The sad photo above is the destroyed New Zealand Christmas tree root wrapped in burlap.
For now all work has stopped on the recycled water line project as the tree awaits its fate.
It’s been three days since San Francisco City workers, in violation of a Decision ordering that a beautiful New Zealand Christmas Tree be preserved, wantonly hacked off a large root of the until now decades old thriving tree.
Thursday we were contacted by the City’s Bureau of Urban Forestry and told an arborist would do a site inspection at the scene of the carnage.
I asked that I be contacted beforehand so I could meet and talk about this violation of the Hearing Officer’s Order to Preserve the Tree. I was never contacted.
I asked that the City send a Crew out to thoroughly water the tree. As far as I can determine this has not yet happened.
So I visited the corner of 39th Avenue and Clement Street adjacent to the Lincoln Park Golf Course, whose entitled golfer community is the beneficiary of the recycled water main which will water the greens.
There is no benefit to the environment as the destruction of this beautiful tree clearly indicates.
City damaged New Zealand Christmas tree behind the barricades trying to surviveThe destroyed New Zealand Christmas tree stump wrapped in burlapThe tree wrapped in a coil behind the barricadeWork site at 39th Avenue and Clement Street
In their haste to bring recycled water to the privileged class at Lincoln Park Golf Course, the City totally ignored the Decision and City regulations requiring a Tree Protection Plan.
Liz Heidhues visited the site of the destruction earlier today and took some photographic evidence.
The destroyed New Zealand Christmas Tree rootThe City puts down a tarp to hide its wanton disregard of an Administrative decisionThe debris surrounding the dying New Zealand Christmas Tree
A dying tree. A death caused by San Francisco city workers.The New Zealand Christmas Tree before its destruction by San Francisco city workers on September 7, 2022
We need every tree in the city and Bay Area for oxygen and beauty!-Marion Gerlind, Phd.
Lee Heidhues 9.8.2022
In violation of a binding Decision, City workers brazenly cut away a large root despite the City’s own rules about putting a ‘Tree Protection Plan’ in place astride the Lincoln Park Golf Course.
The City is totally non responsive to the several messages we have conveyed since learning of the wanton destruction of a beautiful New Zealand Christmas tree we successfully fought to be saved at 39th Avenue and Clement Street.
The total silence of San Francisco government officials to this degradation of the environment after Liz Heidhues and I obtained a favorable Decision from the Public Utilities Commission in July 2022 is an outrage.
The City has already irreparably damaged the New Zealand Christmas tree.
The now destroyed New Zealand Christmas tree
Before commencing work on a water pipe to bring recycled water to accommodate a privileged class of golfers this ‘Tree Protection Plan’ was a prerequisite.
This abuse is yet another example of the cavalier manner San Francisco government treatsits citizens.
An abuse which extends to abusing its citizens even when these citizens have obtained a legally binding Decision from a Public Utilities Commission hearing officer.
How does using a chainsaw to cut away a massive root for “our” tree follow the instructions of Hearing Officer Greg Lyman to protect the tree at all costs? (Ruling 7.6.2022)
I am the Plaintiff filing the original complaint after seeing “Notice of Tree Removal” posted on “our” tree by the SFPUC.
I observed and documented the Notice 1.10.2022, while walking in the Urban Tree Canopy, home to “our” tree at 39th and Clement.
Severing this massive root is a violation of the “Tree Protection Plan” (Public Works Code Section 808(c)(4) ). A root this size is a major source of nutrition and stability for this big healthy tree, now endangered.
The destroyed New Zealand Christmas Tree Root laying like a dead carcass
Further construction compacting the remaining root system will cause more damage.
Was my staying up until dawn to research air gaps and public pipes systems in order to prepare for our Appeal and Hearing all in vain? I am⁰ not an engineer.
The public grievance system in San Francisco is a dog-and-pony show for residents not having influence, money, and time to throw at the bureaucracy.
The damage is done. When a limb of survival has been amputated, it cannot be grafted back on.
Recreation and Park employee, blatantly disregarded a Hearing Officer’s Decision, and cut off a large root of the beautiful New Zealand Christmas Tree at 39th Avenue and Clement Street.
