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SEIU UHW Corp Huckster D.Regan Gives Union Busting Corporations Front Office Space At Uni
Andy Stern appointed corporate huckster and now President of SEIU UHW Dave Regan has given the corporate union busting front group "Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Grown" office space at SEIU UHW in San Francisco. SEIU UHW who are getting screwed by these union busting anti-labor corporations should ask Regan why he is in bed with the billionaire union busters and offers the union for their offices
SEIU UHW Corporate Huckster Dave Regan Gives Union Busting Corporations Office Space At SEIU UHW For "Alliance for Jobs And Sustainable Growth"
"Alliance for Jobs And Sustainable Growth" Gets Office Space At SF SEIU UHW
http://allianceforjobs.org/about/officers-board/
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• Officers & Board
Officers
Bob Linscheid
Co- Chair
S. F. Chamber of Commerce
Ramon Hernandez
Co-Chair
Laborers Local 261
Ken Cleaveland
Treasurer
BOMA
John Ulrich
Secretary
UFCW Local 5
Vince Courtney
Executive Director
Board of Directors
Business Members
• Bob Linscheid, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
• Ken Cleaveland, Building Owners & Managers Association
• Rob Black, Golden Gate Restaurant Association
• Joe D’Alessandro, San Francisco Travel
• Ron L. Smith, Hospital Council of Northern & Central California
• Art Swanson, Small Business Network
• Chris Wright, San Francisco Committee on Jobs
• Kevin Carroll, San Francisco Hotel Council
Union Members
• Ramon Hernandez, Laborers Local 261
• John Ulrich, United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 5
• Gary Delagnes, San Francisco Police Officers Association
• Charley Lavery, Operating Engineers Local 3
• Rebecca Miller, United Healthcare Workers-West
• Pat Mulligan, Carpenters Union Local 22
• Anthony Urbina, Sheet Metal Workers Local Union No. 104
Vince Courtney Sr.
Executive Director
Address
1338 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Email
vjcourtney [at] gmail.com
Phone
415-810-4600
Seiu United Healthcare Workers-West - SoMa - San Francisco, CA
http://www.yelp.com/biz/seiu-united-healthcare-workers-west-san-francisco
Seiu United Healthcare Workers-West. Categories: [Add]. 1338 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103. Neighborhood: SoMa. (415) 441-2500. seiu-uhw.org.
Union Busters and SEIU UHW Unite In SF For Mayor Ed Lee As Unions Push Anti-Labor Prop C
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/us/mayors-political-machine-goes-into-high-gear-in-quest-for-full-term.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=mayor%20ed%20lee&st=cse
October 21, 2011
Mayor’s Political Machine Goes Into High Gear in Quest for Full Term
By GERRY SHIH and ZUSHA ELINSON
On Sept. 14, about a dozen business and labor leaders gathered in an eighth-floor conference room in the Financial District. They met for an hour, rehearsing their strategy to assure that Ed Lee, the interim mayor of San Francisco, is elected to a four-year term on Nov. 8.
A number of well-connected San Francisco figures were present, including Steve Falk and Jim Lazarus of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce; Rob Black of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association; Leon Chow, the head of the United Healthcare Workers West, and Enrique Pearce, a political consultant closely associated with Rose Pak, the Chinatown lobbyist.
The people there represented four independent political action committees that, in the weeks since, have collectively spent more than $400,000 to broadcast advertisements, send political mail and deploy an army of field workers on Mr. Lee’s behalf, effectively turbocharging his campaign.
According to a poll conducted by The Bay Citizen and the University of San Francisco released on Monday, Mr. Lee claimed 31 percent of first-place votes, far outstripping his nearest challenger, Dennis Herrera, the city attorney, who had 8 percent.
Mr. Lee also earned an approval rating of 78 percent. Corey Cook, a professor of political science at the University of San Francisco who helped analyze the poll, said it was an “astonishing” number for a mayoral candidate. It is twice as high as the approval rating for Willie Brown, one of San Francisco’s most celebrated mayors, when he won re-election in 2000.
Mr. Lee’s dominance shows how San Francisco, despite its reputation as the liberal poster child of American politics, remains in the grip of a classic political establishment that has overwhelming influence in elections and policy battles. The mayor’s ascent in the polls has been helped along by independent groups — largely associated with the city’s political machine — that can raise unlimited amounts of money but are prohibited from coordinating their activities with Mr. Lee’s official campaign.
In the past 10 months, Mr. Lee’s supporters have united around the centerpiece of Mr. Lee’s legislative accomplishments, a pension reform deal struck with the city’s labor unions: Proposition C on the upcoming ballot.
The measure has won favor in polls, as Mr. Lee’s power brokers have worked to pressure his opponents, notably Jeff Adachi, the public defender of San Francisco and the author of an opposing pension reform plan.
During the past year when labor and business leaders met with Mr. Lee to craft Proposition C, the labor unions requested that Mr. Adachi be kept out of those meetings. This month, the Proposition C campaign launched video advertisements comparing Mr. Adachi to Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a Republican, who gutted the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions.
According to the Bay Citizen/U.S.F. poll, Proposition C is leading Mr. Adachi’s plan, Proposition D, by nine percentage points. The telephone poll was conducted Oct. 7-13 in English and Chinese with 551 likely voters throughout San Francisco by MAXimum Research of Cherry Hill, N.J. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points.
Proposition C has some powerful supporters, including Mr. Lee, all 11 supervisors, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Representative Nancy Pelosi, and the major labor unions. Neither Mr. Adachi nor his measure has attracted endorsements from the city’s political establishment.
“The names change, the faces change, but the machine is still there,” Mr. Adachi said. In a campaign mailer, Mr. Adachi called Proposition C “a backroom deal.”
Warren Hellman, a financier who paid $200,000 for an actuarial study of Proposition C and donated $100,000 to the campaign for it, took issue with Mr. Adachi’s characterization.
“I guess this is a backroom with enough room for the whole city, the mayor, the labor unions,” Mr. Hellman said. “This backroom must be as big as Pac Bell Park.” (Mr. Hellman is chairman of The Bay Citizen but plays no role in editorial operations.)
One of the most formidable groups supporting Mr. Lee is the Alliance for Jobs and Growth, which counts PG&E, Wells Fargo, the Police Officers Association and the United Healthcare Workers West among its members. Vince Courtney Sr., executive director of the alliance, said he organized the Sept. 14 meeting so that the independent groups supporting Mr. Lee could divide the work.
“Our alliance between business and labor allows the labor folks, who have the bodies, to work on the ground,” Mr. Courtney said. Meanwhile, a group organized by Ron Conway, a Silicon Valley investor, has raised close to $400,000 from the tech sector and is handling “the stuff that’s really expensive: mail, TV, polls,” Mr. Courtney said.
“We’ll cooperate with anyone supporting Ed Lee,” he added. “I’ve never seen an election in San Francisco where the mayor has run in such a one-sided race. I just hope it holds up.”
On Thursday, Mr. Lee became the first candidate to exceed a $1.577 million spending limit imposed by the city’s Ethics Commission. The cap does not apply to Mr. Lee because he chose not to receive public financing, unlike the other leading candidates.
After Mr. Lee entered Room 200 as interim mayor in January, he presented himself as a consensus-building nonpolitician who had no interest in running for election.
His pension reform deal — which would achieve a fraction of the savings he said were needed to stave off the city’s bankruptcy — put him in the good graces of the public sector unions. He won over the police union by naming a popular insider in the force, Greg Suhr, as the chief.
Mr. Lee impressed old-line business interests and Silicon Valley with two tax breaks for startups — worth hundreds of millions of dollars. That won him the support of Mr. Conway, who persuaded Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce, a “cloud” computing company, and Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster, to contribute more than $400,000 to an independent effort backing the mayor’s campaign.
Mr. Lee’s opponents say that by going back on his promise the he would not run, the events of the past year have conferred an unfair advantage on Mr. Lee.
“It’s not rigged in terms of ballots floating in the bay,” said Aaron Peskin, former president of the Board of Supervisors. “But the appointment of Ed Lee to the position of interim mayor was based on a promise to David Chiu and the people of San Francisco.”
Mr. Chiu, the president of the Board of Supervisors who also is running for mayor, helped engineer Mr. Lee’s appointment on the assumption that Mr. Lee would not run. It was only days before he jumped into the race that Mr. Lee told Mr. Chiu he had changed his mind.
If the plan all along was for Mr. Lee to run for election, he and his camp “couldn’t have strategized it more brilliantly,” said Mr. Cook, the University of San Francisco professor. “He brought everyone together by saying he wasn’t running, got the issues solved and then jumped in the race and said, ‘Who do you trust to solve them?’ ”
gshih [at] baycitizen.org
zelinson [at] baycitizen.org
The billionaire's mayor
Published on San Francisco Bay Guardian (http://www.sfbg.com)
SFBG > This Week > Printer-friendly
The billionaire's mayor
By marke
Created 10/18/2011 - 7:48pm
Mayor Ed Lee calls himself a progressive — but rich, powerful conservatives are funding his campaign
rebeccab [at] sfbg.com [1]
Billionaire Sean Parker, the former Facebook president who was portrayed by Justin Timberlake in the film The Social Network, threw a huge bash in late September for Spotify, the digital music platform he's invested in. The event was held at a Potrero Hill warehouse covered from top to bottom in graffiti to stand out for the occasion, its interior draped with massive, elegant curtains and adorned with chandeliers. The San Francisco Business Times called it "extraordinarily opulent," with top-shelf booze, pigs roasting on spits, piles of lobster and fresh sushi, and a crowd peppered with celebrities, tech professionals, and venture investors. Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown made an appearance at the lavish event, donning a tux.
