Putting it bluntly the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco campaign to destroy JFK Promenade is one of the most disgraceful brazen political efforts in a City in which conniving, bribery, back room deals and cronyism is the coin of the realm.
To date over $750,000 has been reported to the SF Ethics Commission in the attempt to destroy JFK Promenade. Most of it coming from people for whom money is no object when it comes to achieving their goal. Destruction of a car free sanctuary in Golden Gate Park.
In San Francisco the wealthy benefactors of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, realizing their scorched earth attempt to destroy JFK Promenade is failing, is throwing its own employees into the battle.
A family enjoys the Car Free area by the De Young Museum
The latest disclosure to the Ethics Commission shows a report of $13,600 listed as
NON-MONETARY CONTRIBUTION OF STAFF TIME
Lets hypothesize and say the FAMSF is paying each employee $100 hourly for her/his work to destroy JFK Promenade. That would translate into well over 100 hours of time in the employ of this environmental destruction derby by the wealthiest connected in San Francisco.
I think there is a better use of these employees time than trying to defeat Proposition J on November 8.
Like making the De Young Museum a welcoming place for its visitors.
Leaders of the FAMSF Pack – Dede Wilsey who spent $200,000 to qualify her JFK Promenade Destruction Derby for the ballot laughs with DeYoung CEO Thomas CampbellYES ON J for JFK PROMENADE – The car free oasis in Golden Gate Park the Fine Arts Museum is trying to destroy on November 8
The best, most infuriating part of the October 2019 SF Chronicle article, is the quote from then DA candidate Nancy Tung.
Tung is now firmly entrenched in Brooke Jenkins office with a major position.
What Nancy Tung failed to achieve in 2019 she got in large part.
Thanks to London Breed. Leader of the Chesa Boudin Recall.
Three years ago…..
Tung said the appointment (of Suzy Loftus) “smacks of political cronyism.”
“This is not about leadership in the D.A.’s office. It’s about artificially boosting her political best friend when we’re so close to an election,” she said. “To take away this historic election from the voters, I think is a little bit disrespectful to the people of San Francisco. It very well may backfire.”
Suzy Loftus never had to sign a “Resignation” letter. The voters did it for her a month later.
Interim 153K “Volunteer” DA Brooke Jenkins is the 2022 version of London Breed cronyism run rampant.
What happened to Suzy? Last I heard she was Tik Tok corporate counsel.
All too typical San Francisco with its snarky and hardball politics.
In a display of blatant nepotism and political power San Francisco Mayor London Breed has named her crony Suzy Loftus as interim District Attorney.
The cold blooded politics of this move should give San Franciscans pause about Breed’s method of governance. In a tight race with four candidates the Mayor is obviously attempting to swing the election to her favored candidate.
Supporters of Chesa Boudin immediately took to the streets on Friday to express their outrage at the venue where the interim DA was being trotted out for a celebratory moment.
Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 10.4.2019
San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Friday appointed Suzy Loftus as interim district attorney following George Gascón’s surprising resignation a day earlier, shaking up the race for the city’s next top prosecutor just one month before voters go to the polls.
The Standard published The City Attorney Memo re “Resignation” letters. There’s a bit of History here. In 2003 Willie Brown was Da Mayor (In an earlier gig Breed babysat for his kids).
Anyway, in 2003 Prop H was approved by the Voters. Until then The Mayor appointed ALL Police Commissioners. He/she could fire them at Will.
Prop H passed. Now the appointments are split 4/3 between the Mayor and the Supes.
The only way a Mayor can fire an incumbent Police Commissioner is with a Vote by the Board of Supervisors. I gotta believe Prop H was put on the Ballot as a reaction to Willie’s way of governance. Breed is just following her mentor’s path.
Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 9.27.2022
The San Francisco city attorney said Tuesday that commissioners should not be asked to sign undated letters of resignation, after revelations that Mayor London required the controversial practice of several appointees.
While the policy memo said the city’s charter doesn’t ban the practice, it’s “inconsistent with the purposes underlying the Charter’s removal provisions and could threaten the independence of appointed officials from undue influence by the Mayor, the Board, and other appointing authorities.”
The memo said that appointing authorities “should not require resignation letters before or as a condition of appointment.”
The London Breed way of Governance – Keep those “Resignation” letters coming.
