At least one person at the Chronicle has had enough with the Mirkarimi debacle and doesn't care to see the guy publicly flogged any further, and shockingly, it's Chuck Nevius. The man of many opinions writes today, "I don't think Mayor Ed Lee should start the process to remove Mirkarimi as sheriff," and "enough is enough."

Even though former Supervisor Mirkarimi once tried to have a sit-down with Nevius to discuss his "unfair coverage" of Mirkarimi's progressive ways, Nevius forgives him now. And despite basically seeing Mirkarimi as a schmuck who shouldn't have tried to suppress evidence (that video) of abusing his wife, Nevius is in no mood to watch the circus go on, with an Ethics Commission hearing and getting the Board of Supes involved, etc. Lord knows Chris Daly would probably show up, and nobody needs that.

He also admits to having been contacted by multiple ex-girlfriends of Mirkarimi with presumably similar stories to Christina Flores, and he doesn't feel every one of their stories needs to be told in the media either. Basically, Nevius frames Mirkarimi's punishment thusly:

...More likely, he serves out the remaining three-plus years as sheriff. After all, this isn't the mayor's office. Months go by without a quote from the sheriff appearing in the media. His main job is to administer the jail, and at this point, with an experienced staff, it pretty much runs itself. ... Politically, he's done.

Members of the sheriff's staff know that, of course. Good luck running the department. After over 30 years with the sainted Mike Hennessey in charge, it was going to be uphill work for the new guy, no matter who he was. With Mirkarimi seen as a short-timer, the level of cooperation will be microscopic.

This scenario leaves Mirkarimi sitting in his office, looking out the window for a few years while contenders line up to run for his job. It's a gloomy prospect.

Let's see if Ed Lee listens, or if the vast moderate-wing conspiracy against Mirkarimi wins out.

[Chron]

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