While we've been digesting the dueling banjos style competition for a Board of Supes Code of Conduct, we were left pickin' our skulls as to why the Supes don't already have a code of conduct? Seriously, right? The progressive bubble of San Francisco doesn't have a code of conduct for its Board of Supervisors, while such luminary cities as Simi Valley, Pismo Beach, Goleta and Fresno do? Sounds Crazy, right?

Well, not so much. Lost in the shuffle between Chris Daly and Michela Alioto-Pier ("MAP") dueling codes of conduct is that San Francisco is already policed by, not just one, but two different organizations dedicated to protecting citizens from actual ethics violations. The first is the state's Fair Political Practices Commission ("FPPC") while the second is the San Francisco Ethics Commission. Both organizations overlook officials conduct and, in particular, deal with conflict of interest, disclosure, campaign finance issues, and post-state employment.

Oh, Michela Alioto-Pier! Our favorite absentee supervisor finally straggled on in to an actual committee meeting, only to find out that the code of conduct she's proposing for the supervisors has loopholes big enough for a Mack truck to drive though.

As you may remember, Alioto-Pier (or MAP, as we like to call her) is spearheading the push to institute a code of conduct for supervisors, after the flap about Chris Daly saying that there were cocaine use allegations about Mayor Newsom. We can't find a copy of MAP's proposal online, but the Chron says it punishes "aggressive, abusive, or offensive conduct." (As you may recall, Daly in response is working on a code of conduct of his own, to prohibit sexual relationships between superiors and subordinates, and to require better attendance at board meetings.)

Problem is, MAP's proposal (to remove offending supes from committees) violates the City Charter (only the board president can do that) and state law (certain supes are required to serve on certain Bay Area-wide committees). And despite MAP's protests to the contrary, it seems like it might violate the First Amendment too. Sean Elsbernd also pointed out that the way the proposal is drafted, it could potentially be used by more strategic and procedurally-savvy supervisors (who could that be?) to harass others.

MAP's going to take a week to fix those loopholes, but as Tom Ammiano pointed out, fixing those loopholes would take away any punitive weight of the code of conduct. "I'm wondering, what's next? [Banning] eye rolls?" This type of commentary has people wondering if MAP'll actually even be able to get her code of conduct voted through -- but she's not dissuaded; she says she'll put it on the ballot if she gets voted down. (She needs 6 votes to get the rules passed by the Board, but only 4 to send it to us to decide.)

Most people can't comprehend our near OCD level obsession with Chris Daly, Ed Jew, Gavin, and the Board of Supes. So, we're cool when people ask us questions like, "How do you know this?" or "Why do you care?" or "How do you stay awake during all those board meetings?" We've gotten over it and understand most people's position, which is why we just want to say that our mental health is okay and we are not locked in a room, Mel Gibson-style staring at a wall of newspaper clippings. However, this is kinda weird:

First, the Chronicle, on July 19th, runs an article stating:

After Daly's comments last month, implying that Newsom used cocaine -- which were made as Daly was contesting the mayor's spending plans for the new fiscal year -- Peskin removed Daly from his seat as chairman of the board's powerful Budget and Finance Committee.

Which, according to Chris Daly's blog posting from that same day, is incorrect since he was removed from head of the budget committee four days before his cocaine speech. The next day The Chronicle (July 20th) runs a correction stating that they made a mistake and wish to retract their incorrect fact. All's well and good.

Oh No, Chris Daly! We don't even know what to say right now. We'd been hearing rumors all day (thanks to those hard-working folks over at the SFist Tips line) about a fight between District 6's rebearded progressive bad boy and the more moderate and clean-shaven Bevan Dufty of District 8, but didn't get confirmation of it until the Chron went live with their story.

Sigh -- we don't even want to go into this, it's just embarrassing for everyone. So Daly, maybe a little unhappy about not getting seconded for his budget motion, was going back and forth with Dufty throughout the meeting, and Dufty finally said "For someone who sees himself as the strongest opponent to the mayor, you've done more to re-elect him than everyone in this room combined." Ooooooh.

Near the end of the meeting, which went on pretty long (just like the Senate was doing with Iraq, huh?), Daly then approached Dufty and they got into it. It got sufficiently heated that Dufty called Daly "a third-grade bully" and said "Why don't you just do what you want to do? Why don't you just punch me in the face?" Daly then said, "How dare you -- I'm not a bully," and bouncer/prez Aaron Peskin had to jump in and separate the two of them. Ladies and gentlemen: Aaron Peskin, the man with the toughest job in the City and County of San Francisco!

Daly's calling it a "nonissue," and Peskin described it as a "sidebar spat," saying, "I'm not proud of it, but it's not the end of the world" -- even though Tom Ammiano said it seemed threatening, and Jake McGoldrick was sufficiently worried that he mentioned something to the sheriff.

Update!: Here's Daly's side of the story, which includes the full text of his email exchange with the Chron.