Critics jumped on the unsigned letters, first reported by the San Francisco Standard , arguing it showed inappropriate political micromanaging, causing Breed to reverse the policy Sunday. The mayor had asked one of her appointees to the police commission, Max Carter-Oberstone, to sign such a letter, with critics suggesting the letter could be used to oust him if he strayed from her policies. Breed’s office denies that insinuation, arguing it would have only be used if someone abandoned their duties or committed corruption.
Carter-Oberstone and Breed recently clashed over the commission’s choice of a new president.
It’s easy today to condemn Edward Snowden for abdicating his American citizenship and becoming a Russian citizen.
Do I applaud his Decision? NO. Do I understand why he made it? YES.
People have forgotten how it came to this point. Snowden, the one time National Security Agency (NSA) computer intelligence consultant, in 2013 leaked highly classified information exposing global surveillance programs of the American government.
Edward Snowden, 39, fled the US after leaking secret files that revealed domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by NSA. Illustration: Joseph Pierce/The Guardian
Edward Snowden faced the prospect of spending the rest of his life in an American prison. Had Snowden gone to most any other nation the American government would have sought his immediate extradition. Like Julian Assange, now incarcerated in a British prison and awaiting possible extradition, Edward Snowden faced a similar fate.
Snowden will now have to live with his Decision to become a citizen of Putin’s Russia.
Excerpted from The Guardian 9.26.2022
Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday granting Russian citizenship to the US whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Snowden, 39, a former US intelligence contractor, has been living in Russia since 2013 to escape prosecution in the US after leaking secret files, published by the Guardian, that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the US National Security Agency.
In 2020, Snowden said that he and his then-pregnant wife were applying for Russian citizenship in order not to be separated from their future son in an era of pandemics and closed borders. Russia granted him permanent residency rights the same year, paving the way for him to obtain Russian citizenship.
The whistleblower largely keeps a low profile while living in Russia, occasionally posting photographs of his family in Moscow. He has said in 2019 that he was willing to return to the US if he’s guaranteed a fair trial.
Snowden, who has previously criticised Kremlin’s human rights record, has not commented in public about the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Prior to the war, he repeatedly voiced doubts that Russia would start a war, blaming the media for “pushing” the conflict.
“I’ve just lost any confidence I had that sharing my thinking on this particular topic continues to be useful because I called it wrong,” Snowden wrote on Twitter on 27 February, three days after Russia sent its troops to Ukraine.
Our lives are inextricably tied to The Pink Floyd.
Living in Europe Liz and I saw The Pink Floyd in Saarbrucken, Germany in November 1970 and a few months later in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Eventually returning to San Francisco we saw the group at Winterland.
2017 – Liz visiting Miesau, Germany down the autobahn from Saarbrucken where we saw The Pink Floyd in 19702017 – Lee takes a look back in time in Miesau, GermanyThe German countryside in Miesau, Germany
Our music collection contains most of the group’s LPs and CDs.
Roger Waters may be a controversial figure in 2022 with his views about Ukraine, The Israelis, Facebook and his environmental advocacy.
In our minds Roger Waters will always and forever be the stand out musician of Pink Floyd and beyond.
Attached to this Post is the 23 minute piece Echoes from The Pink Floyd 1971 LP Meddle.
Roger Waters
“So it’s a missive from Mark Zuckerberg to me… with an offer of a huge, huge amount of money and the answer is, ‘Fuck you! No fucking way!”
The musician explained his opposition to Zuckerberg and Facebook.
“I only mention that because it’s the insidious movement of them to take over absolutely everything. So those of us who do have any power, and I do have a little bit—in terms of control of the publishing of my songs I do anyway. So I will not be a party to this bullshit, Zuckerberg.”
Deustche Welle 9.25.2022
Concerts by Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters have been canceled by a venue in the Polish city of Krakow, organizers said on Sunday after the artist’s comments on the war in Ukraine sparked a storm of criticism. “Live Nation Polska and Tauron Arena Krakow have canceled Roger Waters’ concert,” organizers said in a statement on the venue’s website. However, they did not elaborate on the reason for the cancellation.
In a social media post, Waters denied that he or his management had canceled the concerts and criticized Krakow councillor Lukasz Wantuch, accusing him of “draconian censoring of my work.”
On Saturday, state news agency PAP reported that a spokesman for Tauron Arena said Waters’ management had canceled the concert without giving a reason.
Assorted Pink Floyd albums
‘Persona not grata’ in Krakow
The Krakow city council is scheduled to debate a motion on Wednesday that would declare Waters “persona non grata.” One of the councillors, Lukasz Wantuch, had urged city residents to boycott the Waters concerts.
