Perjury Accusations and Mayor Ed Lee: Richmond District Democratic Club's Statement

The Richmond District Democratic Club's Official Statement Regarding Perjury Accusations Against Mayor Lee
Thursday, August 16, 2012
https://www.facebook.com/notes/richmond-district-democratic-club/the-richmond-district-democratic-clubs-official-statement-regarding-perjury-accu/357169861026028

Tonight the Richmond District Democratic Club voted to overwhelmingly pass the following resolution statement. We had ten voting members present. The vote carried with 8 Yes votes, 0 No votes, and 2 abstentions.

We have been working on this for some weeks now and in light of today's decision put forth by the Ethics Commission, we feel that it could not come at a better time. This resolution will be sent to District Attorney George Gascon, the San Francisco Ethics Commission, The Mayor's Office, and to any chartered Democratic club or organization who wants to adopt it for their own sponsorship. We are also looking into the Civil Grand Jury and Department of Justice in case it isn't honored by the City and County of San Francisco.

"The Richmond District Democratic Club, a Democratic County Central Committee chartered club, believes that the people of San Francisco should be able to expect all elected officials to follow the highest ethical standard. We further believe that such ethical standards must be enforced consistently and without the appearance of political motivation and that the enforcement of these ethical standards should be made without embellishment of the facts, especially when the result may lead to the removal of a democratically-elected official from office.

We absolutely acknowledge the seriousness of, and in no way condone, domestic violence involving any person. Furthermore, we are not minimizing any accusations against Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi in an attempt to be biased against Mayor Ed Lee. It has typically been our stance to not enter political entanglements, but instead to focus on educating our community about policy and empower the people of the Richmond District to take part in the democratic process. As a result, it has been our club's position to allow the process of Sheriff Mirkarimi's removal to unfold in the appropriate venue.

However, what we find considerably unsettling, is that two accusations of perjury have been made against Mayor Lee, in the Ethics Commission hearing of Sheriff Mirkarimi, by former President of the Board of Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Building Inspection Commissioner Debra Walker. It is of even greater concern that San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón has indicated that he will not investigate these perjury charges.

We hereby request a formal investigation into the allegations that Mayor Ed Lee committed perjury in his Ethics Commission testimony regarding his removal of Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi from office, by the San Francisco District Attorney. Should the San Francisco District Attorney not pursue said investigation, we then request that an investigation be undertaken by a government agency other than the City and County of San Francisco."