For Immediate Release

Press Release Contact: Chris Daly
June 12, 2007 415-554-7970

Mayor Stages Rally Under Cloud of Impropriety and Preferential Treatment

Potential Ethics Violation: Newsom Using Public

Resources for Electioneering Purposes

Today, the Office of Supervisor Chris Daly acquired documents that indicate the Mayor's Office may have exercised undue influence to secure public space in front of City Hall for a Wednesday budget rally.

Documents show that the Mayor's Office applied for authorization for the "Mayor's Budget Rally" on Thursday, June 7th. Documents show that Supervisor Chris Daly's Office applied for the rally space a day before, on Wednesday, June 6th, and the Supervisor's Office received voice confirmation on that day that they had appropriately secured the space.

On June 7th, Supervisor Daly's Office was notified that the steps were booked by the Mayor's Office. These facts create the very strong appearance that the Mayor’s Office used their position improperly to trump Supervisor Daly's rally. Supervisor Chris Daly said," I am very concerned about the cloud of impropriety surrounding the Mayor's budget engagement. Documents show that we appropriately reserved space for our budget rally first. Fair is fair."

Today, Supervisor Daly issued a memo to the Ethics Commission raising serious questions about possible improper use of public resources by the Mayor's Office. Daly cited Newsom '07's emails, website, and phone calls that make it seem as if tomorrow's "Mayor's Budget Rally" is an official Newsom '07 campaign event. Public resources, including staff time, are prohibited from being used for electioneering purposes. Supervisor Daly's memo also questions whether Newsom 07 campaign funds can be appropriately used for office holder purposes and whether they count as “qualified campaign expenditures.”

In the wake of these revelations, Supervisor Daly cancelled Wednesday's
Budget Hearing which has become a main focus of the Newsom '07 campaign. "I want to ascertain whether public resources were inappropriately used for electioneering purposes and whether Newsom '07 is appropriately engaging the legislative process before making crucial decisions in this year's budget process," said Daly.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 10, 2007
Contact: Rachel Redondiez, 554-7973

SUPERVISORS SET TO APPROVE TRINITY PLAZA DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT

Development Agreement Will Protect Existing Tenants with Life-time Leases,
Replace Rent-Controlled Housing, and Create 1900 New Rental Units

SAN FRANCISCO-- After a four year struggle to preserve the community at
Trinity Plaza Apartments, the Board of Supervisors will vote today on a
development agreement (DA) that will protect existing tenants, replace
rent-controlled units, and create up to 1900 rental units on the corner of
8th & Market Street in San Francisco.

The idea for a development agreement for Trinity Plaza helped break a
stalemate between the tenants of Trinity Plaza opposed to demolition of
rent-controlled units and Trinity Properties by providing a framework for
replacement of the units in a new development. The 360 replacement units
will be the first new units to be regulated under the City’s Rent
Stabilization Ordinance. In addition, over 230 units will be built under
the City’s Inclusionary Housing Program and will be available to households
at 60% of the City’s median income.

“Over the past 4 years, I have witnessed a group of everyday San
Franciscans organize to protect their community and to help save the soul
of San Francisco. The tenants of Trinity Plaza truly love their neighbors
and are unsung heroes of San Francisco,” said Supervisor Daly. “Today we
are reminded that protecting the most vulnerable is good for all of us.”

In the final days of negotiations Supervisor Daly and Trinity Properties
agreed to an increased number of affordable units, a prohibition on
condo-mapping of rent-controlled units, and a timeline to deliver the first
phase of the project including all 360 rent-controlled units within 42
months. Yesterday Trinity Properties filed a site permit application and
paid the accompanying $186,000 fee to the Department of Building
Inspection.

In addition to lifetime leases in the new development, the agreement also
includes other benefits for tenants such as a community room, children’s
playground, moving expenses, and the right of current tenants to select
units in the new building. The DA also requires the developer’s to
prioritize local residents and businesses through City Build, First Source
Hiring, and Local Business Enterprise participation.

