By Tim Redmond

Interesting item in the Califonria Progress Report about the unsually broad coalition that's come together to oppose prop. 90 -- and the very narrow well-funded interests behind it.

You can find out more about this hideous measure here.

By Tim Redmond

Peter Lauterborn, former member of the San Francisco Youth Commission, weighs in on the School Board race at BeyondChron. His message: It's time for Dan Kelly to go.

by Amanda Witherell

Despite the liberal signing spree that's left most of the Dems in the state giddy with success, the guv dropped his darkened Terminator-era specs over open government by vetoing Mark Leno's AB2927. The bill, which had unanimous approval from the House and Senate, would have improved online services for public records requests on all state agency websites, including a simple form to fill out and file electronically. It also would have allowed citizens with denied requests to appeal to the Attorney General for a review and written decision within 20 days. In a press release, Scwarzenegger said that task would be too burdensome for Lockyer's office, and that because the Attorney General already advises state agencies who may have denied the requests, it would be a conflict of interest.

Cal Aware lawyer and open government expert Terry Franke, pointed out that anyone who read the bill would see that the Attorney General would have the right to request a 30-day extension to the response time in the case of an "unmanageable workload." In addition, if the denial came from the Attorney General or the Department of Justice, members of the offices not involved with the original decision would be mandated to respond to the review. Also, attorney-client privilege would have trumped this bill, effectively dealing wtih the conflict of interest issue.

This bill really would have just simplified a process and added a layer of unbiased scrutiny to attempts to undermine the public's right to know.

This is the fourth time a bill of this sort has been vetoed. Stay tuned for round five...

By Steven T. Jones
District 6 supervisorial candidate Rob Black called a press conference this afternoon to accuse incumbent Sup. Chris Daly of "illegal campaigning." The charges involve the letters that Daly and other supervisors send to their constituents. Frankly, I don't have time right now to fully get into all the dimensions of this incident, which is rich with good color and hypocrisy. I'll spin the full tale for y'all tomorrow. But for now, suffice it to say that the City Attorney's Office -- which Daly checked with before sending out the letters in batches of less than 200 each -- doesn't think this is illegal. That's point one. Point two is that desperate candidates calling for a Fair Political Practices Commission investigation during the height of an election is trite, transparent, and downright cliche. But the third point is the most important. Black is a candidate that has benefitted mightly from a series of unethical, deceptive, expensive, and probably illegal attacks on Daly, many of which were orchestrated by Black's mentor and former boss, campaign attorney Jim Sutton. These are attacks that Black has refused to fully condemn or disassociate himself from. So that's what made today's press conference not just ironic, but downright amusing. Check back tomorrow when I'll have more, including good links to much of the above so you don't just have to accept my perspective on the situation.

By Steven T. Jones
These are busy days, so I suppose I'll just have to dump out the District 6 dirt just a little at a time. That's cool, considering tomorrow's deadline for filing pre-election campaign statement will allow me to plow into the freshest compost for y'all. We're also having a few technical difficulties in getting the audio from Rob Black's endorsement interview with us online, but that problem should be solved in the next couple days. And it's worth the wait to hear him squirm in his seat over tough and legitimate questions about how he's been doing the bidding of the wrong people for awhile now. Stay tuned.
For now, let's recap yesterday's Black press conference (which was held in the City Hall Press Room, despite state laws against campaigning in government offices not open to the general public, and just as the Board of Supervisors meeting was starting down the hall).

by Amanda Witherell

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that software is being developed to scan overseas newspapers for content critical of the United States. You can read more here. How long do you think we have until the CIA integrates the new technology into its domestic survellience arsenal?

By Steven T. Jones
Well, the gloves have come off in the District 6 supervisorial race. The Ethics Commission has just announced that the voluntary spending caps have been lifted in that race, responding to complaints that the tens of thousands of dollars in hit pieces on Sup. Chris Daly have effectively blown the caps. Daly, Rob Black, and the other major candidates had agreed to limit their campaign expenditures to $83,000 or less, and both Black and Daly have already spent about half that, according to just filed campaign finance statements. Now that the caps are gone, Daly is free to spend the $95,000 he has in the bank, outstripping the $52,000 Black has on hand. Add those totals (which are far from complete with a month still to go) to the fat wads of cash that anti-Daly forces are still like to throw around and expect the fur to fly.

