S.F. Fire Department truck scores triple block

On Friday I saw a San Francisco Fire Department pickup truck simultaneously block a crosswalk, a wheelchair ramp and a fire hydrant. I’ve seen many city vehicles block one of these, but to see one score all three at once is pretty remarkable. The truck also had boxed in a silver pickup truck parked behind it.

There was a funeral for a police officer or firefighter at the church half a block away, and I’m sure that if there had been a fire requiring the hydrant, someone would have moved the truck without delay. But the truck was in the intersection of 40th Avenue and Ulloa Street, and the surrounding neighborhood has some of the most abundant parking in the whole city of San Francisco. Even when the church’s school is in session and there is an event at the church, it’s usually easy to find parking within two blocks.

There were no license plates on the truck, but I did get the VIN.

SFFD pickup blocking crosswalk, wheelchair ramp and hydrant

SF Fire pickup blocking crosswalk

Observations on San Francisco’s November 2008 election, part 2

More good stuff from the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association’s post-election analysis of the Nov. 4, 2008 election with Alex Clemens of Barbary Coast Consulting and David Latterman of Fall Line Analytics, plus a couple of my own comments (See part 1 of the observations here). This round includes Prop. 8, Chris Daly’s role as bogeyman, the next president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and Ron Dudum’s future:

Prop. 8 aftermath. The victory of California Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment withdrawing the right to civil marriage from gay men and women, has been deconstructed a million ways to Sunday already. Various analysts have offered their opinions: Prop. 8 won because African-American voters are more conservative on social issues than the electorate at large, and they came out in great numbers to vote for Barack Obama; or Obama is partially to blame because he wasn’t vocal enough about opposing Prop. 8 (and he said he was personally opposed to gay marriage); or San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom didn’t campaign against it actively enough; or Newsom was too visible and became a negative factor; or the anti-8 campaign just screwed up by being fractured in the beginning and missing out on key fundraising opportunities.

Whatever the explanation, both Clemens and Latterman said that support for gay marriage seems to be increasing by about one percentage point per year, and they expected to see the issue on the ballot again.

Clemens said he believed that the next time gay marriage appears on the ballot, supporters of gay marriage won’t rely on a paid-media campaign of television ads and mailers. Instead, they’ll do something like what the Obama campaign did with its vast pool of volunteers. That is, the campaign will be fought in the field, with supporters of gay marriage (probably including as many straight supporters of gay marriage as they can find) going door to door and talking with individual voters.

Alex Clemens, David Latterman and Gabriel Metcalf discuss the outcomes of the Nov. 4, 2008 election at SPUR.

My own guess about the fate of gay marriage in California is that the legal challenges to Prop. 8 will go on so long that a measure seeking to undo it will hit the ballot before all those challenges are resolved. If that’s within two years, I’d bet the new anti-8 proposition will lose, but in just a few years longer a subsequent proposition spelling out a constitutional right to civil marriage for gay men and women will win. After that, a few measures seeking to replicate Prop. 8 will come up, but will lose, before supporters decide to direct their money elsewhere.

Regarding the impact the victory of Prop. 8 may have on Newsom’s ambitions to be governor of California, Clemens said that while it may have a negative effect now, a few years down the line it may be good for Newsom to be seen as the father of gay marriage in California. “Four years from now,” said Clemens, “it will be a badge of honor.”

Daly done as a demon? District 6 Supervisor Chris Daly’s days as an effective bogeyman for opponents such as the Apartment Association, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and others seeking to bring the city’s moderate and conservative voters to the polls may be done, according to Alex Clemens of Barbary Coast Consulting and David Latterman of Fall Line Analytics.

The election’s over — now what?

Obama will be the next president of the United States. California Proposition 8 looks to be headed for a win (as of this writing, by about 6 percentage points). San Francisco will have a couple of new supervisors, and a bunch of new laws and policies.

But what does this all mean? Can new officeholders actually do the things they promised in their campaigns? Starting Wednesday, Nov. 5 I’ll analyze selected election results and their potential impacts. Stay tuned.

Ed Jew pleads guilty to extortion charges

Ed Jew, the former San Francisco supervisor who fled his post representing the southwest corner of the city after

Ed Jew

coming under fire for allegedly accepting bribes and living outside the district he represented, has pleaded guilty to federal charges.

