SFist Interview: The Usual Suspects
All good San Francisco political junkies have Usual Suspects bookmarked on their browser. The local clearinghouse of all things political keeps everyone up to date, diligently reading and summarizing all the articles about anything even remotely related to local politics -- and not just the articles featuring Chris Daly doing something vaguely embarrassing, like some other websites we might mention. We sat down (virtually) with the seven folks behind the scenes and chatted 'em up. (yes, there's only six of 'em in the picture above. The seventh person came on board after the picture was taken; her picture is after the jump.)
Give us a little background on Usual Suspects!
All of us: We’re seven people – Alex Clemens, Jaime Salinas, Nia Crowder, Jaime Rossi, Deborah Lao, Andrew Gregg [in cable car order], and Lily Ho [after the jump.] We’re from all over the place, and we’re in our 20s through our 40s. We’re consultants [check out their day job, Barbary Coast Consulting, which does political consulting work.] We throw together Usual Suspects Monday through Friday so that political junkies can read all the news important to them on one site. (We’re not journalists – we’re aggregators. And we try to keep it light and witty.)
So that you can tell who’s answering what, we’ll preface our answers with our initials
SF has a pretty vibrant online political scene, with all these blogs and chat groups and online papers. How do you think that affects the way political junkies process their news?
JR: It is all about real time information. Everyone wants to put the latest "news" or "story" on their website. Since information translates into perceived access, it is real benefit to be the first ones to get a story out.
Of course, the negative to all this is that everyone thinks they know something important and passes it on as real information. The key is to have a good filter and be able to differentiate truth, hearsay, and pure b.s.
What's the biggest political story you see for 2006?
AC: That’s the beauty of San Francisco – it could be just about anything. However, some wish to see the makeup of the Board of Supervisors substantially altered this November. It’ll be interesting to see whether they succeed.
Who'd the Usual Suspects'd rather (Daly or Newsom), oysters at the Swan Oyster Depot, and more best burrito picks -- after the jump.
Is the blog an offshoot of the consulting business, or separate? How do the two work together? How'd you come up with the idea of providing a consolidated website for SF politics information in the first place?
AC: Suspects isn’t a blog, per se – it’s a website with links to political news and resources. It started in early ’95, when I walked out of a bar with a cocktail napkin covered in scribbles about potential candidates for future political races – names gathered from the dozen folks with whom I’d been cocktailing. I faxed the list to the group the next day, and got thirty requests from other people to add them to my “list.” I didn’t have a list, but I figured I’d better start one. Usual Suspects was a fax blast for a couple months, turned into an email blast by mid-‘95, and became a website in late ’95.
I started Suspects when I was an investigator working for the City Attorney. I became a political-hack-for-hire years later. These days, we figure that if people see Suspects, and think that we know lots about politics, they’re more likely to hire us. We hope that’s the case, anyway.
Who'd you rather: Daly or Newsom? Explain your answer.
AC: I asked around, and absolutely nobody on my team wanted to take on this question, so I’m stuck with it. (Thanks, team.) I think they’re both savvy and bright leaders with substantially different political agendas. (Unless you’re a Washington, DC Republican – from that perspective, they’re probably identical twins.) I’m firmly of the mindset that if they found issues of common ground upon which to work, they’d be damn hard to stop. [so diplomatic, Alex! Can we just link to our slash fiction story with the two of them again? Thanks.]
Got any advice for us over here at SFist? Does it help or hurt San Francisco politicos to have a site that obsesses over Gavin Newsom's dating life and Chris Daly sightings?
JS: You guys are plenty popular without any of my help. In regards to whether politicos are better or worse off because of your site, I would say it helps. Everyone likes to see that our politicians are human, and we like to take a sneak peek into their normal daily lives. It keeps people interested in politics, and that’s always a positive.
[Awwww. And without further ado, (some of) the rest of the SFist Interview questions.]
SF has the BEST _________
DL: Food and people!
LH: parallel parkers.
Favorite Bay area politician of past or present
JR: Governor Edmond Brown (He really got things done in the state)
LH and AC: Emperor Norton I.
DL: Former San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown
AG: Former San Jose Mayor Susan “drop the” Hammer. (No relation to M.C.)
Favorite local hangout
JR: Mission Bar (23rd and Mission)
AG: Swan Oyster Depot – where everybody knows your name. (That is, of course, if your name is Andrew, and you’re there all the f*ing time.)
Favorite local business
DL: Right now, it’s the One Half Store on Polk and Jackson. I could spend hours in there!
AG: Can I get another shout out to my boys at Swan Oyster Depot? (I smell some free cherrystones coming my way…)
Now that Mayor Gavin is single, who are you going to set him up with?
NC: Please. Don't even start. Couldn't care less.
JS: You think he needs my help finding someone?
AC: You need to watch your syntax. It’s “with whom are you going to set him up?” Don’t end sentences in prepositions, SFist.
Best Burrito
JS: Any burrito from La Cumbre.
AC: Super al pastor with spicy salsa from Pancho Villa. (I know. Bad, bad half-Jew.)
JR: Carne asada, Taqueria San Francisco (24th and York)
Best Restaurant
JR: Cafe Arguello (24th and Mission). Great new, affordable Spanish restaurant whose owner grew up in the Mission.
DL: San Tung Restaurant on Irving and 12th Avenue – Dried Fried Chicken Wings – Ooh wee!
AC: Unfair question. However, I’ll go with this: best steakhouse: Alfred’s. Best pho: Vietnam II. Best dim sum: City View. Best absurd, mortgage-screwing splurge: Michael Mina.
AG: Have I, perchance, mentioned Swan Oyster Depot? I think I might have forgotten to mention Swan Oyster Depot. But I should, because I like Swan Oyster Depot. On Polk Street, by the way. Is where you find the best oysters.
Tell us a San Francisco Story
NC: I know tourists are important to the economy, but one group did frustrate me. There was a group of about 10 adults on a cable car that wanted to take pictures and the cable car driver paused to let them do so. No problem, they are blocking my car, but I don’t mind waiting one light cycle so they can take some nice photos. Then they start singing I Left My Heart in San Francisco. Two lights later my car still has not moved and the cars behind me start honking. So, I get out of the car and yell, "Hey, if you don't want to leave a piece of your ass here, I suggest you get on the cable car and go!" The brake guy was cracking up in the back of the cable car. I know I was mean, but I couldn't help it. That's how I roll.