SFist: SFist Interviews: Bevan Dufty

Jamison

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 13:28:39 -0800

Actually there is plenty of reason to criticize him, Though he did not mention it by name, he directly quoted Bevan Dufty's stance on the Halloween party, "People's safety matters more than me taking heat from some individuals", as being "opposite" his opinion. Steve is expressing he would put the party ahead of safety. He goes on to say, "Freedom can be scary and dangerous, and what he's saying is that he values the illusion of safety over individual freedom", a libertarian view if there ever was one, but that is not where the problem lies. He is putting words in Bevan's mouth. The opposite of what Bevan said, which is what Steve says he wants, would be to tell people what they want to hear ahead of public safety. I would rather District Supervisors put public safety ahead of placating voters with big parties.

Mattymatt

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 09:58:07 -0800

Steve didn't actually express an opinion about the Halloween party here, so there's really no way to criticize his position on it.

Jamison

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 07:31:58 -0800

So Steve, Were the 7 people shot worth your party?

Brendon

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 16:36:42 -0800

I'm going to guess Steve does not live in the part of the Castro where the party is being held. If he did he'd probably be as opposed to it as those of us who are going to have people throwing bottles on our stoops and worry about getting gay bashed. I just don't understand those who think public safety equates directly to a police state. Did Bevan say anything about a police occupation of the Castro? Is there some plan I haven't heard about to permanently install police barricades? What is probably the most amazing is the hypocrisy of the large scale party supporters who want the city to provide and pay for multiple stages and an all night party with no police or law enforcement at all, but they don't want it to happen in their neighborhood. We know what happened before Bevan made it city sponsored with entertainment stages (the wild party supporters seem to like that, but never mention that was Bevan's doing) and before adequate security (why aren't they called on the fact that the police are not a paramilitary occupational force?) so why does anyone even listen to people who don't live here and just want to come trash our neighborhood?

Steve Simitzis

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 18:46:42 -0800

Interesting interview. As a D8 voter (and homeowner) I've felt torn between voting for Bevan and Alix, but this interview cinched my decision. I'm voting for Alix. "People's safety matters more than me taking heat from some individuals" is exactly the opposite of what I want in a representative. Freedom can be scary and dangerous, and what he's saying is that he values the illusion of safety over individual freedom. This tells me everything I need to know. Bevan has been good about returning my phone calls and emails about neighborhood issues, but honestly, returning a phone call isn't that hard. Let's give Alix a try, and maybe we'll get the best of both worlds: someone responsible to the neighborhood's daily needs who doesn't want to install CCTV cameras on every lamppost. And I agree with David Latterman's post. I always for vote liberal and progressive candidates, straight ticket Democrat with the occasional Green protest vote, but when it comes to neighborhood issues, I definitely look at the candidates more critically. It's hard to get people to vote against their own interests, and liberal-minded homeowners can be put into some hard dilemmas. Excessively "pro-tenant" legislation can wrap back around to "anti-homeowner", even for homeowners who aren't landlords. It's not hard to imagine pro-tenant proposals that could push some homeowners into foreclosure. Owning property doesn't make you greedy and right-wing. It just means you have a different set of challenges. I love my renter friends and I want them to have nice lives, but the pendulum needs to sit in a nice balance, otherwise you're just choosing which group will end up suffering. Anyway, my point of this is to further elaborate why PVI and "too conservative for district 8" don't apply. Bevan vs Alix has been a hard choice for many of us. Though who knows, having Halloween so close to the election will really cement D8 voters' opinions of the two candidates. At least, it has for me. Good luck Alix.

expatriate

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 15:23:46 -0800

Is it just me or does Bevan Dufty look a lot like Peter Lorre from the movie, "M".

David Latterman

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 11:40:23 -0800

Thanks for the citation. But, I commonly hear about how high D8 (BTW, my home district) scores on the PVI, and how that is the argument for an extremely liberal Supe. I'm not sure the argument holds up. D8 isn't like D5 or D9, which can be considered top-to-bottom left-wing. There, the PVI is high across the board and not surprisingly we see easy victories for Mirkarimi/Ammiano. D8, on the other hand, is more gradational, in which areas like the Valencia corridor is quite liberal but up in the hills it is not. In fact, Diamond Heights is decidely moderate-to-conservative. Thus, there's real difference in the district. Moreover, "liberal" areas like Noe valley and Glen park aren't Haight and Mission liberal, with their younger population. NV/GP is more in the style of old-school liberal Democrat, like Tip O'Neill or Ted Kennedy. This is different than what we see in the Haight. Yes, Gonzalez took D8 in 2003 but 1) I don't think we'll see that again, and 2) people vote differently for executive vs. representative offices. And speaking of voting differently, folks need to be careful connecting PVI directly to candidates. People have all kinds of reasons for voting for candidates: integrity, energy, looks, brains, ideas, etc... Using PVI logic, Hansen should have won in '02, but she didn't. Sometimes, a candidate is just liked for reasons that defy logic (I'll let everyone think of their own example). PVI is a political guide, it isn't in itself a reason someone should or shouldn't win, or run. It can, though, guide a candidate on what the district thinks about various issues.

Adam

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 11:20:02 -0800

When are the community meetings planned to curtail Pride attendance? After all, it was a Pride violence incident that triggered the latest developments for Halloween. By the way, being Gay doesn't make you progressive.