For Immediate Release February 28, 2007

Contact: Shannan Velayas (916) 319-2013

Assemblyman Mark Leno Announces Major Fee Reduction for State MedicalMarijuana ID Card

Fee increase reduced to $66, down from $142 SACRAMENTO, CA-

On the heels of public outcries over a state plan toincrease the fee charged to patients for medical marijuanaidentification cards, Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) todayannounced that the Department of Health Services has agreed to reducethe fee increase to $66 for the state portion of the ID card fee, whichis down from the previously announced $142."

As county after county began to consider pulling out of the statemedical marijuana ID card program, it was clear to all involved that thefee increase at the $142 level would have ended the program. We simplycould not allow patients who depend on medical cannabis for pain andnausea relief to be put at risk of mistaken arrest or detainment by lawenforcement," said Assemblyman Leno. "I would like to thank Departmentof Health Services Director Sandra Shewry and her team for theirresponsiveness to our effort to keep the ID card program intact.Clearly, a crisis has been averted."

In late December, the California Department of Health Services, whichadministers the Medical Marijuana Identification Card (MMIC) program,announced that the state fee for the ID card would be increased from $13per year to $142 per year starting on March 1, 2007. Knowing that a$142 fee would destroy the program, Leno worked to negotiatealternatives. In mid February, Leno wrote a letter to Director SandraShewry urging a delay of the fee hike and later met with the Directorand her staff to explore possible solutions.

Today, the Department of Health Services announced that it has abandonedthe $142 fee increase which was slated to take effect March 1st. In itsplace, they plan to increase the fee from $13 to $66 a year effectiveApril 1st. The new fee for Medi-Cal patients will be $33. Beginning onWednesday evening Department staff began notifying counties that the$142 fee would not take effect on March 1st as announced in December. Awritten notice of 30 days is being sent out to counties.

"I would like to underscore that this saves the ID card program in theshort-term, but it is vital that all counties begin accepting cardapplications as soon as possible to ensure the financial viability ofthe program," said Leno.

The California Department of Health Services, which has issuedapproximately 10,000 medical marijuana ID cards since August 2005, hasbeen hampered by the failure or refusal of some of the state's mostpopulous counties including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino,Orange, and Sacramento to implement the program. Without theirparticipation, the program structured to accommodate 150,000 medicalcannabis patients with a $13 state application fee has been unable tocover its costs as required by state law.

Thus far, the ID card program has been implemented by 24 of the 58California counties. San Diego, San Bernardino, and Merced Countieshave filed lawsuits in state court against SB 420 instead ofimplementing the ID card program. However, in a December 6, 2006decision, Superior Court Judge William Nevitt, Jr. rejected the lawsuitsaying that the ID card program is not in conflict with federal law.San Diego County has appealed the decision.

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An Open Letter

To: All San Francisco artists and non-profit arts organizations
From: Krissy Keefer, SF Arts Task Force member, appointed by the Board of
Supervisors
Pamela Peniston, SF Arts Task Force member, appointed by Supervisor Sandoval
Ellen Gavin, Artistic Director, Brava Theater Center
Darryl Smith, SF Arts Task Force member, appointed by Supervisor McGoldrick
Laurie Lazer, Artistic Co-Director, the Luggage Store Gallery
Vinay Patel, SF Arts Task Force member, appointed by Mayor Newsom
Jeff Jones, Development Director,  Queer Cultural Center
Pamela Wu-Kochiyama, SF Arts Task Force member, appointed by Supervisor Makarimi
Alma Robinson, SF Arts Task Force member, appointed by Mayor Newsom

After a year of intense lobbying by members of the San Francisco Arts Task
Force, the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors included $1,000,000 in the City’s
FY06-07 budget to create a Neighborhood Arts Program.  However, without
soliciting the arts community’s input or circulating the staff's proposal for public comment, the Arts Commission's Executive Committee recently recommended
spending approximately $650,000 of these funds to underwrite the agency's staff
positions and to hire consultants. Instead of supporting living San Francisco
artists or attempting to integrate the arts into the fabric of the City’s
neighborhoods, the Commissioners voted to allocate some of these funds to take
care of the City’s various statues!  The Arts Commission's final vote will take
place on Monday February 5th in City Hall Room 416 at 3pm. Please plan to
attend.

