Generous donors keep cash flowing for Breed

Silicon Valley angel investor Ron Conway’s family spent nearly $100,000 to defeat incumbent Supervisor Christina Olague in District Five. But even though the election is over, the San Francisco mover and shaker hasn’t stopped spending in the district, to the benefit of victorious challenger London Breed.

Breed’s campaign filings show that Ron and his wife, Gayle; sons Daniel, Ronny and Christopher; and daughter-Michele each made-in-law

the maximum contribution of $500 for a total of $3,000, starting on Nov. 10, four days after the election. Before election day, Ron and Gayle Conway each gave $49,000 to San Francisco Women for Accountability, an independent expenditure committee formed to oppose Olague after she voted to reinstate suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi.

Mayor Ed Lee, whose election campaign was backed by $150,000 from Conway, unsuccessfully tried to remove Mirkarimi after the sheriff pleaded to misdemeanor domestic violence charges after bruising his wife’s arm in a domestic dispute.

Opponents criticized Breed for the contributions she received from landlord and real estate interests. She said her campaign is not in debt and that she didn’t ask the Conways for money.

“Just because someone gives you money doesn’t mean they control you or own you,” Breed said.

— Neal Riley

No question: We would’ve said Mayor Ed Lee has just taken some of the drama out of “question time,” but that would’ve meant there was some there to begin with.

One of only two questions on the agenda for the mayor’s monthly appearance before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday was on the impact to the city if the federal government goes over the so-called fiscal cliff.

That’s the combination of deep cuts in spending and higher taxes across the board set to automatically take effect if a deal isn’t reached with Congress by January.

It seemed like a timely and logical question from Supervisor Malia Cohen, but we already have the mayor’s answer. Or at least part of it.

Lee on Thursday put out a statement saying the impact to San Francisco could amount to $26.5 million, including more than $5 million in education cuts, $2 million in Medicare cuts and $1 million in housing services for people with HIV/AIDS.

We did a little more digging and found that total also includes almost $5 million in cuts to a federally subsidized health and nutrition program for women, infants and children; $2.7 million to San Francisco Housing Authority programs; and millions more to other parts of the social safety net. The $26.5 million figure also doesn’t include cuts to state funding that flows to cities.

“These cuts simply cannot occur,” Lee said in the statement.

— John Coté Aspace for healing: As some San Francisco women weigh a possible recall of Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, another group is planning to include him in an event recognizing the United Nations’ annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls.

Guardianas de la Vida, an annual Mission District healing arts festival, “asks us to take a moment to pause and question why it is that in the year 2012 we are still dealing with issues surrounding femicide,” the official announcement says. The Nov. 24 gathering will be at Dance Mission Theater.

Organizer MamaCoatl, a spiritual healer who spearheads the event, said “we cannot be a people of peace if we celebrate violence,” adding that the event is meant to give “men and women who have endured violence” a space to heal.

That includes the sheriff and his family, she said. Mirkarimi is on probation after pleading guilty in March to misdemeanor false imprisonment for a New Year’s Eve argument in which he bruised his wife’s arm.

“We understand nobody is untouched by violence, nobody is untouched, and the people who are accusing him are not without fault,” said MamaCoatl. “This is about healing, so he’s invited and he is going to receive a healing.”

— Marisa Lagos