Parker and Brown have something in common: They're both supporting Mayor Ed Lee's bid for a full term in office. While campaign finance law prohibits donors from contributing more than $500 to a candidate running for office in San Francisco, the young tech investor donated $100,000 to an independent expenditure (IE) committee that's legally separate from his official campaign, called San Franciscans for Jobs and Good Government. Brown, meanwhile, has hosted fundraisers for the mayor and regularly advocates for Lee in his column in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Parker is just one of several billionaires stepping up to support Lee's mayoral bid. While every mayoral candidate has to raise money, generous support for the interim mayor from the region's wealthiest figures has raised eyebrows, suggesting that the wealthy and powerful trust him to carry forward an agenda that benefits their interests. Businesspeople with financial stakes in city contracts, real-estate professionals involved in major development projects, and investors in San Francisco companies who stand to benefit from specialized tax breaks can all be found in the mix of Lee's donor base. Meanwhile, many of the backers who urged Lee to run before he became an official candidate have deep ties to Brown — and several are remembered for coming under the watchful eye of federal investigators when they served as city officials under his administration.
The IE Parker donated $100,000 to was launched by Ron Conway, a prominent tech investor and registered Republican whose net worth also stretches into the billions. Conway, who's dubbed "The Godfather of Silicon Valley" in a book documenting his meteoric rise, had sunk $151,000 into the committee as of Sept. 24.
Marc Benioff, billionaire CEO of Salesforce.com, dropped another $50,000 into the hat. William H. Draper III, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who was appointed by Ronald Reagan to preside over the Export-Import Bank of the United States in the Eighties, also pitched in $1,000.
Lee is the city's first Chinese-American mayor, appointed unanimously by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in January 2011 after his predecessor, Mayor Gavin Newsom, ascended to the Lieutenant Governor post in Sacramento. In the months following his inauguration — when he was still presumed to be a caretaker mayor who would serve only until the end of Newsom's term — Lee earned praise from his City Hall colleagues for his inclusive style of governance, affable demeanor, and keen understanding of the nuts and bolts of city government stemming from his years of service as City Administrator. He won approval for crafting a city budget by incorporating input from multiple stakeholders, in sharp contrast with Newsom's tendency to shut out critics.
Lee gave assurances to colleagues and newspaper editors that he wouldn't run, but changed his mind in early August. Once he threw his hat into the ring, the honeymoon ended — and cash from venture capitalists, tech companies, global engineering firms, and high-end real estate outfits began pouring in.
Collectively, the camp that's gone to bat for Lee envisions a San Francisco that bears little resemblance to the future progressives have in mind. Where the left advocates more equitable taxation, halting luxury housing construction in favor of affordable residential projects, and creating a municipal bank to free up lending for small business, the mayor's moderate supporters emphasize propelling forward market-rate development, catering to tech and biotech firms with targeted tax breaks, giving streets a clean and sanitized feel to satisfy tourists, and encouraging more homeownership and less rental housing on the whole.
The rub is that in an evermore expensive city, certain populations — middle-class families, communities of color blunted by unemployment or foreclosure, and creative youth who are cash-poor but dreaming big, for instance — become vulnerable to being priced out. San Francisco is at a crossroads, and the direction it takes will be determined by this race.
SOFT MONEY SUPPORTERS
On the day Lee was inaugurated as mayor, he told a room full of supporters gathered in City Hall's rotunda, "I was a progressive before progressive was a political faction in this town." On the campaign trail, Lee's cited his past work as an attorney for the Asian Law Caucus, describing how he fought to protect tenants and to promote equal opportunity in the San Francisco Fire Department. But that was decades ago — and these days, some heavyweights in Lee's corner are downright hostile to progressives.
And while Lee does have some progressive support, the bulk of the money behind his campaign comes from people who are on the other side of the political fence — and they clearly think he's going to listen to them.
Last fall, Conway — the billionaire angel investor who started an IE on Lee's behalf — told an audience at a business conference that it was time to "take San Francisco back" from progressives. At the time, a polarizing debate was raging over a proposed ordinance that would ban sitting or lying down on city sidewalks, with progressives condemning it as an inhumane anti-homeless measure and advocates trumpeting it as a tool for restoring "civility" to sidewalks. Conway loaned $20,000 to the campaign supporting the law, and the moderates claimed victory.
To improve Lee's chances of winning, Conway has tapped powerful Sacramento consultants to oversee television spots, polling, and other campaign efforts. The campaign's law firm, Nielson Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni LLP, teamed up with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) last year to advance a stunningly expensive yet failed ballot initiative designed to crush municipal electricity programs posing a threat to PG&E's monopoly in Northern California.
Lee drew the ire of a mayoral opponent, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, for remarking that PG&E was "a company that gets it" during a media event; his ill-timed comment came on the heels of a scathing federal report detailing the utility's culpability for the tragic Sept. 9, 2010 San Bruno gas line explosion.
Another consultant hired by Conway, Aaron McLear of The Ginsberg McLear Group, got his chops on Republican campaign trails, serving as communications director for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio, and later acting as press secretary to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reached by phone, McLear tried to play down the fact that he was a Republican operative hired by a Republican billionaire to try and influence San Francisco voters to elect Lee. "Yes, I am a registered Republican, but everything we're spending our money on is Democratic — we're trying to elect a Democrat in a Democrat town," he explained, noting that he was also working with Democratic consultant Brian Brokaw.
As part of their efforts, McLear said, the IE had conducted a "virtual precinct walk" developed by a Silicon Valley tech company called Votizen, which utilizes social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to spread the word about a candidate. Votizen was listed as part of Conway's investment portfolio in a document published by Business Insider. Zynga and Twitter, two companies benefiting from tax cuts spearheaded by Lee, were also listed in Conway's portfolio.
Conway's IE is only one of several that have sprouted up apart from Lee's official campaign. Another one, the Committee for Effective City Management, drew financial support from city contractors or close affiliates of city vendors. Raymond Lok, who listed his occupation as retired, gave $5,000, while another $5,000 flowed in from 4U Services, a New York based company. A public records search revealed that Lok is related to Melanie Lok, president and CEO of mlok Consulting, who contributed the maximum $500 to Lee's official mayoral campaign. Melanie Lok listed her occupation as "homemaker" — even though, as the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out, her company holds a contract with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) for an invoicing system upgrade worth at least $132,000. (Lok's odd word choice for her occupation may not be an isolated case. A total of $38,000 flowed into the coffers of Lee's official campaign from 76 "homemakers," while another $7,500 was contributed by 15 "housewives.")
4U Services, which also does business as Stellar Services, holds a city contract for the same SFPUC project that mlok was tapped to work on, worth nearly $92,000. Lok's consulting firm also does business with Kin Wo Construction, a company that contributed to Lee's campaign and Brown's reelection campaign in 1999 — and has been awarded multiple city contracts.
Kin Wo Construction president Florence Kong also contributed $3,000 to Run, Ed, Run. That campaign, which materialized this past spring to encourage Lee to run and drew scrutiny from the city's Ethics Commission, was driven by Rose Pak, a consultant for the San Francisco Chinatown Chamber of Commerce whose connections with the business world have imbued her with tremendous influence.
And some of the same powers behind the corrupt and anti-progressive Brown administration are Lee backers: Run, Ed, Run accepted $34,715 in contributions from 16 individuals who contributed to Brown's reelection in 1999, either themselves or through companies they owned, representing about 70 percent of the total contributions.
Another IE called the San Francisco Neighbor Alliance , which has yet to reveal its financiers, produced a biography of Lee written by Run, Ed, Run consultant Enrique Pearce and distributed to voters. It's a violation of election law for an official candidate campaign to coordinate with a third-party committee, but the unauthorized biography contains photographs, anecdotes, and other details of Lee's personal life that would seem difficult to unearth without the candidate's help.
Questions surrounding contributions to Lee's official campaign spurred a criminal investigation by District Attorney George Gascon last week, following Bay Citizen reporter Gerry Shih's article detailing how airport shuttle drivers were urged by managers to make maximum contributions to Lee in exchange for cash reimbursements. According to a campaign finance document detailing contributions since Sept. 24, just 54 percent of the donors to Lee's official campaign were San Francisco residents. Among those who made maximum $500 contributions were students, servers, parking garage attendants, cashiers, and a nanny.
Third party committees formed on Lee's behalf, meanwhile, are working in tandem. On Sept. 16, leaders from all the committees met at the office of Building Owners and Managers (BOMA), an affiliation of San Francisco landlords. "The purpose is to coordinate our efforts, both field and media, to achieve maximum effectiveness," Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth coordinator Vince Courtney wrote in an email. Recipients included Jim Lazarus and Rob Black of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, representatives from the Coalition on Jobs and BOMA, and Rodrigo Santos, a partner in a structural engineering firm called Santos & Urrita which has worked on numerous live/work loft construction projects throughout the city. The email also went to a representative of Left Coast Communications, the outfit that helped steer Run, Ed, Run.
BROWN GOVERNMENT IN EXILE
A San Francisco Chronicle article from 2001 examined the depth of Brown's patronage politics. "It is well known this town has been for sale since Willie took office," John DeCastro, president of the Potrero Boosters neighborhood association, was quoted as saying. "Money gets things done."
And while Lee has a very different political persona than Brown, many of the same people who worked with the former mayor are in the Lee campaign orbit.
"The Ed Lee campaign looks the Willie Brown government in exile, from top to bottom," Former Sup. Aaron Peskin charged. "Every scurrilous person involved in ripping off the San Francisco taxpayer is neck deep in the Ed Lee campaign. If this guy gets elected mayor, anything that's not nailed to the floor they're going to take."
