Diaz takes plea
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Head start for Valentine's Day
ARTS
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Manon Lescaut
Steve Grant
The
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Gay man to lead SFMTA
Vol. 49 • No. 46 • November 14-20, 2019
Progressives unseat incumbents in San Francisco’s DA, D5 races
by Cynthia Laird
M
ayor London Breed on We d n e s d a y named a gay man to head the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Jeffrey Tumlin will begin serving as the city’s director of transportaCourtesy Twitter tion December 16. The Incoming SFMTA SFMTA Board of Direc- director Jeffrey tors is expected to for- Tumlin mally appoint him at its meeting November 19. Currently, Tumlin serves as director of strategy at Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates, a San Francisco-based transportation planning and engineering firm that focuses on sustainable mobility. Before that, he served as interim director at the Oakland Department of Transportation. A news release from the mayor’s office said he has 25 years of experience working in cities around the world. “Jeffrey Tumlin is exactly the type of forwardthinking, results-oriented leader that the SFMTA needs and I am excited to announce his new role as director of transportation,” Breed said in a news release. “I believe Jeffrey is the right person
by John Ferrannini
T
he twin victories of progressives Chesa Boudin and Dean Preston for San Francisco district attorney and District 5 supervisor, respectively, have sent a jolt through the political establishment and foreshadowed possible problems for Mayor London Breed and her agenda. The candidates declared victory Saturday, November 9, after unofficial returns showed them with insurmountable leads. Boudin defeated interim District Attorney Suzy Loftus by a margin of 2,831 votes, 50.9%49.1%, in the latest round of ranked-choice voting, according to unofficial results from the Department of Elections posted Tuesday, November 12. In the District 5 race, Preston defeated Supervisor Vallie Brown by a margin of 187 votes, 50.4%-49.6%, in the latest round of rankedchoice voting. Loftus conceded the race to Boudin, saying in a statement Saturday that she would “work to ensure a smooth and immediate transition.” “I didn’t win the race – but we won the support of so many San Franciscans who are demanding that our city work more effectively together to build safety,” she said. “Congratula-
Jane Philomen Cleland
District Attorney-elect Chesa Boudin spoke to supporters last Tuesday.
tions to Chesa Boudin.” Boudin, a deputy public defender, is the son of two left-wing militants who were sent to federal prison for their role in a 1981 robbery that left three people dead. He used his personal story in the race to highlight the need for re-
form in the criminal justice system, and touted the endorsements of Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and civil rights activist Shaun King. See page 10 >>
See page 10 >>
Field honors gay San Francisco Ex-co-owner of Jolly and Gay SF gay barStay sues national parks landscape architect Holiday! former partners bythis Matthew S. Bajko
noted Boland, a gay man who used to live nearby the city park on Liberty Hill. by John Ferrannini isit any national park site in San FranIn recognition of his myriad accomplishcisco and you will likely encounter a ments for the National Park Service, Boland awrence “Larry” vista that has been shaped in some will receive the prestigious designation of Metzger, a gay manner by Bay Area native Michael Boland. Fellow of the American Society of Landscape man and oneThroughout his career as a landscape archiArchitects Friday, November 15, at its annual time shareholder in the tect Boland, 57, has played a role in designing conference being held in San Diego. He is one corporation that does the Nationalback AIDS Memorial Grove carvedeveryday purchases of 22 members of the society being elevated • Earn 1% cash for business as the Mix gay out of a dell inside the city’s Golden Gate to its Council of Fellows and was singled out bar on 18th• Street in the No AnnualPark;Fee establishing the overall development for exemplifying “the best of landscape archiCastro, is suing the corplan for the defunct prison grounds on Alcatecture.” poration and of its • twoNo Balance Transfer Fee traz Island; and restoring the decommissioned Former Presidio Trust board member John shareholders, alleging John Ferrannini airfield at Crissy Field into a bayside aquatic Reynolds nominated Boland for the fellow•action, No Foreign Transaction Fees six causes of inA former sharehaven within the Golden Gate National Recship, having witnessed his accomplishments cluding breach of con- holder of The Mix reationcharged Area. His latest project will transform firsthand not only as a trustee but also when • No Interest for 25 days tract. bar has sued two Rick Gerharter 14 acres inside the Presidio into new parkland he served as the director of the Pacific West In the court filing for of the other ownMichael Boland, chief of park developatop highway tunnels that replacedApply the former today! Region for the National Park Service from Metzger v. TDG Inc., ers. ment andor visitorvisit engagement for the PreDoyle Drive. 1997 until 2002. Call 415-775-5377, stop by a branch SanFranciscoFCU.com et al. filed on Monday, sidio Trust, stands atop the tunnels that The elevated freeway that led motorists off Reached at his home in Virginia, Reynolds October 28, in San replaced the former Doyle Drive leading the Golden Gate Bridge into the city’s Marina praised Boland as “a visionary who more than Francisco Superior Court, Metzger claims that to the Golden Gate Bridge. district was demolished and replaced with the anybody else drove the altruistic and practishareholders Virginia Crum-Ross and Ross Crum ground level Presidio Parkway. Crews covered cal vision for what the Presidio could be in removed Metzger in July as a shareholder – in with the firm James Corner Field Operations the enclosed sections of the roadway with dirt the future.” In addition, “project by project violation of the contract that specifies ownership and federal park staff on the $118 million in preparation for the creation of new public by project,” Boland’s “influence is again the over TDG Inc., and over his objection and that of addition to the former Army base-turnedgreen spaces set to open in fall 2021. driving conceptual force behind the degree of another shareholder, who is not a party in the suit. national park site on the northwestern edge As chief of park development and visitor excellence which it has all taken place,” noted Subsequently in September, Crum fired Metzger of the city. The official “groundmaking” cerengagement for the Presidio Trust, a job he Reynolds. in violation of the contract, according to the court emony for the project was held November 7. has held since 2001, Boland is working closely filing. “It will be the same size as Dolores Park,” See page 11 >> See page 11
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