Category: Government & Politics
Posted inGovernment & Politics

Iraq veteran’s new battle: defeating ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’

by Angela Hart

Back in war zone as contractor, decorated sergeant yearns for return to military life

Anthony Loverde joined the military at 22 because he needed money for school, and because he felt a deep love for country. But the real reason, he said, was to gain discipline — to “fight being gay.”

Starting as an Air Force radio technician, he climbed quickly to the rank of staff sergeant, and then served as a cargo loader flying missions in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan. His close crew of six did everything together — ate, slept, fought a war.

While the team built camaraderie, Loverde had to lie about his personal life constantly. One summer day in 2008, a battle buddy asked what was wrong. Loverde had to let his secret out: he was gay. Military procedure required his friend to tell their commander. After seven years of service, Loverde was discharged under the military’s long-standing “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Posted inCity Hall, Government & Politics

City assessor running for mayor next year

by Jerold Chinn

San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting filed for papers Wednesday morning to start organizing his campaign to become the city’s next elected mayor. He will join other candidates state Sen. Leland Yee, City Attorney Herrera and Supervisor Bevan Dufty.

“Politics is too important to leave to politicians alone. We need to engage the whole population to identify problems, to help fix them and most of all to hold government officials accountable for results,” said Ting in a statement.

He also said the city needs a mayor who can solve the ongoing budget problems, which he believes has the credentials to do so. He said his office has generated $245 million in new revenue without raising taxes.

Posted inCommunity, Elections, Government & Politics

Outspoken but outvoted: low turnout at the polls plagues activist hotbed of San Francisco

by Theresa Seiger

Demographics may play role in low numbers seen on election days

San Francisco voters overall do not have too much in common with defeated GOP candidate Meg Whitman. However, they share one trait: Politically active as they may be, much of the time they cannot be bothered to vote.

The daily street protests forming the backdrop of the city’s life for generations belie a lack of engagement at the ballot box. San Francisco has consistently one of the worst voter turnout records in the Bay Area and even the state.

While press coverage of Whitman’s repeated failure to show up to the polling place forced her to “apologize” to the voters during her first televised gubernatorial debate with Jerry Brown in late September, San Francisco officials are sounding decidedly less moralistic.

Posted inEducation, Government & Politics, Labor, Law & Justice, Social Justice

State audit: local agencies not providing efficient bilingual services

by Jerold Chinn

A state audit released Thursday revealed that many local agencies are not providing proper bilingual service called for in the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act, passed 37 years ago. The audit says agencies need to improve services by providing more staff who are bilingual and translated written materials.

Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Government & Politics, Housing, Media, News

Regents push risk

by Peter Byrne

Investigation shows some officials profited while UC investments performed poorly

Last fall, amid an unprecedented state budget crisis, the University of California Board of Regents took extraordinary measures to cut costs and generate revenue. Lecturers were furloughed, classes eliminated. The regents — the governing body for the vast public university system — also reduced admission slots for in-state students while increasing the cost for out-of-state students. And to the consternation of tens of thousands of students, the regents raised undergraduate tuition by a whopping 32 percent, with more hikes to come.

Posted inArts & Culture, Government & Politics, News

State Department courts tech entrepreneurs to aid in development, diplomacy

by Rosemary Macaulay

The Bay Area’s innovators and social entrepreneurs have been invited by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to contribute their ideas for furthering diplomacy and development using new technology. Clinton said the State Department is embracing technological advances pioneered in the Bay Area to aid communication across the globe.

Posted inBay Area, Environment, Government & Politics, Housing, Land use, Media, Parks & Open Space

Story in progress: Veteran smart growth group wary of rushing to judgment

by Maureen Nandini Mitra

The other day we had a chance to chat over the phone with Jeremy Madsen, executive director of Greenbelt Alliance. This much-respected nonprofit has been advocating smart growth and open spaces in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1958. In 2008 the outfit published Smart Infill, a 80-page report that recommends infill development — building on vacant lots and redeveloping blighted urban areas — as a way of accommodating the Bay Area’s growing population without paving the region’s farms and natural areas.

Posted inGovernment & Politics, LGBTQ+, Open Government

Ban on gays in military heading to key Senate vote

by Angela Hart

A recent ruling by a federal court in Southern California — that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding the right of gays to serve in the military — is unconstitutional. The move could pave the way to lifting the ban entirely. Now, nearly five months after the House of Representatives and the Senate Armed Services Committee voted in favor of repealing the ban on gays in the military, the Senate could be headed for a final vote.

Posted inEnvironment, Government & Politics, Health, News

Berkeley scientists’ next green energy alternative: stomach bug to biofuel

by Ambika Kandasamy

A team of local biotech researchers may have found a way to avoid using essential food crops for fuel by genetically modifying harmless strains of a bacteria most people associate with human food poisoning. The result is an extremely expensive fuel — hardly competitive with fossil fuels at $25 per gallon — but marks the beginning of a new look at green energy.

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