As the city's chief executive, Lee comes across as a dedicated public servant who tends to side with the city's moderates, thrust unexpectedly into the rough and tumble of San Francisco politics. Yet as a candidate, he's rarely discussed in political circles without mention of his two most visible and influential backers, Brown and Pak. At a mayoral campaign forum in August, Board President David Chiu directed a pointed question at Lee. "So Ed, about a week or two before you told the world that you wanted to — that you were considering — running for mayor, you told me that you had looked at yourself in the mirror, you didn't have the fire in the belly, you didn't want to run — but that you were having trouble saying 'no' to Willie Brown and Rose Pak," Chiu said.
A Brown-era City Hall insider told the Guardian that Lee, who previously served as head of the city's Department of Public Works (DPW) and City Administrator, ascended to his high-ranking posts in part because he was favored by Brown and Pak.
"It was no secret, at least in Room 200, that when Ed was summoned to the office, he got his instructions directly from Willie Brown to do something for someone," this person recounted. "Willie Brown was smart, he put Ed in positions (Purchaser, DPW) that don't have commission oversight by charter, and can spend millions. That was not by mistake."
The statement could be chalked up to mudslinging from any disgruntled foe with an axe to grind, but the wariness of Brown-era politics may stem from past experience. There's a history of federal investigators looking closely at Brown-appointed city officials for questionable behavior, and several of those former officials turned out at the kickoff for Run, Ed, Run this spring.
Among them was Zula Jones, who worked at the city's Human Rights Commission (HRC) and was indicted by a grand jury in April 2000 on charges that she allowed a construction company, Scott Co. of San Leandro, to game the city's minority business certification by creating a false minority-owned contracting company with a Brown donor. The phony front, Scott-Normal Mechanical, Inc., received $64 million in city contracts. According to a 2002 San Francisco Chronicle story, federal investigators found documents they'd subpoenaed next to a paper shredder in Jones' office — but a judge ruled the evidence was inadmissible, and charges against her were dropped.
In March of 2010, Lee presented Jones with a Community Advocate of the Year award at a banquet hosted by Global Arts and Education to celebrate International Women's Day. Former Mayor Brown hosted the event.
Another person who turned up at the Run, Ed, Run kickoff was Frank Chiu, who headed up the Department of Building Inspection under Brown's administration. In 2000, the FBI investigated that department for possible kickbacks and allegedly pressuring permit seekers to use specific contractors. In 2003, the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury issued a report concluding that the department gave "breaks to politically connected developers," by accelerating approval for their projects.
Also in attendance was Walter Wong, who worked as a consultant to companies seeking project approval from DBI. He came under scrutiny for his cozy relationships with DBI officials, and a 2001 Chronicle article noted that Wong "is often spotted behind the counter before business hours at [DBI], which passes judgment on almost all construction in the city." The article noted his close ties to Brown and Pak.
In the late 1990s, when Lee served as City Purchaser under Mayor Brown, a company called GSCI was approved as a contractor for DBI even though it was repeatedly rejected by city staff. The company won millions in city contracts, but came under federal investigation for setting up a kickback scheme to defraud the city.
According to the transcript of a deposition carried out by the law firm Gonzalez & Leigh, Deborah Vincent-James — who oversaw contracting for technology companies and has since passed away — testified that GCSI didn't meet the minimum qualifications (See "Dirty Business," Feb. 8, 2011). "From day one, I knew that they were not qualified," Vincent-James' deposition transcript reads. She went on to say that the official city process for evaluating contractors was "totally bypassed." Nonetheless, "We had to admit them." Asked who told her they had to be admitted, she responded, "The director of purchasing. Ed Lee." She went on to testify that Lee had been acting under the direction of Mayor Brown, who had ties to GCSI principals. When the Guardian contacted Lee for a response to that story, his office did not respond.
Mohammad Nuru, whom Lee recently appointed to lead DPW, was also at the Run, Ed, Run kickoff. He previously served as deputy director of DPW, but drew scrutiny after workers from the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG), a city-funded nonprofit he previously ran, testified that he and SLUG had required them walk precincts and deliver campaign literature for Gavin Newsom for Mayor in 2004 on days they should have been performing street cleaning duties. SLUG was banned from receiving further city contracts following a city attorney's investigation. Lee says on the campaign trail that he's going for a full term to continue the tone of civility at City Hall. Yet to longtime observers, his candidacy has come to be defined not by a vision he articulates for San Francisco, but by the past dealings and shady reputations of his supporters. Progressives fear that a Lee administration will be a rehash of the Brown era, with its rampant evictions and favoritism to politically-connected businesses. Lee has voiced his support for inclusivity, smart governance, and fairness, yet some of his greatest boosters seem motivated purely by profit. If Lee wins, his first test will be whether or not he can stand up to the power brokers circling his camp.
Students with deep pockets pony up for Lee
By Christine Deakers
When you talk about students getting involved in politics, you typically think of canvassing, voter registration, and protests. Campaign contributions aren't anywhere near the top of the list.
In fact, with the bad economy, the soaring cost of education and the crushing burden of student debt, it's hard to imagine most students having an extra $500 to give to a candidate for mayor of San Francisco.
But nine people identified as "students" gave the maximum $500 to the Ed Lee for Mayor campaign, records show. Two other students, one living in Montana, gave smaller amounts.
Two of those maximum contributions came from young members of the Sangiacomo family, whose senior members have been among the largest and most notorious landlords in San Francisco.
Students Christina and Natalie Sangiacomo both donated $500 dollars. They are the daughters of James Sangiacomo, who helps run Trinity Management Services, a family real estate operation.
Signing a check to Ed Lee seems to be all in the family— the Sangiacomo name appeared 12 times on the donation list, and documented addresses spanned outside of Bay Area zip codes to Corona Del Mar.
We couldn't reach Christina or Natalie at the family home, but we asked their dad if he knew his daughters gave such substantial amounts to a mayoral campaign. He simply replied, "[Natalie] is 20 and registered to vote." (For the record, both daughters are over 18, the minimum legal age to make a campaign contribution.)
Hamdiah A. Ahmed (Oakland), Leanna L. Chan (S.F.), Kelly L.L. Chen (S.F.), Stephanie Chen (Danville), Jasmin Perez, Michael Perez (both from Hillsborough), and Yusra M. Sharif (Oakland) also donated $500 to the Ed Lee campaign. Selina Sun (S.F.) donated $250 and Philip O'Connor, on record as a student in Missoula, Montana, gave $175.
Sun's father, Andrew Sun, is a lobbyist and fundraising consultant at Sun Associates. He gave Lee $100. His wife, Selina's mother, is Alicia Wang, a long time Democratic Party activist and former candidate for supervisor. Her name did not appear on Ed Lee's campaign records.
Some students from outside San Francisco kicked in the maximum contribution. Take Hamdiah Ahmed and Yusra Sharif, two unemployed students who live at the same residence in Oakland. The Sharif family owns Oasis Food Market in the East Bay.
There's no legal reason why a student can't donate to a campaign — unless someone else provided the money specifically for that purpose. And that's almost impossible to prove, particularly if a students parents are helping support him or her anyway.
In a phone conversation, Bill Barnes, campaign manager for Ed Lee, emphasized the importance of complying with campaign finance law. He said no one is barred from contributing, and there is "no reason to believe that [students] shouldn't be helping".
As for the students who aren't current San Francisco denizens, Barnes said, "I don't find it that interesting that second or third generation native San Franciscans feel an obligation to the city."
• News
• Volume 46, Issue 03
• Ed Lee
• Election 2011
• Mayor
Source URL: http://www.sfbg.com/2011/10/18/billionaires-mayor
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HONORED GUESTS
Gavin Newsom
California Lieutenant Governor, former Mayor of San Francisco Edwin M. Lee
Mayor of San Francisco
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr.
Former Mayor of San Francisco, former Speaker of the CA Assembly Francis M. "Frank" Jordan
Former Mayor of San Francisco, former Speaker of the CA Assembly
Fiona Ma
California Assembly Speaker pro Tempore,
Assembly District 12 - San Francisco Eric Mar
San Francisco Supervisor, District 1
Mark Farrell
San Francisco Supervisor, District 2 David Chiu
San Francisco Supervisor, District 3
President of the Board
Carmen Chu
San Francisco Supervisor, District 4 Ross Mirkarimi
San Francisco Supervisor, District 5
Jane Kim
San Francisco Supervisor, District 6 Sean Elsbernd
San Francisco Supervisor, District 7
Scott Wiener
San Francisco Supervisor, District 8 David Campos
San Francisco Supervisor, District 9
Malia Cohen
San Francisco Supervisor, District 10 John Avalos
San Francisco Supervisor, District 11
Dr. Warren S. Browner MD, MPH
CEO
California Pacific Medical Center Bob Arns
Founder
The Arns Law Firm
Tedi Vriheas
San Francisco Area Manager External Affairs
AT&T Marc Blakeman
Regional VP External Affairs
AT&T
Alfredo Pedroza
State Government Relations Director
Wells Fargo Jimi Harris
Government Relations & Public Affairs
PG&E
Jack Baylis
US Group Executive, Strategic Development
AECOM Tom Hart
E.V.P. Corporate Relations Director
Shorenstein Properties LLC
Rocco Davis
VP & Regional Manager
LiUNA! Pacific Southwest Region Oscar De La Torre
VP & Business Manager
LiUNA! Northern California District Council
Jeff Album
VP Public & Government Affairs
Delta Dental of California Chris Gruwell
Platinum Advisors
Lisa Brown
Executive Director
NAIOP San Francisco Rodrigo Santos
President
San Francisco Coalition for Responsible Growth
Jaime Maciel Gonzalez
President & CEO
Mission Housing Construction Group Mark Mengelberg
Partner
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Robert W. Babcock
CPCU, ARM, AIC, RPLU
R. W. Babcock Insurance Pete Gallegos
Secretary, Board of Directors
Mission Housing Development Corporation
Michael Rocco
San Francisco Program Director
City Hall Fellows Viola Maestras
Chair, Board of Directors
Mission Housing Development Corporation
Hannah Park
Manager
Global Health Sciences, UCSF Robert Mansfield
South Beach/Rincon/Mission Bay
Neighborhood Assn.
