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The Haight Street Underworld
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SFist Tonight
The rumblings from a week ago have been confirmed: Josh Wolf, on his blog, has declared his intent to run for mayor. [Thank you to the reader that posted this in the Tips Section!].
In this announcement, he gives some details of a 10-point plan. For full details, please visit his blog, but, in brief, the issues he intends to address are:
1) Open Government (he'll wear a streaming camera while working on official business)
2) Crime (reduce homicide rate; adopt the board’s plan for neighborhood policing)
3) Homelessness
4) Public Transportation
5) Federal Funding (sever the city's need for it, and thus the Fed. gov't's control over us)
6) Gay Marriage (re-establish as we're able in the City & County of San Francisco)
7) Medicinal Marijuana (make it so the Feds quit interfering)
8) Biking (bike lanes on all major traffic thoroughfares).
9) Halloween (safe alternatives to the annual Castro celebration)
10) Independence (sovereignty for the city)
It all sounds great on paper (er, on screen). But great ideas do not a great government make -- most candidates start out with a bunch of swell ideas; it's all in the execution. Sorry to be pessimistic, but we're guessing Mr. Wolf has little chance of actually being voted to the office. However, as an active member of the community, his candidacy may well bring important issues to the forefront of voter conciousness. For that we applaud him. So far as we're concerned, the more voices that are out there, the better (speaking of those voices: so far Chicken John, plus rumblings of a certain Mr. brown?).
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Maybe when he loses will cut out the self important self appointed self promotion?
(But definitely keep the hipster mutton chops)
correction, HE will cut out...
Imagine -- a San Francisco where Mission hipsters enjoy fawning over their own swoon-worthy mayor, as Marina folks do today. That's equality. And it's about time.
Is "go to journalism school" number 11?
who is that nerd? Let me guess, he went to stanford, has published a couple times in McSweeney's, and is a "really great guy".
Maybe he should consider getting his political sea legs by running for a lesser office. Work his way up the food chain. I would not vote for someone so young with so little professional experience (of any kind) to bring to the position of mayor.
12) Free Fauxhawks for senior citizens.
13) A "Fixed-Gear Only" bike lane on Valencia street.
Incidentally, I hear he's also thrown his hat into the ring for CEO of Yahoo! if Jerry Yang doesn't work out.
Sounds like every other candidate's list of bullet points - fix crime, homelessness and transit and gay marriage and free pot for publicity.
That's WAY too rational for this board, Elizabeth! More snark please!
Medicinal marijuana already exists. If he's talking about more pot clubs, they are all over town and a great magnet for crime. Do you live in the lower haight, Josh?
@ 10 -- part of my sentence for #7 got clipped; should be better now (of course, you can check out Wolf's site for his full commentary).
TO POST[10] guest-
1. What kind of crime are you talking about?
2. Can you prove it? I ask because I had a friend who was part of the neighborhood watch in the lower Haight. It sounded like the evidence was dubious. Note: I am not saying there isn't crime in lower Haight. I just want to know how they are linked.
3. If pot were legal and you could sell it anywhere why would be people be selling it on the street corner? You don't see people selling beers in the alley.
Not saying you are wrong or anything. I just want some clarification.
why does everyone think anyone under 35 in this town is a "fixed gear mission hipster"? granted i don't know josh at all outside of having one class with him at SFSU but thats a pretty piss poor label to put on him. idealist college student? perhaps, but not a mission hipster. keep on with the sweeping generalizations of people in a particular neighborhood though, you're snark is far superior to theirs.
I never, ever thought I'd say this... but I'd rather have Gavin over this guy. What political background does he even have? Has he ever run before? What education does he have on the subject? Heck, even h. brown has run for Supervisor... I just don't think it's okay to go from *~controversial journalist~* right to Mayor.
Make your documentaries, get the word out, but please, please don't get ahead of yourself. Michael Moore isn't even stupid enough to run for office.
Wow - some folks are taking this kid's "candidacy" WAAAAAAY too seriously.
Or did you think Starchild's perenial running for various office's was serious as well?
