Mayor must act on crisis of shootings by officers
Mayor Ed Lee’s consensus style of governing works well when it comes to putting together and passing a housing bond. It leaves something to be desired, however, when dealing with a crisis like the police shooting of Mario Woods.
The mayor runs the whole city, and that includes the Police Department. But in the Woods shooting, Lee looks more like an interested observer than the boss.
Lee, however, is the guy at the top. The mayor did call a press conference the other day to wring his hands, but he wouldn’t use his influence where it might make a difference — on the idea of arming officers with electric stun guns.
Lee left it to Police Chief Greg Suhr to state the
obvious, that Woods would still be alive if officers could have used a Taser on him. Stun gun proposals have fallen flat twice in this city in the past five years, thanks to concerns about whether Taser jolts can prove fatal.
Studies have indeed linked stun guns to hundreds of deaths in the United States in the past 15 years, but police bullets are a lot more deadly.
We still don’t know where Lee stands on equipping the SFPD with stun guns, though. He says only that he’s “open to a conversation” about the idea. Then he sends Suhr out to walk the plank.
This is a crisis situation, and the mayor should handle it like one.
My suggestion is that he declare a state of emergency and order the police to buy and use Tasers ASAP as an alternative to lethal force. If there are objections, take it up at the Board of Supervisors — it should make for an interesting debate.
Donald Trump’s surge in the polls says as much about the Republican Party rank-and-file as it does about the Donald.
As for the Republican “establishment” — how in the name of heaven can the Republican Party turn away from a guy who, poll after poll, shows that 65 percent of your members agree with him? The polling shows that every other “legitimate” Republican candidate for president is in the minority.
One guy who gets it is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. He’s started toning down his criticism of Trump. So it could be a Trump-Cruz ticket.
The only way Trump goes down the toilet is if he loses a major primary out of the gate. I’m not talking about something as phony as the mediadriven Iowa caucuses, where candidates stack the meetings with supporters. It has to be someplace with real voters, like New Hampshire or South Carolina.
I can’t help but love Aaron Peskin. His first day back on the Board of Supervisors, he helps kill the city’s proposed sale of its building at 30 Van
Ness Ave. to Related California, the same company that Peskin crossed swords with when he fought to save the Flower Mart.
Related also put money into the campaign to defeat Peskin in the November election. Payback is part of what makes politics such an entertaining spectator sport.
No holiday season is complete without a stop at Gump’s. The entire ground floor is a giant Christmas display.
And don’t forget the best display of them all: the big gingerbread house in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel. They have Santa coming down the chimney, a little elf popping up out of the floor.
On the other hand, the swells on Upper Broadway could do a better job of getting into the spirit. I drove around Pacific Heights the other night, and maybe a quarter of the houses were decorated. I’m hoping it’s still a little early and more cheer will spread in the coming days.
George Shultz turns 95 Sunday, and there are about 95 dinners and events to celebrate the occasion. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger will be at the party being thrown at Shultz’s home.
Movie time: “Legends” — save your money. Tom Hardy plays both lead roles in this story about the Kray brothers, a pair of twin gangsters in the Swinging ’60s London. It’s an interesting premise, but there is little in the way of plot, and the accents are so thick that you can’t understand half of what’s being said.
Word is the day before John Madden had heart surgery, he was told by his friend, state transportation Commissioner Jim Ghielmetti, that his surgeon wouldn’t be available because he had been called in for jury duty.
“Get John Burton on the line,” Madden told Ghielmetti. “Why?” “My bet is that Burton appointed the judge. Have him call in a favor and get the doctor excused.”