Dr. Catherine Yee
UCSF Dr. Martin Brotman
President
Sutter, California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC)
Judy Li
Vice President
California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) Tom Hennessy
CEO
Saint Francis Memorial Hospital
Anna Cheung
President
St. Mary's Hospital Mark Laret
CEO
UCSF
Sue Currin
CEO
San Francisco General Hospital Ron Smith
Senior Vice President
Hospital Council of Northern and Central California
Stuart Fong
Government Affairs Officer
Chinese Hospital Melissa White
Government Affairs Officer
UCSF
Abbie Yant
Vice President
Saint Francis Memorial Hospital Michelle Horneff-Cohen
Property Management Systems
Jay Lampus
Brown and Company Stephen Cornell
Owner
Brownie's Hardware
HOST COMMITTEE
Steven Falk
Co-Chair, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
President & CEO
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Leon Chow
Co-Chair, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Director of External Affairs
SEIU-UHW
Ken Cleaveland
Treasurer, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Director Government & Public Affairs
Building Owners and Managers Association of San Francisco Larry J. Mazzola, Sr.
Secretary Treasurer, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Business Manager / Financial Secretary Treasurer
UA Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Local 38
Rob Black
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Executive Director
Golden Gate Restaurant Association Gary Delagnes
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
President
San Francisco Police Officer's Association
Ramon Hernandez
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Business Manager, LIUNA, Laborers Union Local No. 261 Pat Mulligan
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Financial Secretary
Carpenters and Joiners Local Union #22
Ron Smith
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Senior Vice President for Advocacy
Hospital Council of Northern and Central California Art Swanson
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
President
San Francisco Small Business Network
John Ulrich
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Assistant to the Secretary Treasurer, UFCW5 Christopher Wright
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Executive Director
Committee On Jobs
Vince Courtney Jr.
Business Representative & Political Director
LiUNA! Local 261 NCDCL Fred Pecker
Secretary-Treasurer
ILWU Local 6
Hunter Stern
Business Representative
IBEW 1245 Don Wilson
President
San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs' Association
Larry Del Carlo
CEO & President
Mission Housing Development Corporation Rosario Anaya
Executive Director
Mission Language and Vocational School
James A. Bryant
President, San Francisco Chapter
A. Philip Randolph Institute David Fix
Board Member
San Francisco Plan C
Inside the Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth V.I.P. cocktail party with Willie Brown
http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2011/08/18/inside-vip-cocktail-party-willie-brown
08.18.11 - 2:36 pm | Rebecca Bowe | (10)
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Willie Brown said he was glad they didn't have YouTube when he ran for mayor.
Photo courtesy Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
The Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth hosted a V.I.P. reception just before a mayoral candidate forum held at UCSF Aug. 16, and former Mayor Willie Brown appeared to be the guest of honor. Although the theme of the event was technically "honoring San Francisco's mayors" -- former Mayor Frank Jordan was there, someone indicated that former Mayor Art Agnos was in the room, former Mayor Gavin Newsom was invited but didn't show, and Mayor Ed Lee was of course in attendence -- Brown seemed to be given more prominent recognition than any of the others.
The moment he strolled in, Sup. Mark Farrell, who was doing introductions for the the affair, scrambled onstage to announce Brown's presence and deliver a warm welcome, and everyone applauded. Within minutes, the former mayor was seen chatting with a crowd that included Mayor Lee and several others. Soon after, Brown and former Mayor Frank Jordan were summoned to the stage to say a few words.
Once in the limelight, Brown cracked a few jokes. He said he felt for the 36 mayoral candidates, who are forced to campaign in an era when the Internet threatens to reveal videos and photos of them at any time to thousands of online viewers. "I'm glad they didn't have that kind of communication system when I was running," he said. "I can't imagine the photographs you'd have of me floating around doing things I shouldn't have been doing."
As for his own time in Room 200, "I enjoyed every single solitary minute of it, and if I really thought I had great skills, I would be number 37," he said, drawing more applause.
Then again, common wisdom says it isn't necessary for Brown to bother campaigning in order to gain access to Room 200 these days. Later that same evening, during his own turn in the spotlight at the mayoral debate, Mayor Lee came under fire from Board President David Chiu, who revealed that Lee had privately confided to him about a week before he announced his candidacy that he was having a difficult time saying no to Brown and influential Chinatown business consultant Rose Pak when it came to launching a campaign for a full term.
Chiu's pointed question for the mayor was what had changed in his mind since that conversation, but Lee referenced neither Brown nor Pak in his answer. Instead, he said he'd changed his mind after witnessing his success in changing the tone of government and getting things done in City Hall.
Back at the V.I.P. reception, Brown and Jordan were invited onstage again, this time to receive awards presented by the Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth. But first Steve Falk, president and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, reminded the crowd that there was still time to buy a drink before the debate got underway. He said, "Debates are much more interesting after three drinks."
Before Falk presented Brown with a commemorative plaque, he said, "It's tough to put in a few sentences the life and times of Willie Brown," and proceeded to note that, with his term in the California Assembly and time serving as mayor of San Francisco behind him, Brown "has now followed his friend Herb Caen into an honest line of work as a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle."
Being a newspaper columnist doesn't mean Brown is always kind to members of the local media. While mixing through the crowd minutes after receiving his award, he fired some harsh words at a well-known City Hall reporter who had recently published some unflattering articles about the "Run, Ed, Run" effort to encourage Lee to seek a full term.
In recent months, Brown's columns have provided the public at large with a rare glimpse into Mayor Lee's dining experiences in San Francisco. In February, Brown wrote in one of his columns that he went out to North Beach Restaurant at sat at the window table with Lee, Brown's "friend" Sonya Molodetskaya, and Jack Baylis, who serves as the US Group Executive of Strategic Development for AECOM, one of the city's largest contractors and a sponsor of the Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth Event. (Baylis was on the invite list for the V.I.P reception, too.)
Apparently, AECOM had something to celebrate that same day -- according to an Aug. 16 press release, an AECOM joint venture was just awarded a $150 million contract for program management services for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's wastewater improvement program.
The V.I.P. reception had representation from many key players in the downtown business community, with sponsorship from AT&T, AECOM, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Wells Fargo, Motorola, California Pacific Medical Center, the San Francsico Chamber of Commerce, the Building Owners and Managers Association, the San Francisco Police Officer's Association, Shorenstein Properties, and others. Several labor unions, including the United Association of Plumbers & Pipefitters Union Local 38, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local Union No. 22, and United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 5 were also listed as sponsors. Guests included district supervisors, developers, lobbyists, business owners, mayoral candidates, media spokespeople, executives from the health care industry, and other political insiders.
Clearly, there were many people in the room who wanted to get on Brown's good side.
Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth Coalition - Mayoral Debate Update
http://bomasanfrancisco.blogspot.com/2011/08/alliance-for-jobs-and-sustainable.html
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2011
Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth Coalition - Mayoral Debate Update
http://bomasanfrancisco.blogspot.com/2011/08/alliance-for-jobs-and-sustainable.html
BOMA San Francisco Members:
BOMA San Francisco is proud to be one of the founding members of the Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth (AFJASG) - a new jobs-focused coalition of business, labor and community organizations. The objective is to explore how local businesses, labor and community-based organizations can benefit by creating a working relationship to encourage economic development in San Francisco.
On August 16, 2011, the AFJASG sponsored a San Francisco Mayoral Candidate Debate that involved the leading contenders in the race - including the first debate appearance by Public Defender Jeff Adachi:
• San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi
• Former San Francisco Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier
• San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos
• San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu
• Former San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty
• Former San Francisco Supervisor Tony Hall
• San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera
• San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee
• Venture capitalist Joanna Rees
• San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting
• State Sen. Leland Yee
You can read more about the debate in the San Francisco Examiner by clicking here.
Thank you to the BOMA San Francisco members who attended the debate: Susan Court, GAPAC member; Mike Freeman, BOMA SF-PAC Member; Debbie Shea, BOMA GAPAC and Energy & Environment Committee member; Manny Fishman, BOMA California representative for BOMA SF; and Art Swanson,San Francisco Small Business Network President.
