The San Francisco Citizen

It was standing room only last night in front of the California State Building in San Francisco as members of the press assembled to hear details of the plan to allow for more oversight of the BART Police.

Read all about it.

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano  and Senator Leland Yee said they consulted with public safety expert San Francisco Supervisor David Campos in order to craft new state legislation.

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BART Directors  Tom Radulovich and Lynette Sweet were also on hand last night to offer their support for this legislation.

It looks like some changes will be coming soon….

Senator Leland Yee and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano are calling for greater accountability and public oversight of the BART Police today.

Here’s the latest on this, below.

Yee and Ammiano working together on public safety last month. They’ll get into it more during a press conference with San Francisco Supervisor David Campos later today:

RELEASE:

San Francisco Officials Announce Legislation to Provide Greater Accountability and Public Oversight of BART Police  

SAN FRANCISCO - Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) issued the following joint statement in response to the New Year’s Day shooting involving a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer:

“BART currently lacks adequate public oversight and accountability of its police department.  Complaints and grievances against BART police officers have been investigated and adjudicated internally without any independent review.  This is a classic case of the fox guarding the hen house.

The recent incident involving a BART police officer fatally shooting an unarmed man is extremely tragic and disturbing.  Although all the evidence surrounding this case is not yet known, the video footage is beyond troubling.  While the vast majority of our men and women in uniform serve with dignity and honor, there is an unfortunate reputation that has plagued the BART police force for years.
 
In 1957, BART was constituted as a result of state legislation with governance granted to an elected Board of Directors.  Regrettably, the Board has failed to provide a proper mechanism for public input and comment on BART police policy.  Unlike the San Francisco Police Commission, BART lacks any real means for the public to air their grievances regarding police conduct or for an independent body that can propose corrective actions. 

The taxpayers of the Bay Area deserve their law enforcement officials, including the 206 BART officers, to be held accountable.   As two of the state legislators who represent communities serviced by BART, we plan to immediately introduce joint legislation that will finally ensure an independent oversight body is established, public input is accepted, complaints and grievances are fairly considered, and responsible action is taken.
 
While serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, together we responded to incidents of government malfeasance by authoring one of the nation’s strongest sunshine ordinances.  This latest incident again highlights the need for new legislation to ensure greater accountability and public oversight.”

To be continued…

It was the end of an era today as San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and Supervisor Jake McGoldrick participated in their final Board meeting. City Attorney Dennis Herrera was on hand to thank all the departing Supervisors including Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and Judge Gerardo Sandoval.  

Warm words came from fellow Supervisors, such as Chris Daly (talking positively of “creative tension”), but also Gerry Crawley, Robert Haaland, and “Parrot Guy” Mark Bitterman. Not so warm words came from public commenter the “I am Jesus” guy (”that was two minutes?” A.P.: “It felt like four.” [laughter]) and others, serving to support Jake’s words that, “Democracy is lugubrious.”  

Aaron Peskin wielding this particular hammer for the last time. Click to expand.

Thanks to all our departing Supervisors for all the hard work.

Here’s the problem - lots of drivers are blowing through San Francisco County going either from San Mateo County to Marin County or vice versa. This rush to and from the Golden Gate Bridge means danger to pedestrians on busy roads such as Van Ness, Lombard, 19th Avenue (yes “avenue” and not “street”) and Park Presidio.

So guess what - as of January 1, 2009, all or most of these roads will be designated Double Fine Zones thanks to Senate Bill 1149, authored by Senator Leland Yee, Ph.D. This was the scene this morning when he and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano explained it all at Van Ness and McAllister: 

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So, who else supported making this change? Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, the Board of Supervisors, WALK San Francisco, the Senior Action Network, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC), the MTA, the Chronicle, the Examiner, and on and on.

Hurray! At long last, hurray!

More deets after the jump.

(more…)

Well, it’s finally official. With 158,272 votes, Tom Ammiano has won the right to represent the 13th District at the State Assembly in Sacramento. Do you live in it? Probably, check the map.  

This is how he started his campaign on Market Street and this is how he ended, at a thank you party with more than 100 supporters:

See how it went down here, via a report from able Joe Eskenazi. (Has Mr. Ammiano been on the scene for just “eight years,” really?) 

Read a quick look back and a quick look forward right here.

Congratulations, Tom!

Lots of people marched down 24th Street and held a candlelight vigil last night in San Francisco’s Mission District. The motivation for this quiet parade of over 300? All the recent violence in the area, and particularly the shootings over the past two weeks.

People started gathering at 24th and Treat at 6:30 PM last night in front of the Mission Educational Projects building.  Click to expand:

Supervisor Tom Ammiano and Police Commissioner David Campos were both on the scene.