Michela Alioto-Pier

Election Money -- Who Gave What in San Francisco

Invest, young man. Invest in politics! ​As of last night, San Francisco's election season is all over except for the shoutin' -- and recriminatin' and fulminatin' and tabulatin' who bought what. Assuming Mayor Ed Lee does pull it out, a number of observers will note he did so in spite of the actio ... More >>

Dave Schwartz, "Hero" of Nevada's Pot Movement, to Take Over Michela Alioto-Pier's Mayoral Campaign

Luke ThomasMichela's marijuana man​The days when "gambling" with marijuana on a Las Vegas' Strip could result in lifetime imprisonment are long gone. Reefer now mixes with roulette in the nation's Sin City -- where, it should be noted, one has never needed a medical recommendation to use prostitut ... More >>

List: Checking In with the S.F. Mayoral Race

Mayoral Candidates: Who's Hot, Who's Not

Chris Daly -- would have been "hot"​After Supervisor John Avalos jumped into the mayor's race yesterday afternoon, we started thinking: with so many candidates now in the race, how will voters decide?To date, there are more than 30 potential candidates who want to be the city's chief executive. Of ... More >>

Building Unions Give Leland Yee Boost in Mayoral Race

Building a voting base​State Senator Leland Yee got an early and powerful leg up in the San Francisco mayoral race last night when one of the city's largest coalition of unions voted "overwhelmingly" to endorse him in the 2012 mayoral race.It was the first major endorsement in the race -- and with ... More >>

Hisashi Sugaya, SF Planning Commissioner, Offends Tenderloin Residents With Drug Joke

Chris Daly wannabe​Planning Commissioner Hisashi "Bill" Sugaya is well on his way to becoming as notoriously offensive as former Supervisor Chris Daly. While he isn't dropping F-bombs and accusing the mayor of having a cocaine habit, Sugaya's offenses are ticking people off just the same. Last mo ... More >>

Oaksterdam's Richard Lee Attends Daly Roast, Treated to Wheelchair Joke

No Joke​Aside from his fleeting visibility in the media during his push to legalize marijuana with Proposition 19, Oaksterdam University's Richard Lee is a loner. Lee is known for keeping a low profile -- both in Oakland and with the media --  so much so that he was described as a ... More >>

Will Supes Approve $600K Ramp in Board Chambers?

It'll be a hell of a lot nicer than that...​Tucked away among $48 million worth of funding, the Board of Supervisors Budget Committe yesterday approved the funding of a $600,000 ramp in City Hall. We've written a little bit about this -- the ramp was originally priced at more than $1.1 million, bu ... More >>

Supes Pass Alcohol Fee -- By Non-Veto-Proof 7-3 Vote

Demon rum lives to fight another day...​The Board of Supervisors has just passed the controversial "Charge for Harm" Alcohol fee, which aims to fund the city's detox centers by raising $16-odd million from San Francisco alcohol wholesalers. The proposal stands about as much chance of making it int ... More >>

Will San Francisco Overlook Target's Ties to Gay Hate?

This dog may have contributed to anti-gay causes as well...​ The city of San Francisco had multiple orgasms ripple through the streets when the news broke that Target is planning on opening not one -- but TWO -- stores in town. Doesn't that just make your toes curl and your lip twitch? They like u ... More >>

List: Jeff Adachi's Punishment

No legal authority? No problem!

SF GovInAction: So Long, Farewell, Auf Weidersehen, Adieu

There's virtually no government happening this week, and the few meetings scheduled are so pointless that you'd be excused for calling them vanity government. David Chiu just likes to call stuff to order -- and can you blame him? But before I cover this week's vanity meetings to reveal once agai ... More >>

Committee Assignments are Here! Which Supes Got Screwed?

But that's a loser committee!​The day the board president hands out committee assignments to the city supervisors always feels just a bit like junior high school. Who's the new boy? Who got all his electives? Who's stuck taking woodshop in seventh period? Who'll sit at the cool kids' table? Who'll ... More >>

Daly Sics City Attorney on Mayor over Ouster of Film Commission Head

exzooberance.comCoyotes, it seems, don't always do as they're told​When Supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier and Chris "I represent the disabled community, not you" Daly see eye to eye on an issue, it's a good sign that everything is in place for the big apocalyptic finale in 2012. And yet, Mayor Gavin ... More >>

At the Jersey Shore, Everybody Has a Nickname. Even San Francisco Politicians

Yes, San Francisco's politics suffers from bouts of dysfunction. But let's face it: The exploits of the boys and girls at City Hall can't hold a candle to the high drama on display in MTV's new blockbuster reality series, Jersey Shore. The show features an eight-count of self-styled "guidos" and "gu ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: A Big Week For Nurses, Lawsuits, and Jokes About Fights on Muni

  Monday, Nov. 16, 2 p.m. - Public Safety CommitteeIt's an exciting time to be on the Public Safety Committee. Swine flu is rampant, there's a new top cop in town, and SOMEBODY needs to decide if Hugues de La Plaza was: (a) the victim of a grisly murder, or; (b) a committed neat freak to t ... More >>

Mayor's Office: Supes' Veto Override on Immigrant Policy 'Cannot Take Effect'

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors today mustered enough votes to override Mayor Gavin Newsom's veto of a law softening the city's treatment of juvenile undocumented immigrants who are arrested. But the mayor's office was quick to dismiss the widely expected vote as a symbolic gesture that would h ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: Gavin Newsom, the Morning After, Will Still Have to Celebrate Small Business Month

  The news at the end of October was devastating for San Francisco: Trauma and Gavin Newsom for Governor were canceled in the same week. It's heartbreaking: Both were expensive pilots with such promising premises. In Trauma, a group of troubled but devil-may-care emergency medical technic ... More >>

It's Your Friday Morning News Quiz!

