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“I DON’T THINK THERE’S ANYTHING WE CAN DO” – AIRBNB EXEC ON HIPSTERS INVADING THE MISSION PARSING THE OLAGUE VOTE $
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10.10-10.16.2012
SEVERAL HUNDRED PEOPLE LINED UP ON OCEAN BEACH LAST WEEKEND TO CALL FOR OVERTURNING THE US SUPREME COURT’S DECISION LEGALIZING UNLIMITED CAMPAIGN SPENDING. PHOTO BY JOHN MONTGOMERY
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The technorati who make up a group called sf.citi have a video floating around the Interwebs, and it’s nowhere near as creative as the works of Fred Davis (See “Demon Sheep”). In fact, it’s pretty lame, as these things go, full of the worst kind of whining white boys who think San Francisco sucks because you can’t get a cab by sticking your hand out on the street. (Oh, and according to the video, you need a cab to get home from the Marina with your date, who lives in the Sunset, where maybe you can get laid — unless she thinks you’re not manly enough to get her a cab.) They hate parking tickets, too. And bicyclists (or at least the angry ones). And vegans who write antimeat graffiti on the walls. Pretty much a portrait of a city in sharp decline, huh? But wait: With new machines we can fix it all. An app that lets you pay parking meters from afar, an electronic scoreboard showing where all the cabs are in real time, and converting old phone booths (huh? where?) into wifi hotspots would make this place so, so much better. Oddly, the video (you can see it at sfciti.com) also includes a clip of a Spanish-speaking woman complaining about the hipsters in the Mission. Maybe (though it’s not in her comments, which focus on food) she’s concerned that the techno riche will soon drive her and her family out of town. Sf.citi’s solution, delivered by airbnb’s Hosain Rahman: “I don’t think there’s anything we can do about that.” (Tim Redmond)
8 SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN
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SON OF THE DEMON SHEEP
It’s the season of bizarre campaign videos — and way of opposing the re-election of the incumbent at this rate, San Francisco is on track to beat the District 1 supervisor. After making fun of Mar’s record for the worst taste in televised ads ever. move to ban toys in Happy Meals (something the And that’s no coinciParenthood Division of dence: The guy who made our Editorial Board fully the infamous “Demon supported), the ad sugSheep” ad for Carli Fiornia, gests that he wanted to Fred Davis, is behind the hold Board of Supervisors two weirdest local ads, meetings in the hot tub both paid for by the San of his local YMCA. Cue a Francisco Association of shot of three shirtless men Realtors. cavorting around a flume The Demons Sheep, of steam; the homophobic you will recall, were redimplications are too obvieyed wooly monsters ous to ignore. whose presence (along The ad ends with a with that of a robotic carefully framed series of wolf) warned voters that shots of Mar’s opponent, US Senate Candidate Tom David Lee — and that part Campbell wasn’t a real of the video has driven conservative. Nobody in the League of Pissed-Off California had ever seen Voters to file an ethics anything like it before — complaint. “The high-qualand with all the befuddled ity footage has the same pundits wondering what appearance and profesthe fuck that was about, sional production quality the ad, and its message, got as the other footage tremendous free media. in the video,” the Oct. Now Davis has created 11 complaint states. GRILLED CHEESE AND MEN IN A TUB: THIS IS a music video in support “It contains multiple WHAT POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS IN SAN FRANCISCO of London Breed, a District camera angles shot HAVE COME TO? 5 candidate for supervisor, on multiple locations. featuring a Journey take-off The creators of the ad (“Just a local girl/Who wants to change the world”) could not have obtained this footage without coorand such creative lyrics as “London Breed will dinating with Lee’s campaign.” bring us together/We’re the slices of bread, she’s the That, of course, would be a violation of the city’s melted cheddar.” campaign finance laws, which prohibits independent Even Breed was a bit confused by it: “Are the expenditures that are made “in cooperation, consulRealtors calling me cheesy?” she texted us. “Is that tation, concert or coordination with the candidate.” a compliment?” If the Ethics Commission gets to the bottom of Across town, Davis has a group of children this and issues fines before Election Day, it will surbanging on pots and pans in the Richmond District prise just about everyone. (Alex Kekauoha and and chanting “send Mar back to Mars,” a twisted Tim Redmond) EDITORIALS
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The latter-day Kremlinologists who make up San Francisco’s political pundit class were delving deep into their collective paranoia last week, trying to figure out exactly why Supervisor Christina Olague defied her ally and patron, Mayor Ed Lee, and voted against ousting Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. After all, Olague not only owes her job to the mayor; Lee and his pals Rose Pak and Willie Brown have raised more than $40,000 for her re-election. And her campaign consultant and advisor, Enrique Pearce, is practically joined to Pak at the hip. Theory 1: The mayor’s crew doesn’t really care who the sheriff is, but Brown and Pak care a lot about whether the D5 supe will support them on development projects, where there’s money involved. Olague would have been hammered in her home district if she’d voted against Mirkarimi; by siding with him, she earns progressive credibility at no real cost to the people who run this town. Theory 2: The mayor actually wanted the sheriff to keep his job, so this whole soap opera would continue for another six months while his foes mount a recall effort. A recall would even further divide the left and pit progressives against domestic violence advocates — all of which would make Lee’s team extremely happy. Theory 3: Olauge already got the Brown/Pak money, has cashed the checks — and was ready to throw the whole gang under the bus to keep her job, which meant supporting Mirkarimi. Of course, there’s also Theory 4, which says that Olague, who has known Mirkarimi for a long time, didn’t believe the charges and voted her conscience. You don’t suppose that sort of thing really happens, do you? (Tim Redmond)
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