A farewell lie from Mirkarimi

Actually, it's not strictly accurate to call Mirkarimi a liar, since he seemed sincere as he produced one whopper after another since taking office in 2004. But he's always been swaddled in a delusional "progressive" ideology that insulates him from political reality, as he demonstrated during the last campaign. His latest flagrant untruth is one more---here's another---that he's made in the last year about the Divisadero neighborhood:

"Improving Divisadero was at the top of my list when I first ran for supervisor in 2004," said Mirkarimi, who will be termed out in 2012. "The chief concern (then) was public safety---in particular, violent crime. Now it's hipsters complaining about the overabundance of strollers," Mirkarimi said. "That's a welcome problem."

I've lived and shopped in the Divisadero neighborhood since 1995---I started this blog in 2004---and it's simply untrue that this neighborhood had a big crime problem before Mirkarimi took office. I was one of his opponents in 2004, and I don't remember any mention of Divisadero during the campaign. And how likely is it that anyone has actually complained about too many strollers on Divisadero?

Andrew Ross (below in italics) buys into the disinformation campaign about Diviz:

...the area between Haight and McAllister streets, also known as the Divisadero Corridor, has been transformed from a neighborhood known for crime, empty storefronts and "an unwelcoming atmosphere for families and pedestrians" into a thriving neighborhood with the city's first parklet, a Farmers' Market, and numerous new shops and restaurants.

More bullshit, except that this part of Divisadero has always had empty storefronts; there are more than a dozen now, even after the phony "comeback."

Mirkarimi's lasting contribution to Divisadero is the Harding Theater, which still blights the middle of the street's commercial district. One of Mirkarimi's first acts as supervisor was to "save" the Harding from being turned into housing and commercial space.

It will be good to get Mirkarimi off the board of supervisors, where he and his "progressive" colleagues have done more damage to San Francisco in the last ten years than anything since the 1906 earthquake and fire. He beat out two well-qualified candidates for sheriff, but surely he won't be able to do as much damage in that office as he did as a supervisor.   

From Andrew Ross's column in the Chronicle:

Job well done: Whether or not Ross Mirkarimi is successful in his bid to be the next sheriff of San Francisco, he'll be getting high-fives next week for his work in making the city's lower Divisadero Street area the Comeback Neighborhood of the Year.

Making the award, the Neighborhood Empowerment Network, a 5-year-old citywide community organization, said the area between Haight and McAllister streets, also known as the Divisadero Corridor, has been transformed from a neighborhood known for crime, empty storefronts and "an unwelcoming atmosphere for families and pedestrians" into a thriving neighborhood with the city's first parklet, a Farmers' Market, and numerous new shops and restaurants.

The organization said the changes are the result largely of a community planning process initiated and led by Mirkarimi, "with an emphasis on public safety and business development."

"Improving Divisadero was at the top of my list when I first ran for supervisor in 2004," said Mirkarimi, who will be termed out in 2012. "The chief concern (then) was public safety---in particular, violent crime. Now it's hipsters complaining about the overabundance of strollers," Mirkarimi said. "That's a welcome problem."

Having lived in the neighborhood, and visiting it periodically, I can attest to those welcome changes.

The awards ceremony takes place at 6 p.m. next Wednesday in the City Hall Rotunda, with reception to follow. More information, including other awards, at www.empower.org.