“Roger Waters, an open supporter of Putin, wants to play in Krakow … It would be shameful for our city,” Wantuch said earlier on social media. “Let him sing in Moscow.”
Pink Floyd memorabilia purchased at Rockin’ Rudy’s – Missoula, Montana
Waters says he only wants ‘negotiated peace’
“Lukasz Wantuch seems to know nothing of my history of working, all my life, at some personal cost, in the service of human rights,” Waters said.
Paraphrasing the words of his hit single “Another Brick in the Wall”, Waters also wrote: “Hey! Lukasz Wantuch! ‘Leave them Kids Alone!'”.
He said he had only wanted to urge the countries involved “to work towards a negotiated peace rather than escalate matters towards a bitter end.”
Wantuch said in a Facebook post on Sunday morning that he was in Ukraine and would respond to Waters’ statement in the evening.
I worked in the neighborhood for 10 years where the Double Play is located. First at an import company, which now houses the San Francisco animal shelter, and later at the Best Foods Mayonnaise production plant at Bryant and Mariposa streets.
Down the street from the Double Play was the Oroweat Bakery store which I shopped at regularly.
Back then it was a working class neighborhood with rail cars and big rigs delivering and picking up at both the import company and the mayonnaise factory.
Those days are long gone but the Double Play remained. Until today.
The San Francisco Chronicle 9.24.2022
The Double Play Bar & Grill, a beloved watering hole in San Francisco’s Mission District that first opened in 1909, was destroyed by a fire Saturday morning.
Jonathan Baxter, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department, said the blaze at the landmark establishment on the corner of 16th and Bryant streets started shortly after 5 a.m. Saturday.
The fire resulted in “a total loss” of the three-story building’s ground floor, which housed the Double Play, Baxter said. Video footage from the fire department showed the building’s first floor in flames as firefighters tried to extinguish the fire.
No one was hurt or displaced in the incident, Baxter said, and firefighters put out the blaze before it could spread to the apartments in the building’s two upper floors or adjacent buildings. A photo shared by San Francisco Fire Fighters Local 798 showed the fire caused exterior damage to at least two apartment units on the second floor.
Firefighters are investigating the fire’s cause.
Double Play Bar and Grill in 2007 – Take note of all the news racks. SF Weekly, Bay Guardian, The Chronicle hidden behind the pole and The Examiner
September 23, 2022
Almost a year ago Mayor Breed was waving her Law and Order
flag.
Then Police Commissioner, now District Attorney candidate John
Hamasaki was one voice calling out The Mayor.
It appears Breed’s Chief of Police is not sufficiently Law and Order
in carrying out her Police State San Francisco agenda.
The Standard piece of September 23 has exposed the Mayor’s conniving for all San
Francisco to see.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed is coming down four square as the law and order Queen and spokesperson for the Police Officers Association with her controversial call to flood the Tenderloin with cops and providing them with more surveillance tools.
The Mayor, who was born and raised in the nearby Western Addition housing projects, is well aware of drugs, crime and their impact on society.
The Mayor must know that arresting street level drug dealers and users is not going to solve the crime problem.
The Mayor is taking this action to score political points with a fearful, uptight and paranoid electorate. The reality is that the crime level has not increased. In fact, the rate of crime in several areas is actually down.
That is not stopping the Mayor from plowing full speed ahead with her lock ’em all up talking points. The kind of law…
Now this is serious political reporting with an edge.
Something you don’t normally see in San Francisco where everyone tries to be nice while they are stabbing you in the back.
It’s must reading for all who are concerned about how Mayor London Breed expects total loyalty from her political appointees and the consequences for failure to toe the line.
Excerpted from San Francisco Standard 9.23.2022
The Fate of the Police Chief
Police Commissioner Max Carter-Oberstone said the mayor indicated to him on two occasions that she was considering making a leadership change at SFPD.
Carter-Oberstone said the mayor initially raised the issue in an April 19 meeting when he joined Breed to discuss his reappointment. He was in the process of finishing out the tail end of his predecessor’s term.
When the mayor first told him she needed his support to change leadership at the department, he interpreted that to mean that he should not back a vote by the Police Commission to fire the chief without checking in with her office.
But Carter-Oberstone said the mayor corrected him.
“No, no, that’s not what I’m saying,” Breed said, according to Carter-Oberstone. “I’m saying I might need to remove the chief—and if that happens, I’m going to need your help in doing that.”
London Breed with the cops. Is their Chief on the way out?
The issue came up again last Wednesday when Carter-Oberstone called the Mayor’s Office to let them know he was supporting Cindy Elias as Police Commission president, he said.
