Newsom taps law-and-order Republican
Mayor Gavin Newsom's decision to hire former U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan to head the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice speaks volumes about his administration's philosophy and priorities.
It's bad enough that Ryan is a Republican (Newsom has appointed several Republicans to important positions, including his disgraced former OES director AnnaMarie Conroy and Planning Commissioner Michael Antonini, but never any Greens). But Ryan is a right wing ideologue and Bush loyalist who incompetently ran the U.S. Attorney's Office here into the ground and wrongfully imprisoned citizen journalist Josh Wolfe. This is the guy who will handle law enforcement policy in progressive San Francisco? Did Newsom know this stuff? Did he care? As the mayor begins his second term with nary a signal as to his intentions, Newsom isn't offering much hope that he knows what he's doing or that he plans to act in the best interests of all San Franciscans.
digg •
del.icio.us •
sphere •
google
•
Comments (9)
Did you see the City Attorney's response?
From the press release:
"In Kevin Ryan, Mayor Newsom has landed a stellar pick to lead the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice. Kevin has been a distinguished jurist, an accomplished prosecutor, and a valued partner to my office in helping us develop protocols for civil gang injunctions. San Franciscans will be extremely well-served by the talent and dedication he will bring to addressing some of the most important and difficult problems facing our City."
Posted by Amanda | January 4, 2008 05:05 PM
Yes, Ryan was very helpful with the gang injunctions, the most conservative and locally controversial thing Herrera has done. I'm sure Ryan will also be very helpful with Newsom's homeless sweeps, poverty court, narcotics crackdowns, continued alienation of this city's communities of color, and the Giulianization of SF that Newsom seems to be pursuing.
Posted by Steven T. Jones | January 4, 2008 05:15 PM
As I wrote before in a previous comment (which was mysteriously censored by SFBG blog moderators): Republicans don't monopolize the characteristic of being "conservative". To say that Ichabod and his ilk are not conservative (i.e. euphemistically "moderate") is to grant them (and Republicans, for that matter) unearned legitimacy and cover to continue to be more conservative.
Posted by expatriate | January 4, 2008 05:34 PM
Hey there expatriate -- we never censor anything unless it's a physical threat or outright hate. if you included a link in your comment it takes a while to be screened by our anti-spam filters before being posted. Otherwise, like every other utility that runs on electricity today, the comment may have not made it into the system due to the storm's repeated interruption of services. Feel free to repost your original comment and let us know if it doesn't make it up there: online@sfbg.com thanks!
Posted by Marke B. | January 4, 2008 05:58 PM
> the Giulianization of SF that Newsom seems to be pursuing
Giuliani's term is largely viewed as having been both successful and beneficial to New York. No reason why Newsom shouldn't attempt the same things here.
Posted by jeff | January 5, 2008 05:06 AM
Kevin Ryan? The one and only "loyal Bushie" US Atty in the entire frickin country who was fired for the sole offense of being incompetent, as opposed to "disloyal" like the other fired attorneys?
I'll reiterate: the only loyal Republican anywhere, ever, that *Bush* and *Gonzales* fired for incompetence?
And that's who Newsom hires?
Wow.
Posted by texas dem | January 5, 2008 05:13 PM
I have a house in San Francisco but live in New York during the academic year. I can tell you from living in both places that I would take New York's lower crime rates, cleaner streets and lack of homeless over San Francisco's seemingly never-ending supply of rude and aggressive homeless and beggars & (literally) crap-filled streets. Giuliani was and is an intolerant asshole but perhaps what San Francisco needs is a little less tolerance for "diversity" and a lot more respect for quality of life and the rule of law.
Posted by Shane | January 5, 2008 05:38 PM
Shane,
You are full of shit. You live in your parents' basement during the "academic year".
Posted by expatriate | January 6, 2008 01:14 AM
"Law and order?" Maybe order. Not law. For those of you with short-memory syndrome, google Steven Nary.
Posted by Mary USF SOL 99 | January 13, 2008 01:33 PM