With nightclubs like Jelly's, Whisper, and 715 Harrison playing host to fatal mischief over the past few months, yesterday Mayor Newsom and Police Chief Heather Fong went on the offense against SF nightlife. Four bits of legislation, co-sponsored by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, will be put before the board of supes:
To Help Curb Violence, Newsom Proposes Nightclub Reform
Aaron "Payback's a Bitch" Peskin Tries to Slash SF's Environment Dept.
Mere days after the head of the environmental department broke with Aaron Peskin and other city leaders on a Public Utilities Commission policy, this week Peskin introduced a wee bit of legislation that would obliterated said department. Yoinks.
Oh No, Ed Jew!: Around The Districts
Nothing too new to report on the Ed Jew got arrested front this morning, but the Chron did survey all the other Board of Supervisor members for their reactions. Let's go in order!
Instant Recall (District 1 Edition)
There's going to be some more clipboard-wielding petition signature gatherers near Burma Superstar, as a group of Geary Street merchants filed the official paperwork to launch a recall campaign against District 1 (The Richmond) supervisor Jake McGoldrick, for being insufficiently car-friendly. Insufficiently car-friendly? He only just biked to work for the first time in 2006!
Compromise Can Be Healthy Too
It looks like there might be peace in our time as a deal is in the works over the whole Healthy Saturdays thing. Apparently, city officials are trying to work out a compromise between fans of the plan and supporters of the Dede Wilsey Shrine to Her Wilsey-ness. No details have emerged yet, but apparently Gavin has been meeting with both sides to figure something out.
It's Saturday-- Do You Know Where Your Sports Team Is?
The latest involving the Niners is that yesterday Aaron Peskin jumped into the fray. Peskin had dinner with the accidental John York Thursday night and on Friday, he, along with Sophie Maxwell, said they'd introduce a resolution to move forward with the development at Candlestick Point and the Hunters Point shipyard. The idea being, of course, that instead of waiting for the Niners to figure out what they're doing, the city should move ahead and just do it. There's two reasons for this. One is that everyone wants to build stuff there anyways so why not just get the ball rolling. The other is that if things fall apart in Santa Clara, things will be all ready to go here.
We Read The Weeklies
Last week's winner, the Bay Guardian. And ... whoa! Pictures of Margaret Cho's burlesque performance online (probably NSFW, but not really hardcore or anything). Make Gavin Newsom tell us what he does all day. Aaron Peskin on some kind of shenanigans with a City College building in North Beach. And -- this is weird -- so the Guardian is sort of mad at (or at least puzzled by) Chris Daly on Sophie Maxwell's housing plan, but Matt Smith over at the Weekly is begrudgingly okay with him about that Hastings protest where he got arrested. This is totally blowing our mind! Is it opposite day? Open the library on Sundays! Skipping a long and difficult-to-read two page comic-strip advertisement. Annalee Newitz on the debates over the feminist science fiction entry on Wikipedia. Cover: have a nice winter holiday. More music and club lists. The Guardian congratulates itself on opposing the war in Iraq in a full-page ad. And new A's DH Mike Piazza's horoscope: the stars see fear and illusion masquerading as truth and necessity for him.
Today in the Board of Supervisors
Today, your San Francisco Board of Supervisors take up legislation both big and small. First up is a possible override of Gavin's veto of the foot patrol legislation. The board needs eight votes to override Mayor McDreamy's veto, one short of the seven they got when they passed the bill. Right now, it's not looking like it'll happen. Luke Thomas reports in Fog City that two of the seven have been flipped. The two who allegedly were made an offer they couldn't refuse are Bevan Dufty and Sophie Maxwell.
Everything Else Results
SFist Jon's having computer woes, so we're covering all the rest of the races here too.
Day Around the Bay
-Experienced climber dies in fall at Yosemite.
-Bevan and Alix have a debate.
Bay Area Blog Pulse
Beth Spotswood pops ten questions for Gavin Newsom, and we want answers. Speaking of interviews, Shout Magazine raps with local MC Paris. And a crop of top local writers weigh in on the JT Leroy fracas, including Thomas Roche, Mark Pritchard and our own SFist Violet.