By G.W. Schulz

Gavin Newsom has made a lot of promises during his tenure. He’s even come up with a few half-baked plans to contend with the city’s highest homicide rate in 10 years. But he recently dropped the ball on a seemingly simple gesture that could have at the very least kept a few kids out of trouble.

SF PartyParty reported a while back that the mayor has slipped on a promise to build two new skateparks for the city this year. They confirmed it with a call to Parks and Rec and noted that at the very most, the city could see one new skatepark next year.

We reported earlier in the year that kids attending an after-school program at Cellspace in the heart of the Mission off Bryant Street had grown fond of a group of skate ramps that had appeared quietly in the parking lot of the long-time flea market and bike kitchen located across the street from Cellspace’s warehouse. But the non-profit’s executive director Zoe Garvin told us at the time that the lot was slated for a new housing development, and the ramps wouldn’t be permitted to stick around much longer.

A new skatepark could have been timed perfectly. What a shame. Thanks to SF PartyParty for the heads up. By the way, Cellspace is holding a fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 14 from 7-10 pm. Attend and help out some fine folks. While you're there, ask Henry about his idea for a veggie-fueled lowrider with solar-powered hydraulic suspension. Awesome.

By G.W. Schulz

Both the issues of fair compensation for hotel workers and immigration rights merged this week in the East Bay with an emergency picket and a call to the police. Hotel housekeepers announced that a demonstration against Woodfin Suites Hotel in Emeryville would take place on Wednesday after claiming that the establishment threatened mass firings of immigrant workers who were demanding recognition of Measure C, a living wage and workload protection ordinance passed by East Bay voters in 2005.

According to a statement sent out by the non-profit East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, managers at Woodfin Suites gave workers 24 hours to re-submit work authorization forms or be fired. Ouch. The following day, workers delivered a petition protesting the re-verification demand and a hotel manager called the cops on them and kicked them out of the building. Since then, the 24-hour deadline has been extended to 14 days, but the hotel is still demanding a valid social security number, or workers who can’t provide one will be fired.

If that’s not enough, Woodfin Suites is suing the city of Emeryville over the ordinance, but according to an e-mail from EBASE organizer Brooke Anderson, their motion for a preliminary injunction has been denied.

“Workers see the hotel’s re-verification and termination plan as clear retaliation, which is illegal under both federal labor law and the living-wage ordinance,” the statement read.

More information can be found at EBASE’s Web site, www.workingeastbay.org.

by Amanda Witherell

If we didn't convince you enough that Prop 83 is just a somewhat timely law designed to make Democrats look like the ones who are soft on sexual predation (Ahem, Mark Foley) the New York Times ran an article today illustrating how similar legislation in New York has created nodes of sexual predators that are giving neighbors the willies and inspiring some to take the law into their own hands. Read more here. The other concerns, which the Times doesn't touch, is that some acts that were once upon a time considered sex offenses, like consensual homosexual sex, no longer merit that status but under Megan's Law the "criminals" may still have to identify themselves as sex offenders. Also, to slap Global Positioning Systems on people doesn't necessarily mean it will be possible to keep vigilant track of them -- the devices transmit signals by line of sight with satellites, which can often be blocked by roofs, walls, buildings, dense tree cover.

By Sarah Phelan
I saw the “Angelides for Governor” bus long before I saw the man who would be the next Democratic Governor of California. The bus was peacefully barreling up San Francisco's Franklin Street on its way to the Central Labor Council where Phil Angelides was set to speak to a crowd of blue and yellow-sign waving supporters. But not before a horn-honking tow truck, cut in on the scene, its driver shouting "No to the Angelides Tax Tune-Up!" (And was that Arnold, dressed in a Super Man suit, driving a big rig, laughing manically as he pressed on a ear-drum shattering horn just as Angelides alighted from bus? Probably not, but it’s hard to tell, given the tendency of Arnie’s supporters to hide their true identities behind Super Hero masks and costumes.)
Either way, nurses, teachers, firefighters and working folks in general haven't forgotten what Arnold has done, or tried to do, to them in the past 3 years.
Like wasting over $70 million on a special election that nobody wanted instead of trying to fix the state's educational system.
Like stomping for Bush in Ohio in 2004, instead of demanding that California get its share of federal funds.
Like bragging about kicking nurses' butts instead of ensuring that all Californians have access to health insurance.
Speaking of which, “Someone got their butt kicked and it wasn’t a nurse," laughed Assemblymember Mark Leno as he addressed the crowd prior to Angelides' appearance. "Phil Angelides slam dunked that debate.”
And as Angelides supporters pointed out, after spending over $35 million and beating up on Angelides for the past 3 months, Arnold is frozen at 44 percent in the polls. And his record sucks.
Maybe Phil Angelides hasn't made any movies but he sure seems more trustworthy than Arnold. As Angelides told the crowd,
"I'm running with you at my side to stop the greedy obscene corporate-interest give aways."

