Check out the full election results for the City-County of San Francisco here, and for the State of California here. As you’ve probably already heard, with voter turnout of about 28%, Measure G passed with about 61% voting yes; Measure F failed with 62% voting no. (One Chronicle reader thought it lost mostly because Chris Daly endorsed it, which is probably true.)

And happily, Proposition 98 was soundly beaten statewide. It seems that few Californians were fooled by that transparent attempt to screw renters. I lived for years in a mobile home park, and I understand the plight of the owners — they are probably the one group most negatively affected by rent control — but revoking rent control for all renters under all circumstances throughout the entire state was just a blatant grab for money. They need to work out a different approach that would be acceptable to both parties; perhaps that could be accomplished by limiting future proposals to just the tenants and owners of mobile home parks. There must be a way to leave rent control basically in place while granting a bit more flexibility in setting rates to the owners. In other words, a compromise: that seemingly rare animal in modern politics.

By chance the other day I met Kevin Gordon, the filmmaker behind the 11-minute documentary Tellin’ It Like It Is: The Work of Elouise Westbrook. Mrs. Westbrook has been active on behalf of the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood since she moved there in 1949, and it’s clear that even at the age of 92 she remains a force to be reckoned with. She was thrust onto the national stage when, in 1973, city officials failed to get the release of allocated federal funds to tear down the old barracks at Hunter’s Point and build housing there. In response, Mrs. Westbrook took a delegation to Washington, determined not to leave without getting the funding her neighborhood was due. Eventually she succeeded, and the city received its $30 million for the project.

However, Mrs. Westbrook’s greatest ongoing success probably lies in the clinic she helped to found, the South of Market Health Center, which now has three active facilities. A fourth facility is in development, with plans to break ground in the fall: Westbrook Plaza. The Plaza honors Mrs. Westbrook’s vision of affordable healthcare and affordable housing for all, by combining the two in a single development.

The short screens tonight at 9:00 at the Kabuki, and opens for the feature Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans. Tickets available at the theater.

Earlier this afternoon I got Mr. Gordon on the phone and we talked a bit about this film and his aims as a filmmaker. Our Q&A starts below and continues after the jump.

So, how did you learn about Mrs. Westbrook in the first place?

Well, I totally lucked out: I was actually approached with the film. Another filmmaker I’d just met called me about how the South of Market Health Center wanted a tribute made for their founder, and that she (the other filmmaker) was too expensive for them, but thought I might do it for a lot cheaper. Of course, that was the case. But when I met Mrs. Westbrook, I knew that I had no choice but to make the movie. She struck me immediately as an amazing person and an amazing subject, but it wasn’t until I was really into the research that I realized how significant she really was. So everything kind of happened backwards to how you’d normally expect it to happen.
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In 1970 San Francisco’s census reported about 96,000 black folks living in San Francisco, but there’s been a steady decline in those numbers, and as we enter the “Year of the Rat”, it’s estimated there’s around 38,000 black residents left.


A Town Hall meeting is scheduled tonight at The War Memorial on Van Ness at 7 pm sharp to discuss this and other issues relevant to the local African-American community.

Certain to be a topic of interest is the ongoing buzz about “redevelopment” of Bayview Hunters Point, where according to Ethics Commission Documents mega housing contractor Lennar has spent $850,000 greasing consultants, lawyers, and other interested palms in it’s proposed HP Superfund site landgrab.

Meanwhile local community activists have raised about $4000 and with volunteers garnered over 11,000 signatures in just 10 days for a ballot initiative to fight the east coast based mega builder’s master plan, and are demanding a 50% affordability quotient in any new housing built.

Should be an interesting event…

While mayoral candidate Grasshopper Kaplan runs around town getting arrested everywhere from Ed Jew’s driveway to back at the Hall of Justice, and generally specializes in creating a nuisance, he’s not the only mayoral candidate who’s discovered they are not welcome wherever they may wish to move about.

It recently became apparent to Hunters Point activist Dr. Ahimsa Sumchai that she too is not on the “A” list, noticeable especially if one steps out of line against the local Democratic Politburo. While her candidacy and convictions are certainly sincere, (clip of last month’s announcement at City Hall below the jump), one has to wonder about her possible naivety.

Sumchai rallying against the Mayor’s redevelopment partners Lennar in a recent SF Bayview newspaper pic

The longtime Health and Environmental Science Editor of the award winning SF Bayview Newspaper was shocked that she was refused admittance to a press conference/photo op Nancy Pelosi was having at the Bayview Child Health Center with Supervisor Sophie Maxwell this week. Do you think Grasshopper Kaplan or even Chris Daly would have been welcomed?

Sumchai seems surprised by the rejection of a Democratic Party machine that in addition to criminal “fundraisers” & dubious “consultants”, includes numerous nepotism ridden relatives of elected representatives. She perhaps has no idea why they would somehow find her an undesirable at one of their incestuous affairs?