Lee Heidhues 9.7.2022
The City and County of San Francisco has willfully and illegally destroyed a beautiful New Zealand Christmas Tree which Liz Heidhues and I successfully worked months to preserve.
After submitting numerous documents and participating in two hearings with our co-appellant a San Francisco Public Utilities Hearing office issued a Decision in our favor.
The New Zealand Christmas Tree must be preserved.
Pile of Destruction at site of New Zealand Christmas Tree – 9.7.2022
Despite this legally binding document The City’s Recreation and Parks department, which was not even a party to this action, destroyed the tree by cutting away a massive root. This morning I spoke with one of the contractor’s working on water main project adjacent to the tree. He told me that his company would not damage the tree.
Contractors at the site of the destroyed New Zealand Christmas Tree – 9.7.2022
Instead, a worker from the Recreation and Parks Department had no qualms about destroying this beautiful tree. He did the the dirty work himself.
Industrial backhoe at the site of the destroyed New Zealand Christmas Tree – 9.7.2022Site of the “Saved” now City destroyed New Zealand Christmas Tree
Top photo – Pity the poor New Zealand Christmas Tree destroyed by workers from The City and County of San Francisco fçppp op p
I presume that we can expect to hear more Leanna Louie’s social media rants now that the Court has upheld the law and wasn’t swayed by her bullhorn style tactics. They were effective in destroying The Real DA Chesa Boudin and three School members. The Court was having none of it.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Ulmer has denied election law violator Leanna Louie’s petition to force her way onto the November ballot after the City Attorney determined she violated the City’s election law requirements.
I Watched entire 90 minute spectacle yesterday afternoon.
Leanna Louie’s Attorneys were woefully unprepared.
Judge Ulmer pushed hard on Atty. Shen re misrepresentations of Case law.
Atty. Linnenbach sparred continuously with Judge. Interrupted him.
She Definitely played to Leanna’s “Army” in the Courtroom. During the hearing Judge Ulmer reminded Linnenbach that Leanna’s “Army” was not a Party to the action.
Election law violator Leanna Louie’s last minute attempt to overturn the City Attorney’s decision tossing her off the November ballot has been denied in SF Superior Court.
Joe Eskenazi, who broke the story about Leanna Louie’s election law violations and was labeled a “Nazi” by Leanna for his truth telling thoroughly reported what happened in Courtroom 302 yesterday.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) murdered the Palestinian-American famed journalist on May 11, 2022 – Shireen Abu Akleh.
It was a wanton cold blooded assassination by an Israeli soldier.
For the past four months the Israelis have denied their guilt.
Now the Israelis are saying an Israeli likely murdered Ms. Abu Akleh. The Israelis are calling it a mistake. The Israelis thought she was a Palestinian terrorist.
This is a bold faced lie.
Ms. Abu Akleh was wearing a clearly identifiable PRESS insignia when she was cut down in the prime of her life.
The Israelis say there will be no further investigation and the case, in the minds of the Israeli government, is closed.
It was a war crime and needs to be investigated at the International War Crimes Tribunal.
Excerpted from Al Jazeera – 9.5.2022
May 11, 2022 – Shireen Abu Akleh lies mortally wounded after being shot in the head by an Israeli soldier
Ramallah, Occupied West Bank – Israel has said there is a “high possibility” that slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was “accidentally hit” by Israeli army fire but added that it would not be launching a criminal investigation.
In a background briefing for journalists prior to the release of the results, senior Israeli army officials said they had met the soldier, and that “if he did it, he did it by mistake”.
They also repeatedly said they were “very proud of the conduct of our soldiers” and that the soldiers “were briefed and acted according to procedure”.
The journalists who were standing next to her and witnessed the killing also said no Palestinian fighters were present.
Shireen Abu Akleh – 1971- 2022
Palestinian witnesses told Al Jazeera’s The Take podcast that they were never contacted by Israel as part of the investigation.
Israel tried to ‘obscure the truth’
In a statement on Monday, Abu Akleh’s family said Israel tried to “obscure the truth and avoid responsibility for killing Shireen Abu Akleh”.
“As expected, Israel has refused to take responsibility for murdering Shireen. Our family is not surprised by this outcome since it’s obvious to anyone the Israeli war criminals cannot investigate their own crimes,” the statement read.
Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian American, was shot dead by Israeli forces on May 11, while she was covering an army raid on Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank
Palestinian people will always remember Shireen Abu Akleh. She is now a martyr for her people
Israeli authorities released on Monday afternoon the results of their investigation into the killing. Witnesses, Al Jazeera, and numerous investigations by the United Nations, human rights groups, and media organisations have found that an Israeli soldier shot Abu Akleh.
The Israeli investigation said that its soldiers had come under fire from Palestinian fighters at the scene, a claim that has not been corroborated by footage of the incident.
“It is not possible to unequivocally determine the source of the gunfire which hit and killed Ms. Abu Akleh,” the report said, adding that it remains a “possibility” that she “was hit by bullets fired by armed Palestinian gunmen”.
Shireen Abu Akleh was wearing a clearly identifiable PRESS sign when she was murdered by the Israeli military
“After a comprehensive examination of the incident, and based on all the findings, the Military Advocate General found that under the circumstances of the case, there is no suspicion of a criminal offense that justifies the opening of a Military Police investigation,” the report said.
Sadly and predictably the Reactionaries prevailed.
June 7, 2022 is a Day Which Will Live in Infamy in the History of San Francisco.
The political lynching of The Real DA Chesa Boudin is predictably receding into the rear view political mirror of San Francisco.
The Coup d’etat which ousted Chesa is akin to what happened to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
Like Chesa the Rosenbergs were Jewish.
Like Chesa being prosecuted for his “Progressive” view of Justice, the Rosenbergs were prosecuted in the era of anti-communist hysteria in 1950’s America.
Like Chesa being prosecuted by an increasingly law and order San Francisco, the Rosenbergs were a scapegoat for a fearful and paranoid citizenry.
The worst thing about Chesa’s political lynching is this happened in a town which likes to think of itself as “Progressive.”
That moniker can never be applied to San Francisco, again.
Mayor London Breed and her City Hall collaborators, though loath to admit it, were the driving force behind this right wing political coup d’etat.
In Chesa’s place Mayor Breed selected a shameless opportunist who politically destroyed the Man who advanced her career.
London Breed and Puppet DA Brooke Jenkins will reap a political whirlwind for their treachery.
It is not far fetched to find parallels in the attempted Recall of Progressive San Francisco District Chesa Boudin and the June 19, 1953 execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
In the midst of the 1950’s Red Scare paranoia the Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage and executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York. The evidence against both Julius and Ethel was sketchy, particularly Ethel’s. Their arrest, trial and conviction was one of the most shameful episodes in American political history.
Tabloid journalism during The Red Scare
After the execution the French author Jean Paul Sartre penned the following in the magazine Liberation.
Now that we have been made your allies, the fate of the Rosenbergs could be a preview of our own future. You, who claim to be masters of the world, had the opportunity to prove that you were first of…
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ – the classic 1929 anti-war novel by Erich Maria Remarque – is in its third cinematic interpretation. The latest version, made in Germany, will be the European nation’s entry as best international film at the 2023 Academy Awards.
The film will begin streaming on Netflix October 28, 2022.
Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 8.25.2022
A jury in Munich decided on Wednesday evening which production should get a chance to win the best international feature film Academy Award in 2023 — and selected “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Edward Berger, who also directed the “Deutschland 83” TV series.
First German adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s literary classic will stream on Oct. 28.
“Erich Maria Remarque wrote a book almost 100 years ago that is, unfortunately, more relevant today than we expected,” director Berger said after the announcement by German Films, the foreign representative of German cinema. He added that it’s a great honor to enter the race for the Oscars with the film.
The last time Germany won the best international feature film Oscar was 15 years ago, with Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s “The Lives of Others.” Last year, Maria Schrader’s futuristic tragicomedy “I’m Your Man” made it onto the short list but not into the final round.
“All Quiet on the Western Front” is based on Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel of the same name, which is regarded as the epitome of the anti-war novel. The German author paints a portrait of a generation of young men who are in an upbeat mood when they leave school for the front; they end up perishing in the murderous war machine of World War I.
At the time, “All Quiet on the Western Front” was the biggest success in German literary history.
