Liu's 9th Circuit nomination blocked by GOP (again), withdraws

"Oh, come oooooonnn!"

In the latest round of GOP obstructionism, Republican representatives in the Senate have blocked through fillibuster the nomination of UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Liu was first nominated in February of 2010 by President Obama. He is a Rhodes Scholar and Supreme Court clerk, and he has received the highest rating possible from the American Bar Association.

Republicans protested his history with the American Constitutional Society, of which he served as Chairman. The ASC was first formed at the Georgetown Law Center in 2001 as a "liberal" research institute ('think tank'). It has pursued such crazy liberal issues as individual rights and liberties, access to legal resources, and structural inequalities in public institutions, and even publishes the Harvard Law & Policy Review (ew gross!). Liu has also spoken out on legal issues surrounding same-sex marriage and affirmative action, which he seems to support.

Republicans also voiced concern over his age and experience (ummm...). Liu is 39 years old, and would have been among the youngest appointees to the 9th Circuit. However, among the 18 youngest candidates nominated to the federal appellate courts since the Reagan administration, ALL OF THEM have been Republican nominees.

The vote to cut off debate through super majority was held last Thursday, but the final vote fell to 52-43. On Wednesday, Liu asked President Obama to withdraw his nomination in an effort to end the senseless controversy. Liu suggests that the recent fighting over his candidacy may be holding up other nominees from getting proper reviews. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals covers 9 western states and Guam (jurisdiction), and has been short-staffed with judges for several years running due to delayed reviews and protests over nominees. The problem is only getting worse.


Read more from the SF Chronicle on SFGate.

Urban Artwork: Mission (Lower 24 St.)

Cities develop an identity based, in part, on their expression of culture - and what is a more clear expression of this culture than crazy SF street art! San Francisco prides itself on an eclectic hodgepodge of identities - ethnicities, icons, sexualities, religions and mix of a dozen other factors - and the meeting of these forces manifests in anything from guerrilla art to coordinated public street projects. And these displays are not always where you would expect them.

Over the last ten months I've begun documenting some of my favorites in and around my city, and I'll be sharing a  sample over the next few weeks.

Mural on an apartment on 24th St. and Alabama in the Mission District

Take the murals of the Mission District that my program toured last Fall (around 24th and Folsom to Potrero) as the first example. They're neat, eh? And colorful? Indeed. But they are also woven into the history and identity of the neighborhood. We met with Erick Aronello of the Lower 24th Street Merchant & Neighbors Association and a handful of his colleagues, who explained the work and mission of his group within the greater context of the community. It is an unusual mix of neighborhood groups, local businesses and non-profit organizations (mostly arts, housing, job placement and family services) that sit on the board. It partners with organizations like LISC, the Market Planning Initiative, SF Planning Department, DPW and a dozen others on common services and special projects (such as creating and maintaining sanctioned murals). The Lower 24th MNA is only about 11 years old, but it formed at a critical moment and out of an immediate need within the community to resolve a history of residential and commercial conflicts that had stalled, and in some cases stopped altogether, the redevelopment and revitalization of this once flourishing neighborhood.

The recent history of the Lower Mission is an outstanding, though often tragic example of how the many variables of urban life play into each other in San Francisco. Once a predominantly Irish neighborhood with a  growing Latino population, the economic power of the Mission was in many ways upended during the construction of BART in the late 1960's to 1970s. They Bay Area Rapid Transit rail system had long been hailed as the next generation in regional transportation (replacing the Keys System of surface electric rail cars) and the project began with local and national fanfare. But when it came to urban planning, someone dropped the ball. In order for the underground rail lines to be laid, most of the Mission corridor was excavated and closed for several years without proper consulting or relocation of local businesses. There was inadequate public and pedestrian transportation along the route, and over time these businesses were forced to close. By the time BART construction was finished in the mid 1970s it was a different neighborhood, both demographically and financially.

The neighborhood saw a surge in gang violence and the homeless population during the 1980s, and with this change came an inflow of drugs and organized crime. After a series of arson cases and violent murders in 1997-1998, the neighborhood began to seriously resist despite little cooperation from the City's police and local merchants. Residents lobbied the City for more public lighting and financial assistance, cut down trees at their own initiative to increase exposure from streetlights, and formed several ad hoc neighborhood watch and community programs. Many merchants were wary to get involved, concerned that they would lose the protections offered by local gangs. There were still tensions among the activists about the role that the SFPD could play in the neighborhood, and the community ultimately lacked enough resources to make these efforts lasting...

