Greenspan must really miss not having everyone hang on his every word now that he’s not Fed Chair and Bernanke’s doing what Bernanke thinks needs doing to offset the subprime meltdown that’s happening (and all the dominos falling after) because of decisions made on Greenspan’s watch.
Doesn’t seem to be a week go by when I don’t see “Greenspan says” “Greenspan sees” headlines.
Who really cares what Greenspan sees or says. He’s outta there.
What’s Bernanke going to do is the question.
Department of Elections: Election Summary
100% of votes counted. Results posted 17 Nov 2007. Only ELEVEN DAYS to count the votes!
35.77% voter turnout. Yay, us! (Really, people. That’s pathetic.)
Mayor: Gavin Newsom with 73.66% of the vote. Next highest vote getter: Quintin Mecke with 6.33% of the vote. Least highest vote getter: Michael Powers (who?) with .36% of the vote.
(Just kidding … “Michael Powers, 42, owns the Power Exchange sex club, which welcomes gays, lesbians, heterosexual couples, and bondage and domination devotees – demonstrating, he says in his official campaign statement, “my capacity to embrace every kind of alternative lifestyle and manage multiple environments housed in one totally law-abiding and successful business.” That record of embracing tolerance, he said, “guarantees that I will listen to all San Franciscans.” [ref: SFGate])
No write-ins at all for mayor. 1.51% write-in for DA. Kamala Harris got the other 98.49% of the vote.
MEASURE
A – passed (55.49) – Transit Reform, Parking Regulation and Emissions Reduction
B – passed (71.21) – Limiting Hold-Over Service on Charter-Created Boards and Commissions
C – passed (68.19) – Requiring Public Hearings on Proposed Measures
D – passed (74.48) – Renewing Library Preservation Fund (Yay! Libraries! They scored even better than Gavin!)
E – failed (51.39) – Requiring Mayor to Appear Monthly at a Board of Supervisors Meeting
F – passed (51.53) – Amending Retirement Benefits for Police Dept. Employees who were Airport Police Officers
G – passed (55.39) – Establishing Golden Gate Park Stables Matching Fund
H – failed (66.95) – Donald Fisher’s effort: Regulating Parking Spaces
I – passed (59.14) – Establishing Office Small Business as City Dept. and Creating Small Business Assistance Center
J – passed (62.26) – Adopting a Policy to Offer Free City-Wide Wireless High-Speed Internet Network
K – passed (61.84) – Adopting a Policy to Restrict Advertising on Street Furniture and City Buildings
Can’t remember the specifics about the different measures? October 2007 Urbanist newsletter from SPUR has great and gory details on the different measures that were up for vote. [PDF]
Another shot of the post-pruning cypresses.
Click on the picture to get a better look. Some of the parrots were back yesterday to check out the pruned trees. They stayed longer than they usually do before heading off.
As promised, befores and afters.
BEFORE: (18 Jul 2004)
[note: added another before: Dec 2003]
I rummaged through my photo bins to find photos of the trees as they were. These two show the north and south ends of the cypress grove on 18Jul2004. Imagine, if you will, a large clump of green between what these two photographs show.
I obviously didn’t take a lot of shots of the trees standing alone.
DURING: (October 2004)
Later that year, in October, a large chunk of tree came down.
In October 2005, another tree was taken out before Mark threw himself between the trees and the tree cutters and successfully halted the project.
We all know the result: a Landmark Tree ordinance. After much negotiation, in February 2007 the City agreed to indemnify the remaining trees’ owner from any liability arising from the fact he wasn’t allowed to take the “rotten” (his description) trees down.
The City also agreed “to hire a special arborist who has the skill to delicately prune the trees and preserve them for at least three years — long enough for new ones to grow to shelter the parrots. The two trees are all that remain from what was once a larger grove.” [n.b. Three years to grow trees this tall? Really?]
The Northeast San Francisco Conservancy (president: Nancy Shanahan) pledged $5,000 to the City to cover the cost of pruning and care.
