Board Prez David Chiu and Mayor Ed Lee during the inaugural of mayor's question time, Board of Supervisors meeting, 4/12/11. Photos by Luke Thomas.
By Luke Thomas
April 13, 2011
Several Foggers have asked that I post more photos on FCJ. So without further ado, the following photos were shot during yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, the first meeting, I should add, when a Mayor of the great City of San Francisco attended a Board of Supervisors meeting (thanks to former Supervisor Chris Daly) to engage in formal policy discussions with the Board, as mandated by the passage of Measure C on last November’s ballot.
Now before we get into it, let me just say the Q&A softball format devised by Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, resulted in what can best be described as a snooze fest and an opportunity for interim Mayor Ed Lee, who had one week to prepare answers to the questions posed, to read pre-scripted statements of policy without fear of pesky supplementary questions that could be used to challenge or further explore the mayor’s policies.
We at FCJ were rather hoping for spirited exchanges between the Board and the Mayor, and are left feeling San Franciscans have been short-changed by Mr. Chiu’s innocuous format.
Ok, enough of my ramblings. Let’s get down to business. Enjoy!
While Mayor Ed Lee reads written answers to pre-submitted questions posed by Supes, just about everyone has tuned out (except Board Prez Chiu) and are catching up on box scores, or looking towards the audience to see how many members of the public have been hypnotically lulled to sleep.
There was really no point in the mayor showing up in person. He could have just submitted his written responses to Chiu who would have dutifully read the mayor's answers.
After responding to a question and looking out towards the public, Chiu and Lee seem to be painfully aware of the lack of enthusiasm in the question time format.
Supervisor Eric Mar, sporting a spiffy new Miami Vice look, reads his question to Mayor Lee about community benefits agreements.
Mayor Lee to Prez Chiu: "This Q&A format sucks! Did Rose have anything to do with this? By the way, I'm gonna whoop your booty in November!"
"If only Rose, Willie and Jane would support me instead of gramps..."
Ross the Boss Mikrarimi, who is running for Sheriff, asked a question about funding to support the transfer of inmates from State prisons to municipal prisons as a result of State budget cuts and AB 109. Way to be self-serving, Ross!
Supervisor John Avalos, who has not ruled out a run for mayor, asked the mayor a question about transit-oriented development around Balboa Park BART station.
Unable to keep a straight face, Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, himself one of the more engaging debaters on the Board, asked the mayor a question about "the need for pension and benefit reform." To his credit, Elsbernd was the first Supervisor to ring alarm bells about the City's pension tsunami (at least 3 years ago) but, to his discredit, left the heavy lifting to Public Defender Jeff Adachi.
Luke Thomas
Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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The Hunger Site
April 16, 2011 at 1:48 pm
What a farce. Let the sun shine in.
April 14, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Lovely photos of some very ugly characters. The Lee/Chiu lovefest is a little embarrassing, and you have all my sympathies in sitting through Non-Question Time.
April 14, 2011 at 3:00 pm
So the new ordinance the progs wanted got turned on its head, at least as far as progs think? Golly, what a surprise, that hardly ever happens in American politics. Did you all ever hear of “unintended consequences?”
April 14, 2011 at 7:07 am
We might imagine that David Chiu will chalk up this grand accomplishment amongst the other detritus on his campaign webpage.
“Successfully engineered voter approved question time to remove any spontaneity and substance while giving cover to Rose Pak.”
-marc
April 13, 2011 at 7:13 pm
…and score 2 for the vote.
April 13, 2011 at 7:11 pm
very nice jacket, mr mar.