Fake Question Time in the Mission March 26, 2007

Gavin Newsom is holding a "townhall" meeting in the Mission, but he forgot to tell the town about it!

We are shocked and disappointed (but not very surprised) that the Mayor has made no effort to publicize his "townhall" meeting at Cesar Chavez Elementary School on Monday, March 26th. The Mayor's office issued a press release about it, but failed to post any information on the SFgov.org website. (UPDATE: Gav just posted the four-day old press release and buried it under three other releases. It wasn't there at 6pm. Sneaky!)

We are also unaware of any outreach to any community groups in the Mission. Has anyone heard anything about this thing??? Whether this is just carelessness or an intentional attempt to exclude the community, this is unacceptable.

In the Mayor's "townhall" meeting in the Richmond, he hand picked all of the questions asked, he failed to allow any member of the public to speak, and he deferred to his cronies to answer virtually all of the questions. Combined with his refusal to meet with the Board of Supervisors like the voters asked him to, this demonstrates that Gavin is afraid to face unscripted questions or engage with those who disagree with him.

Gavin Newsom promised us that he was "committed to restoring (San Francisco's) trust and confidence." Is this any way to build trust?

We urge the Mayor to allow an independent moderator to run his "townhall" meetings, and to listen to the voters and meet with the Board of Supervisors. And we encourage members of the public to attend this "townhall" meeting and demand that their voices be heard.

Here are some questions we'd like answered:
- Why is MUNI's on-time rate been stuck at 70?
- What are you doing about the violence?
- Why haven't you done anything to reform the SFPD?
- Why won't you meet with the Board of Supervisors?
- Why are your friends at the Golden Gate Restaurant Association suing to block Supervisor Ammiano's universal health care plan?

Official Website: http://gavinwatch.blogspot.com/2007/03/mission-town-hall-meeting-really.html