By Tim Redmond

This one's out of right field: Pete Wilson, who has a radio show on KGO, announced yesterday afternoon that Sup. Bevan Dufty and his old friend Rebecca Goldfader, should never have had a child. His argument: Since Dufty is gay and Goldfader is a lesbian, their co-parenting arrangement somehow isn't as good as a "traditional" family in which the two parents are sleeping together. (I mean, having sex; if Dufty and Godlfader are like any other parents of a newborn, neither of them is sleeping much at all and when they do they're playing musical beds -- the baby's here, the baby's there, one of us is with him, or both of us, and nobody knows who's going to wake up where.)

Left in SFhas the details, and a link to the show. Here's what the station is saying about it, which is almost too strange to comprehend:

By Steven T. Jones
Even when the Chronicle gets it right, they get it wrong. Political writers Carla Marinucci and Tom Chorneau scored a great story by discovering that Amos Brown -- the SF pastor and former supervisor -- had been paid $16,000 by the Schwarzenegger campaign prior to deciding to endorse Herr Governor. It was disgraceful and should shred any credibility that Brown had left. But then they screwed up the story by alternately labeling Brown a "liberal" and a "progressive," when he was neither. As a supervisor, Brown was conservative and a reliable vote for downtown, and since then, he's been shilling for the Republican-funded SFSOS and selling out his flock to conservative nutball Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Marinucci and other Chron writers also regularly prop up disgraced SFSOS head Wade Randlett. It's telling of the Chron's worldview that they consider Brown to be left of center.
The paper also did some PR work for the Schwarzenegger this morning by writing about the party for Virgin Airlines, despite the lack of news. The company doesn't yet have permission to operate and it seemed mostly about demonstrating Arnold's bipartisan appeal by putting him next to Mayor Gavin Newsom, where they each claimed credit for "creating 1,700 jobs." Too bad the actual total, as reported by Fog City Journal, is just 100 jobs. Oh well, can't let those pesky facts get in the way of good politics.

By Tim Redmond

For starters, don't the over-funded losers who are attacking Sup. Chris Daly have anything better to do than keep on circulating the same old image?

This comes from one of six -- count 'em, six -- expensive attack mailers aimed at ousting Daly, one of the city's most progressive and hard-working supervisors.

Before I get into the ugly politics, let me give a bit of background on the photo.

By Tim Redmond

Well, not exactly -- but a fascinating and incredibly detailed analysis of Dufty's voting record, put together by Michael Poremeba in BeyondChron, indicates that he's far more conservative than his district.

And while I'm on ol' BC: I've had a lot of differences with Randy Shaw in the past year, but I must say, Paul Hogarth's coverage of Prop. 90 has been excellent.

Now if only the big papers in the state would start doing stories like this.

By Tim Redmond

The Committe on JOBS chief may be facing the axe, according to "rumors-a-swirling" reported by Luke Thomas in Fog City Journal. The problem: Nayman is too confrontational, and the downtown forces are sick of getting nothing done.

By Steven T. Jones
Mayor Gavin Newsom is now dating someone almost half his age: Brittanie Mountz, a model and restaurant hostess who recently turned 20 years old. And you can catch her in action thanks to some video that the Chronicle shot are last month's opening of the San Francisco Symphony. Warning: the must-see part when she and the Gav talk to the cameras comes toward the end, so you'll need to sit through some seriously nauseating high-society BS first (particularly creme-de-la-gag Dede Wilsey...ick). Even Newsom mocks the ostentation of the event before handing the mike over to his new sweetie, who sounds like...
Actually, you can just judge for yourself.

