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| The City and County of San Francisco has a lame duck
Mayor and the Executive Branch of the City's government is in shambles.
Unqualified Special Assistants run the show creating unending problems
for our City. Tom Ammiano who was the President of the Legislative Branch stepped down. He could not take it anymore. Always tired, his triads often exhibited in public someone close by told him to give it up. In steps Matt Gonsalves a member of the Green Party who Tony Hall says never ever made a back room deal! Clean as a whistle - sharp wits - a leader who will make good stuff happen. What a great welcome to 2003. Poor Sophie Maxwell wanted to the President bad, but the better person won. In the mean time Sophie can do her homework and better represent her constituency. Forget for a moment that she does not live in the Haight but closer to Hunters Point. Imagine we had to watch the match unfold before us at City Hall - round one 4 for Matt, 4 for Peskin, 3 for Sophie! It went on and on even the County Clerk got confused and someone had to prompt the round and hopefully not the tally! Then Peskin threw in the towel but Sophie stuck her nose high in the air - mostly prompted by those back room deals and of course the man who is a lame duck. Nothing he has touched has come to fruition - gauging from the recent victories of Jeff Adachi, Mabel Teng, and many more. I guess Peskin, Sandoval, Tony Hall, Chris, Jake and Matt have their work cut out for at least the next two years. Sophie, Duffy, Ma, Gavin, and Tom will be playing second fiddle. That is how politics always works. Each of those who voted for Sophie voted without any conviction in her abilities but prompted by the CORRUPTION that has ruined this great CITY of ours. The State of California is in the hole - just in case some of you do not know they say as much as 35 billion. The City and County of San Francisco have a deficit of about 200 million. We have John Burton and Assemblypersons Mark Leno and Leland Yee and a few others and hope they can perform some miracles. Congressperson Nancy Pelosi can help a little and so can our Senators who represent the Bay Area who try but seem not to deliver. The President would love to help us but his advisors prompt him again and again and tell him that most of us voted for the donkey - he is forced to back down. Matt Gonsales is the highest-ranking Green Party member to win an elected position in the Bay Area and may be in the Nation. I know we have thousands of Independent voters who care not much for the donkey or the elephant party - we could be the first City and County to topple the main stream parties and create a model for the rest of the Nation in the future. The coming Mayoral Election will be a tough one and NO candidate however cocky, be it a Leal, Tom, Gavin, Angela, and the many more who have thrown their hats - will have it easy going. San Franciscans are plain fed up with petty politics and divisive tactics that bring disunity where UNITY reigned before. The candidate who will win will have grassroots support and one that does not display blatant buffoonery. Not much has been said about the recent lines drawn up to carve unrealistic Districts in our City. They played some role in the recent City Assessor's race - and the defeat of Doris Ward. The new district lines will demand a new vision and fair game from those who want to represent the constituents in the future. In the last two years and the last four to be precise nothing much has been done in the Southeast Sector of our City to address environmental issues. It is shocking to learn that the last detail testing of Air Quality in the Southeast Sector was carried on in 1992! The Nation is fully aware that Bayview Hunters Point has one of the highest incidents of Asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases. Scientific Empirical data is what is of essence! Our City is going ahead with wild dreams of having bio-tech companies work in an area that is the most polluted - not only the air but the land under which stands the newly inaugurated University of California Bio-Tech Facility at Mission Bay. It is just a matter of time before the world knows that the most toxic dirt is buried under the brand new facility! MUNI brags that it will bring over 90,000 passengers along the 3rd Street corridor, which is one of the worst polluted areas in the Nation. Every day thousands of vehicles spew toxins mostly from diesel pollution. San Francisco is unique and will watch every single move of the actors on the stage. Political savvy as they are they will demand and keep demanding the best from the Supervisors. The Supervisors have a comparable pay raise this year and are mandated to work Full Time. Some of them work hard. It is our hope that children will continue to get the best support they can get. Our schools and higher educational facilities are funded, as they ought to be. That the poor and our elderly will receive a helping hand. That the proposed increase in Sales Tax does not do further damage to the economy of San Francisco. That the State of California, the Federal Government helps the City and County to build a better rail system, fix our roads and bridges, and support of Safety and Health systems. We have a long list but we could begin with the basics for now.
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