After the jump -- we rate the choice quotes about Daly from the other supervisors to C.W. Nevius, who's now somehow moved from the "is Anna Nicole Smith your girl friend" beat onto city politics for the Chron?

Oh No, Chris Daly! We don't even know what to say right now. We'd been hearing rumors all day (thanks to those hard-working folks over at the SFist Tips line) about a fight between District 6's rebearded progressive bad boy and the more moderate and clean-shaven Bevan Dufty of District 8, but didn't get confirmation of it until the Chron went live with their story.

Sigh -- we don't even want to go into this, it's just embarrassing for everyone. So Daly, maybe a little unhappy about not getting seconded for his budget motion, was going back and forth with Dufty throughout the meeting, and Dufty finally said "For someone who sees himself as the strongest opponent to the mayor, you've done more to re-elect him than everyone in this room combined." Ooooooh.

Near the end of the meeting, which went on pretty long (just like the Senate was doing with Iraq, huh?), Daly then approached Dufty and they got into it. It got sufficiently heated that Dufty called Daly "a third-grade bully" and said "Why don't you just do what you want to do? Why don't you just punch me in the face?" Daly then said, "How dare you -- I'm not a bully," and bouncer/prez Aaron Peskin hade to jump in and separate the two of them. Ladies and gentlemen: Aaron Peskin, the man with the toughest job in the City and County of San Francisco!

Daly's calling it a "nonissue," and Peskin described it as a "sidebar spat," saying, "I'm not proud of it, but it's not the end of the world" -- even though Tom Ammiano said it seemed threatening, and Jake McGoldrick was sufficiently worried that he mentioned something to the sheriff.

After the jump -- we rate the choice quotes about Daly from the other supervisors to C.W. Nevius, who's now somehow moved from the "is Anna Nicole Smith your girl friend" beat onto city politics for the Chron?

We thought that Chris Daly's Board of Supervisor life might be looking up with his new committee assignment. But it's budget season and everyone is just a little bit testy right now, as there is a 6 billion dollars pie to be cut up among a three quarters of a million people. So I guess we shouldn't be that surprised that something would happen during today's Board of Supervisor meeting. And it did.

Basically Daly asked for a "simple motion" and received no second. (We are having some difficulty with sfgtv and can't seem to go back and watch exactly what happened and are going forward based on our memory until the full meeting comes online.) Without the ability to get a motion seconded, Supervisors lose an important legislative tool and Daly was, at least partially, locked out of the budget process. So he left.

For those who don't follow the Board of Supes as much as we do, not being seconded is pretty much a slap in the face. Not only can we not remember the last time a motion failed to receive a second, but also the budget meeting is probably the single most important Board of Supervisors meeting.

Chris Daly was finally reassigned to a new committee today, in a total step down. After getting removed from the "powerful" budget committee chairmanship Chris was totally lonesome, floating in a committeeless void. But yesterday that changed as he was introduced as a member of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee. Note that Daly is not mentioned on the agenda of the meeting, but if you go to sfgtv and watch Monday's session you can clearly see him sitting there with Michela Alioto-Pier and Sean Elsbernd.

So, you want to know why this is funny? There are soooooo many reasons:

-- Alioto-Pier and Sean Elsbernd? His new committee-compadres? Both originally appointed by Gavin. So you know the working relationships there must be.. ummm... working?

-- The new committee Daly is on? Not nearly as important as the budget committee chair. Monday's government Audit and Oversight Meeting lasted 14 minutes and had one agenda item. ONE AGENDA ITEM!!

-- The highlight of his new committee? Sylvia Johson sighting! (Go to about the 7:20 mark and make sure to check out the expression on the lady sitting behind the speaker. Priceless.)

Image from Chris Daly's Myspace page

Man, we were reading the Chron on the plane out of San Francisco on July 4 for vacation, balling our fists in frustration over missing the stories on Ed Jew's "part-time lover" response to the City Attorney's allegations AND the story about Aaron Peskin's zinger to Dianne Feinstein about her strange letter complaining about Chris Daly. No fair! (but thank you, SFist Jer, for covering it for us while we were gone!)

Well, even if we were out, it doesn't mean you were -- eagle-eyed commenter suckafree passed along the following intriguing link: http://thedalyblog.org. The DALY blog?? And not with an sfgov.org address...? Could it be.... Dare we hope....? YES! District 6's finest, Supervisor Chris Daly, has finally moved his online rantings and ravings to a non-city server (because he received a 46-page complaint (.pdf) from political ethics attorney to the stars Jim Sutton about it).

Click on to read Chris Daly's latest salvo to Gavin Newsom: in which Daly says Newsom "has problems thinking on his feet," says "dude can't even defend himself," and, most damningly, calls Newsom a "lightweight [even] during his heavy drinking days" and mocks his choice of fermented beverage. Yow! (Also, Daly makes fun of a typo in Dianne Feinstein's signature line in her letter to Peskin.)

And we've saved the best for last! Daly's turned on his comments function at his new site. Go and give Chris a piece of your mind! (either positive or negative.)