Listen to our endorsement interview with Rob Black, who is trying to replace Sup. Chris Daly with the help of downtown's heaviest hitters, who keep doing attack mailers on Black's behalf. The link is at the bottom of this page.

By Tim Redmond

The press conference denouncing Pete Wilson went pretty well, and got surprisingly good and positive coverage. Strange bit, though: Dufty, the guy this was all about, didn't show up -- and in fact, wrote an email to the radio talk-show host saying he hopes he doesn't lose his job.

Which may seem to show Dufty has class and is above the fray and all -- but it made his allies, who stood there on the steps of City Hall to denounce homophbia and support him and his family -- kinda look like idiots.

By Tim Redmond

It's no surprise, I guess, that Jon Carroll has the most intelligent commentary on the whole Pete Wilson fiasco. His point:

"Every adventure in parenting is trial and error, generally performed by people totally unqualified for the task. I think of myself at 23, which is how old I was when my first daughter was born, and I think: Would I entrust an infant to this man? Absolutely not."

Me, I think of myself at 41, when my son was born, and I ask the same questions. I ask them almost every day. And yet, as the always-encouraging Carroll points out:

"Here's the thing: My wife and my older daughter both grew up into strong, well-mannered adults. Not perfect humans, but not felons or oil company executives either. The experiment worked; most of the experiments work. It is my belief that a lot of who the kid is and who she's going to be is already there, in her nature. The best thing parents can do is provide food, shelter and a safe environment. Love your kids, teach your kids, play with your kids -- and you're doing it right. The kid will be who the kid will be; the fun part is finding out who she is."

So much for Pete Wilson.

By Tim Redmond

There are all kinds of sordid (maybe sad is the better word) things you can say about the 39-year-old mayor dating a 20-year-old. But frankly, I'm not going to get all agitated about whether she has been drinking.

I was drinking when I was 20. Actually, I was drinking when I was 17. I those days, in New York State, the law was 18, and not tightly enforced. And guess what: Nothing terrible happened to me. In fact, I'd argue that the sort of binge drinking we see on college campuses now is directly related to the foolish 21-year-old age rule. When I was in school, it was perfectly normal to go to a local bar and have a beer -- not 15 beers, just one or two. Now that a single damn beer is contraband, kids have more incentive to overdo it when it's available, and less chance to develop a mature relationship with booze.

You can get married, go in the Army and get killed, buy a house ... just about anything at 18. Except legally buy a beer. Pretty stupid.

By Tim Redmond

Very nice piece by Daniela Kirshenbaum in the latest Fog City Journal, detailing some of thenasty history of SFSOS, the group that's pushing big for Rob Black for supervisor in District Six. Among her other interesting points: Wade Randlett of SFSOS (which loves to push for lax restrictions on condo conversions and TICs) is a founder and major stockholder of E-Loan, a company that's pushing TIC mortgages.

by Amanda Witherell

Seven protesters were disarmed of their placards and arrested Sunday when they crossed from public to private property at Pier 33 1/2. Arrests have been made for two weekends in a row as dozens of protesting union employees have continued to gather on the Embarcadero in front of the pier, which is the new launch and ticketing station for the ferry service to Alcatraz Island.

Signs that read "get a refund" and voices that shouted "don't go on the boat" continued to pierce the air as two dozen police officers and a bevy of private security held back the protesters to let the paddy wagon through. At the outskirts of the crowd, union members spoke with visitors queuing in front of the ticket kiosk, trying to convince them to boycott the ferry and spend their tourist dollars more responsibly.

The seven were taken into custody for entering the landing area without invitations or tickets to ride the ferry. Though owned by the city and patrolled by the Port, the pier is leased to Hornblower Cruises and considered private property. Terry MacRae, owner of the ferry service, will be pressing charges.

Today's New York Times Op-Ed page had a fantastic piece by Jeff Stein suggesting the real source of ongoing conflict in Iraq is the chilling ignorance of our elected representatives and counterterrorism officials. Several interviewed by Stein failed to articulate the differences between a Sunni and a Shiite, or even define what either sect supports. This wouldn't be so disturbing if it weren't so believable.

