Tom Ammiano

CA Supreme Court: Marijuana Dispensaries Can Be Banned, But At Least They're Legal

At least one major roadbloack in the way of medical cannabis reform in California was removed Monday when the California Supreme Court issued a long-awaited ruling -- which says that cities and towns can ban pot clubs. For now. At least 200 places across the state -- including San Mateo County an ... More >>

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano Pulls Plug on Medical Marijuana Reform Bill

Attempts to reform California's oft-confusing and always-contentious medical marijuana industry have been put on hold until next year -- at the earliest.Assemblyman Tom Ammiano on Monday withdrew from consideration Assembly Bill 2312, medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access announ ... More >>

New Bill to Allow Reporters to Interview Prisoners

Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Public Safety passed a bill allowing journalists greater access to California's prison inmates. For the last 16 years, media representatives have been unable to interview specific inmates, instead being allowed to conduct random interviews with prisoners while walk ... More >>

Tom Ammiano Goes After Gay Bullying With New Legislation

Ammiano ... trying to make it get better for gay teens ​Call it Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's new twist to the "It gets better" campaign. The seasoned pol, who is openly gay, is trying to truly make things better for gay teens with new legislation requiring schools to intervene when kids are bullied. ... More >>

Ammiano's Cannabis Bill a 'Rumor' -- For Now

Buzz kill​You know the old saying: Where there's Tom Ammiano, there's cannabis. California's most cannabis-friendly assemblyman is being connected with an "omnibus cannabis bill" meant to reform, regulate, and clarify the many gray areas in California's medical marijuana laws. Aside from that, som ... More >>

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano Questions State's Sex Registration Laws

This is consensual sex​No two sex offenders are the same, which is why Assemblyman Tom Ammiano wants California to consider a tiered system to categorize those who break the state's sex laws.As he points out, there is a gradation of offenses. It's true that a consensual, sexual relationship betwee ... More >>

Fiona Ma Refuses to Use State-Subsidized Cars Amid Looming Budget Crisis

Giving, not getting, free rides​Not every executive feels entitled to perks in the face of a financial fiasco. Assemblywoman Fiona Ma is one of a handful of lawmakers in Sacramento who refuses to use taxpayer dollars to get to and from work. Ma has decided not to use state leased vehicles, one of ... More >>

Tom Ammiano Wants to Regulate Crime Lab, Calls for New Legislation

Backlog Breaktrhrough ​In December, we reported that a San Francisco crime lab employee skimming cocaine from the lab for personal use was only a small part of the larger overlooked problem with the county's DNA lab. It's no secret that the crime lab is in need of some serious overhaul, but here i ... More >>

Why Tom Ammiano really doesn't want to be mayor

Tom Ammiano Makes It Official: He Won't Be Next Mayor

Count me out, says Tom Ammiano​Assemblyman Tom Ammiano told SF Weekly, in no uncertain terms, he doesn't want to be the next damn mayor. He told his former board colleagues the same. He hasn't yet hired out a pilot to do skywriting -- but his drift is unmissable. Supervisor Chris Daly remains unda ... More >>

Tom Ammiano: 'No Way, No How' I Want to Be Mayor

Chris RobertsTom Ammiano took the Sherman -- he says he won't be our next mayor​In a move reminiscent of the crew members of the Bounty bellowing "Take us with you!" to the escaped-to-a-better-place Mr. Christian, progressive supervisors are imploring Assemblyman Tom Ammiano to enter the mayoral f ... More >>

Tom Ammiano Tells Latinos He Won't Call Meg Whitman A 'Puta'

Chris RobertsViva Ammiano!​Reiterates His Demand to Governor: "Kiss My Gay Ass!"Leave all the "whore" talk to Jerry Brown. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, always reliable for a comedic zinger, prefers the Spanish equivalent: "puta."We've written about Ammiano's humorous attempts ... More >>

Tom Ammiano Tries, Tries Again With Marijuana Bill

Will Tom Ammiano's latest marijuana legislation puff, puff, pass? ​Everybody knows California is broke, and those same everybodies know that thar's a gold mine waiting to be unearthed -- when and if the state starts taxing adult-use recreational marijuana (everybody *could* also be wrong, but ... More >>

Schwarzenegger Bill He Dismissed With 'I F*ck You' Veto on Gov's Desk Again

Life in the capitol...​A Tom Ammiano bill authorizing the city to issue bonds related to the development of Pier 70 has cleared the legislature and landed on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk. That's hardly a call for rampant cursing -- yet, the last time this bill reached the governor, it was vet ... More >>

Tom Ammiano: Abel Maldonado 'a Dog'

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano found creative ways to describe lieutenant governor-to-be Abel Maldonado...​The second time was the charm for Republican State Sen. Abel Maldonado. Two months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's nominee to fill the position of lieutenant governor was bounced by the state Ass ... More >>

Double Toke! Ammiano Reintroduces Bill to Legalize, Tax Marijuana.

​Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has reintroduced his pioneering bill seeking to legalize and tax pot in California. In a statement released this afternoon, Ammiano's office said the San Francisco Democrat hopes the new legislation will build on support garnered by AB 390, his first pot-legalization measu ... More >>

Great Moments in Marijuana History: Ammiano's Legalization Bill Up For Vote Today

​In a move proponents are billing the "first formal consideration of marijuana legalization in American history," the public safety committee of the state assembly will today vote on Tom Ammiano's ganja bill. The San Francisco assemblyman last year earned his place in the pot pantheon by authoring ... More >>

Puff, Puff, Pass: Ammiano's Pot Bill Clears Assembly Committee

​Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's bill to legalize -- and tax the hell out of -- marijuana scraped through the assembly's public safety committee this morning by a 4-3 vote. Today's tally was, according to Ammiano's staff, the "first formal consideration of marijuana legalization in American history." Wh ... More >>

Ammiano: 'Kiss My Gay Ass' Commentary Didn't Bite Him in the Ass

His ass is intact...​When Rep. Joe Wilson bellowed "You lie" at President Barack Obama, most folks thought it was pretty uncouth. Still, the ones who were impressed were really impressed: The South Carolina Congressman quickly saw his fund-raising efforts skyrocket.So when Assemblyman Tom Ammiano ... More >>

Sacramento's Dem, Republican Leaders Schedule Caucus Meetings to Sell Legislators on Budget Deal

Cutting billions from health and education while 'borrowing' from local governments -- the California dream!Some of the haziness surrounding the state's tentative budget deal will burn off this morning, as party leaders have scheduled 9 a.m. caucuses to outline the finer points of a plan that promis ... More >>

Ammiano: Bi-Partisan Budget 'The Worst Kind of Make-Up Sex'

As we reported earlier today, Democratic and Republican leaders in the state legislature huddled with their respective caucuses this morning in an attempt to pitch the feasibility of the current budget compromise. Depending on how much money you and your interest group stand to lose, initial descrip ... More >>

Ammiano: Schwarzenegger's Legacy 'In the Toilet'

There are worse things than having your legacy land 'in the toilet.' In Conan's realm, they didn't even have toilets.Reached a couple of minutes ago on the floor of the Assembly, Tom Ammiano said that Californians who woke up this morning and were shocked by the news that the budget stalemate has re ... More >>

Groovy: Marijuana Advocates Feel Validated by Latest Field Poll -- 56 Percent of Californians Support Legalizing and Taxing Pot

Tom Ammiano -- the voice of the mainstream? With all of the propositions on the ballot for this month's special election polling about as well as mandatory enemas, it warrants mentioning that the results of the latest state Field Poll indicate a hefty majority of Californians actually favor  im ... More >>

Vote on Ammiano's Marijuana Bill Postponed Amid Difficult Time For S.F. Pot Fans

In what is perhaps the best news of late for aficionados of marijuana legalization, a scheduled March 31 committee hearing of Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's legalization bill was postponed likely until 2010 (drag) -- which gives marijuana advocates some time to reverse what would have almost definitely b ... More >>

Marijuanupdate: What's Up Next for Ammiano's Legalization Bill?

In the weeks following his introduction of an Assembly bill that would legalize -- and tax -- marijuana, the always quotable Tom Ammiano became one of the nation's most sought-after sources of quotes. His bill was discussed in every major paper in the state, and many nationally (including Zig-Zag, y ... More >>

Get Up, Stand Up: Ammiano Introduces Marijuana Legalization Bill to the Press

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's press conference this morning announcing his marijuana-legalization bill started punctually and stayed relentlessly on-point -- thereby denying a barb to every journalist present.Ammiano and the assembled speakers at San Francisco's State Building also spoke calmly and meth ... More >>

Legalize It: Ammiano to Introduce Legislation Monday to Allow Pot -- and Tax It

UPDATE: Coverage of Ammiano's press conference here. The story SF Weekly broke on Friday is true: Assemblyman Tom Ammiano will announce legislation on Monday to legalize marijuana and earn perhaps $1 billion annually by taxing it. Quintin Mecke, Ammiano's press secretary, confirmed to SF Weekly ... More >>

Ammiano: State Budget Possible Today

The financial crisis has helped Tom Ammiano craft one of his best one-liners yetReached in his Sacramento office during a rare down moment, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano told SF Weekly he's hopeful the "Financial Armageddon" Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned about (apparently lifting liberally from his ol ... More >>

Tom Ammiano Compares Capitol to "Alice in Wonderland" -- and He's Alice

San Franciscans already know that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't the only Sacramento politician with a background in film. That was Assemblyman Tom Ammiano playing himself in Milk -- and while it wasn't a stretch for Ammiano to play Ammiano, his next project may call for a bit more range. When ask ... More >>

SF Health Care Facing Severe Budget Cuts

Chain Store Ban Proposed for Mission, Bernal

Willie Brown Declares London Breed a Contender for Mark Leno's Seat

Sea Otters More Important than Roosevelt: SFGovernmentInAction 9.17-21

Goin' on a Ninja Hunt

Fiber-Optic Illusion

Why Tom Ammiano's plans to create a city-owned broadband network are a boondoggle-in-the-making

The Great Left Hope

Matt Gonzalez wants to be mayor. And he doesn't mind climbing over fellow progressives to get the gig.

Best Way to Put a King and Queen in City Hall

The Co-Mayorship Proposition

Political Relativity

Stuck in a strange warp of the space-time fabric, our supervisors can't stop tilting against a dot-com development monster that's dead and buried

Closed Shop

Organizer out of work after bucking SEIU 790's Willie Brown lovefest

Unexcused Absence

School leaders snub supervisors, refuse to show at parleys

Mecklin

On the Money

Dog Bites

The Return of the Insider

Rage Against the Machine

Tom Ammiano's mayoral bid: inside the campaign that has become a cause

Mecklin

No Joke

South to the Future

Rubber-stamp Voting Complicates Mayoral Ballot Count in San Francisco

Cothran

The Grid

Dog Bites

Dog Bites