Local politics TV
Flipping channels last night, I came upon, and became enthralled, by a rebroadcast (SFGTV) of a roundtable meeting my fair city's Mayor held on 13 December with a group of community newspaper journalists. It doesn't get more grassroots than that. Really amazing stuff, where the Mayor was addressing each of these communities' hot-button issues in a frank, but engaged manner. Really astonishing to watch - especially to see the Mayor really on top of his material, clearly briefing the group about budget esoteria clearly and succinctly.
For a guy who clearly exhibits silver-tongued slickness, he still seems to convey effective leadership, and a grasp of the issues and values of the diverse communities of my fair city.
I think this combination of his attributes was best exhibited when one of the newspapermen asked him about his position on Prop. A. Gavin Newsom's grin-and-nod reply was, "well, I'm not legally allowed to tell you to vote for Prop. A, so I won't tell you to vote for Prop A...and I can't tell you to vote against Prop A either, so I won't either."
I quite like how he explained (with backtrack padding, of course) the trade-offs with the upcoming affordable housing bond measure (namely the $800 million bond needed to upgrade and seismically retrofit General Hospital), as well as how he grappled and foiled the golf courses question.
To see it for yourself, click on the "Community Newspaper Roundtable" link on this page.
---
Incidentally, some of the cool stuff my fair city is doing on climate change.
Also, those Nov election results are conveniently online too.
EDIT: So very different from the election in Kenya. The photo of assault-rifle armed soldiers crouched & guarding a cache of ballot boxes speaks volumes.
For a guy who clearly exhibits silver-tongued slickness, he still seems to convey effective leadership, and a grasp of the issues and values of the diverse communities of my fair city.
I think this combination of his attributes was best exhibited when one of the newspapermen asked him about his position on Prop. A. Gavin Newsom's grin-and-nod reply was, "well, I'm not legally allowed to tell you to vote for Prop. A, so I won't tell you to vote for Prop A...and I can't tell you to vote against Prop A either, so I won't either."
I quite like how he explained (with backtrack padding, of course) the trade-offs with the upcoming affordable housing bond measure (namely the $800 million bond needed to upgrade and seismically retrofit General Hospital), as well as how he grappled and foiled the golf courses question.
To see it for yourself, click on the "Community Newspaper Roundtable" link on this page.
---
Incidentally, some of the cool stuff my fair city is doing on climate change.
Also, those Nov election results are conveniently online too.
EDIT: So very different from the election in Kenya. The photo of assault-rifle armed soldiers crouched & guarding a cache of ballot boxes speaks volumes.