Hall Monitor

Go ask Alice: Public power measure Proposition D picked up the endorsement of the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Club Sept. 9. The endorsement came as part of a mix of decisions – some progressive, some not. The club issued a "no endorsement" on Sup. Tony Hall's housing initiative, Proposition R, and on Proposition M, the mayor's economic-development initiative, and supported Proposition I, paid parental leave for city workers. But it gave the nod to supervisorial candidates Gavin Newsom, Fiona Ma, and Bevan Dufty and supported Newsom's Care Not Cash over Sup. Tom Ammiano's homelessness measure. (Rachel Brahinsky)

Dufty dustup: When District Eight supervisorial candidate Dufty turned in his ballot handbook biography in early August, he claimed "Neighborhood Services Director" as his occupation. And that has election watchers – especially those opposed to Dufty's candidacy – scratching their heads. The reason? The job description neatly fits that of a post he no longer holds: directing the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services. After leaving the position in May 2001, Dufty went to work as a "community relations" flack for the Robert Group, a lobbying firm. The professional identification he listed was not only an inaccurate description of his work for the lobbying firm, his critics say, but it would also mislead voters into thinking he still had his old City Hall gig.

Alerted to the flap by officials from the city's Department of Elections, Dufty changed his job identification to "neighborhood services manager" Aug. 26. But Dufty's opponents are still not satisfied.

Dufty argues that he no longer works for the Robert Group and that the job title fits his current role at the Jewish Community High School. In an Aug. 26 letter to the Elections Department, the high school's Rabbi Edward Harwitz backed up Dufty's claim that he is serving as neighborhood services manager for the organization and has done so for the past six months. The Elections Department requires that candidates describe the main job they hold or have held in the past 12 months. As recently as late July, Dufty still worked for the Robert Group, according to an article in the Bay Area Reporter.

"From my standpoint I think this is a partisan game on the part of advocates for a couple of my fellow candidates,'' he said. "This is what my career has represented in the city for the past six years." (Savannah Blackwell)

Golden Gate Park's gardening woes: Activists who keep an eye on the city's pastoral gem are worried about its condition. Budget cuts to the city's Recreation and Park Department over the years have meant dwindling numbers of gardeners are tending the park's abundant plant life. In an Aug. 29 letter to Mayor Willie Brown, park activists Chris Duderstadt, Mary Anne Miller, and Steven Chapman noted that in 1974, 120 gardeners were assigned to Golden Gate Park, while the 2002 budget funds only 43.

"This is entirely unacceptable for a city park that is the pearl of the Recreation and Parks system," the letter reads. "It is the image of San Francisco for us residents, for tourists from all over the world and visitors from every state of the union."

The activists point out that many areas of the park have no gardeners. "Gorgeous mature cherry trees are dying for lack of irrigation. Lawns are full of gopher holes. The park is dying," the three wrote.

Rec and Park officials acknowledge there's a problem and say it is citywide.

"Because of the $7.2 million in cuts, all of our parks are experiencing staff shortages," Dan McKenna, the department's superintendent for the southern division, told us. "There are less people to take care of our 230 facilities." (Blackwell)

Talking heads: City employees are legally barred from engaging in political activity during the workday. So members of the No on N campaign against Care Not Cash were more than a little surprised to bump into Trent Rhorer, director of the Department of Human Services, at the San Francisco Examiner's office Friday morning, Sept. 6.

Apparently, Rhorer was with Sup. Gavin Newsom and Care Not Cash campaign manager Jim Ross, who hoped to secure the Examiner's endorsement.

"I asked him what he was doing there," said Jennifer Friedenbach of the Coalition on Homelessness and the No on N campaign. "He said he was just there for background."

We called Rhorer at work and at home to ask how attending editorial board meetings fits into his job description. He didn't return calls by press time. (Cassi Feldman)