Politicians always talk about the issues. 4 months ago, if you would have asked me what the biggest issues in San Francisco was, I’da made a fool of myself. I’m likely gonna say the same thing in December, but here goes:
The biggest issue in SF is homelessness. With violent crime coming in second. Then I’d say our schools and development tie for third. Affordable housing. Public transport. Potholes. Fog. It’s fucking endless. But what if we talk about the facts?
What about the fact that our quality of life suffers when our entire city is under construction?
What about the simple fact that BART and bar close is out of calibration by 2 ½ hours?
What about the fact that a parking ticket doubles in a month or so? Why not just make the ticket more? Why punish poor people more than someone who’s got a few bucks?
What about where our city is headed?
The way I see it, San Francisco is becoming a city devoted to serving the leisure of the wealthy, a theme park where the culture we all helped build is the attraction for those who contribute nothing in return, except tips after dinner. Try this, from the Economist, no less:
"Those [property] prices pose the greatest threat to the city's future as a crucible of new ideas. Talented people are not always rich, and San Francisco is in danger of losing those who are not to less fashionable places. Alameda County, which includes scruffy Oakland, attracted 40,000 people with bachelors degrees between 2000 and 2005, according to the census—three times as many as San Francisco." (http://tinyurl.com/29mbzw)
And the story mentions me in the last line. So there. Oakland has more artists as residents than any other city. They are all hanging their work in our galleries. Oakland is becoming the servant's quarters to San Francisco.
I could go on like this, but it is my opinion that the issues divide people. It’s not about the issues themselves, it’s about how we manage them. For instance, take homelessness. There are an estimated 17,000 people who are homeless in the city and county of San Francisco and 3,000 of them meet the definition of chronically homeless. New York, a city many times our size, has 2,700. Yet San Francisco spends approximately $200 million annually on services for the homeless. I dunno. At first stab I’d say $200 million is a good amount to spend. I’m sure there are people who would say that as long as one person was homeless we shouldn’t spend a dime on hair care products. And I would concur, except that I know that some people who are homeless are so by choice. Our society is insane. Our culture a fabrication. Our generosity a shadow of what it could be. But to examine where we can go realisticly, I’d be a liar to say that I have an answer. I'm not even sure what the question really is.
All politics, really, divide people. That is why I affiliated myself with the arts at such a young age. It was a simple equation:
Politics divides people.
Art brings people together.
But we’re in a weird place now. And I haven’t so much as crossed the line, I’ve kinda erased it. I’m a campaign artist. We need people to come together. I don’t know how to do that. Neither does anyone else. That’s why they didn’t run. That’s why I’m the only threat to Newsom. And not much of one at that. But I am running, and you guys are only gonna come together if ya want to.
Issues or not.
I’m not gonna win. Duh. But voting for me for second place is a good protest vote. It’d be an insult to everyone’s intelligence to run to win. What a waste of time, postulating what I would do if elected. How boring. But using this opportunity to examine the political apparatus of San Francisco is likely the best use of our campaign time. Because this time it’s not all gonna be two dickheads eating each other alive to look good. To win. Winning is over-rated. The process... and being present for it, is the real win. And a protest vote for second place that makes a small dent is better than what anyone else is offering.