Transcripts For KQED KQED Newsroom 20140623

Good evening and welcome to kqed newsroom. A report criticizes the port of San Francisco for the management of the scewaterfront, including americas cup and the washington Street Development proposal and says the Mayors Office has too much influence and the Port Commission should seek more public input. Here to explain are San Francisco chronicle city hall reporter and elaina smidt. Welcome to you both. Thank you. Elaina, a key finding is recent activities have been strongly influenced by the Mayors Office. What are some of the critical projects that have been strongly influenced and what impact has that had on the public . I think that the influence, the projects that weve looked at recently were the americas cup, 8 washington, the Warriors Arena and when we looked at it, we were looking basically to see how they were developed in terms of who came together to kind of create the project, what was the dollar flow in the project, what did it mean to the port, and what we found was that when the projects were moving away from the waterfront Land Use Plan, which the port has done, is that they usually got into trouble. The projects got into trouble because there was not public input. There was not citizen input. So basically, the port was handed a project. Here is the golden state warrior, put it on piers 30, 32 and well use the seawall across the way and there was not a dialogue. The problem is, that the port is held in public trust. And public trust says all of us should have the ability to benefit whats happening at the waterfront, and that when you give it to a developer and a private developer, how does that help the rest of the citizens of the city and public trust actually means the state. So what has been the reaction then from the Mayors Office and around city hall through this report . I think that a lot of the statements made on the report, i think it has been conversations around city hall for a long time. I dont think a huge bomb went off but i think these are things that critics of the projects have been saying for a long time. Voters just passed proposition b, which was yet another ballot measure limiting development on the waterfront and this one saying if you ever want to exceed the existing height limits, you have to go to the voters. And i do think that a lot of the criticisms are fair. The warriors project certainly is an example of something that i think was negotiated behind closed doors and presented to the public. You know, if you look at the list of consultants they lined up, it was an interesting insight into i think what a lot of Decision Makers thought would be an easy sell to the public and that wasnt the case. On the other hand, you know, the port has almost 1. 6 billion in infrastructure needs and managed by a complicated set of lands because the state Lands Commission is involved and bcdc, another state agency has a lot of say over what they can and cant do, and i do think that the port and to some extend the rest of city officials have been caught between a rock and hard place. They dont have the money to do this. They need private money. How do you bridge the gap . How do you strike that ballot . Because the port has all this real else state they have to lease, keep its eye on revenue because currently, the annual revenues are 82 million. Right. What they need for infrastructu infrastructure. There are a couple things. One is they are doing a good job in the real estate business and their leases are, you know, they get them out. They get everything leased. That part of it is helping. They are leasing seawall lots for parking and parking helps a lot. The question is how do they get more money . And there are probably other options out there that simply have not been explored, and part of the reason that we talk about that they should do an updated waterfront Land Use Plan is that we want to start having them start looking at marc maritime things. The port is only 25 of the budg budget. If they can expand and get more money that way, the other thing is you say that, you know, these projects were kind of handed to them, part of what were talking about is if you look at Something Like pier 70 and the way pier 70 came about was the rfp was put out, but the project was not developed except after the folks who won had gone to the Community Hundreds and hundreds of time and listened to what the community had to say and began to develop the project. There was a good dialogue going on, they have support. What happened is it was handed to them. So citizens will say wait a minute, we want to have a say. I think thats fair. I also think, though, on the flip side of this, were talking about multimillion dollar projects and its nearly impossible on the waterfront to build. There is an argument to be made behind the scene negotiations need to take place but i also think like you said, we have an engaged citizenry so you cant just Pay Lip Service even if youre coming with a half baked or fully baked project, you need to bring people in and make them feel part of it sure. I want to say we invited somebody from the port, Port Commissioners to come on. They declined. The port executive director did issue a statement and say port staff will thoughtfully review each of the grand jurys propos proposed recognitions and the San Francisco waterfront is a shared responsibility. What are some of the recommendations