Angie is voting for Rob

I am voting for Rob Anderson because I agree with just everything he said about Ross Mirkarimi. I hope that once elected he will put forth a vote to the BOS to enforce bicyclists to abide by road and sidewalk laws. I’ve been almost hit on a daily basis just walking and have my car spit at, accosted, etc by bicyclists who didn’t think I had a right to be in a lane when turning, etc. I know that this problem will become worse as more and more people ride their bikes to work (a good thing).

Regards,

Angie Wilcox

Planning Commission okays Whole Foods

Mark Brennan brings the good news to District 5:

To all,

Last night the Planning Commission voted 6-0 to approve the Conditional Use for the 690 Stanyan project, the mixed-use proposal with Whole Foods as the anchor tenant. During the four hour hearing, we produced nearly 400 letters of support, a spreadsheet showing 244 supporters for the Draft EIR, and a list of nearly 260 supporters from 690 stanyan.com. This, in addition to the dozens and dozens of supporters who came to speak and show solidarity to the project, I believe, convinced the Commissioners that this was indeed a project that had overwhelming support.

Hopefully, this will be the first step in reorganizing this neighborhood. What was made clear last night was that there is a new movement in this neighborhood. To paraphrase one supporter, he's lived in Dublin, London, and Sydney, and only when he moved to the Haight Ashbury in San Francisco has he not been able to walk to a full-service grocery store. Now we are making advances to have a neighborhood for the neighbors.

Again, thank you very much for all of your support!

Mark Brennan, 690 Stanyan Street, LLC

Some details on Curbed

Why is Mirkarimi raising big bucks?

Supervisor Mirkarimi has raised $87,429 so far in the non-race in District 5 against poor old Rob Anderson, who spent $1,628.59 of his own money on a doorhanger, his only campaign expense. Since Mirkarimi's re-election is a sure thing---only the margin of victory is in doubt---what's the point of all that money? There's only the Murk, me and an affable guy named Owen O'Donnell in the race---and he's running a more or less issue-free campaign that is no threat to the incumbent. Why the big push by the Murk? The answer: He's already looking ahead to 2011, when he plans to run for mayor.

My campaign, such as it is, has already inflicted some wounds on the Murk that his opponents in any future campaign will find useful: his slavish support for the SF Bicycle Coalition's agenda, including his support for Critical Mass; his support for anarchist Josh Wolf, who withheld evidence from a Federal Grand Jury about a demonstration during which a city cop was seriously injured; the anti-American riff by convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal on the SF Green Party's website; his periodic indulgence in left-wing rhetoric about "revolution"; and his support for the crackpot idea of eliminating the traffic underpass at Geary and Fillmore.

I of course hope that the Murk's future political opponents will also use his support for huge housing development schemes against him, like the Market/Octavia Plan, UC's massive housing development on lower Haight Street, and the Rincon Hill luxury highrise condo developments. 

Given the fact that the Murk's political opponents will probably be running to the right of him---that is, they'll also be aggressively pro-development---it seems unlikely that they will use these destructive developments against him. Too bad, because that's the real damage Mirkarimi---and our "progressive" Board of Supervisors---is doing to the city, not his goofball revolutionary rhetoric or his support for the bicycle bullshit. (Interesting to see, however, how Mirkarimi downplays the bicycle issues in his literature and on his website!)

On the other hand, voters citywide have never had a chance to vote on bicycle issues, and whoever runs against the Murk could use that against him. The city's bike people act as if they are beloved by the citizenry, but that's a dubious notion that I'd like to see tested in a citywide vote. If the Bicycle Plan and/or Critical Mass was on the ballot, I suspect the bike people wouldn't be too happy with the results.

The political case against Mirkarimi.

Mirkarimi: Leader or progressive lemming?

The Chronicle's story on the money.