While Dufty can pretend that his brain is no more powerful than that of Forest Gump, it is this kind of political wheeling and dealing that makes most common people sick to their stomach and uninterested in actively participating in the political process. Earlier in the evening while the four outgoing Supervisors said their goodbyes and received a combination of sincere and half-hearted honors from their colleagues, Bevan Dufty admitted what everybody already knows, that he has been a constant swing vote. But with the way the voting process had been laid out and in the fast moving political eddies of the successor mayor tidal pool there simply wasn’t enough time to “hold out” effectively so Dufty was forced to unceremoniously flip-flop instead.
Termed out Supervisor Bevan Dufty deserves an Oscar nomination for his acting performance. Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, depending on who you ask, is not and never has been, a progressive. Former Mayor Willie Brown and Rose Pak are the behind the scenes puppeteers pulling the political strings in San Francisco development politics, and progressive hopes of taking back room 200 in November have been dealt a temporary blow.
A moderate who has fought often with the current Board, Newsom wants a caretaker mayor who will not run for election in November when voters get to choose the city’s next chief office holder. He doesn’t want a progressive appointed to the position who will then have an advantage in getting elected in eleven months.
Following discussions with progressive and centrist Board members today, what is becoming clear is no sitting Board member can get to six votes (supervisors cannot vote for themselves). Attention is now centered on a compromise “caretaker” candidate, someone who does not intend to exploit their interim-mayoral status to run for mayor, who will focus on closing the city’s projected $350 million budget shortfall and, more importantly, someone who is respected on all sides of the political aisle, including Mayor Gavin Newsom.
Chiu said he has engaged in discussions about a possible run for mayor with campaign manager Nicole Derse. Derse, you’ll recall, successfully ran Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi’s 2004 election campaign and worked on the campaign to elect President Barack Obama.
To Julian Assange for keeping the public informed on government actions whether good, misguided, or just plain evil. Be certain to catch the eye-opening movie Inside Job to fully appreciate the upcoming Wikileaks release of the banking and financial sector secrets. It’s the economic meltdown cause uncovered.
Since announcing our intention to purchase The Buck, I have been excited to see additional segments of our progressive community drop in. This Fall, Drinking Liberally and several other informal progressive circles have found a home at Buck Tavern, and I am committed to continuing to foster these discussions as well as many others. In addition, our public house will be committed to supporting the grassroots efforts for social and economic justice that I have been associated with in this town for nearly 2 decades.
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