Sumchai has long campaigned against Lennar Corp.’s redevelopment of Hunters Point , and is she totally clueless that Lennar’s president of acquisitions was Pelosi’s nephew? Does she not know that when she’s railing against the quality of the local “environment” this might piss off our local “Commission on the Environment” President who just happens to be Paul Pelosi, Jr., Nancy’s Pelosi’s son and Gavin Newsom’s cousin?

The Lennar “land grab” at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard is highly inconvenienced by attention getting activists like Sumchai, and why would she expect red carpet treatment at one of their dog & pony shows featuring the pretty darn powerful pork barrelling princess Ms. Pelosi ?(Uh, who do ya think is one of the prime architects of federal land giveaways and previously arranged for The Presidio to be privatized ?).

You can meet and discuss that sort of stuff with Dr. Sumchai at 3rd & Palou this Saturday from 10 am - 12 noon where she’ll be doing a live community radio broadcast and get her account of being barred from a Pelosi Press conference after the jump…
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The Omega Boys Club is hosting the Hip Hop Chess Federation event this Saturday. Scheduled participants include RZA of the Wu Tang, Casual of the Hieroglyphics, DJ QBert, Boots Riley of the Coup, Balance the mix tape king, documentary filmmaker Kevin Epps, author Josh Waitzkin, Stockton’s Okwerdz, Bay area rapper Shamako Noble and many many more…

The group is dedicated to helping young bright minds actualize their potential. The event is open to anyone who loves Hip Hop and chess, nonviolence, and learning. The Hip Hop Chess Federation doesn’t care about your faith, race or landbase. Come kick it!

More info, time and location after the jump
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I was really hoping to get a tour of Fort Point, and I even read on the website that they were closed during the week for the Golden Gate Bridge retrofitting, but it didn’t occur to me that they were actually doing the retrofit right now. Oh well, we still enjoyed watching surfers with death wishes riding waves that broke on crazy ugly rock outcroppings.

San Francisco is blessed with a magnificent skyline. The Bay Bridge to the East and the Golden Gate to the West make for a lovely frame to the glowing city in between. I really love SF, some day the wife and I plan on moving back up here, maybe once she is done with nursing school. Don’t get me wrong, LA is a fun city, but SF has a certain charm that calls me back when I’m away.

You can check the rest of the HDR San Francisco from Treasure Island set here.

Today I took some pictures on the first day of Muni’s new T-Third service. It was a fun trip; I’d never gotten out to that part of town before, and like Mark, I’m also “a bit of a transit nerd.” Highlights after the jump.

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Local Political Blog Buzz:

Included are links to SF’s Usual Suspects website that has posted a large map graphic by David Latterman showing the percentages of voters in different parts of the city during the last election. The heaviest turnout of over 50% was in the outer avenues, and close to that in most districts where supervisor races were to be decided, and less than 35% in Chinatown & Bayview Hunters Point.

Daniela Kirshenbaum has written a lengthy post election piece for Fog City Journal on some growing disenchantment amongst District 2 denizens with so-called “Mystery Supervisor” Michela Alioto-Pier, who maintains a home in St. Helena and has vague City Hall office hours and a somewhat spotty attendance record for Supe’s meetings.

Of interest to parents with kids in SF’s public schools, “Left in SF”’s, Kim Knox posts the results from an analysis she did of an official SF school district document handed out this weekend that is showing the trends in the top choices of SF parents to send their kids too…

Word of an emergency Critical Mass scheduled for outside the Mexican Consulate in solidarity with Oaxacan protestors at 4pm Monday has local bicyclists a buzz.

Meanwhile, back in District 5 Diary blogger Rob Anderson’s cyber turf, he continues to take much flack from irked bike nuts & anti-car zealots. Anderson, a former D5 supe candidate in ‘04, had an election day victory, not at the polls, but in court in where his lawsuit slowing down SF’s “Bike Plan” was upheld.

Go beyond the jump to read more of the latest hub bub riling up local political bloggers…
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Wednesday Sept 27th 2006 commemorates the 40th Anniversary of The
Hunters Point Riots and the lasting effects of the social
stratification that has long hung over the community.

Brought on by neighborhood outrage over the death of Matthew “Peanut” Johnson, a 16 year old unarmed youth who was shot in the back by the SFPD, the Bayview became a volatile cauldron of tempers that erupted into a disturbance that lasted several days.

That drama may have died down, but the tragic context of the riots, their
impact, and the surrounding events remain as a bleak reminder of a
situation that remains largely unchanged for four decades…

Award winning local documentary filmmaker Kevin Epps ( Straight Outta Hunters Point ) and the
Hunters Point Community Youth Park Foundation present an open discussion of the historical signifigance, and how the situation exists today in the city’s largest African American enclave. The event takes place at 6pm Weds at 200 Middlepoint Road, home of the Hunters Point Youth Park Foundation, where the late Julia “Aunt Bea” Middleton tirelessly served to bring a bright spot into the lives of children raised amidst dilapadated & deprived social infrastructure. To set the tenor of the times, and educate today’s youth who are expected to attend, Epps will show some rarely seen archival news footage of the riots as well, and tape portions of the event for inclusion of a future program on Current TV.

For more background on this issue, and some socio-economic context of race relations in San Francisco in the 60’s til now… read on.
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