Living-Wage Maneuver Enrages Yee
By Janet Dang

In the face of a threatened mayoral veto, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors delayed action on new leases at San Francisco International Airport, but not before Finance Committee Chairman Leland Yee denounced Mayor Willie Brown for what he said was a cheap political ploy on his part.

“Don’t play politics with these kinds of issues,” Yee said. “It’s a slap to the Finance Committee; it’s a slap to individuals who are keeping their words.”

Yee was furious because Brown didn’t push a living wage mandate when the Finance Committee considered the leases two weeks ago, but the mayor in a letter on Monday said he would threaten to veto the lease agreements if no such provisions were attached.

Yee attacked the mayor’s actions, calling them deceptive. “I am rather upset, to put it mildly,” said Yee, who assailed the mayor for having “made a certain representation and then take that back.”

Yee said Brown’s staff had been unequivocal about proceeding with the lease agreements, even without any living-wage provisions.

“I accomodated the mayor. Even Supervisor Ammiano accomodated the mayor...and at the 11th hour here’s this letter.”

The letter was sent after Board President Tom Ammiano’s write-in campaign catapulted him to second place, setting the stage for a runoff between him and Brown next month.

In the letter dated Nov. 5, the mayor wrote, “As you know, the leases being approved by these resolutions last until 2011, and approval without consideration of a living wage could mean the loss of a living wage to hundreds of workers at the airport. Because of this concern, I will not sign legislation unless the matter of the living wage is resovled.”

Ammiano voiced muted surprise as he said, “I commend the mayor for this decisive message.” Ammiano has for months crusaded for a wide-reaching living wage of at least $11 (more without benefits) covering city workers and workers for city contractors, as well as those whose employers lease land from the city.

Mayoral spokeswoman Kandace Bender said Brown has been talking about a living wage at the airport for some time but wants to make sure the city can afford to pay for it before putting out a concrete proposal. Brown “fully agrees with the concept” but “is still studying” ways to pay for and implement it, she said. If put in place, the wage would apply to baggage screeners and handlers, mechanics, maintenance workers, ground traffic controllers and other airport employees.

Yee moved to send consideration of the 11-year lease agreements, which are being renewed to allow 26 airlines to use the new international terminal, back to the Airport Commission. None of the nine other supervisors present seconded the motion, but they did agree with Supervisor Sue Bierman’s motion to delay consideration for two weeks. The board will consider the airport leases again on Nov. 22.

According to a study by UC Berkeley Professor Michael Reich, more than 11,000 workers would benefit from such an increase.

ESCAPEE QUESTIONS: Also on Monday, Supervisor Mabel Teng called for a letter of inquiry regarding inmates who had escaped from the Youth Guidance Center in the Twin Peaks neighborhood.

Teng wants to look into why residents weren’t notified by authorities of potentially dangerous criminals rather than hearing about it from the media.

Richard Antolin, 18, escaped from the center last Wednesday. He was working unsupervised in a recreation yard when he disappeared through two holes in perimeter fences that authorities believe were cut by outside parties.

Antolin was set to go to court this month for his alleged involvement in a gang-related shooting death in September 1998. The other escapee freed himself from wrist and ankle restraints and disappeared while being transferred to the center on Oct. 31. She’s also wants to look into why it took the center an hour to contact the police department.

VENTURE CAPITAL: Supervisor Leslie Katz proposed establishing a joint public-private venture capital fund to support start-up Internet and other companies in San Francisco. Katz said companies that utilize the fund could reimburse the city by sharing profits. In this manner the fund could become self- generating, she said. Katz said the fund could distribute capital in many forms, like office space, and empower companies in disadvantaged communities.

IN OTHER NEWS:

• Yee commended Acting Registrar of Elections Naomi Nishioka and hundreds of city workers and volunteers for processing about 130,000 ballots in the Nov. 2 election.

• The board also heard a presentation by the Commission on the Status of Women, which released a study that concluded that while the city has done much to advance the rights of its female residents, more could be done to create programs specifically for women and girls.

• Supervisor Mark Leno introduced a plan for a medical cannabis user identification card program. The system, he said, would be facilitated by the Department of Public Health, the police department and the medical community. Leno said the non-transferable cards would be issued voluntarily to those approved for the medical use of marijuana and their primary care-givers. The proposal is sent to the Public Health and Environment Committee.

Bay City News contributed to this report.