By Alison Soltau
San Francisco Examiner
Thursday, September 11, 2003
In yet another round of The City's most grueling job interview, mayoral candidates pulled out their resumes Tuesday night and sold themselves as politicians with a vision who also aren't afraid to get their hands dirty in the minutiae of city government.
The occasion was a forum organized by a coalition of neighborhood groups from Buena Vista, the Castro, Hayes Valley and Duboce Triangle, where candidates were asked to wax local on everything from homelessness to the havoc Halloween celebrations have created.
Libertarian candidate Michael Denny kicked off the forum with a spirited attack on the cost of doing business in San Francisco and the bloated city bureaucracy, themes later echoed by some of the frontrunner candidates.
Denny pointed out that a punitive payroll tax deterred many businesses from growing their staff at a time T he City has been hit by rising unemployment.
Supervisor Matt Gonzales was keen to shed any impression that he is anti-big business because of his previous opposition to increasing office space. He spoke about the need to protect industrial zones from housing sprawl in order to deliver more jobs to San Franciscans. Gonzales warned that those waiting for a biotech-led economic recovery down in Mission Bay couldn't count on it, because of the specter of the formidable payroll tax.
"Even when businesses don't have our long term goals, it doesn't mean we can't work together," he said.
Both Gonzales and attorney Angela Alioto spoke in favor of rent control, with Alioto saying San Francisco would have lost its "soul" in the dot-com era without rent control.
With a high-energy, rapid-fire delivery, Alioto pledged to lobby the federal and state governments to keep the dollars rolling in to fight the ongoing HIV epidemic.
Supervisor Gavin Newsom was unable to make the forum because of a crammed schedule that included a house party, a fund-raiser and an address to the Small Property Owners Association, his campaign manager John Shanley told The Examiner.
Newsom took a fair number of jabs from other candidates, nevertheless, as homelessness was a hot topic, as was Newsom's Care Not Cash welfare reform.
Gonzales said he didn't have a "sexy little homeless package" -- referring to Newsom's Care Not Cash plan -- but would work to create more affordable housing and support services. Alioto discussed her longstanding plan to triage the homeless into transitional housing, and Treasurer Susan Leal proposed appointing a lead agency to properly channel the millions of dollars The City and non-profits are spending on the problem each year.
Supervisor Tom Ammiano said The City often overlooks the sheer number of homeless people who were mentally ill, and said he is in talks with the federal government to secure more funding to address the problem on the streets. He urged a strong turnout in support of Proposition H, a police oversight reform measure.
Attacking the issue of police accountability from a different angle was former police chief Tony Ribera, who said he opposes Prop. H, which would allow the Board of Supervisors to appoint members of the Police Commission. Ribera said only the mayor, as chief executive, should have the power to appoint police commissioners.
Ribera said there was no need to scout around outside The City for a new police chief, and unveiled a list of his six favorites for the job, which included the current chief Alex Fagan, Mission district Capt. Greg Corrales, Assistant chief Heather Fong, Central police station Capt. Steve Tacchini, Bayview police Lt. Eric Quema, and Deputy Chief Mindy Pengel.
Candidate Roger Schulke said The City must privatize MUNI, and urged the cessation of benefits to homeless people unless they can demonstrate they are from San Francisco.
Carpenter Jim Reid said the City would save money trimming MUNI's middle management. He said he had cut a deal with Home Depot to provide materials to cheaply build his design for small, affordable housing for The City's homeless.