Debbie Shea and Mike Freeman
Art Swanson and Supervisor Mark Farrell
The AFJASG members include:
Business: San Francisco Chamber of Commerce | Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA - San Francisco) | San Francisco Committee on Jobs |Golden Gate Restaurant Association | San Francisco Small Business Network | Hospital Council of Northern & Central California
Labor: United Association of Plumbers & Pipefitters Union Local 38 | LiUNA!, Local 261 | SEIU - United Healthcare Workers - West | San Francisco Police Officers Association | United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local Union No. 22 | United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 5 |San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association | International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6 | International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 | Northern California District Council of Laborers (NCDCL) | International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 856 | A. Philip Randolph Institute
Community: Plan C San Francisco | Mission Housing Development Corporation | Mission Language & Vocational School | Laborers Local 261 Community Service & Training Foundation | Other Community Organizations
POSTED BY KEN CLEAVELAND AND JOHN BOZEMAN AT 10:29 AM
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LABELS: ALLIANCE FOR JOBS AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
"Alliance for Jobs And Sustainable Growth" Gets Office Space At SF SEIU UHW
http://allianceforjobs.org/about/officers-board/
Endorsements
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OFFICERS & BOARD
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• Officers & Board
Officers
Bob Linscheid
Co- Chair
S. F. Chamber of Commerce
Ramon Hernandez
Co-Chair
Laborers Local 261
Ken Cleaveland
Treasurer
BOMA
John Ulrich
Secretary
UFCW Local 5
Vince Courtney
Executive Director
Board of Directors
Business Members
• Bob Linscheid, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
• Ken Cleaveland, Building Owners & Managers Association
• Rob Black, Golden Gate Restaurant Association
• Joe D’Alessandro, San Francisco Travel
• Ron L. Smith, Hospital Council of Northern & Central California
• Art Swanson, Small Business Network
• Chris Wright, San Francisco Committee on Jobs
• Kevin Carroll, San Francisco Hotel Council
Union Members
• Ramon Hernandez, Laborers Local 261
• John Ulrich, United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 5
• Gary Delagnes, San Francisco Police Officers Association
• Charley Lavery, Operating Engineers Local 3
• Rebecca Miller, United Healthcare Workers-West
• Pat Mulligan, Carpenters Union Local 22
• Anthony Urbina, Sheet Metal Workers Local Union No. 104
Vince Courtney Sr.
Executive Director
Address
1338 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
vjcourtney [at] gmail.com
Phone
415-810-4600
Seiu United Healthcare Workers-West - SoMa - San Francisco, CA
http://www.yelp.com/biz/seiu-united-healthcare-workers-west-san-francisco
Seiu United Healthcare Workers-West. Categories: [Add]. 1338 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103. Neighborhood: SoMa. (415) 441-2500. seiu-uhw.org.
Union Busters and SEIU UHW Unite In SF For Mayor Ed Lee As Unions Push Anti-Labor Prop C
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/us/mayors-political-machine-goes-into-high-gear-in-quest-for-full-term.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=mayor%20ed%20lee&st=cse
October 21, 2011
Mayor’s Political Machine Goes Into High Gear in Quest for Full Term
By GERRY SHIH and ZUSHA ELINSON
On Sept. 14, about a dozen business and labor leaders gathered in an eighth-floor conference room in the Financial District. They met for an hour, rehearsing their strategy to assure that Ed Lee, the interim mayor of San Francisco, is elected to a four-year term on Nov. 8.
A number of well-connected San Francisco figures were present, including Steve Falk and Jim Lazarus of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce; Rob Black of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association; Leon Chow, the head of the United Healthcare Workers West, and Enrique Pearce, a political consultant closely associated with Rose Pak, the Chinatown lobbyist.
The people there represented four independent political action committees that, in the weeks since, have collectively spent more than $400,000 to broadcast advertisements, send political mail and deploy an army of field workers on Mr. Lee’s behalf, effectively turbocharging his campaign.
According to a poll conducted by The Bay Citizen and the University of San Francisco released on Monday, Mr. Lee claimed 31 percent of first-place votes, far outstripping his nearest challenger, Dennis Herrera, the city attorney, who had 8 percent.
Mr. Lee also earned an approval rating of 78 percent. Corey Cook, a professor of political science at the University of San Francisco who helped analyze the poll, said it was an “astonishing” number for a mayoral candidate. It is twice as high as the approval rating for Willie Brown, one of San Francisco’s most celebrated mayors, when he won re-election in 2000.
Mr. Lee’s dominance shows how San Francisco, despite its reputation as the liberal poster child of American politics, remains in the grip of a classic political establishment that has overwhelming influence in elections and policy battles. The mayor’s ascent in the polls has been helped along by independent groups — largely associated with the city’s political machine — that can raise unlimited amounts of money but are prohibited from coordinating their activities with Mr. Lee’s official campaign.
In the past 10 months, Mr. Lee’s supporters have united around the centerpiece of Mr. Lee’s legislative accomplishments, a pension reform deal struck with the city’s labor unions: Proposition C on the upcoming ballot.
The measure has won favor in polls, as Mr. Lee’s power brokers have worked to pressure his opponents, notably Jeff Adachi, the public defender of San Francisco and the author of an opposing pension reform plan.
During the past year when labor and business leaders met with Mr. Lee to craft Proposition C, the labor unions requested that Mr. Adachi be kept out of those meetings. This month, the Proposition C campaign launched video advertisements comparing Mr. Adachi to Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a Republican, who gutted the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions.
According to the Bay Citizen/U.S.F. poll, Proposition C is leading Mr. Adachi’s plan, Proposition D, by nine percentage points. The telephone poll was conducted Oct. 7-13 in English and Chinese with 551 likely voters throughout San Francisco by MAXimum Research of Cherry Hill, N.J. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points.
Proposition C has some powerful supporters, including Mr. Lee, all 11 supervisors, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Representative Nancy Pelosi, and the major labor unions. Neither Mr. Adachi nor his measure has attracted endorsements from the city’s political establishment.
“The names change, the faces change, but the machine is still there,” Mr. Adachi said. In a campaign mailer, Mr. Adachi called Proposition C “a backroom deal.”
Warren Hellman, a financier who paid $200,000 for an actuarial study of Proposition C and donated $100,000 to the campaign for it, took issue with Mr. Adachi’s characterization.
“I guess this is a backroom with enough room for the whole city, the mayor, the labor unions,” Mr. Hellman said. “This backroom must be as big as Pac Bell Park.” (Mr. Hellman is chairman of The Bay Citizen but plays no role in editorial operations.)
One of the most formidable groups supporting Mr. Lee is the Alliance for Jobs and Growth, which counts PG&E, Wells Fargo, the Police Officers Association and the United Healthcare Workers West among its members. Vince Courtney Sr., executive director of the alliance, said he organized the Sept. 14 meeting so that the independent groups supporting Mr. Lee could divide the work.
“Our alliance between business and labor allows the labor folks, who have the bodies, to work on the ground,” Mr. Courtney said. Meanwhile, a group organized by Ron Conway, a Silicon Valley investor, has raised close to $400,000 from the tech sector and is handling “the stuff that’s really expensive: mail, TV, polls,” Mr. Courtney said.
“We’ll cooperate with anyone supporting Ed Lee,” he added. “I’ve never seen an election in San Francisco where the mayor has run in such a one-sided race. I just hope it holds up.”
On Thursday, Mr. Lee became the first candidate to exceed a $1.577 million spending limit imposed by the city’s Ethics Commission. The cap does not apply to Mr. Lee because he chose not to receive public financing, unlike the other leading candidates.
After Mr. Lee entered Room 200 as interim mayor in January, he presented himself as a consensus-building nonpolitician who had no interest in running for election.
His pension reform deal — which would achieve a fraction of the savings he said were needed to stave off the city’s bankruptcy — put him in the good graces of the public sector unions. He won over the police union by naming a popular insider in the force, Greg Suhr, as the chief.
Mr. Lee impressed old-line business interests and Silicon Valley with two tax breaks for startups — worth hundreds of millions of dollars. That won him the support of Mr. Conway, who persuaded Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce, a “cloud” computing company, and Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster, to contribute more than $400,000 to an independent effort backing the mayor’s campaign.
Mr. Lee’s opponents say that by going back on his promise the he would not run, the events of the past year have conferred an unfair advantage on Mr. Lee.
“It’s not rigged in terms of ballots floating in the bay,” said Aaron Peskin, former president of the Board of Supervisors. “But the appointment of Ed Lee to the position of interim mayor was based on a promise to David Chiu and the people of San Francisco.”
Mr. Chiu, the president of the Board of Supervisors who also is running for mayor, helped engineer Mr. Lee’s appointment on the assumption that Mr. Lee would not run. It was only days before he jumped into the race that Mr. Lee told Mr. Chiu he had changed his mind.
If the plan all along was for Mr. Lee to run for election, he and his camp “couldn’t have strategized it more brilliantly,” said Mr. Cook, the University of San Francisco professor. “He brought everyone together by saying he wasn’t running, got the issues solved and then jumped in the race and said, ‘Who do you trust to solve them?’ ”
gshih [at] baycitizen.org
zelinson [at] baycitizen.org
The billionaire's mayor
Published on San Francisco Bay Guardian (http://www.sfbg.com)
SFBG > This Week > Printer-friendly
The billionaire's mayor
By marke
Created 10/18/2011 - 7:48pm
Mayor Ed Lee calls himself a progressive — but rich, powerful conservatives are funding his campaign
rebeccab [at] sfbg.com [1]
Billionaire Sean Parker, the former Facebook president who was portrayed by Justin Timberlake in the film The Social Network, threw a huge bash in late September for Spotify, the digital music platform he's invested in. The event was held at a Potrero Hill warehouse covered from top to bottom in graffiti to stand out for the occasion, its interior draped with massive, elegant curtains and adorned with chandeliers. The San Francisco Business Times called it "extraordinarily opulent," with top-shelf booze, pigs roasting on spits, piles of lobster and fresh sushi, and a crowd peppered with celebrities, tech professionals, and venture investors. Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown made an appearance at the lavish event, donning a tux.
