Overheard in Fog City

Luke Thomas
FCJ Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
Photo by Adam Aufdencamp

By Luke Thomas

June 13, 2007, 1:30 p.m. - Updated June 16, 12:53 a.m..

Daly to be removed as Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee?

A rumor circulating City Hall suggests Board President Aaron Peskin is going to remove Supervisor Chris Daly from the post of Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.

Contacted by phone for comment, Peskin told Fog City: "I have no comment at this time."

Daly, at the time of publishing, has not returned calls for comment.

11:48 p.m: A reliable source tells Fog City Journal that Peskin has not made a final decision as to whether he will remove Daly from the Budget and Finance Committee.

"Peskin is mulling it over," the source said.

We're also hearing relations between the two impassioned legislators became strained over Daly's efforts to field a Progressive mayoral candidate at the 2007 Progressive Convention. Their rift was exacerbated when Daly moved to introduce an alternative budget to recover $33 million in affordable housing appropriations, supplemental monies Mayor Gavin Newsom refuses to spend.

June 15, 6:15 p.m: Peskin removes Daly from the post of Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and appoints himself in Daly's place. Peskin released the following statement on the matter:

Madam Clerk and Colleagues,

I am writing to notify you that I have removed Supervisor Daly as Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.

I have appointed myself in his place.

Supervisor Daly and his staff deserve our sincere gratitude for their hard work and leadership as well as thier commitment to San Francisco’s most vulnerable — the poor, the elderly, the young, and the disabled.

I look forward to all of you to create a budget that respects those values and addresses those needs that have been overlooked or deserve an additional funding.

Aaron Peskin, President

Calls for comment to both Peskin and Daly have not been returned as of time of publishing.

8:00 p.m: Peskin provides FCJ with the following exclusive statement:

"Cooler heads, on all sides, have to prevail. What's important to all is a budget that reflects the values of San Francisco."

8:09 p.m: Daly provides FCJ with the following exclusive statement:

"For the most vulnerable San Franciscans, the outcome of the annual budget can mean the difference between making it here and being sent on their way. My commitment to the plight of this "other San Francisco" remains steadfast.

"I have never seen electoral politics so intermingled with budget deliberations. Gavin's reelection campaign has used all of their resources to frame the budget debate as a battle between Gavin Newsom and Chris Daly. But the implications of budget decisions are far greater than that.

"I hope that the new make-up of the Budget Committee helps it to rise above election-year politics to put the needs of struggling San Franciscans first."

h. Brown speaks

Every once in a while, San Francisco Court Jester and mayoral candidate h. Brown comes out of his foxhole to square off with his number one nemesis, Board President Aaron Peskin. In the following classic youtube clip, spliced from the June 11 Government and Audit and Oversight Committee, Brown tells the world everything that's wrong with the San Francisco Police Department.

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