Cold wind in the Bayview
When the chill wind of early returns showed Prop. G leading Prop. F in the polls, (67 percent to 33 percent ) the folks at the Prop. F campaign HQ put it down to all the money that Lennar spent to influence the election.
Inside the Prop. F party at 5030 Third Street, supporters munched on pizza, listening to the Nation of Islam's Minister Christopher Muhammad expounding on "the $4 million of known money that Lennar has spent, not to mention the unknown slush funds."
"I'm encouraged just by the fact that we forced them to spend so much," Muhammad said, berating, "the Labor Council's leadership for selling out its leadership in a backroom deal."
Muhammad was referring to the community benefits agreement that the SF Labor Council negotiated with Lennar at the last minute, with Lennar promising to develop 32 percent affordable housing units at Bayview/Candlestick Point.
Bishop Ernest Jackson joined Muhammad in casting aspersions on Lennar 's deal with the SF Labor Council, by pointing to what he called Mayor Gavin Newsom's "secret press conference" about the 2008-09 budget at the Hunters Point Shipyard on June 2, as a clue to why Labor capitulated to Lennar and Newsom's demands.
Noting that Newsom announced his budget in a "police station surrounded by all kinds of weaponry and armored personnel carriers," Jackson claimed that Newsom "held the unions hostage".
"Newsom used the budget cuts as veiled threats over people of conscience," Jackson said. "But the Prop. F movement proves there is another constituency in the Bayview. The City had no idea it would have its own cyclone in the southeast sector. This same groundswell can look at its supervisor and say, you're not doing the right thing."
Meanwhile, Muhammad was expressing his belief that San Francisco is going to the dogs, literally, a view he aired in the heart of the Bayview, earlier this week, as the following video shows:
"There are now more dogs than blacks living in the city," Muhammad said, "San Francisco is becoming a playground for young urban multimillionaires."
Just then came word of "problems" with the voting machines at the polling station at Revere and 3rd Street in the Bayview branch library, which sits directly across from the Prop. F headquarters.
I investigated, and found members of the San Francisco's Sheriff's Department in the polling station, half an hour after the polls had closed. A deputy confirmed that yes, there was some kind of technical difficulty with the machine, but when he realized I was with the press, he said he had "no comment" and asked me to leave.
Back at the Prop. F party, there were also rumors of "technical difficulties at the Third Baptist polling station, which folks noted was the church of the Rev. Amos Brown, a strong advocate of Prop. G and Lennar.
(This latter report has yet to be independently confirmed.)
Meanwhile, Prop. F supporter Indigo Goodson, a member of the Black Students Union at SF State University , described the Prop. F campaign as a "real important grassroots movement, a spiritual movement."
"Gentrification is an important issue in a lot of communities of color,' Goodson told me. "When we are needed, they want us. When they don't, they want us to leave."
Downwind, at the Prop. G party at Javalencia on the 3900 block of Third Street, members of the Prop. G campaign, including Lennar's Kofi Bonner and Mayor Gavin Newsom, were declaring a Prop. G victory .
The party was packed, and I only got to talk to Mayor Gavin Newsom, as he emerged victorious from the party, while Nicole Franklin of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency was celebrating inside, along with Lennar's Bonner and Michael Cohen of the Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
"I couldn't be more proud that the voters of San Francisco supported a principled proposal over the political proposal of a politician," Newsom told me, referring to the fact that Sup. Chris Daly helped qualify Prop. F.
"I'm happy politics didn't win over the community process," Newsom said. "Today was a validation of community investment and involvement over political games."
"Our job now is to fulfill the promises made , deny our critics the opportunity to criticize the implementation of our plan, preserve affordable housing at Alice Griffith, make sure Lennar fullfills its commitment to build 32 percent affordable housing, and begin to move remediation dollars towards cleaning up the Shipyard."
Newsom believes City will be able to get an early transfer of Parcels B,C, D and "a good portion of Parcel E,' at the shipyard, but acknowledged that Parcel E 2, which contains the landfill, remains a challenge.
"We're not going to be able to get all the clean up money, but we will be able to move forward," Newsom said.
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Comments (2)
This is true...
"Gentrification is an important issue in a lot of communities of color,' Goodson told me. "When we are needed, they want us. When they don't, they want us to leave."
The groupings of large black disenfranchised populations into our inner cities is like sweeping all the floor dirt into a pile but not having a garbage can available to dump it into in order to head to the landfill. Who wants to invest money into piles of floor dirt?
Posted by Henry | June 4, 2008 05:01 PM
DUMP GAVIN NEWSOM NOW ...
... and prosecute him for blatantly breaking
our federal laws ... and freeing criminals, who
are murdering our citizens.
Posted by Gina | August 4, 2008 06:35 PM