It's the mutton chops, Joe. That plus the spex plus the attitude is all that you need.
Dear All,
Please refrain from combining the phrases "Joshie Wolf" and "journalist." Dude has a camera and a blog. He is not a journalist - He is a media parasite... He is the Mission's own Gary Coleman!
Good luck getting all hitzy Mr. lockdown-fohauk. I hope that your adwords make you a pretty penny to bring down the man.
I am happy that he took a class at SFSU. But I will bet good money that he rides a fixie. He must have friends who can confirm or deny this rumor.
SFist readers demand to know:
DOES JOSH WOLFE INTERNET MEDIA "PERSONALITY" RIDE A FIXIE?
Sfist, Would you guys mind providing a little background on Josh Wolf, if possible? From the comments, it appears that people are not aware of who he is.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he the guy who holds the record for the length of time any journalist has been jailed for protecting his confidential sources? Seems to me like he'd be a candidate who would be committed to his ideals.
I don't like guys who look like that.
#19,
You don't like guys "who look like that?"
You just look at someone and can tell that you don't like them---without even getting to know them---or anyone that looks like them. Terribly prejudiced and pathetic.
You go, Josh Wolf. As it stands now I'll vote for you. Some say you have no experience to be mayor. Screw that nonsense. Look at all the politician- scum we have today and the dismal state of things under those political scum who had "experience." I'll take no "experience" any day after seeing what these "experienced" fuk-ups have done across the board.
Mitchell
[18]:
That's exactly it. That's all he's done.
Period.
The end :)
He should run for an entry level office first.
He'd be perfect for director of cannabis tasting and quality control.
he wasn't protecting a confidential source.
He didn't want to hand over a videotape because like he said on Colbert he doesn't believe the government has the right to just demand something and get it.
he's a journalist the same way that Britney Spears is... she has a blog you know.
Now he's off and running... famous for being famous.
you go girl!
Another attention whore ... fantastic. We don't have enough attention whores on the Board of Supervisors.
Anyway - if he's serious, he should start by volunteering on a CAC or for a non-profit representing one of the issues he's supposedly passionate about. From slacker to Mayor - God, I hope not!
Oh great. Another skeevy little hairball wants to be mayor. No.
i know josh personally and 99 percent of the people who are criticizing him for things as trivial as his looks and the neighborhood he lives in are completely off-base.
he's not a mission hipster by any means and that assertion is juvenile and irrelevant.
he's just a guy interested in politics who has a genuine desire to make a change in a city that is seriously lagging in progress given the level of wealth the it possesses. he can see that virtually no one is stepping up to challenge the status quo, and i appreciate his attempt to bring light to issues that are not currently being remedied in any significant way.
also, as someone mentioned, you are all taking his candidacy too seriously. running for mayor isn't always about winning. it can be purely for the purpose of shifting the arguments and the information that emerge during a campaign.
Nobody else is stepping up to the plate.
Why not Josh Wolf?
"a city that is seriously lagging in progress given the level of wealth the it possesses..."
Name a more progressive City.
Portland? I'd disagree, but, for the sake of being gentlemanly, I'll give it to you. That's one. Any more? Didn't think so.
"running for mayor isn't always about winning"
Yeah, sometimes its about desperately wresting one last photon of the spotlight upon yourself. This guy's a joker.
Why not Josh Wolf? Why not you? Why not me?
Because politics is like any other big business: You start at the bottom and work your way up (unless your Dad was CEO or President). You have to make compromises in order to get anything done. You need experience. You need reputation. You need organizational skills.
Most importantly, you need to have the respect of the people that work for you. Not that Newsom or Daly or any other politician necessarily has that respect, but Josh Wolf definitely does not.
And Josh's friend who said something about "shifting the arguments"?? As though the next mayoral election wasn't already going to be about all the things on Josh's list.
I'm glad to live in a COUNTRY (see Josh Wolf #10) where pretty much anyone can run for public office. And it's really great that anyone can use the internet to circumvent the bottleneck of traditional media. But if Josh is serious about making San Francisco a better place, he'd be better served by using his time and influence to support a viable candidate or to convince someone viable to enter the race.
