I am proud to report that the DCCC almost unanimously supported the release of Josh Wolf, the condemnation of the immigrant raids, the defunding of the war in Iraq, and the deauthorization of the war. It was a good night to be a Democrat in San Francisco. There was great testimony from grassroots activists on all of these issues and the testimony made a difference. Thanks to all that came.

Whenever I get frustrated, I remind myself that I am so damn lucky.
Unfortunately, others are not.

LARGO, Florida (AP) — The City Commission voted to begin the process of firing a top official less than a week after he announced plans to pursue a sex-change operation.

The 5-to-2 vote Tuesday started a three-step process to remove City Manager Steve Stanton from the job he’s held for 14 years.

Stanton, 48, confirmed last week that he is a transsexual. With a solid reputation as a forceful and energetic leader, he had hoped to keep his $140,000-a-year job as he underwent the gender reassignment process.

UESF will be focusing its spring membership conference on the issue of school safety, with a focus on school violence. The spring conference will be on Saturday, March 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at George Washington High School, 600 32nd Avenue.

Community and parent groups are also asked to join UESF along with special guest District Attorney Kamala Harris to discuss this important issues. This concern is one that is a problem in our schools-for students, parents, teachers and administrators.

If you would like to attend the conference, please RSVP to Meg Kimura at 956-8373 or email mkimura@uesf.org. A continental breakfast and lunch is included, courtesy of Mosher Financial.

The highlights of the Board of Education meeting of Feb. 27 are:

1. The BOE denied the charter for Bayview Essential School of Music, Art and Social Justice with a 5-2 vote (J. Kim and Maufas voting in dissent).

Mary Richards noted that outstanding concerns was that the charter didn’t submit a policy on explusions and suspension after repeated requests from the District; they did not note a policy in dealing with sexual harassment or assault as required under the District’s “no tolerance” policy against sexual harassment or assault. The charter is required to submit signatures representating at least 50% of its school population or 50% of its teacher staff. The school was projecting on a first year enrollment of 1210 students. They also got signatures from 23 eligible parents and one teacher.

It was the small schools versus the City’s largest public schools.

Mission High School beat Lincoln High School with a score of 84-76 in a high-scoring, high pitched game. It was an upset since Lincoln, the District’s second largest high school, has favored to win.

Wallenberg, one of the District’s smallest high school, matched Lowell High School (the largest high school) point for point and at the end of the game, were four points ahead. But Curtis Wong, Wallenberg’s leader, fouled out and the Lowell rallied for a score of 41-39. (Good job, Bulldogs and Cardinals.)

President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Aaron Peskin spoke at a packed meeting of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club yesterday, and here are some of the things he said (note that all quotes are as I wrote them down, and have not been verified for accuracy, and the rest is my paraphrase from memory):

He opened by calling the current Board of Supervisors the most progressive 6 years stretch of the Board ever, but emphasized that we need to ensure that when he and three other members of the 2000 Progressive Sweep are termed out in 2008, the people we elect are at least as progressive as the outgoing Supervisors. “Chris Daly thinks we can trade up”, he said, but we need to start now recruiting good candidates to run.

Below is a resolution I introduced for the next DCCC meeting. Thanks to Julian Davis for his assistance writing it and his work on behalf of Josh Wolf. So far Michael Goldstein, David Campos, Jane Morrision, Joe Julian and Rafael Mandelman have offered to co-sponsor. I will update as the meeting nears.

Update: DA Kamala Harris came out in today in the Bay Guardian in support of Josh Wolf.

Here is the text of the DCCC resolution:

Kelly Dugan was elected Vice-President, Internal, the Charter amendment creating a vice-president external position passed, and Paul Mooney was elected Vice-President, External.

I think it’s not always as obvious here in California, but I think that concern for the environment has risen in the mainstream over the last few months. From the IPCC report affirming the huge evidence for global warming to Al Gore winning an Oscar, concern for the environment is as high as it’s been in years.

For many folks in the Bay Area, however, the environment’s always been pretty high on the agenda. A recent study (PDF) was released that details the health effects of pollution in the Bay Area, and it found what organizations like PODER and APEN have been arguing: that the dangers of pollution in the Bay Area fall disproportionately on communities of color and low-income folks.

The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic General Membership Meeting will be meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Women’s Building, 3543 18th Street.

On the agenda, we have included the following:

a. Vote on a bylaw change to add the position of Vice President-
External Affairs to the executive board
b. Vote on the position of Vice President of Internal Affairs. Kelly
Dugan is running for this position.
c. Vote on the position of Vice President of External Affairs. Paul
Mooney is running for this position.
d. President Aaron Peskin will be speaking about his work and his
plans for the BOS.