on shared roadways), as well as critical safety features like new bike lanes on dangerous streets. And they’re hopeful that Judge Busch will issue at least a partial lifting of the injunction.

Continue reading "Bicyclists anxiously awaiting word from the judge" »

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Posted by Steven T. Jones at 05:01 PM • Comments (5)

Text and photos by Sarah Phelan

How much rope has the Obama administration given the US Attorney for Northern California Joe Russoniello (center) when it comes to prosecuting probation officers around the city's sanctuary policy?
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The resignation of Gavin Newsom’s criminal justice director Kevin Ryan and his mayoral spokesperson Nathan Ballard
could give the mayor the chance to revisit his policy towards juvenile immigrants, smoke out US Attorney for Northern California Joe Russoniello over his claims that not referring kids at the moment of arrest is tantamount to “harboring," and allow Newsom to connect with seriously alienated members of the city's immigrant community.

I say “could” because the mayor is notorious for his snippy, thumb-in-yer-face attitude towards anyone that questions his policies.

But I also say “could” because records show the mayor reaffirming his commitment to the city’s original sanctuary policy in April 2008—just days before Ryan, Ballard and Russoniello began arguing for a policy shift.

Continue reading "Smoking out Russoniello" »

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Posted by SFBG at 04:26 PM • Comments (3)

By Steven T. Jones

The Westin St. Francis Hotel on Union Square this morning became the latest target for the striking hotel workers of UNITE-HERE Local 2, which has been springing three-day strikes on local hotels. As we reported in today’s Guardian, the union’s contract expired back in August and the hotel chains are trying to force benefit concessions and increased health care costs on their workers.

The union urged guests of the St. Francis to observe the picket line that has gone up and to find other accommodations when staying in San Francisco, even offering to help with that process through its website. This strike will end by the first shift on Saturday morning.

Five years ago during the last labor standoff between hotel workers and management, Mayor Gavin Newsom walked the picket line in front of the St. Francis after hotels refused his request to end their lockout of employees, which affected almost every major hotel in town.

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Posted by Steven T. Jones at 02:53 PM • Comments (2)