All Quiet on the Western Front – Still from 1930 film
The novel was first adapted for the screen in the US in 1930, a film that won two Oscars. A second film version followed in 1979.
Berger’s production is the third version, albeit the first from Germany.
Nightcrawler Heather Knight needs to take a look in the Mirror.
She, as much as any columnist, has contributed to the political atmosphere in San Francisco she now piously bemoans.
Her non stop attacks on the The Real DA Chesa Boudin. Columns complete with innuendo, falsehoods, misstatements and exaggeration and, when it fits her bias, slavish toadyism, contributed to the Recall of an ethical honest District Attorney.
The latest example of Heather’s toadyism is the nonsensical fawning column she published after hanging out with the 153K “Volunteer” Puppet DA Brooke Jenkins. Complete with a trip to the ice cream shop.
Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 9.3.2022
The biggest difference between here and Sacramento, as new Assembly Member Matt Haney tells it, is the political mood. It’s not nasty. It’s not toxic.
People acknowledge each other’s differences in a state Legislature with real, live Republicans. They work to find common ground rather than tear each other apart. And they actually get a fair amount done.
“I love San Francisco,” Haney told me in an interview. “I don’t miss City Hall.”
In just the past several weeks, behavior at City Hall seems to have worsened.
Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Shamann Walton
Board President Shamann Walton, for example, acknowledged he used racial slurs when a sheriff’s cadet asked him to remove his belt before passing through a City Hall metal detector. The cadet says Walton also threatened to “whoop your ass.” Both men are Black. Walton, who disputed the cadet’s account, didn’t apologize.
Election law violator Leanna Louie and Puppet DA Brooke Jenkins who Heather Knight slavishly portrayed in a recent column
The toxicity at City Hall has existed for a long time.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin apologized last year for “the tenor that I have struck in my public relationships” and said he sought alcohol treatment. He and other supervisors have bullied department staff in meetings, driving some to tears, and he’s famously berated people in late-night phone calls.
Mayor London Breed has been known in the past to yell at staffers and freeze out supervisors with whom she doesn’t agree.
There’s the constant thrum of Twitter fights (of which Haney sometimes partakes),mansplaining and personal attacks by many City Hall denizens. Calling fellow liberal Democrats right-wingers advancing a Trumpian agenda has become just part of the landscape. Several meetings in recent months — from the school board to the redistricting committee — have descended into chaos.
Embattled Supervisor Gordon Mar
Sometimes the nastiness at City Hall spills into the neighborhoods. Supervisor Gordon Mar, who as far as I can tell is one of the nicest people at City Hall, had his reputation smeared with flyers posted around the Sunset calling him a “communist pedophile.” It’s unclear who posted the hateful screeds.
If this was the culture in a city government that was solving San Francisco’s big problems and improving the lives of its residents, that would be one thing. But it’s not.
The saga of Leanna Louie’s attempt to force her way back onto the November 8, 2022 ballot after the City Attorney disqualified her will be resolved on September 7.
Following are the instructions to Leanna Louie’s attorneys and the San Francisco City Attorney issued by Judge Richard Ulmer.
When I saw the City Attorney’s pleadings are due at 5:00AM on Labor Day I contacted the office to ask if this was a “typo.” No. It’s not.
Leanna Louie, who is attempting to run for District 4 supervisor, rallies with supporters outside City Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, in San Francisco. Noah Berger for The Standard
Petitioner shall file and her serve her opening memorandum of points and authorities and any supporting papers by noon on Friday, September 2, 2022.
Respondents shall email their responsive memorandum of points and authorities, as a Word document, and any supporting papers to the Court at rulmer@sftc.org and to Petitioner’s counsel by 5:00 a.m. on Monday, September 5, 2022.
No reply brief shall be filed.
This Court will hear Petitioner’s petition on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. in Department 302 and the Court shall issue its order ruling on the petition by the end of Wednesday, September 7, 2022.
SO ORDERED
Hon. Richard Ulmer
Judge of the Superior Court
Attached is the Declaration filed by Director of Elections John Arntz setting forth the time frame to send the November ballot to the printer.
Tabloid journalism during The Red Scare 
Lee's Perspective 