Jew pleaded guilty on Friday, Oct. 10 to federal charges of extortion, bribery and mail fraud related to accusations that he accepted tens of thousands of dollars from the owners of several tapioca-drink shops inexchange for helping them obtain City permits. The plea means that a trial on the charges that had been scheduled for November will not go forward.

Jew is scheduled to be sentenced in February. His attorney, Stuart Hanlon, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he expected Jew would go to prison but that he hoped it would be for only two years.

Jew still faces nine felony charges under California state law, alleging that he lied about living in San Francisco’s Sunset District while actually residing in the nearby suburb of Burlingame.

Ed Jew is alleged to have lied about living in this Sunset District house to qualify to represent District 4 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Jew’s sudden departure from office resulted in Mayor Gavin Newsom appointing current officeholder Supervisor Carmen Chu, who faces several challengers for the seat this November, including Ron Dudum.

Java Beach Cafe second location opens

Hey, cool! That fixture of San Francisco’s Outer Sunset District, Java Beach, just opened its new location on Sloat Boulevard and 45th Avenue.

Java Beach Cafe at the Zoo, San Francisco. By Tom Prete.

I’m really happy to see this open, as it’s in my neck of the dunes and there’s no decent place to get a good cup of coffee within walking distance of my house. It’s right next door to the Irish Cultural Center and across 45th Avenue from Sloat Garden Center, under the watchful eye of the Doggie Diner head. If you aren’t familiar with the Doggie Diner head, it’s a giant fiberglass dachsund head wearing a chef’s toque and blue bow tie. No, I’m not kidding. The city moved it to the center median of Sloat Boulevard a few years back after the head pitched over in a wind storm and broke its face. I’m not kidding about that, either.

Five beers on tap, including Guiness. Free WiFi. Open until 11 p.m.

Java Beach is throwing a block party Saturday to celebrate the opening of the Sloat location. From their web site:

On Saturday, Oct.11th we are having a BLOCK PARTY to celebrate our opening. The cafe, as you may know, is at the corner of Sloat and 45th Ave. We will have the whole block of 45th Avenue between Sloat and Wawona closed off and we’d love to have you join us. There will be bands, jumpy castle and lots of neighborhood fun from 10am to 5pm. The ribbon cutting ceremony at 10am will kick off the whole event.

Java Beach web site.

Fun at the Eye on Blogs party

So I went to the party thrown by Eye on Blogs last night not knowing what to expect, but I ended up having a good time and meeting some good people with interesting blogs.

First mention, of course (and many thanks for the party), goes to Brittney Gilbert herself, author of the Eye on Blogs blog at KPIX-TV/CBS5. I didn’t get to talk with Brittney for long, though, because the effusive and charming Beth Spotswood of (among other things) I’ll Flip You. Flip You for Real showed up and stole the show.

I know I’m going to forget someone, so apologies in advance, but I also had a great time talking with Kathryn Hill of Kosmonaut, Johnny and Shannon from funcheapSF, Janice from Sunset Style (nice to meet another blogger from the Sandy Quarter of San Francisco), Chris of Spot-ON and Becca of Bullpen Baker. Links to their blogs are below.

Some hastily-snapped pics from my phone:

P.S.: Only one sort-of complaint. As an old-time journo by temperament, I’ve always thought that three of the ugliest words in the English language are “no host bar,” so I was pleased to see Eye on Blogs spring for the beer and wine. But I still was a bit disappointed not to be able to get a gin and tonic, which is the perfect business-party drink because you can easily swap it for just carbonated water while everybody else’s tongues are getting looser and looser. Ah, well, free Anchor Steam and food — I think I can take the punishment.

Resources:

Eye on Blogs

funcheapSF

Sunset Style

Kosmonaut

Spot–ON

Bullpen Baker

Last chance to comment on GGNRA management plan

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is revising its policies for managing the lands and facilities under its jurisdiction, but the period for public comment is drawing to a close.

This revision is important to anyone who uses the GGNRA in any way, as it is intended to guide the management of the park for many years. Friday, August 1 is the last day the GGNRA and the National Park Service will accept comments on the plan from the public.

Read the four alternative proposed management concepts, and make your comments before 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.