By Steven T. Jones
It was disappointing -- but not entirely unexpected -- to see the Chronicle endorse Arnold Schwarzenegger today. After all, both the Chron and Arnold are, as they describe him "economically conservative, socially moderate" (and I'll leave off their next label, "environmentally progressive," which is complete bullshit in describing a guy who owns four Hummers and watered down every environmental bill he's signed, including the much ballyhooed global warming measure).
Yet what I do find truly amazing in this endorsement is the Chron's failure to mention, among the two areas in which they've differed from the governor, Arnold's veto of legislation that would have legalized same-sex marriage. This was arguably the most important bill of Arnold's tenure, one approved only thorugh the tenacity of our own Assembly member Mark Leno, one Arnold had previously pledge to support. This shameful and telling omission provides further evidence that the Chron is a paper of the suburbs and middle America, not this proudly progressive city.

By Tim Redmond

Sometimes you settle a lawsuit, and sometimes you roll the dice and fight.

Back in 2001, the San Francisco supervisors voted to cough up some $80 million in cash to pay off a group of big corporations that claimed the city's business tax was unconstitutional. It was a close call -- the city attorney warned that if the city fought and lost, the potential liability could have reached $500 million.

There were a few crazy dissenters -- Matt Gonzalez and me, and not a whole lot of others -- who said, in effect, let's take the chance: These assholes wanted to soak the city for a bunch of money at a time when corporate America was rolling in the dough, thanks in part to Bush Administration tax cuts at the federal level. Fuck 'em -- we'll see you in court.

But cooler heads prevailed, and the city settled with all but one of the 52 companies. One holdout -- Macy's (the greedy pricks) -- decided not to accept the settlement and to push the case and squeeze every drop possible out of the taxpayers. Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer ruled in Macy's favor, awarding the company $13 million. It looked as if the supes had done the smart thing settling with everyone else.

And then yesterday, the Court of Appeal overturned Macy's award, saying that the $13 million refund was excessive. The giant retailer -- where I will never again shop, by the way -- gets only pocket change, a few hundred grand.

Of course, the court didn't re-instate the tax; this was only a small part of the case. But still, Macy's lost, big. Makes me wonder what might have happened if we'd never settled with any of the Filthy 52.

By Steven T. Jones
Wtih ranked choice voting up and working well in San Francisco, four other communities around the country are poised to approve it in the upcoming election. In addition to Prop. O in Oakland, ranked choice is on the ballot in Davis, Minneapolis, and Pierce County, Washington.
"I see these four elections as key. If we can sweep them, that's a tipping point," activist and former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic said last night at a Prop. O fundraiser in the law office of Matt Gonzalez, who championed the San Francisco measure while serving on the Board of Supervisors.
Novoselic got involved in politics back in his Nirvana days, fighting to overturn a Seattle law that prevented people under 18 from attending concerts.
"Along the way, I got enthusiastic about democracy and participation," he said. But even among those working on his campaigns, many felt their votes for candidates didn't count. Reading SF-based democracy reform leader Steven Hill's book, "Fixing Elections," he learned about the concept of the "surplus voter" whose preference for a candidate other than the Democrat or Republican is essentially discarded. With ranked choice, voters can cast a ballot for their favorite candidate and also for the lesser of two evils, thus allowing minor parties to gain support. As such, Novoselic called democracy reform "the Holy Grail of the Green Party."
Hill said he is cheered by the current situation. "It's starting to happen, but these things take time. It's a big country, but we're making progress."

By Tim Redmond

Matt Smith, the SF Weekly columnist, did a little investigative reporting last week and discovered that Doug Chan, candidate for supervisor from District 4, does, indeed, live in the district, has a messy house and hasa neighbor who complains about him hogging the laundry room. But after what appears to have been a brief conversation (summarized in a couple of paragraphs), Smith concludes that Chan is really a hell of a guy, and would be a fine supervisor. (He main claim to fame, according to Smith, is that he thinks "ideology is killing San Francisco.") What an ass.

Smith's bang-up investigation, however, missed a little fact that's easily accessible to anyone who checks some state and local public records. Chan is an attorney for Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

In fact, California Public Utilities Commission records show that Chan's law firm, Chan, Doi and Leal, has received more than $200,000 in legal fees from the utility in the past two years. Chan himself, as a partner, has pocketed at least $10,000 of that money, according to his economic interest statements.