Quote of the day

"The nation hit its nearly $14.3-trillion debt limit this week"

Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said talks had hit an impasse. The "Group of Six" had met for several hours late Monday, but several sources report that Coburn ran into resistance when he proposed making cuts to Medicare that were considered "unacceptable" by other members. The Senator became upset, spilling his glass of milk all over the table and complaining that no one ever listens to him as he stomped out of the room.

The setback shifts attention to the closed-door negotiations being led by Vice President Joe Biden and congressional leaders to reach an agreement on budget cuts. Treasury officials have said the nation will default on obligations if its borrowing capacity is not increased by August 2. Republicans are demanding $2 trillion in spending cuts  in exchange for their votes to increase the debt limit and avoid defaulting on obligations.

This game of chicken is getting a bit old for local governments that depend on federal distributions to maintain some critical services, and once again we are facing a damaging cut in funds on one hand and a suspension of federal spending on the other. No good.

11 weeks and counting.

Persistent, or "There's Still Sun in the Park!"

Incredibly, I am still determined to bike to work every day. Part of this, I am sure, is the sudden and wonderful turn of weather up here in the City. It has been uncharacteristically warm for over a week now, and I am trying to take advantage of every photon before the fog finds its way home, and I sulk back into the regular crowds and bus lines.

Thousands of people seem to have the same idea. As I rode home at the end of my week - having discovered a tricky zig-zag street path that avoids sudden and desperate inclines, endearingly called "the Wiggle" - I stumbled upon this group of impromptu musicians by the Conservatory of Flowers. The hodgepodge seemed iconic of GGPark, including various percussion instruments, a flute, harmonica, man on a sax, middle aged tech-industry guy letting his wild side out with maracas, a handmade pseudo-Chinese string instrument, an electric guitar duck-taped to a portable amp, a woman that no one knew but who wanted so badly to dance, and to the left a very old man enjoying his hash and his mop-puppy.

Fun fact: The Conservatory was purchased and brought to CA by the one and only James Lick - the hit-and-miss piano maker, romantic, trouble-maker business man of the 19th century, and financier of the Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton - who had originally meant for the structure to be built near his eccentric mansion in San Jose, but then left it on the docks for a nearly a decade until he died. Now we have it.

Muni "bonds", or "How I rode my bike and then caved in"

As a not-wealthy resident of San Francisco, I have a relationship with MUNI transit. It's not great, it's not (usually) terrible, but it is certainly special. The most accurate comparison would be to the relationship you might have with that college friend or roommate that always hangs around and conveniently has a car, but no one is quite sure why he's part of the group because the only time you talk about him is to talk shit or recall a ridiculous story that usually ends with someone dancing drunk on a table at a stranger's house or getting slapped in the face at a Wendy's. But still, you keep coming back for more - and part of you kind of wants to.

On Tuesday I missed the 31-Balboa inbound and chose to walk down to the 5-Fulton, as is often the case. MUNI open sourced it's vehicle tracking data and I have a nifty app that tells me when the buses come now, but to no surprise it has an incredibly difficult time keeping track of the 31 inbound. "6 minutes" it says, and then a moment later it refreshes and reads "10 minutes". Once I relax and settle into the last sips of my cofee, it tells me "12 seconds, ha ha. you're screwed I tricked you." So now my only reliable signal is the mid-pitch ZZZ-ing noise of the electric engine of a bus tearing its way down Balboa toward my apartment, past my apartment, and away from my apartment. When the winding noise first penetrates my windows in the morning, I have approximately 50 seconds to grab my gear, get down the stairs and run two blocks to the bus stop. It may or may not actually stop.

Whatever is going on here, just leave the station and walk away.

So on Tuesday I walked to the 5, boarded, and headed in to the urban core for work. The bus filled up, became full, continued to fill up until there was nowhere to move, and then a middle aged man vomited everywhere in the middle of his second bottle of gin.

