L.A. top cop to S.F. makes no sense
By: Ken Garcia
Examiner Staff Writer
May 1, 2009
The hot rumor recently circulating the Hall of Justice was that among the many candidates for The City’s next police chief was none other than William Bratton, the biggest name in law enforcement in the country.
We can safely put this wishful thought to rest, since it’s probably never going to happen.
For those not engaged in permanent crime watch, Bratton is the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. He took the job in 2002, after serving as New York’s police commissioner under former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Bratton restored credibility in the LAPD, after a number of notorious scandals, and has received numerous awards for reducing crime in that Southern California metropolis and in the Big Apple, where he applied the much-ballyhooed “broken windows” concept to crime fighting.
It should surprise no one that Bratton loves the public spotlight, which is one reason given for why Giuliani ultimately fired him — mayors’ egos taking precedent over those of any chiefs of police.
But Bratton has been golden in Los Angeles, the first chief appointed to two consecutive five-year terms and thought to be in line for a third. He also makes about $50,000 more per year than San Francisco’s top cop, manages nearly 10,000 officers and travels constantly for speeches and consulting gigs, which is the one thing that’s prompted criticism.
Sources involved in the search to replace Heather Fong tell me that Bratton has told others he has about zero interest in the San Francisco job, which would be a step down on just about every level and would once again put him in a situation with a mayor who does not like to share the limelight.
And it would not take much to scare anyone away from applying for the job, given San Francisco’s socialist tendencies and a new Board of Supervisors that seems to act like it’s a secondary police commission — as if several members of that panel were not considered political saber rattlers.
However, most people believe the real Police Commission is still intent on hiring an outsider to replace Fong, even though history suggests that people with little knowledge of the SFPD fare poorly, and so-called “reformers” like former Chief Charles Gain do even worse.
Gain ended up running a trailer park after his stint here. I think Bratton has higher ambitions.
Don’t be surprised if his next move is to Washington, D.C.
Spring Open Studios showcases city artists
Art never goes out of style, and in San Francisco it’s wearing well.
This weekend, in which The City will play host to Spring Open Studios at various sites, will also mark the 25th anniversary of the artists’ colony at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. It’s one of the largest concentrations of painters, sculptors, photographers and textile makers in the United States.
At this time last year, the artists at The Point, as it’s affectionately known, thought their main gallery, Building 101, was going to be torn down. Instead, The City is pouring $2 million into renovating it and plans are under way to rebuild the artist studios as part of the new residential community planned there.
“We’re definitely showing some staying power,” said event producer Zannah Noe, one of the resident artists. “There is a lot of excitement over the architecture of the new studios.”
This year marks the arrival of the finest-ever guide for the show, by way of design artist Carol Kummer (www.shipyardartists.com).
One other activity of note will be featured artist Lorna Kollmeyer’s turn as a torch singer at tonight’s preview party at The Point. Cornice maker/chanteuse — now that’s talent.
Money makes the justice system go
San Francisco likes to set cultural and political trends — not always a good thing — and there are some towns that like to follow them; again, not always a good thing.
That will help explain how Contra Costa County’s district attorney found himself in hot water this week with his insistence on not bringing charges against burglars, drug dealers and reckless drivers because he doesn’t have the money to handle the caseload.
This is old news in these parts — San Francisco’s district attorney has not been charging crimes and misdemeanors for years. Is anyone paying attention?
Still, you have to admire that spunk of Contra Costa crime-fighter Robert Kochly because he represents an office that has been pretty zealous in tackling what most people in the country consider clear violations of the law. He actually told county supervisors last month that his office would have to do “less with less”; when was the last time a public official said something that was so clearly true?
Kochly is also going to be living with less. On Tuesday, he agreed to take a pay cut as a way to offset some of the budget shortfall. And his supporters continue to say it’s the board causing the problem by slicing public-safety funds.
Before supervisors panic further, however, let’s put out those flames fanned by those who insist people will head to Contra Costa to commit crimes. San Francisco locked up that section of the tourist trade long ago.
Very timely Zodiac revelation
We’re trained to be skeptical, so it did not take long for the first questions to emerge after a Southern California real estate agent held a press conference to announce that her father was the mysterious Zodiac Killer.
So your dad took you along for two of the slayings when you were 7 and you’re just remembering this now?
That’s what Deborah Perez, now 47, would have us believe, not that the Zodiac’s legendary band of conspiracy theorists are having any of it. For the record, Perez’s father, carpenter Guy Ward Hendrickson, has been dead for 26 years.
Perez said she has the eyeglasses of one of the Zodiac’s five victims, San Francisco cabbie Paul Stine, and that she’s giving them to police investigators here who worked on the case.
Could it be a book/movie deal that stirred Perez to come forth? Hey, we’re just asking.
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