BEFORE: (December 2003)
AFTER: (15 Nov 2007)
What can we see that’s different? (Gee, this is like those picture puzzles: find six ways this picture is different from the ones above.)
In 2004, the cypress grove obstructed the view of most of the green building you can now see to the northeast of the trees. We can now see the tennis courts on top of the Bay Club.
The trees in 2004 were considerably taller than the trees that remain. We have an uninterrupted view of Treasure Island instead of having trees obstructing our views of the northernmost third of the island. We can also see more of Teatro Zinzanni — those tents down at Pier 29 — and twice as much of the rooftop of the condo building to the north of the green building.
I’d taken this shot to show the tidal bore on a very boring day, but it also shows what our view of Treasure Island was in May 2004. That’s a whole lot o’ tree that’s been taken down in the last three years.
I have mixed feelings about all this. I love trees. I miss the green stuff — I much prefer green stuff to views of the neighbors’ roofs — but I think there was far more agitation over the poor parrots and this privately-owned cypress grove than there needed to be. I think the City spent more time and effort — when they don’t seem to have time to worry about some critical problems — than the situation warranted. I know Mark loves the parrots and I know he made them famous with his book. If someone had said we should spare the trees, if at all possible, because they’re right outside Mark’s door and he wants to have the parrots right there, well, I could understand that, but that’s not how all the agitation and public spin came down before the City set about changing rules, trimming trees and indemnifying the owner.
“The parrots are fine,” I tell worried friends who have read the tales of woe and crisis and parrots. This bit of greenery is not what it was, but the parrots still flock to trees on Telegraph Hill. We still hear them yackyackyack yackyackyack yackyackyackyacking. They still amuse the tourists and scare the cat.
May the flock prosper and increase.
Eric, over at Transbay Blog, is running a series of informational posts on the Central Subway, which I’ve ranted about on occasion here and elsewhere.
Transbay Blog is one of the most focussed, least axe-grinding blogs covering “News and thoughts on public transportation and city planning in the San Francisco Bay Area.” If such be your interests, check it out.
Talk about a job I wouldn’t want! I can’t even stand at the edge of the roof without getting shaky knees.
Tree trimmers are trimming the trees down the hill from us, trees which caused such political uproar a year ago or so and resulted in new rules regarding tree cutting on private property. Siblings of the trees were taken out three years ago. These remaining trees are supposed to remain in place and be taken care of until they can’t be maintained. The City’s indemnified the owner from any lawsuits that might arise should the trees topple over or break a limb.
The guy up in the tree checks his knots frequently. He has an ally on the roof of the building just east of the trees and an ally on the ground, who is cutting the fallen branches with a chain saw. The guy in the tree has done most of his work with a tree saw on a long pole but just now switched to a chain saw.
Earlier today, the neighborhood e-mail list flashed with a “someone’s cutting the cypresses” note, followed by a note from Mark Bittner that the cutting was all in order.
The neighbors are watching. The parrots are sitting on someone’s railing to get a better view of what’s going on because their usual tree perch doesn’t have a good line of sight for the trees being trimmed.
When allz done, I’ll post before and afters.
Update: Gone for the day. Ropes still in trees.
His nibs said, look at … that … those vehicles going into Pier 29 …
What is that all about?
Oh, OK.
Ballots were taken from polling places to Pier 29 for preliminary processing.
Weird.
Pier 29? Why there?
Fine. Those are the tail lights we’re seeing.
Final counts will be posted by
… oh, two weeks from now.
All the absentee ballots and those cast “early” at City Hall will be counted and released by 8:30 p.m. Those that were cast at the polls today? Well, there’s this problem, see?
Look what dropped into my Gmail in-box this morning! Fan mail from Harold Hoogasian. Where he got the e-addr he used to send this is a question. The Gmail account mainly funnels everything @towse.com (except sal, sally, self, &c.) to a common address. So how did he get the master topsecrethushhushhush Gmail address?