On Wednesday I opted to ride my bike to work, and it was wonderful, and clean, and warm. I rode past the Conservatory of Flowers, along dirt trails, amongst giggling children playing in fields with remarkably absent parents, and I even lost a 2 1/2 mile street race through the Panhandle and down Page by several seconds with a strange hipster on another Peugeot. All this and I still got to work 20 minutes earlier. But of course, I can never stay away forever. I always come back with some rationalization, secretly curious about strangers I’d see and the next MUNI mishap that I could be part of. And in the back of my mind, I always think that it will be a little bit more convenient than another mode of transportation. After a 300 ft climb uphill on my first mile going home, dodging cars on narrow streets and bikes flying in the opposite direction, I had my justification.

For now I will split my time between the open, beautiful bikeways of Golden Gate Park and the congested anarchy of MUNI in rush hour, until the next health-hazard drives me to the streets once again. No matter the malfunctions, delays, anxiety, reckless abandonment of traffic code, claustrophobia, and generic icky-ness of certain bus lines, it seems I will always return to this awkward friend.


One writer on Muni Diaries sums up his the experience nicely, with graphics!

So....who gets the money?

I wrote an entry this past March reflecting the political controversy around redevelopment agencies in California. Governor Brown still argues that the State ought to dissolve the agencies to reclaim short-term costs to Sacramento's tax revenue, but others argue that redevelopment agencies foster long term growth and profits in areas that would otherwise not develop in the normal market.

There are examples of abuse and success for either side of the argument to hold up to the spotlight, but the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency is noted as one of the most successful cases in the program. The agency has integrated into the City's administrative framework since its incorporation in 1948 by taking on responsibilities in financing, planning and coordination in a variety of City projects, and even asserted its management capacity in increasingly complex initiatives. The SFRA now holds jurisdiction (often shared) over more than 10% of the territory of San Francisco. Active project areas include:

» Yerba Buena Center

» Hunters Point Shipyard

» Rincon Point/South Beach

» Bayview Hunters Point

» Bayview Industrial Triangle

» South of Market

» Mission Bay North & South

» Transbay

» Vistacion Valley

» *Treasure Island redevelopment is no longer part of SFRA, and is instead managed by the quasi-independent Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA)

The Agency is an entity legally separate from CCSF, but it only performs certain functions authorized by the City and County of San Francisco and in areas designated as Redevelopment Zones by the Board of Supervisors.

With the threat of dissolution looming awkwardly in the air over every redevelopment conversation in San Francisco, CCSF is left with the uncomfortable task of figuring what to do with the billions of dollars in projects, contracts and funds - and 10% of San Francisco - that will have to be handed to someone else to manage. Realistically, the RA projects already underway will likely continue without intervention or suspension, but the real problem is the coming disruption to administrative services and the juggle of authority that always gets more complicated than it needs to in SF. Now, there is also a whole bunch of money, land and social justice conflict involved to upset even the most idealistic department.

Furious cabbies

Over one hundred taxis encircled San Francisco City Hall today in a long chain through the Civic Center. I made my way back to the office through cabbies wailing on their horns and protesters angrily displaying obscure signs. They blocked intersections, bus lines and pedestrians from passing, damning the whole area to gridlock while locals and tourists grew evermore upset.

But why? I had just walked through the park square only 30 minutes ago and it was warm and tranquil. The masses on the steps of City Hall now seemed to be wielding unrelated banners, including bright yellow signs for "Ross Mirkarimi for Sheriff", "Miller 4 San Francisco Mayor", "Unions bite back", the generic "Si se puede" posters in various colors, the more obscure " نعم نستطيع " and dozens of 8.5x11 papers with illegible black and white block text covering the entire sheet. Whatever the initial catalyst, the arrival of Sal Castaneda and his posse of reporters appeared to draw people out of the woodwork with something to say to the cameras. 

But the taxis, why so many taxis?! Since San Francisco has maybe a dozen to begin with, the looping mass of yellow, white and green cabs seemed improbable. No one could explain what the fuss was about, until one woman in the security line at City Hall said simply "MTA. It's MTA, and me. They're basically here for me." She walked away toward the elevators, leaving behind her a cloud of ominous-ness.

I later learned  that the Cabs were protesting a Board of Supervisors meeting, in which the BoS was debating the new MTA regulations that would waive a rule prohibiting cab companies to recover the 5% surcharge per credit card payment from drivers, thus transferring the cost. A 5% fee may not sound like much on its face, but it comes with responsibilities to maintain digital screens and hardware - and on top of that, there are no taxis for hire in San Francisco today. So it is, de facto, a big deal.

For a Full story and explanation of the issue, this San Francisco Sentinel article gives a good summary.