youre making and do you feel like they will be taken seriously . I do think that they are going to be taken seriously. The thought the statement that the executive director that monique put out was a thoughtful statement and i think that she heard what we were saying. She has done some amazingly good work, you know, when you think about the port and everything going on in the past years, the ferry building, all the exploring, parks going on, shes really done an incredible job and when she ran into trouble or when the port ran into trouble is when they were handling the projects. So weve tried to say a few things. One thing is that were saying that maybe the board of supervisors should think about asking the state to change right now under the burton act, there is a requirement that the commissioners have to be appointed by the mayor. So maybe the board of supervisors should have two appointments because its a more public appointment process. So again, the public could have something to say on that. Part of what were saying is that they should update the waterfront Land Use Plan and include maritime activities. I hope that will spark something and something will go on with that. I would be surprised if they went to the state to change the makeup of the board. It would be a heavy lift anything, you know, taking any sort of local issue to the state. I dont know that we have any lawmakers that will jump on that. And i think what folks at the Mayors Office and Supervisors Office i talked to said, hey, we do, yes, the mayor nominates people but we do confirm them and i think that might be a place that the citizens and grand jury could put pressure on to say okay, youre confirming these people, is it are you rubber stamping them . I dont think that in a lot of cases there is a differential thing that happens where people may raise questions but there is not as much of a hard look. There is definitely a lot of stake because the waterfront is enjoyed by people all over the bay area, not just a San Francisco issue. I know that the civil grand jury is looking at other things, as well. Can we expect more reports in the coming weeks . There will be more reports in the coming weeks and i wont indicate how many there are. And you cant talk about what youre looking at . Complete confidentiality on that. Coming up, a look at the photographty of anthony freedkin but first, soccer fans getting thrills, made all the sweeter by americas win over ghana on monday. Capturing the games on an outdoor screen. With so Many International commune tips in the bay area, there are excitement and setting team viewing records nationwide. Earlier i spoke with the Sports Writer ann kill irian welcome. Thank you. What im pack do you think the win is having as team usa prepares for sundays match against portugal . It creates excitement. The way the u. S. Won that game, i think passionened the fans, so exciting. Late goal to win it. Looked like they had the win and tied and came back to win it and it was very gritty tough win and thats the qualities we like in our american team. So i think everyone is really excited. There is this was called the group of death. There was a lot of thought that the u. S. Wouldnt get through it and now i think there is a lot of excitement the u. S. Will continue to play for awhile. Do you think that that win is really helping to propel soccers popularity . It seems to be growing in popularity. That match had record ratings for espn and others. Yes, i think every win helps propel the sport forward and every four years, we do these stories and we talk about wow, soccer is really growing in this country and how big is it and how much bigger will it get . Every four years at the world cup, the numbers increase. The fan base increases. The social media, especially this time around really increases, the ratings are up. So i mean, i think its hard to quantify how much it is grown but i know the first world cup i covered was the one here at home in 1994 and were on a completely different planet when it comes to the experience of soccer is in this country now compared to then. And this is the worlds biggest sport and even though its popularity has grown here in the u. S. , it hasnt caught on and why is that . Well, i mean, i would kind of disagree. I think it is catching on. I think that were such a huge and diverse population and we have so many sports that we dont have like in some other countries, you know, the one focal sport, which is for many, many countries around the world is soccer. The nfl is king in terms of ratings, gamblings, advertisement, that stuff, media exposure. We have baseball, basketball, hockey, but soccer, has really gained the foothold and i think what happened in especially in mae maybe the last four or five years, the american soccer fan who maybe didnt grow up with the game got sophisticated. There is a Huge Population that grew up playing the game but also now, they can be exposed to the greatest players in the world because of Cable Television and so every weekend, you can look at the epo and at the Italian League and Spanish League and see the best players in the world and that really made people appreciate the game. We have such a Huge International population here in the bay area. I was in the Mission District last night and you couldnt pass by a bar without seeing some soccer fan talking about the world cup. Here in the bay area, there