It's hard to figure out what Chan has done for PG&E -- he clearly doesn't do utilities law (or much else that fits PG&E's needs, according to his own website.)

Should the city elect a candidate who has derived a substantial amount of his personal income from one of the greatest lawbreakers in town, a company the city is fighting now over public power in Bayview Hunters Point and will be fighting bitterly over citywide public power in the next few years?

Matt?

By G.W. Schulz

Both the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle ran large stories last week on problems in the workers’ comp system since Schwarzenegger so proudly initiated reforms two years ago as part of a major recall campaign promise.

In fact, the pendulum has swung startlingly fast in the other direction away from what was viewed as a bloated system that encouraged excess and fraud. My computer's operating very slowly this week, otherwise I'd post the links. You'll have to find them yourself. The reporters are Marc Lifsher at the Times and Tom Abate at the Chron.

By Tim Redmond

This is well worth watching, from Daily Kos.

By G.W. Schulz

The Chronicle got scooped badly in late September when A.C. Thompson at the Weekly published a feature-length story revealing that the San Francisco Police Department had spied on reporters working out of the press office at the Hall of Justice. (My computer is still giving me a lot of shit, otherwise I'd post the links. Find 'em yourselves, friends.)

The Chron finally followed up on it yesterday with an explanation for why they had failed to do any story previously when they learned that the police department was pulling phone records to see who had leaked a department memo to crime reporter Jaxon Van Derbeken. The memo showed how top brass knew Alex Fagan Jr. – best recognized for his role in the Fajitagate scandal – had a serious temper. Derbeken’s original reporting on the memo surfaced shortly after Mini Fagan and two other off-duty officers clashed with two civilians over a bag of fajitas in 2002.

By Tim Redmond

Lord knows, I've had my fights with Michael Petrelis, but he seem to have calmed down a bit of late, and his blog is actually interesting, although he made the mistake of Dan Savage too seriously. But he's nailed Nancy Pelosi for her comments on 60 minutes about same-sex marriage: "Well, that's an issue that is not an issue that we're fighting about here."

By Steven T. Jones
Kudos for the Chron's Cecelia Vega for debunking Mayor Gavin Newsom's pity-party television interview, in which he said he may not run for reelection. Vega punches her story home with some great phrases like "20-year-old Republican girlfriend" and "Washington-size dose of political posturing," but the real gems come from Bruce Cain and Gerardo Sandoval. Check 'em out. But I once again have to find fault with Vega and other Chron writers continuing to prop up Wade Randlett as if he's some kind of party insider or astute political observer, rather than the discredited right wing bagman that he is. But for the Chron, this is still mighty fine work.
As for Newsom, suck it out or get out! Geez, talk about letting your sense of overentitlement show. If you want a carefree life of chasing tail in the Marina or playing the rich socialite, go to it. Your job is way too important for you to be as checked out and self-indulgent as you have been lately anyway. Sure, it's a tough job, but there are lots of competent progressives in this city who would love to trade places with you, even with all the abuse that entails. Call Ross Mirkarimi, I'm sure he'd welcome the news that you're stepping down and supporting him. Actually, come to think of it, maybe that is the way to go. It is a very tough job that's only bound to get tougher, and you're a young man who should be out there enjoying life. Get out while you can, my friend. You don't need this shit.

By Tim Redmond

Even by the rather low standards of San Francisco political campaigning, this one is a whopper. SFSOS has been a part of a coalition that has put out a series of vicious attack pieces on Sup. Chris Daly. The pieces, and I think the total is now eight, are nothing but attacks that slam Daly over and over again and urge voters to elect Rob Black. It's about the worst sort of downtown-funded negative politics I've ever seen in town. All of the pieces, of course, were produced by so-called independent expenditure committees -- which means they weren't subject to campaign contribution or spending limits.

Now SFSOS has put out a "breaking news alert" on its email list that -- this is true -- warns that Daly supporters might (gasp) do an IE of their own. Check out the language, from SFSOS field director Ryan Chamberlain:

"we now have evidence that Daly's public employee union backers are racing to the printer to fund hit pieces against Rob. Unlike the strictly grassroots campaign that you've participated in, this will be classic machine dirty politics: Daly's union friends will flout the $500 per entity contribution limit by sending thousands of slick last-minute mailers that simply defame Rob."

