CHANGES IN SUNSHINE LAWS INSTALLED FOR BETTER TIMES

San Francisco has always prided itself as being the foremost City in the United States when is comes to freedom of speech and with it Sunshine on issues that affect all the constituents of San Francisco. There is no doubt that San Francisco a premier City in the Nation has led most other major cities when is comes to the Brown Act and the Sunshine Laws. To date Sunshine has helped many but there are those who have used dubious and convoluted methods to circumvent the truth and make deals behind close doors. Passive Meetings and Dark Doors. One would think with all the talk about Accountability and Transparency this City and County of San Francisco would move ahead and leave behind the evil of passive meetings and being on the take. Well, as luck would have it Willie L. Brown Jr. came to the City around 1996 and brought with him the fungi of Sacramento deals and personnel corruption. Passive meetings became the norm. A trail of documents did not exist and if there were some - Willie and his crones packed the documents and took them home. Others they did as did Oliver North. It is a shame that in the year 2004 in some respects we are worse then the day when folks got shanghaied and other were dealt with the vengeance of the vigilantes. Today we have thugs and the policy of intimidation in some circles and innocent constituents are at the mercy of these evil forces. God save the innocent constituents and many of us pray for quality sunshine. A group of well meaning San Franciscans wanted to do right and bring about the changes and put up a Proposition for the voters to vote on. They meant well but they waited and did not do the focused outreach that brings about justice to the language and the legalese, which today is what matters most. With lawyers - a dime a dozen, legal language can make good stuff happen and vague language can open a can of worms. The lay person has a guarantee of sorts when it comes to Sunshine. In our City and County of San Francisco this Sunshine is becoming a premium. Crooked politicians, Board of Supervisors (BOS) aides, some Supervisors, Commissioners, heads of Departments, some lawyers are playing hell with the constituents. This carries over to the various City and County of San Francisco sub-committees, meetings where pompous and senile Commissioners pretending to be Caligula as with the San Francisco Port Commission, the Planning Commission, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the Taxi Commission - oh so many stupid commissions. When the constituents puts in writing to the various City Departments and requests for information - mostly it is not forth coming. When the constituents approaches a podium to express her or his concerns the time is limited - some times to a minute. When Sunshine is exercised the genie of evilness is triggered and City Departments, BOS aides, Commissioners, lawyers will tell you in more then one way - please go away. This must stop and Sunshine must reveal the darkness in the deepest crevices of City government that has hurt innocent people for so long. The Roman Law is not a perfect law but it allows for a lot of wiggle room and on the local level - passive meetings where crooks and the gutless make deals that adversely impact the innocent. Some of us will never be afraid of crooks and the sooner we weed them out the better. There is rampant corruption in the Department of Public Works, the San Francisco Environment, San Francisco Port Authority, the Recreation and Park Department and no one is doing anything about it. Other Law and Safety Departments stink in some quarters and no one has the guts to clean up the cob webs, open the windows, and let in Sunshine. Enough is Enough. We want a clean change. Clean bed spread, pillow cases, and please open the window and let in the sunshine. The Sub-committee that last could not understand workable Sunshine laws consisted of some Supervisors who have much to learn and have an IQ that can be challenged when it comes to issues which they cannot fathom. Education is critical and uneducated Board of Supervisors who use generalities and pander to vested interests - are the scumbags of good government - be it the Legislative Branch or tied remotely or directly the Executive. The Board of Supervisors at the Rules Committee pretended that they really did care about the changes in the latest round of Sunshine Laws and wanted to do something to help the constituents of San Francisco - but the fact is they did not. The Sunshine Task Force is a small force who should seek focus groups in the Colleges and Universities to bring about dialog and general changes in most areas to benefit the majority of San Franciscans. Politicians have their claws and fangs all over the place. They could use the Task Force by planting a mole or two but I doubt they will do it with Doug Comstock inside and Bruce the Editor outside. I doubt they will do it but that does not mean dirty politicians and corrupt Board of Supervisors who have done little in their districts - will not pander to the evil and do all on their parts to kill any reform slowly while all the time pretending to smile and be with the people. I heard statements that the BOS have spent so much time discussing this matter and it is so important that we pass it. Well, the basic principles and statements have to be able to stand their ground and go through the fire. It is about Sunshine and dealing with the corrupt - some of which sit, as Board of Supervisors are there not to serve the people but to serve their ego and the pocket book. Sunshine Laws is about justice and adjudication, laws and regulations - many heads of Departments, Commissioners; Board of Supervisors do not care to educate themselves. They fail to understand that Public Office is Public Service. They fail to understand that the constituent should be permitted to speak and express their concerns on issues that are important. Sunshine should give access to those who are Citizens, pay taxes, work hard, contribute their best - to documents, minutes, notes, and any recording that affect issues that the tax payer pays for. The Board of Supervisors are paid by the taxpayer they are No Caligula! They same holds good for the Commissioners appointed or anointed! Department heads who should work for the people and have high standards - Accountability and Transparency. If you do not like Public Service take a hike. Good riddance of very bad rubbish.

"Francisco is here!"


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