By Joe Eskenazi : 48hills – excerpt
Ballot measures for mayoral candidates serve as as publicity engines, storyline generators and soft-money conduits
Board President Aaron Peskin on April 6 officially announced his mayoral run. He mentioned a potential future ballot measure regarding the establishment of an ‘inspector general’ to confront San Francisco’s rampant corruption issues.
This was what was ostensibly in the back of Board President Aaron Peskin’s mind when he shocked, shocked gatherers at his April 6 mayoral launch with the announcement that he’d establish “a new tool for fighting corruption and cleaning up City Hall – an Inspector General, under the Controller, with the power of subpoena and investigation.”
An inspector general? That’s a very dramatic title; surely others also envisioned Russell Crowe glowering in an ill-fitting period costume. But that’s not what Peskin is envisioning. Rather, his proposal is, literally, cribbed from “best practices” reports for “promotion of the public trust.”
That would make it neither creative nor theatrical. And, if Peskin can persuade five of his Board colleagues to get to yes, we’ll all be voting on this come November…(more)