are efforts to try to expand the sport, the earthquakes and 49ers recently entered into an agreement to bring world class soccer to levi stadium. Would that make a big difference . Yeah, i think its again the chance to see the great players, madrid which won the Champions League this year is going to be playing at cal this summer, and they have renaldo, one on best players in the world and superstar and there is, you know, whether they will play, they are having a busy summer but whenever those teams come to the bay area, they have great sales. There is a lot more exposure marketing of great teams to the american audiences. There is a realization that there are a ton of soaker fans here and youre right, i mean, the passion last week i went to the england, italy game, spent half of it in an english bar and half in north beach and so much fun to see the fan bases. Who has the better beer . English has the better beer but england got the win. A better victory for youall around. We cant talk about the world cup without touching on the 2022 world cup. There is controversy about that was handed to qatar and there is now, there are allegations of corporation and bribery the way that decision came down. Do you think that will maybe help give the u. S. A chance of landing that . I think there are a lot of problems with the 2022 bid. The u. S. Had been in the bidding process and all of a sudden, this little tiny nation in the middle east ends up with it and a lot of people said i wonder how that happened. They have never been known for being above board when they handout the big events. So there are allegations of bribery. Its 120 degree there is in the summer. Its not the right place to play soccer. There is talk to moving it to a winter world cup which all the soccer leagues in the world are opposed to. There is controversy and if it was pulled from qatar, i believe the u. S. Would probably get it because we have we dont have any need to build stadiums. We have the infa starastructure. We finished second and we could easily host another world cup. I know youll watch that and at least a couple more weeks of watching soccer and world cup. I cant get off my couch. Thanks so much. Thank you. Next weekend marks the 45th anniversary of the stone wall riots, the spark that touched off the Gay Liberation movement as the Group Celebrates pride and presenting a new exhibit, a photograph by anthony freedkin. These images of life in San Francisco and la were made in the late 1960s and 70s when homosexuality was illegal in california. It took more than 40 years for the project to get a full public exhibition. Scott shafer has our story. Don, hey. In west hollywood, two old friends, don and anthony reunite. I even have the camera that i shot all the photos with. This was the camera. This baby was the one that did it all right here. The camera that set them on a journey together decades ago, all gathered this night in honor of hefner and pioneering gay rights activists. Placed at the center of the mural is don with morris kite to his left. Founders of the Gay Liberation fund in los angeles, a photograph taken by freedkin. It was 1969. A time when no one was producing murals in honor of gay life but a society shift was taking place. It was really about saying no, we wont accept this anymore. Cities across america, gay people were fighting back, something that wasnt lost on 19yearold anthony freedkin. There is something referred to as the concerned photographer. You celebrate human day for good things, but you also identify the things that need to be reevaluated and changed. What freedkin saw needed change was attitudes toward homosexuality. It was horrible the way gay people retreated. It made me angry. He grew up in los angeles. His father was a screen writer and his mother was a dancer choreography. They had tons of friends who were gay. He had been around gay people all his life. They express themselves in a freeway with love and affection and humor. So, you know, i wanted to try to record that, you know, just out of the dignity that i thought they deserved, that many people wouldnt give them. So he sought out kite and hefner who founded the Gay Services Center in los angeles. They gave him access to a world just emerging from the shadows. The cross is real and at that time as a young man, you know, he was on fire. He was on fire with creativity. He saw things that other people didnt see. Freedkin dedicate twd two ye. It was not unusual for cars with four or five young people in it with baseball bats to stop a gay person on the street and beat them senseless. It was dangerous even associating with gay people at that time. What tony did was venture into this dangerous space and took his photographs. But the photographs were ahead of their time and most galleries wouldnt show them until now. T it took 45 years but being realized, the exhibit titled the gay essay is under julian cox. Julian, this looks fantastic. Look at that. Wow. This guy can play like a half back. There is so much gay essay in his spirit. His approach to what immersi i really believe the print is such an important part of the art form. He was such an extraordinary young man. He live in a hard core gang infested area, to be gay in that community and come out openly that way and walk around the neighborhood. What do you see in the eyes . There is a curiosity in his eyes about what his future might be like, but