Also please take ten seconds to let the Mayor, the Board of Supervisors and Arts
Commissioners know that you strongly oppose this concept and that you want at
least 80% of these new funds to be distributed to community-based arts projects
serving the City’s neighborhoods. To register your opposition to this proposal
and to voice your support for neighborhood arts programs go to
http://brava.org/voice/ 

For Release: Contact: Bruce Wolfe (SFPO) 415.867.5995
Thursday, January 25, 2007 Eric Brooks (Our City), 415.756.8844

Coalition Demands That City Reject Google/Earthlink Monopoly Deal
and Instead Give San Franciscans Truly Free, High Speed, Public Internet

Today, Public Net San Francisco, a coalition of various community groups and Internet professionals, insisted that the City of San Francisco cancel the pending Google/Earthlink monopoly WiFi deal, and instead use the City’s existing high speed fiber optic network as the backbone to build a truly modern, fast, and free, public communications system.

Groups releasing the statement included the San Francisco People’s Organization (SFPO), Our City, the community wireless network SFLan, and Internet services provider United Layer.

Their statement follows closely on the heels of a report just released by the San Francisco Budget Analyst’s Office, which makes clear that the Google/Earthlink deal will result in an inferior monopoly franchise that will give San Franciscans much slower access than nearly all other cities providing municipal Internet, and more importantly, will fail to serve the intended core goal of the project – to make certain that all San Franciscans, regardless of their income, get free fast and equal access to the Internet.

The report states that the Department of Telecommunications and Information Services (DTIS) acted far too hastily in adopting the monopoly deal, without seeking sufficient input from the public, and notably failing to include possibilities for using over 35 miles of city owned fiber optic cable to build a much more robust system, that could be owned by the public, and could provide all San Franciscans with free Internet service at least ten times faster access speeds than the Google/Earthlink plan. The City and its residents should not give away its ability to self-determine its destiny. The people deserve a real choice.

Said Bruce Wolfe of the San Francisco People’s Organization, “I don’t get it. DTIS spent over a year coming up with this plan and it doesn’t even serve its primary goal of making sure that everybody in San Francisco, regardless of income, gets free and equal Internet access. Smooth video, and clear phone calls, are becoming basic uses of the Internet. This deal provides neither to nonpaying users, leaving them in the digital dust.”

Eric Brooks with the local grassroots organization Our City stated, “After nearly a century of San Franciscans suffering rip-offs and incredibly bad service under the monopoly control of our public utilities by corporations like PG&E, Comcast, and AT&T, it amazes me that DTIS can stand there with a straight face and try to convince us that we should let a multinational corporate partnership own and control our new public communications system.”

Tim Pozar with United Layer, the Internet services provider that installed a free Internet system for users in San Francisco’s Alice Griffith housing project, stated, “The Budget Analyst’s report shows clearly what we have been saying to the City for over a year now. If we go for municipal ownership of a system that makes use of all the City’s public assets, including the high speed ring of fiber optic cable lying only half used right under our feet, we can get a vastly superior, and 10 to 100 times faster system, than the clunker being offered to us by Earthlink and Google.”

Ralf Muehlen, who already provides free Internet access to hundreds of San Franciscans through the nonprofit community wireless network SFLan concluded, “The big problem with the Earthlink system is that it uses a slow, wireless-only backbone that cannot accommodate even today's needs let alone the needs of the next 16 years. 300 kilobits per second is so 1997; it'll be utterly ridiculous in 2023, which is how long Earthlink's monopoly will last. Earthlink has little incentive to upgrade, and their non-fiber backbone has no spare capacity. A hybrid network, that uses both wireless and existing fiber can support much higher speeds and is more robust. We already paid for the City's fiber with our taxes, we should now put it to good use.”