Huh? "Unlike the strictly grassroots campaign?" Bullshit, Ryan. Much of the campaign for Black and against Daly has consisted of exactly the sort of "dirty politics" the SFSOS alert is decrying -- slick mailers, paid for by groups that flout the $500 contribution limit, seeking to defame Daly.

I called Chamberlain to ask him how he explains this world-class hypocrisy, but I haven't heard back. I'll let you know when he calls.

By Steven T. Jones
For some good background links on Jim Sutton, SFSOS, Rob Black, and their attacks on Chris Daly, click here, here, here, here, here, and here.

By G.W. Schulz

Sure, the ongoing battle between the Office of Citizen Complaints and the San Francisco Police Officer's Association makes for sexy headlines. But what about a break-in at the OCC's offices? That's hot, isn't it?

The Chronicle first reported last week that an attorney named Susan Leff who works for the OCC -- the city's police watchdog agency that collects and investigates allegations of misconduct from citizens -- had filed a restraining order against the vice president of the POA, Kevin Martin, after he allegedly swerved dangerously near her in his car Oct. 6.

By Tim Redmond

There's a modest little war going on over low-tech video ads in the District Six race. I think this one, with sock puppets, is my fave. (Thanks to sfist. Then there's the more serious one, and this strange cat onethat I don't really understand. But fun to watch.

By Tim Redmond

When we last checked in with SFSOS, Ryan Chamberlain, the field director, was insisting that District 6 candidate Rob Black was about to be attacked by Sup. Chris Daly's big union backers. Poor Rob had been running such an honest, grassroots campaign. I finally heard from Chamberlain about this utterly hypocritical lie; he said he has "no comment," but went on to press the point that Black was the underdog up against Daly's dirty machine politics.

So just for the record, I would like to remind everyone just who is on what side in District 6.

For starters, the attack mailers against Daly are plentiful. There's a partial collection here. Who's paying for this wave of negative ads?

Well, there's the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, which is mad at Daly for supporting a living wage for local workers.

There's the Building Owners and Managers Association, which is mad that Daly supports downtown parking taxes, limits on parking in the most congested areas and overall requirements that the biggest property owners pay their fair share of the tax burden.

There's SFSOS itself,which is funded by Republican Don Fisher and is against every progressive program in the city.

And "Citizens for Reform Leadership," which put out a huge, slick attack piece earlier this fall. This is a Fisher-funded group put together by political lawyer and fixer Jim Sutton.

Oh, and the Board of Realtors, the Police Officers Association ... all sorts of powerful interests that don't want someone on the board who can't be cowed by them.

So don't buy this crap that Rob Black is just a grassroots candidate up against the "machine." If the city employee unions come in a the end, it will only be because they see one of their friends under a savage attack and they have no choice but to respond.

By G.W. Schulz

Newsom proved during his State of the City speech yesterday at Burton High School in the Portola neighborhood that he's got all the skills in the world necessary to ... fill potholes. Look out world. Our fine-looking mayor has announced a sweeping new initiative to thoroughly repair the city's roads.

"Not just patchwork," he growled, as the utilities, seen regularly these days chopping up pavement across the city to mend the network of pipes underneath, trembled in fear.

With the guts of a grizzled marine, he challenged graffiti to a duel. Forging ahead with raw conviction, he fearlessly vowed to tackle busted sidewalks. And God-damn if it ain't tough findin' a cab in this city when you're wasted and the party's movin' from last call to a friend's apartment. That will change under the FDR-inspired, second-term platform of Gavin "the pulpit-pounding populist" Newsom.

By Sarah Phelan
Got a letter from jailed videographer/blogger Josh Wolf, saying he remains hopeful. Here are 3 reasons why.
1. Legendary lawyer Martin Garbus has joined Wolf’s team as Lead Attorney. That puts Wolf in the company of Eminem, Nelson Mandela, Daniel Ellsberg, Amy Tan, Al Pacino, Spike Lee, Sean Connery, Robert Redford and Michael Moore, to name a few of Garbus’ high profile clients. Garbus is also working on the case of the two SF Chronicle reporters, Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wade, who face possible jail time for refusing to name the source who revealed transcripts from a grand jury investigating Barry Bonds and steroid use in organized sports.
2. Josh’s attorney’s have filed an appeal in the 9th Circuit, refuting that panel's decision that the court doesn't have the power to create a common-law privilege, claiming that this ruling contradicts a previous decision, the Jaffee case, which established a privilege for psychotherapists in the case of a police officer who had gone into therapy following a disputed shooting.
3. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is going to do some cases in the 9th.

