San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Leaders must use science to make shutdown stick
Shutting down outdoor dining isn’t just damaging small businesses. It’s also casting doubt on the credibility of state and local officials, just when the public’s trust is needed most.
As we enter this darkest phase of the pandemic, it is more important than ever that people follow the safety rules being laid down by our health and political leaders.
But when those leaders order shutdowns with no science to back them up, people who demand explanations and get no answers can lose faith that they’re being given the straight story.
A prime example was the shortlived order to close playgrounds. Parents screamed, and the state had to back off because officials had no data show
ing that playgrounds are places where the coronavirus spreads at elevated rates.
The issue is the same with outdoor dining: Where are the studies proving that people eating outside, with proper distancing, spread the virus? There are no data behind this “datadriven decision making.”
Maybe it’s time for restaurant owners and workers to start screaming, because thousands of businesses may well go under if this stretches into January and beyond.
There are actual databacked messages that state and local officials need to get people to listen to: Don’t have big gatherings, especially indoors. Maintain social distancing. And wear masks.
The worst part of misguided orders like banning outdoor dining is that they fuel opposition to the orders that actually make sense — and can bring this disaster under control.
Palace intrigue: Has there ever been a governor with the chance of reshaping state politics that Gov. Gavin Newsom now has?
He gets to fill the Senate seat being vacated by Vice Presidentelect Kamala Harris. He’ll get to name a new attorney general if Xavier Becerra is confirmed as health and human services secretary. And if he fills those posts with current statewide officeholders, he’ll get to fill their old jobs as well.
The various options carry plot twists right out of “House of Cards.” One drama making the rounds in Sacramento goes something like this: Newsom would really like to appoint his longtime friend and ally Secretary of State Alex Padilla to Harris’ seat. Then he could perhaps name Malia Cohen, a Black woman who serves on the state Board of Equalization and San Francisco Police Commission, as secretary of state.
But there’s a problem: State Controller Betty Yee, whose name has also been floated as a Senate pick, is questioning Padilla’s awarding of a $ 35 million contract for voter outreach to a firm with longtime Democratic Party connections.
Where it goes from here is anybody’s guess, but it sure has people scheming.
California clout: California is definitely coming out ahead when it comes to Presidentelect Joe Biden’s picks for his incoming administration. There was Kamala Harris as vice president, of course. Then came Xavier Becerra for Health and Human Services and Janet Yellen, a former UC Berkeley professor and former head of the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco, for Treasury.
My fellow UC Hastings School of Law alum Joe Cotchett has been picked to chair a committee to recommend federal judges to Biden. I’ll be on the committee as well.
And don’t forget, both sides of the House are still being led by Californians, Nancy Pelosi for the Democrats and Kevin McCarthy for the Republicans.
Happy days are here again.
Daly bread: The hottest power restaurant in San Francisco is no longer in San Francisco.
With all the city’s lunch joints shut down, insiders have moved their meetings across the county line to Val’s Restaurant and Lounge in Daly City.
On any day, you might find the likes of former state Senate President
Pro Tem John Burton, former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, and a host of other indigenous San Franciscans lunching on Val’s meat loaf or steak.
My favorite is the corned beef and cabbage special. The cabbage is done the way we had it back when I was a kid in Texas — browned, not steamed.
How long Val’s stays open, however, is an open question.