Parker and Brown have something in common: They're both supporting Mayor Ed Lee's bid for a full term in office. While campaign finance law prohibits donors from contributing more than $500 to a candidate running for office in San Francisco, the young tech investor donated $100,000 to an independent expenditure (IE) committee that's legally separate from his official campaign, called San Franciscans for Jobs and Good Government. Brown, meanwhile, has hosted fundraisers for the mayor and regularly advocates for Lee in his column in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Parker is just one of several billionaires stepping up to support Lee's mayoral bid. While every mayoral candidate has to raise money, generous support for the interim mayor from the region's wealthiest figures has raised eyebrows, suggesting that the wealthy and powerful trust him to carry forward an agenda that benefits their interests. Businesspeople with financial stakes in city contracts, real-estate professionals involved in major development projects, and investors in San Francisco companies who stand to benefit from specialized tax breaks can all be found in the mix of Lee's donor base. Meanwhile, many of the backers who urged Lee to run before he became an official candidate have deep ties to Brown — and several are remembered for coming under the watchful eye of federal investigators when they served as city officials under his administration.
The IE Parker donated $100,000 to was launched by Ron Conway, a prominent tech investor and registered Republican whose net worth also stretches into the billions. Conway, who's dubbed "The Godfather of Silicon Valley" in a book documenting his meteoric rise, had sunk $151,000 into the committee as of Sept. 24.
Marc Benioff, billionaire CEO of Salesforce.com, dropped another $50,000 into the hat. William H. Draper III, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who was appointed by Ronald Reagan to preside over the Export-Import Bank of the United States in the Eighties, also pitched in $1,000.
Lee is the city's first Chinese-American mayor, appointed unanimously by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in January 2011 after his predecessor, Mayor Gavin Newsom, ascended to the Lieutenant Governor post in Sacramento. In the months following his inauguration — when he was still presumed to be a caretaker mayor who would serve only until the end of Newsom's term — Lee earned praise from his City Hall colleagues for his inclusive style of governance, affable demeanor, and keen understanding of the nuts and bolts of city government stemming from his years of service as City Administrator. He won approval for crafting a city budget by incorporating input from multiple stakeholders, in sharp contrast with Newsom's tendency to shut out critics.
Lee gave assurances to colleagues and newspaper editors that he wouldn't run, but changed his mind in early August. Once he threw his hat into the ring, the honeymoon ended — and cash from venture capitalists, tech companies, global engineering firms, and high-end real estate outfits began pouring in.
Collectively, the camp that's gone to bat for Lee envisions a San Francisco that bears little resemblance to the future progressives have in mind. Where the left advocates more equitable taxation, halting luxury housing construction in favor of affordable residential projects, and creating a municipal bank to free up lending for small business, the mayor's moderate supporters emphasize propelling forward market-rate development, catering to tech and biotech firms with targeted tax breaks, giving streets a clean and sanitized feel to satisfy tourists, and encouraging more homeownership and less rental housing on the whole.
The rub is that in an evermore expensive city, certain populations — middle-class families, communities of color blunted by unemployment or foreclosure, and creative youth who are cash-poor but dreaming big, for instance — become vulnerable to being priced out. San Francisco is at a crossroads, and the direction it takes will be determined by this race.
SOFT MONEY SUPPORTERS
On the day Lee was inaugurated as mayor, he told a room full of supporters gathered in City Hall's rotunda, "I was a progressive before progressive was a political faction in this town." On the campaign trail, Lee's cited his past work as an attorney for the Asian Law Caucus, describing how he fought to protect tenants and to promote equal opportunity in the San Francisco Fire Department. But that was decades ago — and these days, some heavyweights in Lee's corner are downright hostile to progressives.
And while Lee does have some progressive support, the bulk of the money behind his campaign comes from people who are on the other side of the political fence — and they clearly think he's going to listen to them.
Last fall, Conway — the billionaire angel investor who started an IE on Lee's behalf — told an audience at a business conference that it was time to "take San Francisco back" from progressives. At the time, a polarizing debate was raging over a proposed ordinance that would ban sitting or lying down on city sidewalks, with progressives condemning it as an inhumane anti-homeless measure and advocates trumpeting it as a tool for restoring "civility" to sidewalks. Conway loaned $20,000 to the campaign supporting the law, and the moderates claimed victory.
To improve Lee's chances of winning, Conway has tapped powerful Sacramento consultants to oversee television spots, polling, and other campaign efforts. The campaign's law firm, Nielson Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni LLP, teamed up with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) last year to advance a stunningly expensive yet failed ballot initiative designed to crush municipal electricity programs posing a threat to PG&E's monopoly in Northern California.
Lee drew the ire of a mayoral opponent, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, for remarking that PG&E was "a company that gets it" during a media event; his ill-timed comment came on the heels of a scathing federal report detailing the utility's culpability for the tragic Sept. 9, 2010 San Bruno gas line explosion.
Another consultant hired by Conway, Aaron McLear of The Ginsberg McLear Group, got his chops on Republican campaign trails, serving as communications director for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio, and later acting as press secretary to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reached by phone, McLear tried to play down the fact that he was a Republican operative hired by a Republican billionaire to try and influence San Francisco voters to elect Lee. "Yes, I am a registered Republican, but everything we're spending our money on is Democratic — we're trying to elect a Democrat in a Democrat town," he explained, noting that he was also working with Democratic consultant Brian Brokaw.
As part of their efforts, McLear said, the IE had conducted a "virtual precinct walk" developed by a Silicon Valley tech company called Votizen, which utilizes social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to spread the word about a candidate. Votizen was listed as part of Conway's investment portfolio in a document published by Business Insider. Zynga and Twitter, two companies benefiting from tax cuts spearheaded by Lee, were also listed in Conway's portfolio.
Conway's IE is only one of several that have sprouted up apart from Lee's official campaign. Another one, the Committee for Effective City Management, drew financial support from city contractors or close affiliates of city vendors. Raymond Lok, who listed his occupation as retired, gave $5,000, while another $5,000 flowed in from 4U Services, a New York based company. A public records search revealed that Lok is related to Melanie Lok, president and CEO of mlok Consulting, who contributed the maximum $500 to Lee's official mayoral campaign. Melanie Lok listed her occupation as "homemaker" — even though, as the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out, her company holds a contract with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) for an invoicing system upgrade worth at least $132,000. (Lok's odd word choice for her occupation may not be an isolated case. A total of $38,000 flowed into the coffers of Lee's official campaign from 76 "homemakers," while another $7,500 was contributed by 15 "housewives.")
4U Services, which also does business as Stellar Services, holds a city contract for the same SFPUC project that mlok was tapped to work on, worth nearly $92,000. Lok's consulting firm also does business with Kin Wo Construction, a company that contributed to Lee's campaign and Brown's reelection campaign in 1999 — and has been awarded multiple city contracts.
Kin Wo Construction president Florence Kong also contributed $3,000 to Run, Ed, Run. That campaign, which materialized this past spring to encourage Lee to run and drew scrutiny from the city's Ethics Commission, was driven by Rose Pak, a consultant for the San Francisco Chinatown Chamber of Commerce whose connections with the business world have imbued her with tremendous influence.
And some of the same powers behind the corrupt and anti-progressive Brown administration are Lee backers: Run, Ed, Run accepted $34,715 in contributions from 16 individuals who contributed to Brown's reelection in 1999, either themselves or through companies they owned, representing about 70 percent of the total contributions.
Another IE called the San Francisco Neighbor Alliance , which has yet to reveal its financiers, produced a biography of Lee written by Run, Ed, Run consultant Enrique Pearce and distributed to voters. It's a violation of election law for an official candidate campaign to coordinate with a third-party committee, but the unauthorized biography contains photographs, anecdotes, and other details of Lee's personal life that would seem difficult to unearth without the candidate's help.
Questions surrounding contributions to Lee's official campaign spurred a criminal investigation by District Attorney George Gascon last week, following Bay Citizen reporter Gerry Shih's article detailing how airport shuttle drivers were urged by managers to make maximum contributions to Lee in exchange for cash reimbursements. According to a campaign finance document detailing contributions since Sept. 24, just 54 percent of the donors to Lee's official campaign were San Francisco residents. Among those who made maximum $500 contributions were students, servers, parking garage attendants, cashiers, and a nanny.
Third party committees formed on Lee's behalf, meanwhile, are working in tandem. On Sept. 16, leaders from all the committees met at the office of Building Owners and Managers (BOMA), an affiliation of San Francisco landlords. "The purpose is to coordinate our efforts, both field and media, to achieve maximum effectiveness," Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth coordinator Vince Courtney wrote in an email. Recipients included Jim Lazarus and Rob Black of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, representatives from the Coalition on Jobs and BOMA, and Rodrigo Santos, a partner in a structural engineering firm called Santos & Urrita which has worked on numerous live/work loft construction projects throughout the city. The email also went to a representative of Left Coast Communications, the outfit that helped steer Run, Ed, Run.
BROWN GOVERNMENT IN EXILE
A San Francisco Chronicle article from 2001 examined the depth of Brown's patronage politics. "It is well known this town has been for sale since Willie took office," John DeCastro, president of the Potrero Boosters neighborhood association, was quoted as saying. "Money gets things done."
And while Lee has a very different political persona than Brown, many of the same people who worked with the former mayor are in the Lee campaign orbit.
"The Ed Lee campaign looks the Willie Brown government in exile, from top to bottom," Former Sup. Aaron Peskin charged. "Every scurrilous person involved in ripping off the San Francisco taxpayer is neck deep in the Ed Lee campaign. If this guy gets elected mayor, anything that's not nailed to the floor they're going to take."
As the city's chief executive, Lee comes across as a dedicated public servant who tends to side with the city's moderates, thrust unexpectedly into the rough and tumble of San Francisco politics. Yet as a candidate, he's rarely discussed in political circles without mention of his two most visible and influential backers, Brown and Pak. At a mayoral campaign forum in August, Board President David Chiu directed a pointed question at Lee. "So Ed, about a week or two before you told the world that you wanted to — that you were considering — running for mayor, you told me that you had looked at yourself in the mirror, you didn't have the fire in the belly, you didn't want to run — but that you were having trouble saying 'no' to Willie Brown and Rose Pak," Chiu said.