Wolf’s advice to San Franciscans? “Keep talking, refuse to be silenced.”
His advice to San Francisco? ”Cut all fiscal ties with the federal government. It’s a radical approach, but it has value beyond protecting journalists—it spares the city from the vice-like grip of No Child Left Behind, for example.”

By Sarah Phelan

In the past few months, I’ve attended numerous city hall meetings in which Sup, Chris Daly vigorously pushed for more police foot patrols. Also sitting through those meetings were reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle, who witnessed Daly pushing Police Chief Heather Fong to implement the program that residents of Daly’s district and other violence-plagued areas of the city, are literally begging for. They also watched as Daly questioned whether the police department’s request for more funding was premature, something that the city’s budget analyst recently concluded was in fact true.
So it was disappointing, if not surprising, to watch the Chron repeat the B.S. about Daly’s supposed attempts to block funding for the police
And it was disappointing, if not surprising to hear Daly’s challenger Rob Black make similar claims, while on the phone to the Guardian answering questions about his connections to lobbyist and political mastermind Jim Sutton and his clients PG&E.
Black spewed the statistic that “30 percent of crime takes place in Daly’s district,” then claimed that Daly had done nothing about it, including repeating the lie that, “Chris Daly talks about the need for beat officers, but isn’t willing to put the money there.”
That statement simply isn’t true, as city watchers all know, so it was a relief to see BeyondChron take the Chron to task for its incessant peddling of misinformation, which apparently is their way of trying to influence the elections. Maybe there is hope, after all, that lies won't trump the truth this fall.

By Sarah Phelan

With the Green Festival’s tips on green homes, green investment, eco-travel and organic beer set to hit San Francisco Nov. 10-12, African People’s Solidarity Day coordinator and physicist Aisha Fields told the Guardian her group is hitting the Bay Area a week earlier to tell folks that “the entire white lifestyle—alternative or not—is unsustainable.”
Because of its colonial legacy, much of mineral-rich Africa has no infrastructure—something APSD wants to change by raising awareness, funding and support for Africa, including demanding reparations for centuries of slavery, theft and genocide.
“Tremendous natural resources only serve a few corrupt politicians, who pump them out and send them to Europe and the U.S.,” says Fields, who hopes to fund projects for electricity, renewable energy and water purification in West Africa. “People need to deepen their understanding of the root causes. Many of the minerals mined to make cell phones come from Africa, and many of the wars Americans see on TV are being fought to frighten folks off their land, or because a ruling party wants access to those resources.”
APSD takes place in Oakland, Nov. 4, 10am - 5pm, at the Humanist Hall, 390 27th St and in San Francisco, Nov. 5, 10am - 5pm at the Women’s Building, 3543 18 St. Contact info@apscuhuru.org. 510.625.1106

by Amanda Witherell

It's no secret that the San Francisco Sentinel has really slipped since Luke Thomas struck out on his own with Fog City Journal, but an article this past weekend represents a new low. "Has Anti-Incumbent Fever hit San Francisco?" makes reference to three polls showing Rob Black leading Chris Daly in the District 6 race for Supervisor. The author of the piece, Sam Lauter links to an article in the Chron about the polls, but he could have just linked to the raw data -- at least one of the polls was commissioned through his political consulting firm, Barnes, Mosher, Whitehurst, Lauter(ahem) and Partners.

This lobbying firm is also a liason for much of the thousands of dollars being spent by independent expenditure committees on anti-Daly hit pieces. Before messing around in local elections, Lauter had a career in governmental relations at PG&E, though a Sentinel reader wouldn't know it -- there's no bio included with the author's "article," except that it was formerly printed in a "Red Meat for a Blue State" online publication. Meanwhile, another unauthored Sentinel article criticizes Daly for supposed contributions from lobbyists, though fails to mention that the anti-Daly movement is controlled by a similar crowd of money-runners.