First Sean Elsbernd, the mayor’s chief of staff, brought it up and said electing Elias would obstruct their plans, according to Carter-Oberstone.
Then the mayor herself called, he said.
“She was very upset,” Carter-Oberstone said. “The first thing she went to was that she had told me that she would need my help to change leadership at the department and how this would not be possible with Cindy in place.”
When Breed asked him to not support Elias, Carter-Oberstone says he declined.
That conversation apparently spurred Breed to blast Carter-Oberstone at a Chinese press event later in the week, where she also accused the commission of focusing on reform at the expense of public safety.
That message troubled Carter-Oberstone.
“The mayor is pushing this narrative: we can either protect the Asian community from hate-based crime or we can do police reform,” he told The Standard. “Those things are not in tension.”
Jeff Cretan, Breed’s spokesperson, confirmed that both Breed and Elsbernd raised the issue of SFPD leadership with Carter-Oberstone.
But Cretan said the mayor is not considering firing Scott.
“What they both said was that if they ever did need to make a leadership change, which of course can happen, they would need his help,” Cretan said. “But again, that’s not under consideration.”
The Mayor ponders her moves after a Police Commish didn’t follow orders
It appears the water pipe work is done at the site of the beautiful New Zealand Christmas tree adjacent to the Lincoln Park Golf Course.
The work crew has laid an 8″ pipe which will bring recycled water to accommodate an entitled class of golfers.
The work was delayed after a City worker willfully disregarded a San Francisco Public Utilities Final Decision (SFPUC) and destroyed a major root on the tree.
The July 2022 Final Decision in our favor was apparently the first time that the SFPUC has upheld an Appeal to stop the destruction of a tree under its jurisdiction.
Our great victory has been cast aside.
Despite lodging numerous complaints with the San Francisco PUC, the Department of Public Works, the Bureau of Urban Forestry and the Recreation and Parks Departments we have received not one piece of correspondence detailing how and why the City blatantly ignored its own Final Decision to preserve the tree.
All our complaints are just a lot of hot air.
The damage is already done. Hopefully the New Zealand Christmas Tree will survive.
Amputated New Zealand Christmas Tree stump – 9.8.20228″ x8″ concrete pipe to bring recycled water to Lincoln Park Golf Course 9.23.2022Workers putting in concrete pipe – 9.22.2023The work is done at 39th Avenue and Clement Street. Will the tree survive? – 9.23.2022
The beautiful tree before it was willfully damaged by City contractors
Mercifully for Chesa’s Peace of Mind he is not available for you to troll.
Otherwise, I’m sure Chesa would have received Heather Knight lede type Nightcrawler coverage holding him liable.
It stands out that the 153K Volunteer Puppet DA is not mentioned in this op ed.
She’s now the flavor of the month.
Lee Heidhues
9.23.2022
Perhaps you don’t understand how the criminal justice system works. I wrote about the West Portal case involving the teenage girl last year when it occurred while Chesa Boudin was the DA – didn’t blame him then, blamed the judge. No arrests have been made since Hobbs returned to San Francisco so there’s no case yet for Brooke Jenkins to handle.
I’m more concerned about the fact that women are being harassed and followed on the streets of San Francisco and will continue to write about that.
Sincerely,
Heather Knight
Columnist
Bill Gene Hobbs has been the subject of complaints from women who say he has stalked and grabbed them.
Heather
9.23.2022
Thanks for your response to my email
We have a long torturous history of communication
I totally concur with the 2nd graph in your email that shining a light on abuse of women is something you will always report
My point is now and will be forever that the MSM spent 2 1/2 years destroying Chesa
And abetted by 9MM (the final total) in MAGA money appealing to the most paranoid psyche of San Francisco the political lynching of Chesa worked.
Were Chesa still DA every crime in San Francisco, abetted by the MSM, would be tossed at Chesa’s doorstep
Your piece of 9.22 included.
I did note buried deep in the story is the fact Chesa charged this guy with a misdemeanor. I appreciate that inclusion
Chesa is very honest ethical intelligent Man
The disgraceful Coupd’etat in which the MSM was complicit will rank with the worst moments in San Francisco history
Lee Heidhues
Top photo – Artwork accompanying @simbagirrl Tweet 9,23.2022
Says it all about the current State of Play in San Francisco politics.
Glimpse into Sausage-Making at @LondonBreed’s City Hall Attacks Commish Carter-Oberstone.
Lee's Perspective 