A Brown-era City Hall insider told the Guardian that Lee, who previously served as head of the city's Department of Public Works (DPW) and City Administrator, ascended to his high-ranking posts in part because he was favored by Brown and Pak.
"It was no secret, at least in Room 200, that when Ed was summoned to the office, he got his instructions directly from Willie Brown to do something for someone," this person recounted. "Willie Brown was smart, he put Ed in positions (Purchaser, DPW) that don't have commission oversight by charter, and can spend millions. That was not by mistake."
The statement could be chalked up to mudslinging from any disgruntled foe with an axe to grind, but the wariness of Brown-era politics may stem from past experience. There's a history of federal investigators looking closely at Brown-appointed city officials for questionable behavior, and several of those former officials turned out at the kickoff for Run, Ed, Run this spring.
Among them was Zula Jones, who worked at the city's Human Rights Commission (HRC) and was indicted by a grand jury in April 2000 on charges that she allowed a construction company, Scott Co. of San Leandro, to game the city's minority business certification by creating a false minority-owned contracting company with a Brown donor. The phony front, Scott-Normal Mechanical, Inc., received $64 million in city contracts. According to a 2002 San Francisco Chronicle story, federal investigators found documents they'd subpoenaed next to a paper shredder in Jones' office — but a judge ruled the evidence was inadmissible, and charges against her were dropped.
In March of 2010, Lee presented Jones with a Community Advocate of the Year award at a banquet hosted by Global Arts and Education to celebrate International Women's Day. Former Mayor Brown hosted the event.
Another person who turned up at the Run, Ed, Run kickoff was Frank Chiu, who headed up the Department of Building Inspection under Brown's administration. In 2000, the FBI investigated that department for possible kickbacks and allegedly pressuring permit seekers to use specific contractors. In 2003, the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury issued a report concluding that the department gave "breaks to politically connected developers," by accelerating approval for their projects.
Also in attendance was Walter Wong, who worked as a consultant to companies seeking project approval from DBI. He came under scrutiny for his cozy relationships with DBI officials, and a 2001 Chronicle article noted that Wong "is often spotted behind the counter before business hours at [DBI], which passes judgment on almost all construction in the city." The article noted his close ties to Brown and Pak.
In the late 1990s, when Lee served as City Purchaser under Mayor Brown, a company called GSCI was approved as a contractor for DBI even though it was repeatedly rejected by city staff. The company won millions in city contracts, but came under federal investigation for setting up a kickback scheme to defraud the city.
According to the transcript of a deposition carried out by the law firm Gonzalez & Leigh, Deborah Vincent-James — who oversaw contracting for technology companies and has since passed away — testified that GCSI didn't meet the minimum qualifications (See "Dirty Business," Feb. 8, 2011). "From day one, I knew that they were not qualified," Vincent-James' deposition transcript reads. She went on to say that the official city process for evaluating contractors was "totally bypassed." Nonetheless, "We had to admit them." Asked who told her they had to be admitted, she responded, "The director of purchasing. Ed Lee." She went on to testify that Lee had been acting under the direction of Mayor Brown, who had ties to GCSI principals. When the Guardian contacted Lee for a response to that story, his office did not respond.
Mohammad Nuru, whom Lee recently appointed to lead DPW, was also at the Run, Ed, Run kickoff. He previously served as deputy director of DPW, but drew scrutiny after workers from the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG), a city-funded nonprofit he previously ran, testified that he and SLUG had required them walk precincts and deliver campaign literature for Gavin Newsom for Mayor in 2004 on days they should have been performing street cleaning duties. SLUG was banned from receiving further city contracts following a city attorney's investigation. Lee says on the campaign trail that he's going for a full term to continue the tone of civility at City Hall. Yet to longtime observers, his candidacy has come to be defined not by a vision he articulates for San Francisco, but by the past dealings and shady reputations of his supporters. Progressives fear that a Lee administration will be a rehash of the Brown era, with its rampant evictions and favoritism to politically-connected businesses. Lee has voiced his support for inclusivity, smart governance, and fairness, yet some of his greatest boosters seem motivated purely by profit. If Lee wins, his first test will be whether or not he can stand up to the power brokers circling his camp.
Students with deep pockets pony up for Lee
By Christine Deakers
When you talk about students getting involved in politics, you typically think of canvassing, voter registration, and protests. Campaign contributions aren't anywhere near the top of the list.
In fact, with the bad economy, the soaring cost of education and the crushing burden of student debt, it's hard to imagine most students having an extra $500 to give to a candidate for mayor of San Francisco.
But nine people identified as "students" gave the maximum $500 to the Ed Lee for Mayor campaign, records show. Two other students, one living in Montana, gave smaller amounts.
Two of those maximum contributions came from young members of the Sangiacomo family, whose senior members have been among the largest and most notorious landlords in San Francisco.
Students Christina and Natalie Sangiacomo both donated $500 dollars. They are the daughters of James Sangiacomo, who helps run Trinity Management Services, a family real estate operation.
Signing a check to Ed Lee seems to be all in the family— the Sangiacomo name appeared 12 times on the donation list, and documented addresses spanned outside of Bay Area zip codes to Corona Del Mar.
We couldn't reach Christina or Natalie at the family home, but we asked their dad if he knew his daughters gave such substantial amounts to a mayoral campaign. He simply replied, "[Natalie] is 20 and registered to vote." (For the record, both daughters are over 18, the minimum legal age to make a campaign contribution.)
Hamdiah A. Ahmed (Oakland), Leanna L. Chan (S.F.), Kelly L.L. Chen (S.F.), Stephanie Chen (Danville), Jasmin Perez, Michael Perez (both from Hillsborough), and Yusra M. Sharif (Oakland) also donated $500 to the Ed Lee campaign. Selina Sun (S.F.) donated $250 and Philip O'Connor, on record as a student in Missoula, Montana, gave $175.
Sun's father, Andrew Sun, is a lobbyist and fundraising consultant at Sun Associates. He gave Lee $100. His wife, Selina's mother, is Alicia Wang, a long time Democratic Party activist and former candidate for supervisor. Her name did not appear on Ed Lee's campaign records.
Some students from outside San Francisco kicked in the maximum contribution. Take Hamdiah Ahmed and Yusra Sharif, two unemployed students who live at the same residence in Oakland. The Sharif family owns Oasis Food Market in the East Bay.
There's no legal reason why a student can't donate to a campaign — unless someone else provided the money specifically for that purpose. And that's almost impossible to prove, particularly if a students parents are helping support him or her anyway.
In a phone conversation, Bill Barnes, campaign manager for Ed Lee, emphasized the importance of complying with campaign finance law. He said no one is barred from contributing, and there is "no reason to believe that [students] shouldn't be helping".
As for the students who aren't current San Francisco denizens, Barnes said, "I don't find it that interesting that second or third generation native San Franciscans feel an obligation to the city."
• News
• Volume 46, Issue 03
• Ed Lee
• Election 2011
• Mayor
Source URL: http://www.sfbg.com/2011/10/18/billionaires-mayor
This is a ticketed event. See our Sponsorship Opportunities for tickets.
Look Who Is Coming!
This is a list of some of the VIPs confirmed to attend.
More are Coming... Check Back for Updates!
HONORED GUESTS
Gavin Newsom
California Lieutenant Governor, former Mayor of San Francisco Edwin M. Lee
Mayor of San Francisco
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr.
Former Mayor of San Francisco, former Speaker of the CA Assembly Francis M. "Frank" Jordan
Former Mayor of San Francisco, former Speaker of the CA Assembly
Fiona Ma
California Assembly Speaker pro Tempore,
Assembly District 12 - San Francisco Eric Mar
San Francisco Supervisor, District 1
Mark Farrell
San Francisco Supervisor, District 2 David Chiu
San Francisco Supervisor, District 3
President of the Board
Carmen Chu
San Francisco Supervisor, District 4 Ross Mirkarimi
San Francisco Supervisor, District 5
Jane Kim
San Francisco Supervisor, District 6 Sean Elsbernd
San Francisco Supervisor, District 7
Scott Wiener
San Francisco Supervisor, District 8 David Campos
San Francisco Supervisor, District 9
Malia Cohen
San Francisco Supervisor, District 10 John Avalos
San Francisco Supervisor, District 11
Dr. Warren S. Browner MD, MPH
CEO
California Pacific Medical Center Bob Arns
Founder
The Arns Law Firm
Tedi Vriheas
San Francisco Area Manager External Affairs
AT&T Marc Blakeman
Regional VP External Affairs
AT&T
Alfredo Pedroza
State Government Relations Director
Wells Fargo Jimi Harris
Government Relations & Public Affairs
PG&E
Jack Baylis
US Group Executive, Strategic Development
AECOM Tom Hart
E.V.P. Corporate Relations Director
Shorenstein Properties LLC
Rocco Davis
VP & Regional Manager
LiUNA! Pacific Southwest Region Oscar De La Torre
VP & Business Manager
LiUNA! Northern California District Council
Jeff Album
VP Public & Government Affairs
Delta Dental of California Chris Gruwell
Platinum Advisors
Lisa Brown
Executive Director
NAIOP San Francisco Rodrigo Santos
President
San Francisco Coalition for Responsible Growth
Jaime Maciel Gonzalez
President & CEO
Mission Housing Construction Group Mark Mengelberg
Partner
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Robert W. Babcock
CPCU, ARM, AIC, RPLU
R. W. Babcock Insurance Pete Gallegos
Secretary, Board of Directors
Mission Housing Development Corporation
Michael Rocco
San Francisco Program Director
City Hall Fellows Viola Maestras
Chair, Board of Directors
Mission Housing Development Corporation
Hannah Park
Manager
Global Health Sciences, UCSF Robert Mansfield
South Beach/Rincon/Mission Bay
Neighborhood Assn.