Supervisor Shouting (Not Daly)
We suppose the subject matter trumps the supervisor, as even a Daly-free meeting about condo conversions descended into shouting and gavel-pounding yesterday. Supervisor Bevan Dufty (pictured at right) had proposed that we give preference in the condo conversion lottery to people who've been applying for years to turn their TICs into condos for several years, noting that with the 200-conversions per year and five-year cap on applications, many people simply never get the chance to convert.
All was going well, until Supervisor Sandoval "forcefully told" the city lotto supervisor to stop advocating for an immediate change in the law. Dufty then raised his voice in defense of the city staff, and chair Sophie Maxwell had to pound the gavel for order. They ended up tabling the whole thing and saying they'd think about it some more. Sandoval says we should be focusing on affordable housing, and Ted Gullickson from the Tenants' Union says people should stop trying to back-door themselves into condo ownership through TICs anyways. The dispute should be on streaming video here soon.
Where was Chris through all this? You know he hates to miss a housing fight! He was probably just resting up his voice for his Daily Show debut -- scheduled for next Tuesday! We're just going to have to miss the KRON 4 news at 11 that night! And oh yeah -- don't forget your SFist Daily Daly Show drinking game cheat sheet!
Sizzling Hot-Hot-Hot!!
Our preliminary exit polling in the closely-watched SFist Political Junkie Hottest Supervisor race is showing a neck-and-neck tie between Chris Daly's smoldering eyes and Fiona Ma's luscious hair -- with Michaela's flirty smile and Ross's melliflous basso tones not far behind. ....but isn't anyone going to vote for sexy board president Aaron Peskin?
Love 'em for their policies? Love 'em for their sexy strut? Who cares! Clean out those cookies on your computer and stuff the ballot box for your hottie of choice!
Supes Lurve Electronic Electioneering Bill
So it looks like the Electronic Electioneering resolution has passed, with the unamended version winning in a nine-to-two vote, with Supervisors Elsbernd and Alioto-Pier voting no, meaning that the board has enough votes to override a veto by the Gavster.
Supes Pass Electronic Electioneering Bill -- Twice
So how did Sophie Maxwell's bill do? Well, due to an SFist power lunch, we weren't able to attend in person. We were able, however, to catch up via SFGTV -- scroll down to item 11. Basically, after debate between the supes over specifics, the bill was split into two versions -- one version, 11, was the bill as-written, and passed 9 to 2, with Elsbernd and Alioto-Pier voting no. The other version, which included four amendments by Alioto-Pier and one from Chris Daly (who had asked that the 'file be divided'), also passed 9 to 2, all votes falling the same way.
First Third Friday At Ross's Office
We're a little jealous of District Five. How come they get cool supervisors that open up their offices to the public, put art on the walls, and dispense wine and snacks? We'd like to suggest to Sophie Maxwell that maybe an occassional open house could do wonders for her public image in District Ten. Either that, or maybe start a blog that allows comments. At least the light in her office was on past five -- Elsbernd and McGoldrick's doors were dark. We just hope they weren't off hanging out with downtown business interests.
Meet the New Ethics Boss. Same as the Old Ethics Boss?
Although the confirmation has been delayed, it looks like San Francisco is all set to get a new head of the Ethics Commission. By a 2-1 vote, the Rules Committee of the Board of Supes voted for Eileen Hansen to replace current head Michael Garcia. Voting for her were Sophie Maxwell and Mini-Matt Gonzalez, Ross Mirkarimi, and voting no was Michaela Alioto-Pier. The vote before the full board was postponed for a week to await the return of a traveling Bevan Dufty. While Hansen's confirmation is considered to be a done deal, Michael Garcia is still fighting for his job despite mounting criticism of the Ethics Committee for not being watchdog-y enough.
Your Commute
Getting to the South Bay is getting a little easier with the rejiggered BART schedule. Previously, trains ran either to Millbrae, or to SFO, with only a few going to both. Now, all trains will run through SFO to Millbrae. This is not only good for you guys with the wheeled luggage carts trying to make your United flight to Chicago, but also for you folks trying to catch the Baby Bullet Caltrain at Millbrae, since now twice as many trains will go to both locations now.
Sophie's World
The drive to recall Supervisor Sophie Maxwell has failed, with over half of the almost 6000 signatures gathered invalidated for one reason or another.