the path that hes chosen to go down. This is yeah, yes. He founded the Metropolitan Community Church . Correct, yeah. This is a very dark tragic day. His church was burnt down. Look in his eyes, hes defying. We were demanding it. You take your freedom, and it was that attitude that was the climate of the times and tony caught that. Divine. The one and only, oh, my god, this is such an incredible experience. She was there. When he heard about the wildly popular kauketts he couldnt get there fast enough to film behind the scenes. A bustling neighborhood and home to gay bars and nightclubs in San Francisco. The cast of the kaukettes and energy and the way they did musical numbers around edgar alan poe, just fantastic. Images captured for all time in a book just published by Yale University press. Thats great. Oh my god. Look at those two characters. He humanizes them when i was looking again at the photograph of kite, a tear came to my eye. Those were very difficult days for gay people. There was the amount of oppression that we faced everywhere was tremendous. You have to put it into a historical context. Fisher was a photography critic for art week and art form and the author of two books on gay culture. We have a lot of people in our period doing documentation of what was happening in the gay movement, but anthonys work goes beyond documentation. Its art. Over time, gay imagery and the arts evolved in response to events shaping the Gay Community with photographers like nan golden and kathryn oppy and peter. Without the aids epidemic totally informed and generated powerful imagery and very important artists who had aids and i think specifically david. Images by young photographers reflect a new found freedom in lgbt life. But its freedom that came at a cost. A price freedkin was willing to pay. This camera has so many of those private special moments that it was a witness to, if anything happened, i dont know what i would do. I really dont know what i would do. Still a purest shooting black and white film, still committed to capturing the decisive moment like in the recent wave series, exhibited at the museum in atlanta and still pushing the limits. I actually started surfing around the same time i started photographing. There is a parallel about what they call going for it in surfing where you absolutely just abandon all sense of safety and you just hope to god youre going to make it. I think the risk that we take as artists is critical to our ability to do interesting work and how much risk were willing to take. The gay essay is on exhibit in San Francisco through the end of the year. And for a visual history of 45 years of lgbt photography, go to kqednews. Org. Joining me now for a look at upcoming stories is scott shafer. Hi. Baxter announced hes r retiring, this gives Governor Brown another opportunity to make an appointment. What difference is this likely to have. Marvin baxter one of the most conservative justice, joyce canard in the middle to liberal. When you replace one out of seven, especially a conservative with a liberal judge, one closer to jerry browns philosophy you see a difference in close votes for example the gay marriage vote 43 and legalizing gay marriage in 2008, baxter the was against it and approved anyway. On the close votes, it makes no difference. The bench can use more diversity. No latino justice, no African American justice. Hell have an opportunity to diverse ify the bench. There are some he can choose fro from. Lets talk about the lore courts. He made 15 appointments this week. What stands out about the appointments hes made . Hes appointed over 200 judges so far. What stands out is first judge and first female judge and the first latino judge. So you see him digging deep, more public defenders, more defense attorneys, more Public Interest lawyers. So really as jerry brown does often looking at these kinds of appointments in a different way than other governors have. Lets turn our attention to the state controllers race, one of the tightest races for controller in recent memory. 2. 5 weeks after the election, we still dont know who will come in second and make it to november. Some updated numbers. Crazy close, the mayor of fresno came in first, ashley but betty yee, just 667 votes ahead of john perez, the former Assembly Speaker from los angeles. Thats out of 4 million votes cast. Out of 4 million votes. Every vote counts, they have to count every vote to really know for sure, but it looks good for betty yee where the votes uncounted lie. They tend to be in marin, and places she did well. I would say shes in good shape but we wont know for sure until the last ballots are counted. Any chance for a recount . There is no automatic recount provision. One candidate can ask for a recount. Well have to wait and see if that happens. Scott, thank you. You bet. That is it for tonight. Im scott shafer, thanks for joining us. Have a good night. Funding for kqed arts is provided by diane b wilsy and june it 22nd. Islamic extremists capture additional towns in iraq president obama talks about what america can and cannot do. What we cant do is think we can play whack a mole. Signature segment Small Businesses struggling to get bank loans now turning to alternative sources of credit. Actually its a very easy process. In three days we had the money we needed. Jeffrey brown on a cultural icon turning 40. Next on pbs newshour weekend. Pbs