It's the law...​Cops! Compost! Conspiracies! Killers! The Board of Supervisors has voted, 8-2, that we should have a quiz right now (Michela Alioto-Pier abstained -- but we won't hold it against her). 1. The San Francisco Police Department announced that DNA evidence could tie an unsolved 1984 mur ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: Your 'Labor Day' Guide to What the F*#@k Happened in the Last Eight Months

With a federal holiday appears on the calendar, city hall's motto becomes: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but how much time off you can take from your country". In this particular case, The supervisors like to celebrate Labor Day by pretending to have labored, while their staff likes ... More >>

It's Your Friday Morning News Quiz!

Can you answer Question No. 1? It's Chris Daly's world and the rest of us are just paying rent (you think we can buy in San Francisco?) It was another fabulous week in the city -- or did you black out and miss it, Muni-style? Let's see if you were paying attention: 1. Supervisor Chris Daly, cha ... More >>

Possible promises Gavin Newsom made to keep Levi's in S.F.

Pride Rides: How Will Our Elected Officials Be Cruising This Weekend?

Bevan Dufty's sweet ride...In case you missed the proliferation of rainbow flags and the huge influx of prideful people heading into our fair city, things are ramping up for the big Pride Parade on Sunday, June 28.As the knives begin to come out behind the scenes in the city's simmering budget battl ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: Mandatory Composting Gets Some New Sponsors. Which Bin Do We Put 'Futility' In?

I hope you'll forgive me if I keep this week's Gov InAction curt: I told WAY too many David Chiu jokes over the weekend, and now I'm worn out. I've got to remember to pace myself. However, in case you're wondering, here's how many David Chius it takes to change a light bulb: • None: Aaro ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: These Are Not the Budget Numbers You're Looking For

The excitement stops here. I know ... I know ... that today's the day Gubernatorial Candidate Gavin Newsom releases his budget for San Francisco (a California city he occasionally resides in for campaign purposes). And I know that, when he does, we're all going to die a little. I know. But ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: Toxic Babies Are Not an Option!

Sometimes ... and I want to make it very clear that this is not drug-induced ... I don't think San Francisco is a real city at all. I think that maybe we're a Lego city, populated by Weebles. It makes as much sense as anything Sophie Maxwell's said lately. Why would I think this? Well, h ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: Supes Stand by Each Other After Little John Avalos Has His Bar Mitzvah

This is the week the new Board of Supervisors goes from JV to Varsity. I know it felt like they'd hit the big time before, what with hundreds of people crowding the hearing rooms to yell at them about stuff they hadn't done -- but that's just the crowd getting fired up by San Francisco's airheade ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: Peskin Settles Score with Alioto-Pier

By Benjamin Wachs There is one meeting happening this week. On Tuesday, at 10 a.m., the Rules Committee (which, at this point, is Chris Daly and Bevan Dufty) will be getting together to discuss proposed appointments to the Historical Preservation Commission and the Small Business Commission. T ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: Who Wants to Play on Moscone Center's New Waterslide?

By Benjamin Wachs It could just be me, wading through the hell of Gavin Newsom's fevered imagination the way Peary crossed the arctic, but I kind of feel like all of San Francisco is governmented-out this week. The Mayor pummeled us with 7.5 hours worth of speeches last week, not a single minut ... More >>

Fiona Ma's Right-Hand Man Bill Barnes Quits, Heads Back to S.F.

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma's chief of staff, Bill Barnes, surprised his fellow San Francisco politicos earlier this month by abruptly handing in his resignation. Barnes didn't give the standard line of wanting to spend more time with his wife and children -- he doesn't have any. Instead, he told SF Week ... More >>

Senior Memories

Some of the Class of 2000's stranger moments. (A lot of them involve Chris Daly.)

The Class of 2000

Eight years after being swept into office, a once-disorganized band of neighborhood leftists tries to create a citywide political machine.

SF Gov InAction: Superheroes, Stereotypes, and all of San Francisco to become One Giant Tourism District!

Avoiding Judgment

Backer of prostitution measure in a legal jam.

SF Gov InAction: Supes Divide the City Amongst Themselves, have Big Plans for 19th Avenue, Try to Ban Smoking in Small Steps

SF Gov InAction: The Supes are Back. Do We Need Them?

SF Gov InAction: Anti-smoking legislation, African Americans leaving SF, and whistleblower protection. Plus: It's cover-your-ass Thursday at City Hall!

Sf Government InAction: Is Ross Mirkarimi Captain Ahab? Is Burma a Root Vegetable? And Who is that Masked Supervisor, Anyway?

SF Gov't InAction: This Week It's All About Troops ... and the Budget

SF Gov't InAction: Bye-bye Taxi Commission, hello Peaker Plants?

Last Night: Charge of the Light Brown Apple Moth at Town School for Boys

SF Supervisor Aaron Peskin's Message to Newsom: Quit Attacking Me!

Golden Gate Skateparks and Venezuelan Wage-Fixing — It's SFGovernmentInAction!!!

And On The 8th day, SF Government Rested -- Serious InAction

SF Supes Propose Less Coke-Snorting, Higher Rents to Pay for Parks: It's SFGovernmentInAction!

SF Ghettos Re-Zoned for More Booze? It's: SFGovernmentInAction!!!

Sea Otters More Important than Roosevelt: SFGovernmentInAction 9.17-21

A Fine Mess