OK, so will the real Josh Wolf please stand up? I demand an SFist interview! With serious discussion of the issues of the day, as well as hairdos, eyewear, and fixies.
Oh, quote of the day from Eric Jaye: "The idea of a video device strapped to the mayor has just never come up."
http://cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/bcn/2007/07/05/n/HeadlineNews/MAYOR-WOLF/resources_bcn_html
slosh415 [29]:
You stole the words right out of my mouth- thank you. I could never really explain why you need to start from the bottom up (I've been discussing this topic with friends, and kinda ended up losing, hahaha) in order to get my vote.
From some documentary maker to Mayor = a no no.
by "shifting the arguments" i meant dissolving the smoke screen that Newsom has been and is going to be putting up to avoid directly addressing the issues listed above.
remember when we voted to have Newsom attend meetings with questions from the Board of Supervisors? remember when he decided to have a controlled PR fest in the form of a 'town hall meeting' instead? he never directly addresses the concerns of the people because if he did it would become evident that he has made virtually no progress over the past four years in regards to homelessness, crime, MUNI, the sewer system, public access to government information, communication services (citywide wireless), and a plethora of other items.
name a more progressive city? most cities in Canada and northern Europe come to mind. but you're right, as far as the United States goes, this is one of the most progressive.
but those values are slipping under the moderate direction of politicians like Newsom. can you really call a city progressive when it has what it probably the worst homeless situation in the country?
i'm not saying that josh would solve all these problems. but i am arguing that Newsom will do everything he can to spin his general incompetence, and someone needs to enter the race who will reduce his ability to keep himself unaccountable.
Dear Gawd Almighty, where is one communications company when you need one...this manifesto by Josh doesn't come close to say..1000 points of light by George Bush the first one.
Where is the latte loving; snappy dressing; and a rather serious italian trio to help josh get off the ground (especially after he fell flat on his ass and couldn't find a better job than to run for Mayor of San Francisco).
Granted, I am home doing my laundry but just because I have nothing better to do than my laundry am I going to vote for Josh Wolf for Mayor of San Francisco. Equally, I do not think I will vote for Gavin Newsom..he fucked a married woman when he should have done his laundry instead but, NNNOOO Gavin went and soiled more sheets and became a big embarresment to us all (granted the fact that he did that doesn't seem to deter other people for voting for them so I wonder about dirty laundry more and more..is it piling up on the streets? )
Oh don't worry i won't vote for Matt Gonzalez either I think last time he had a midlife crisis he started his own law firm. I won't vote for Tony Hall or the chicken guy though Strawser might get my vote if he lived in SF.
I would vote for h.brown but, I don't know if he has any platforms or if he just dates women in platform shoes? Such a quandry.
Maybe I will run for Mayor of San Francisco too, maybe after I finish washing my dirty laundry. Anybody know where I can get some quick dry cement?
A vote for THAT CHICK is a vote for clean government and for clean laundry. Vote for her often!
AWWW Thanks! Mariconsoy, if I ever finish my laundry and fill out the paper work with the department of elections and If I win said Mayoral election..I will appoint you Vice Mayor! So when I am galvanting around dating hunky movie stars like Jeff Duhmel or John Stamos you can stand in for me! Won't it be great! San Francisco goverment will still work with you and me working together to keep San Francisco clean..
I pledge if I do indeed such an act as run for Mayor of San Francisco I will not sleep with anyones wives married or not! I like men, real men, unmarried men, men with balls and men that make money men, men that can hold a job, men that can kiss me in public, men that won't post their "free thinking" thoughts on SFist comments page, men that think bloggers rock and women who blog rock their world..men men men!!!wait that was my low sugar level talking...don't all men have balls?
..."You have to make compromises in order to get anything done. You need experience. You need reputation. You need organizational skills."
Nonsense.
You need to be hand-picked by your clever, legacy aware predecessor as a sop to the Pac Heights/Downtown crowd and have the Republicans in your corner.
An interesting haircut may help, too.