Luke Thomas
FCJ Publisher and Editor
Photo by Marc Salomon
By Luke Thomas
February 5, 2008
Daly, Bayview activists, submit affordable housing petition
Affordable housing champion Supervisor Chris Daly is joined by activists at City Hall Monday to announce the collection of over 11,800 signatures for a June ballot measure that mandates 50 percent of all housing built by Lennar to be affordable to residents with incomes between 30 and 80 percent of median income.
Supervisor Chris Daly held a press conference yesterday to announce the collection of 11,800 signatures from city residents for a June ballot affordable housing measure.
The Bayview Affordable Housing Initiative would mandate 50 percent of all housing built by Lennar to be affordable to residents with incomes between 30 and 80 percent of median income. Lennar has pledged to make 25 percent of news homes affordable.
The initiative would also mandate the phased rebuilding of Alice Griffith Public Housing residents while protecting residents from displacement.
Joined by activists, ministers, and residents of Bayview Hunters Point, Daly said of the herculean signature gathering effort, “Our resolve was tested, and our resolve withstood the challenge.”
“Lennar says they are going to build 25 percent affordable, but their measure is not codified. There are no guarantees,” Daly reported.
The Department of Elections has up to 30 days to certify the petition for the measure to be placed on the June ballot.
Grateful Dead reunite for Obama
The three remaining members of the Grateful Dead rock group reunited Monday in San Francisco for a get out of the vote concert in support of Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential bid.
Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Phil Lesh drew a packed Warfield theater audience of over two thousand loyal ‘Deadhead’ fans and Obama supporters for the concert billed as “Deadheads for Obama.”
The group last played together during a reunion tour in 2004 following the death of the band’s lead singer Jerry Garcia in 1995.
The reunion concert was arranged one day before the Super Tuesday primaries after the Obama campaign was contacted by Lesh’ 18-year-old son, who volunteer’s for the Obama campaign.
Newsom – pot, kettle, black
On the eve of the Super Tuesday primaries, Mayor Gavin Newsom harped about a so-called “snub” by Senator Barack Obama four years ago, complaining the Illinois senator did not want to be photographed with Newsom.
Newsom obviously suffers from selective memory loss.
At the annual Alice B. Toklas breakfast in June 2007, Newsom snubbed a photo opportunity with Elizabeth Edwards, wife to Senator John Edwards.
Edwards was guest of honor at the gathering to echo her support for marriage equality, a cause Newsom has championed.
Newsom, don’t you know, was avoiding the photo op with Edwards because he had already committed himself to supporting Sen. Hillary Clinton. Last thing Hillary would want to see is a toothy image of the Gavster with the wife of her opponent for the Democratic Party nomination for president.
Through the looking glass: Despite refusing to be photographed with Elizabeth Edwards,
Fog City Journal captured this photo through a windowed door,
closed off to reporters following the annual Alice B. Toklas breakfast in June 2007.
Stevie Wonder robo call
Stevie Wonder just called to say “I love you” and to urge Americans to go out and vote for his friend, Barack Obama.
We love you too, Stevie.
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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