My understanding is that after the GGNRA selects a general set of guiding principles (the management concepts), it will undertake further study and gather additional public input to turn those principles into actual working regulations, policies and practices.

Election thoughts and Prop. F blight

Well, a combination of personal and professional obligations over the past two weeks kept me from writing as extensively ahead of San Francisco’s November election as I would have liked.

In fact, it turns out that Proposition E is the only fall ballot measure I was able to write about in advance. That’s kind of funny, because it’s the one of the bunch I think is least relevant to the quality of life and governance in San Francisco. But that’s life, I suppose. Go ahead and plan, but don’t be surprised at how different the outcome looks from what you wanted.

A side note on Proposition F. Someone has been sticking up campaign posters for Proposition F on public property on the west side of San Francisco. The signs started popping up a week or two ago, and they all have a similar appearance: They all sport a jaggedly cut edge, as if someone with an unsteady hand had cut them quickly with scissors from a larger piece of card stock, they all are affixed crudely with gray duct tape, they all appear on public property or on street fixtures in the public right-of-way, they all are taped up low enough that the person who put them up probably was less than 6 feet tall and probably wasn’t using a ladder. And one more thing: None of them bear any indication of who paid for them. They do have a printers’ union bug and the number “317,” but no committee ID number or any other identifying information.

I found these posters on a light pole in the median of Sunset Boulevard, on the north side of the west end of the Sloat Boulevard overpass over Sunset, on the south side of the central support of the Sloat Boulevard overpass, on a utility box in the median of Sloat Boulevard a few blocks west of 19th Avenue, on part of the red-light camera apparatus on the northeast corner of Sloat Boulevard and 19th Avenue, on a utility box at the same corner, and in Glen Park near the BART station.

I’ve noticed a welcome reduction in the number of campaign signs posted in public places this season (there’s a new rule regulating posting on public property), but some supporter of Proposition F apparently decided to make an exception. I suppose I should be happy they aren’t movie-ad posters affixed with wheat paste, but it looks like blight to me anyway.

Taraval Street Fair 2007

Just got back from the first Taraval Street Fair, so deep in the Sandy Quarter of San Francisco you could almost hear the surf on Ocean Beach. Not a bad start for a new event, but not particularly exciting. Along with a decent coffeehouse, the establishment of a genuine common cultural event is one of my dearest hopes for the southwest corner of the Sunset District, so I look forward to next year’s fair. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was there for a bit, but he took off before I got a chance to talk with him. Supervisor Carmen Chu, pictured below presenting a commendation to the Taraval-Parkside Merchants Association, was there as well. Best booth at the fair, though, was Young Punks, an outfit that makes sarcastic onesies. How could you not love that?

Big day for Ed Jew

Update at 11:51 a.m. PDT Oct. 19: San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera indeed plans to sue “at the earliest opportunity,” according to the Fog City Journal. Neither of the print dailies have anything on their Web sites about it yet, but local newswire Bay City News probably has it, so you news junkies can expect the basics to appear via BCN on various sites within a couple of hours.

Also, other sources report that Stuart Hanlon now represents Ed Jew, and Jew’s trial on charges of fraud and perjury is set to start [Correx: get a new start date] Nov. 5.

New lawyers, new hearings and a potential fourth front for his legal troubles: It all adds up to a big day today for suspended San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew.

A hearing is scheduled this morning for Jew to name a new lawyer in his criminal trial on charges that he lied about living in the city’s District 4 while running for office and representing the district on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He is alleged to have lived in the San Mateo County town of Burlingame instead. Earlier this month, lawyer Bill Fazio asked to be removed from Jew’s case because of “irreconcilable differences” (see earlier post, “Ed Jew lawyer bails”). In the meantime, Steven Gruel has continued to represent Jew in defense against felony charges filed by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. Both San Francisco daily newspapers report today that Stuart Hanlon will take over the case for Jew.

At 1:30 this afternoon, the San Francisco Ethics Commission will meet for a preliminary hearing on city administrative accusations of official misconduct also related to Jew’s residency. These are the charges that are directly related to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s decision to suspend the supervisor and name Carmen Chu to fill Jew’s post on the board.

Yesterday, California Attorney General Jerry Brown granted permission for San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera to pursue civil court action against Jew, also on charges that he lied about where he lived.