Endorsing Organizations (not full list)

San Francisco People’s Organization - 2940 16th St. #314, SF, CA 94103, http://www.sfpeople.org
Press Contact: Bruce Wolfe, brucewolfe@sfpeople.org, Skype: brucew-sf

Our City - 1028-A Howard St., SF, CA 94103, http://our-city.org
Press Contact: Eric Brooks, info@our-city.org

United Layer - 200 Paul Ave. #110, SF, CA 94124, http://www.unitedlayer.com
Contact: Tim Pozar, pozar@barwn.org

SFLan - 116 Sheridan Ave., SF, CA 94129, http://www.sflan.org
Contact: Ralf Muehlen, sflan+press@muehlen.com


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Patient Advocacy Network

Cultivating Knowledge and Understanding

For Immediate Release Contact: Degé Coutee

President, Education Director

323/334-5282

patientadvocates@riseup.net

COMMUNITY RALLIES FOR 60-YEAR OLD WOMAN AND MEDICAL CANNABIS PATIENT FORCED TO SURRENDER TO FEDERAL AUTHORITIES

Support Rally and Press Conference To Be Held At SF Federal Building January 4, 2007

San Francisco, CA (January 3, 2007) – “ The last thing this country needs is another medical marijuana prisoner. The federal government needs to fix the bankrupt and hypocritical policies that have led to this miscarriage of justice,” states Dale Gieringer of California NORML and one of the speakers at the upcoming rally for Stephanie Landa, a 60-year old, non-violent mother and caregiver to her elderly mother, who will begin a 41-month prison sentence on Thursday, January 4, 2007, at 12 p.m. for the cultivation of medical cannabis in the city of San Francisco. “The Bush administration is wasting taxpayers' money by imprisoning victimless offenders like Stephanie,” Gieringer adds.

Advocates, supporters and government officials are scheduled to gather and speak Thursday, January 4, 2007, at the San Francisco Federal Building at 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, at 10:30 a.m. A press conference will begin at 11 a.m. and the media is strongly encouraged to hear statements from community leaders and ask questions.

"I am not a criminal. I'm a mom and a medical marijuana patient and I was trying to help others," states Landa. She contends that before she started a medical marijuana patient garden in the sanctuary city, she spoke with government authorities, received their permission and a set of guidelines from local police. “I feel entrapped. If I go to jail, we should all go to jail,” Landa states.

“Lt. Martin Halloran has an established pattern and practice of harassment of qualified patients in San Francisco which is in direct conflict with our city’s sanctuary status,” states Shona Gochenaur, Executive Director of the San Francisco-based patient advocacy organization Axis of Love. SFPD officer Halloran conducted the raid on the patient garden in 2002, later cooperating with feds arguing his status with the DEA required he do so. “This case illuminates the cross deputization of law enforcement,” Gochenaur continues, citing it as one of the largest concerns of the patient community.

Allison Margolin, counsel for Landa, states, “the 9th Circuit's decision … highlights the hypocrisy of a system that seems only pretending to be concerned about justice.” Landa has been out on her own recognizance and on an appeal until U.S. District Judge William Alsup remanded Landa last month to complete a 41-month prison sentence. Margolin argues, “given the context of the appeal… she might get no time, what's the justice of putting her in custody to await that decision.”

Landa will surrender herself to federal authorities by or before 12 p.m. “We plan to shower her with flowers, love and gratitude before she turns herself in - an appropriate send off for this peaceful, loving, San Francisco flower-child of the 60’s,” states Degé Coutee of the Patient Advocacy Network, medical cannabis education and advocacy organization in Los Angeles. “We will continue to work on ending this nightmare.”

“With San Francisco’s new lowest law enforcement policy on marijuana, we certainly should not be wasting money on victimless, non-violent crimes,” concludes Landa.

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More information can be found at www.stephanielanda.com. Attorney Allison Margolin can be reached at 323/653-1850 or you can contact the Patient Advocacy Network at the above.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Mild earthquake felt from Ukiah to S.F. Peninsula
4.4-4.6 tremor rolls area -- no damage, injuries are reported
Keay Davidson, Chronicle Science Writer

Thursday, August 3, 2006

A moderate earthquake centered near Santa Rosa rattled Northern California on Wednesday evening as far north as Ukiah, all the way to Sacramento, and in San Francisco and well down the San Francisco Peninsula.

With an epicenter 9 miles southeast of Santa Rosa and 3 miles west of Glen Ellen, the quake's estimated magnitude was 4.4 to 4.6. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department received about a dozen calls following the earthquake.

"Nobody's called for assistance, no one's reporting any problems," said Al Tupman, sheriff's office community service officer. "They were just letting me know that they felt it."

The quake occurred at 12 seconds after 8:08 p.m. PDT. It was followed by a magnitude 1.2 aftershock some 25 minutes later.