Steve Moss is getting a lot of attention at the SF Bay Guardian as allegations fly surrounding improprieties in residency, money diversion, ties to a group that promotes condo conversions and rails against tenant protections, etc. in articles in their paper:
Steve Moss, carpetbagger - 09/10/10
Steve Moss Responds - 09/13/10
Five Things You Should Know about Steve Moss - 09/14/10
Plan C Endorses Sweet and Moss - 09/21/10
The Real Steve Moss - 09/23/10
No other candidate has gotten this kind of scrutiny besides Lynette Sweet:
Lynette Sweet and IRS Strange Story - 09/02/10
Lynett Sweet, the "no-comment" candidate - 09/20/10
Plan C Endorses Sweet and Moss - 09/21/10
Lynette Sweet's Finances: Curiouser and Curiouser - 09/27/10
Why is it that SFBG and other local news outlets aren't pressing the other candidates on the skeletons in their own closets that are perhaps just as bad, or, at the very least, simply raise questions about these candidates' willingness to disclose information to voters or help us figure out how they'd operate as our supervisor?
Has Ms Sweet's tax evasion "mix-up" simply faded and become a non-issue? Maybe not, as SFBG has a piece on it today and BeyondChron mentions it as a reason Ms Sweet has dropped out of the lead pack. An allegation by a commenter here on D10CanWatch regarding a large unpaid tax bill for Tony Kelly's "Thick Description" theater company may raise eyebrows, and questions like these need to be answered directly by the candidates so as to tamp down the rumor-mill. As Mr. Kelly responds to voters, in part,
"Like so many small theatre companies in this economy, the one I ran - Thick Description - has had its share of tough times.
"Thick Description has a significant tax debt to the IRS. The company has a proposed repayment plan for that debt, based on the proceeds of Thick Description's contract with another company to help them run their new theater, opening in the summer of 2011. While the IRS considers that repayment plan, and even during that repayment, the agency will hold liens on the company to protect its claim; those liens will be released as the debts are paid off over the coming five years."
Read Mr. Kelly's full response here.
I've heard a couple of times as-yet-unfounded allegations regarding Ms Sweet and Ms Cohen actually living in the district. Of course, these latter allegations could be completely bogus, but since no one in the main stream media seems to be looking into these things and asking (and finding answers to) the truly tough questions of the candidates, we may never actually know.
I'm still waiting to hear back from Ms Sweet and Ms Cohen on these questions, but, in one case, a quick look in the phone book lists Malia J Cohen as living on Silliman Ave in 94134, which is indeed outside D10. Is this our candidate Malia Cohen's actual home? Her candidate filing papers all list a 94134 ZIP, but since the actual address is redacted in the publicly available version of those papers, it's not possible to tell anything more. If this is her, why is she listed in the phone book as living outside D10, and when did she purchase her home in D10 as she claims on her website to have done?
My point is, sure, some skeletons are less important than others, but are all the other candidates so squeaky-clean that the media isn't even going to do more investigation on them? Why aren't the candidates themselves publicly asking these tough questions of one another? Have they all taken a vow of silence on these issues, and if so, would that be the backroom kind of political dealings that we would want from our next supervisor?
It appears that instead of actual reporting, the SFBG simply has an agenda and is using it's 'newsiness' reporting as a tool to undermine the candidates they've decided they don't like. Liberal version of FOX "news"... yuck.
ReplyDeleteHere on Planet Thor things are slightly different. The candidates are drafted by the public to run. Instead of being egotistical, arrogant, and self-centered, each candidate praises the other as being better qualified. One runner named Linette Sweat said she reneged on a tax lean, but one of her proponents, Erik Smithe, said that doesn't qualify for disqualification since it was only a minor oversight that can be easily adjusted.
ReplyDeleteAnother drafted candidate Steve Spore said he moves around so much that he's probably a karpettbegger, but was refuted by LeWitt Dacy who sees Spore daily in the neighborhood helping the community. Maria Colen also claimed out-of-district status, but she merely sent her papers from another part of town. Darlene Tram said she's impressed with the visions of Kristina Enya, who passed her praise to KellyToni, who said he has a tax debt, but a Federation official said that deal was settled. Other candidates said they lack expertise and leadership, but showed no supportive evidence, hoping to thwart endorsements and donations.
When voters arranged a special forum with free Kanar where candidates must only talk of themselves, no candidate showed up.
Well the SFBG found $4 million in taxpayer and non profit funds that a candidate awarded himself as a contract from his own non-profit. He managed to get a building turned into a condo with no record how, "fell through the cracks" city office says. Statements turn out not to be true. All any candidate has to do is answer, Tony Kelly responded immediately, just about to read. Cohen and Sweet, very disappointing that they don't seem to respond, like Moss.
ReplyDeleteThe last part of the article above is the most powerful, why the hell aren't the candidates asking each other these questions? Maybe they won't like the answers, can they get started please?
I believe Sweet's "residence" is on Innes off 3rd Street. No signs, no indication that the resident is actually a candidate for anything. As mentioned, the rumor is it's her parents' house. The tax problems of Sweet ($20,000) and Kelly ($100,000) make them undesirable candidates, IMHO. If they can't do their own taxes, pay their own way, then what business do they have trying to manage a budget the size of SF's? And what about Sweet's claim to have balanced BART's budget? Almost as laughable as Jackson's "balanced CCSF budget." Both frauds. Ask anyone who reads the papers and has an interest in these two institutions. Sweet blamed her tax problems on JK Harris? The TV infomercial guy? Seriously - we have to get whatever she's smoking. She graduated from Cal with a BA in Sociology. How did she become a banker at Wells Fargo? I think we all know how that works.
ReplyDeleteI dont think the guardian is 'foxing'- I think the information was brought to their attention by a concerned D10 Voter.
ReplyDeleteIf you knew a candidate was dirty - wouldn't you help hang their laundry to protect the district?
RE: "She graduated from Cal with a BA in Sociology. How did she become a banker at Wells Fargo? I think we all know how that works."
ReplyDeleteOh, pleeeze! I was an English Major with an Art History minor. I have held major positions at SF Corporations and currently own and run a successful business.
But somehow I don't think you are attacking a liberal arts education. Take your racist innuendo and move to a state full of red necks!
Comment one.
ReplyDeleteI think a more approach would be to say that the SFBG can choose who it likes and doesn't like once the candidates answer very direct questions.
Neither the three main candidates, Moss, Sweet or Cohen have made any real attempt to answer very important questions, why?
Why is it so difficult to answer the questions?