Did I put it on my voter registration? If so, OH NO!
Herewith the nice note. I found it in my spam folder because Gmail automagically decided it fit the MO. [Update:Finagled a copy to insert with all the bells and whistles.] Here it is in all its glory!
=======================================
From: Harold <campaign@unplugthemachine.org>
Date: Nov 2, 2007 1:30 AM
Subject: HAROLD HOOGASIAN for MAYOR! I
To: harold@hoogasian.com
Would you want Gavin Newsom to date your daughter or friend?
Would you socialize with someone who sleeps with a friend's wife?
Would you employ someone who can't plan a Halloween party in 364 days?
Would you vote for a candidate who refuses to debate his opponents?
I certainly wouldn't!
NO!
When Newsom admitted his substance problem, he disclosed that he would get "counseling" from Mimi Silbert (President of Delancey Street Foundation). The problem is that Delancey Street does not offer drop-in or outpatient counseling.
When John Burton was strung out on drugs and alcohol, he quit congress.
Gavin Newsom should have taken a hint from John Burton and resigned as Mayor.
Newsom's fling with his friend's wife was also a fling with an employee of the City.
How much is that going to cost the Taxpayers?
We know the Mayor is alleged to have paid the wronged husband,
But how much was paid to the Consort?
Is this the kind of judgment we want in a Chief Executive?
Cancelled Halloween cost
Lost wages, tips and income in the Castro!
Wages and overtime for 1000 police officers.
Another term as mayor is too much to pay.
The Halloween in the Castro is a tradition for over 30 years.
Calling it off for a questionable leader's re-election was an abuse of power.
If you think that we need a change,
Don't vote for an Adulterous, Drunken Golden Boy!
Don't chose corruption and waste!
A vote for Harold Hoogasian will clean up City Hall!
A vote for Harold Hoogasian will clean up our streets!
A vote for Harold Hoogasian will fix our Muni!
A vote for Harold Hoogasian will eliminate our Budget Mess!
A vote for Harold Hoogasian will bring back Halloween!
Mark Your Ranked Choice Ballot:
1st Choice: HAROLD HOOGASIAN
2nd Choice: HAROLD HOOGASIAN
3rd Choice: HAROLD HOOGASIAN
I need your VOTE to TAKE BACK our City!
Harold M. Hoogasian
Candidate for Mayor
About Harold Hoogasian
| About Hoogasian for Mayor Hoogasian for Mayor is a committee formed to elect Harold Hoogasian to the Office of Mayor in The City and County of San Francisco. 615 Seventh Street (Headquarters) San Francisco, California 94103-5691 415-229-2710 (phone) and 415-229-2700 (fax) ID#1299909
|
If you don't want messages about this contested mayoral election,
reply to campaign@unplugthemachine with
subject "unsubscribe"
=======================================
Lovely, eh? Multiple colors to pick out names and phrases like “Adulterous, Drunken Golden Boy!” (in red, natch!), CAPS, bold lettering and different sized fonts.
Looks kookie and crankpot-ish.
If I were a suspicious sort, I’d think that someone who doesn’t want Hoogasian for Mayor sent out this spam in an attempt to make him look like a foolish idiot. I hadn’t realized he could act like such a juvenile.
Love those politics!
And if his database were any good, he’d know I voted ten days ago.
An update on the Potrero Point power proposal that I wrote about on Tuesday.
Tu Oct 30. Supervisors vote 8-3 in favor of new peakers. Symbolic vote only as the final vote to approve the contract with the folks who will build the new facility is the deal maker.
W Oct 31. San Francisco Public Utilities Commission votes unanimously in favor of the new peakers. SFPUC staff must finalize agreement with J-Power, the Japanese company that will build the facility.
Once the agreement is finalized and approved by the Board of Supervisors, work can begin. Inching our way slowly to a cleaner Central Waterfront. …
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