A Political Tapestry

On Thursday the 15th at San Francisco's City Hall...



...there was a "Public Safety Commission" hearing led by Supervisors Mirkarimi, Maxwell, and Dufty that was dealing with crime-fighting issues, which was a bit of a bad joke.



There were a number of Police Department spokesmen speaking in bureaucratese about why nobody seems to get arrested in San Francisco unless you attack Elie Weisel in a downtown hotel and leave all your identification behind so the police can actually track you down.



The Civic Center building I live in has been the target of a number of thieves recently who have stolen bikes from the basement and personal effects from tenants' apartments. When the police have been called, they show up anywhere from 10 to 12 hours after the phone call, and when told that there is a video camera in the lobby that might help in identifying the perpetrators, the police have said to the manager, and I quote, "We're not interested in seeing it. Why don't you go back to your apartment?"



There is something so rotten at the top of San Francisco's Police Department that the entire city is starting to smell it.



H. Brown, in a smart, funny column at the "Fog City Journal," (click here) despairs of anything changing unless we get rid of Newsom, Harris, Fong and a few others in one fell swoop.



h. was also hosting his weekly "Burrito Salon" on Friday the 16th, where a number of local political celebrities were mixing it up...



...including Angela Alioto...



...and City Attorney public spokesman Matt Dorsey, who in person was friendly and charming. He could give Gavin's spokesman, Peter Ragone, a few lessons in people management.



Dorsey brought Brown a hostess gift, which was a bottle of wine called "Rabid Red," which couldn't have been any more appropriate.



Later that evening, the monthly art show in Supervisor Mirkarimi's office in City Hall took place...



...with tapestries by Martin Grizzell, above right.



Supervisor Mirkarimi was absent, since he had joined Mayor Newsom for a whirlwind weekend trip to Japan to visit "sister city" Osaka...



...but his aide Boris did a fine job of playing host, as did the amiable artist himself. Now, if Mirkarimi could just reform the terribly managed San Francisco Police Department...