Ross Mirkarimi: Collateral damage

La Casa de las Madres billboard

The above billboard was put up before Ross Mirkarimi had even been charged with a crime, let alone convicted. The Domestic Violence Consortium and La Casa de las Madres evidently think their admirable agenda justifies skewing the legal process against Mirkarimi and his family before it could even begin. 

Mirkarimi is presumably just seen as collateral damage. He's supposed "to do the right thing" by resigning; not doing so would be "terribly wrong." People are now urged to contact their supervisors to urge them to vote against Mirkarimi when they get the opportunity.

Yet there's serious doubt that this incident and Mirkarimi's plea bargain constitute misconduct serious enough to justify removing him from office. 

I signed Tami Bryant's petition not because I agree with her that Mirkarimi has been a good supervisor. I think he's been an awful supervisor, a viewpoint I've expressed for years on this blog. But that judgment has always been based on his politics and public policy, though back in 2008 I did a post based on the unignorable reports of his shouting at his office staff. But neither that nor his plea bargain justify hounding him from office.

City voters elected him Sheriff last November, and city voters should decide whether they want him to continue in that office, whether that decision is made in a recall election or the election in 2015.

State Senator Yee, famously opportunistic, just happened to nominate domestic violence zealot Beverly Upton as Woman of the Year at this particular time?

Yee spokesman Adam Keigwin said the Mirkarimi case had nothing to do with Upton being selected for the Woman of the Year honor. “That issue had no bearing on this,” he said.

It's safe to call that a flat-out lie.