Terence Hallinan was always a bit mystified by Willie Brown’s animosity. Reading a headline in the Chronicle like “Brown excoriates Hallinan, other big-mouth critics,” he would shake his head in sad disbelief. When he said…
Posts published by “Fred Gardner”
In November 2000, Al Gore and George W. Bush were running for President, and so was Ralph Nader. On the Saturday before the election Ross Mirkarimi, Nader's California campaign manager, called me at home to…
A Misdemeanor in the Haight July 26, 2001: Officer flagged down by victim Joshua D. Said he had just been assaulted. Showed officer bite on his neck. Pointed out man at Haight and Belvedere. Officers…
In my two cartons marked SFDA I find some lyrics. (Instead of keeping a diary, I used to write songs.) 911 Willie Brown took the American flagTurned it into a shopping bagCome on baby let’s…
A put-down of George Butterworth, the head of gang-related prosecutions during Terence Hallinan's eight years as San Francisco District Attorney, drew a response from AVA reader Jim Miller, a retired SFPD officer. He wrote that…
The media had made Terence Hallinan's leniency a political liability and he counterpunched by publicizing murder cases to the max. Not all his punches landed. The killing of the king was "murder most foul" to…
You'd think government employees, especially high-ranking officials, would feel relatively fortunate. Their salaries are decent and they enjoy job security unavailable in the private sector. And yet, as 2020 ends, five San Francisco department heads…