Dr. Catherine Yee
UCSF Dr. Martin Brotman
President
Sutter, California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC)
Judy Li
Vice President
California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) Tom Hennessy
CEO
Saint Francis Memorial Hospital
Anna Cheung
President
St. Mary's Hospital Mark Laret
CEO
UCSF
Sue Currin
CEO
San Francisco General Hospital Ron Smith
Senior Vice President
Hospital Council of Northern and Central California
Stuart Fong
Government Affairs Officer
Chinese Hospital Melissa White
Government Affairs Officer
UCSF
Abbie Yant
Vice President
Saint Francis Memorial Hospital Michelle Horneff-Cohen
Property Management Systems
Jay Lampus
Brown and Company Stephen Cornell
Owner
Brownie's Hardware
HOST COMMITTEE
Steven Falk
Co-Chair, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
President & CEO
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Leon Chow
Co-Chair, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Director of External Affairs
SEIU-UHW
Ken Cleaveland
Treasurer, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Director Government & Public Affairs
Building Owners and Managers Association of San Francisco Larry J. Mazzola, Sr.
Secretary Treasurer, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Business Manager / Financial Secretary Treasurer
UA Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Local 38
Rob Black
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Executive Director
Golden Gate Restaurant Association Gary Delagnes
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
President
San Francisco Police Officer's Association
Ramon Hernandez
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Business Manager, LIUNA, Laborers Union Local No. 261 Pat Mulligan
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Financial Secretary
Carpenters and Joiners Local Union #22
Ron Smith
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Senior Vice President for Advocacy
Hospital Council of Northern and Central California Art Swanson
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
President
San Francisco Small Business Network
John Ulrich
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Assistant to the Secretary Treasurer, UFCW5 Christopher Wright
Director, Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
Executive Director
Committee On Jobs
Vince Courtney Jr.
Business Representative & Political Director
LiUNA! Local 261 NCDCL Fred Pecker
Secretary-Treasurer
ILWU Local 6
Hunter Stern
Business Representative
IBEW 1245 Don Wilson
President
San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs' Association
Larry Del Carlo
CEO & President
Mission Housing Development Corporation Rosario Anaya
Executive Director
Mission Language and Vocational School
James A. Bryant
President, San Francisco Chapter
A. Philip Randolph Institute David Fix
Board Member
San Francisco Plan C
Inside the Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth V.I.P. cocktail party with Willie Brown
http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2011/08/18/inside-vip-cocktail-party-willie-brown
08.18.11 - 2:36 pm | Rebecca Bowe | (10)
•
Willie Brown said he was glad they didn't have YouTube when he ran for mayor.
Photo courtesy Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth
The Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth hosted a V.I.P. reception just before a mayoral candidate forum held at UCSF Aug. 16, and former Mayor Willie Brown appeared to be the guest of honor. Although the theme of the event was technically "honoring San Francisco's mayors" -- former Mayor Frank Jordan was there, someone indicated that former Mayor Art Agnos was in the room, former Mayor Gavin Newsom was invited but didn't show, and Mayor Ed Lee was of course in attendence -- Brown seemed to be given more prominent recognition than any of the others.
The moment he strolled in, Sup. Mark Farrell, who was doing introductions for the the affair, scrambled onstage to announce Brown's presence and deliver a warm welcome, and everyone applauded. Within minutes, the former mayor was seen chatting with a crowd that included Mayor Lee and several others. Soon after, Brown and former Mayor Frank Jordan were summoned to the stage to say a few words.
Once in the limelight, Brown cracked a few jokes. He said he felt for the 36 mayoral candidates, who are forced to campaign in an era when the Internet threatens to reveal videos and photos of them at any time to thousands of online viewers. "I'm glad they didn't have that kind of communication system when I was running," he said. "I can't imagine the photographs you'd have of me floating around doing things I shouldn't have been doing."
As for his own time in Room 200, "I enjoyed every single solitary minute of it, and if I really thought I had great skills, I would be number 37," he said, drawing more applause.
Then again, common wisdom says it isn't necessary for Brown to bother campaigning in order to gain access to Room 200 these days. Later that same evening, during his own turn in the spotlight at the mayoral debate, Mayor Lee came under fire from Board President David Chiu, who revealed that Lee had privately confided to him about a week before he announced his candidacy that he was having a difficult time saying no to Brown and influential Chinatown business consultant Rose Pak when it came to launching a campaign for a full term.
Chiu's pointed question for the mayor was what had changed in his mind since that conversation, but Lee referenced neither Brown nor Pak in his answer. Instead, he said he'd changed his mind after witnessing his success in changing the tone of government and getting things done in City Hall.
Back at the V.I.P. reception, Brown and Jordan were invited onstage again, this time to receive awards presented by the Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth. But first Steve Falk, president and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, reminded the crowd that there was still time to buy a drink before the debate got underway. He said, "Debates are much more interesting after three drinks."
Before Falk presented Brown with a commemorative plaque, he said, "It's tough to put in a few sentences the life and times of Willie Brown," and proceeded to note that, with his term in the California Assembly and time serving as mayor of San Francisco behind him, Brown "has now followed his friend Herb Caen into an honest line of work as a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle."
Being a newspaper columnist doesn't mean Brown is always kind to members of the local media. While mixing through the crowd minutes after receiving his award, he fired some harsh words at a well-known City Hall reporter who had recently published some unflattering articles about the "Run, Ed, Run" effort to encourage Lee to seek a full term.
In recent months, Brown's columns have provided the public at large with a rare glimpse into Mayor Lee's dining experiences in San Francisco. In February, Brown wrote in one of his columns that he went out to North Beach Restaurant at sat at the window table with Lee, Brown's "friend" Sonya Molodetskaya, and Jack Baylis, who serves as the US Group Executive of Strategic Development for AECOM, one of the city's largest contractors and a sponsor of the Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth Event. (Baylis was on the invite list for the V.I.P reception, too.)
Apparently, AECOM had something to celebrate that same day -- according to an Aug. 16 press release, an AECOM joint venture was just awarded a $150 million contract for program management services for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's wastewater improvement program.
The V.I.P. reception had representation from many key players in the downtown business community, with sponsorship from AT&T, AECOM, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Wells Fargo, Motorola, California Pacific Medical Center, the San Francsico Chamber of Commerce, the Building Owners and Managers Association, the San Francisco Police Officer's Association, Shorenstein Properties, and others. Several labor unions, including the United Association of Plumbers & Pipefitters Union Local 38, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local Union No. 22, and United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 5 were also listed as sponsors. Guests included district supervisors, developers, lobbyists, business owners, mayoral candidates, media spokespeople, executives from the health care industry, and other political insiders.
Clearly, there were many people in the room who wanted to get on Brown's good side.
Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth Coalition - Mayoral Debate Update
http://bomasanfrancisco.blogspot.com/2011/08/alliance-for-jobs-and-sustainable.html
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2011
Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth Coalition - Mayoral Debate Update
http://bomasanfrancisco.blogspot.com/2011/08/alliance-for-jobs-and-sustainable.html
BOMA San Francisco Members:
BOMA San Francisco is proud to be one of the founding members of the Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth (AFJASG) - a new jobs-focused coalition of business, labor and community organizations. The objective is to explore how local businesses, labor and community-based organizations can benefit by creating a working relationship to encourage economic development in San Francisco.
On August 16, 2011, the AFJASG sponsored a San Francisco Mayoral Candidate Debate that involved the leading contenders in the race - including the first debate appearance by Public Defender Jeff Adachi:
• San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi
• Former San Francisco Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier
• San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos
• San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu
• Former San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty
• Former San Francisco Supervisor Tony Hall
• San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera
• San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee
• Venture capitalist Joanna Rees
• San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting
• State Sen. Leland Yee
You can read more about the debate in the San Francisco Examiner by clicking here.
Thank you to the BOMA San Francisco members who attended the debate: Susan Court, GAPAC member; Mike Freeman, BOMA SF-PAC Member; Debbie Shea, BOMA GAPAC and Energy & Environment Committee member; Manny Fishman, BOMA California representative for BOMA SF; and Art Swanson,San Francisco Small Business Network President.
Debbie Shea and Mike Freeman
Art Swanson and Supervisor Mark Farrell
The AFJASG members include:
Business: San Francisco Chamber of Commerce | Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA - San Francisco) | San Francisco Committee on Jobs |Golden Gate Restaurant Association | San Francisco Small Business Network | Hospital Council of Northern & Central California
Labor: United Association of Plumbers & Pipefitters Union Local 38 | LiUNA!, Local 261 | SEIU - United Healthcare Workers - West | San Francisco Police Officers Association | United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local Union No. 22 | United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 5 |San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association | International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6 | International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 | Northern California District Council of Laborers (NCDCL) | International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 856 | A. Philip Randolph Institute
Community: Plan C San Francisco | Mission Housing Development Corporation | Mission Language & Vocational School | Laborers Local 261 Community Service & Training Foundation | Other Community Organizations
POSTED BY KEN CLEAVELAND AND JOHN BOZEMAN AT 10:29 AM
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LABELS: ALLIANCE FOR JOBS AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
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http://allianceforjobs.org/about/officers-...
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