Published since 2005. San Francisco is a city that belongs to the people of the world. Hence this blog has a global focus. The name "Sam Spade's San Francisco" refers to an exciting era in the City's history, the time of Dashiell Hammett's fictional gumshoe and San Francisco character, Sam Spade. My name is Tom Dunn and I edit the blog. I'm not as exciting as Sam Spade, but I am definitely a San Francisco character.Contact or on Twitter -- Search blog below.
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Sunday, July 01, 2007
Mayor Newsom: a pigeon with tough feet
Sometimes I think a person needs a touch of compulsive masochism in order to run for public office in San Francisco.
Consider what Mayor Newsom went through at the Jean Parker Elementary School Auditorium in Chinatown. It was a two hour event. To know what it was like, imagine that several hundred people cram themselves into a gymnasium designed for fewer people - children at that. Imagine that the ventilation system is over-worked and the air is stuffy and warm. Imagine there are not only Chinatown residents, but there are some scattered people from throughout the City - all with diverse interests, peeve points, favorite issues and some, of course, have come blazing mad about something or other and are ready for a battle.
Whew! What a set-up!
Then the bricks start flying. MUNI! ... Muni, Muni, Muni ... damn that Muni ... bitch, bitch, bitch.
While the Mayor took the mic and tried talking about the planned Central Subway project that will be bring Muni light-rail service to Chinatown, the loudest mouths in the room were hecklers from other neighborhoods who just wanted to be seen yelling at the Mayor, as if it is the stylish thing to do.
One particularly ill-informed fellow demanded that the Mayor give up his limousine (really a Lincoln Town Car just like the ones you see for hire all over town) and ride Muni exclusively for a month.
What!
I wonder if that fellow has any idea what the Mayor's daily schedule is like. Perhaps that guy is isolated in some way and really doesn't know that the mayors of major US cities, the governors of our states and the president are all prime targets for terrorists and political assassins. Perhaps he didn't think to address the issues of security and communication - both absolutely essential to a mayor, a governor and the president.
It's good for the Mayor to go out and talk to people. Good questions and good ideas come right alongside the asinine at public meetings. After yesterday's meeting the Mayor smiled and waived and shook hands all the way back to his car. As his driver (an SF police officer) pulled away from the curb, most people in the Mayor's position would have had the thought that they needed a drink after such an ordeal, but Mayor Newsom has vowed not to drink. So, I guess for him, it's just another cup of coffee and back to the office.
No wonder nobody wants to run against him. Whomever wins election to Mayor of San Francisco will be stuck dealing with loudmouths like the guy who demanded the Mayor ride Muni, or with folks like me, who sometimes take our public servants to task over the Internet.
Politics can be tough, but San Francisco politicians like Gavin Newsom are just like our City's pigeons - they're survivors with tough feet.
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