S.F. board endorses arena idea

Score another point for the Golden State Warriors’ efforts to build an arena on Piers 30-32 in time for the 2017 basketball season. The majority of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave the team an assist with a resolution backing the general idea for the project and waiving the city’s traditional competitive bidding rules — meaning the Warriors, and nobody else, get to develop the piers.

“Obviously, this is an opportunity we need to move quickly on,” said board President David Chiu.

We told you recently about some South Beach neighbors’ concerns over a huge arena moving in next door, including traffic woes, blocked views and the potential of an ugly parking garage. Mainly, the neighbors are ticked they weren’t alerted to the idea before a who’s who of city officials and sports legends took to the piers to announce it.

Supervisor Jane Kim, who also signed off on the resolution and represents South Beach, said supervisors met with the Warriors last week and were assured community meetings would be held imminently — before an arena is actually designed.

The supervisors are scheduled to hear more about the arena at Tuesday’s meeting, Chiu said.

Message sent: In a partial victory for suspended San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, a Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that his phone carrier does not have to turn over the records of all the calls and text messages he received and made between Dec. 31 (the day he grabbed his arm’s wife hard enough to bruise it) and Jan. 13 (when he was arrested on domestic violence charges).

However, Judge Harold Kahn said AT&T must partially comply with a subpoena from Mayor Ed Lee. The carrier must release records of calls and texts between Mirkarimi and his wife, Eliana Lopez, and four specific people — but not everyone, as the mayor wanted.

The quartet: Mirkarimi’s campaign manager, Linnette Peralta Haynes; Ivory Madison and Callie Williams, the two neighbors who told police investigators that Lopez confided in them the day after the injury; and Abe Mertens, Madison’s husband.

Lee, who charged Mirkarimi with official misconduct and suspended him without pay, is seeking his permanent ouster. Mirkarimi pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment after making a deal with prosecutors.

The mayor subpoenaed the phone records as he looks for evidence to bolster his case to kick Mirkarimi from office. The records will show when the calls and texts were made, who they were to and from, and the duration of the calls.

The mayor believes the phone records will show whether Mirkarimi tried to dissuade witnesses from cooperating with the criminal investigation into the domestic violence allegation. Mirkarimi said he did not.

The mayor subpoenaed Mirkarimi for the records related to his criminal case, but the judge wasn’t ready to rule on the request. He ordered both sides back to court Thursday.

— Rachel Gordon Senior moment: Concerned that the special needs of the city’s LGBT senior population aren’t being adequately met, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to convening a task force that will focus on the community.

While older gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents face many of the same challenges as the broader over-65 community, “there are some unique needs,” said Supervisor Scott Wiener. They include aging with HIV, discrimination or insensitivity found in some programs and facilities, and “the fact that there are many LGBT seniors who are aging without adult children to help care for them,” Wiener said.

Seniors account for 13.6 percent of San Francisco’s population, according to the 2010 U.S. census. The percentage of San Franciscans who identify as LGBT is estimated at just over 15 percent.

The 15-member task force will have 15 months to present a list of findings and recommendations to the Board of Supervisors.

— Rachel Gordon