Not.

The Chronicle editorial page  has some sense of humor! I’m sure they’ve taught that Ammiano a thing or two.

Herrera Concludes Supervisor Daly Domiciled
in District He Represents

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera.
Photo by Luke Thomas

From the Office of City Attorney Dennis Herrera

Editor’s Note: Supervisor Chris Daly’s reaction to Herrera’s conclusion: “Hats off to City Attorney Ethics Team Chief Jon Givner and Chief of Investigations Thomas Boyd for being so thorough in their investigation. I hope that the people who have writing spurious things about me, read this document.”

August 17, 2009

Analysis of Documents, Interviews Corroborate Supervisor’s Assertion That He Remains Legally Domiciled on Stevenson Street in San Francisco

City Attorney Dennis Herrera today published the conclusions of his office’s investigation and legal analysis into questions surrounding the legal domicile of District Six Supervisor Chris Daly, who along with his wife, Sarah Low Daly, recently purchased two houses in Fairfield, Calif. The City Attorney’s probe, which was initiated after Daly volunteered to be investigated late last month following his announcement of the purchases, concludes “that Supervisor Daly currently remains a resident of District Six, as required by the San Francisco Charter.”

Daly has maintained that he continues to reside at the couple’s condominium on Stevenson Street in San Francisco, where he has lived since Nov. 2001. His wife and two children recently relocated to Fairfield. The 15-page public memorandum jointly authored by City Attorney Ethics Team Chief Jon Givner and Chief of Investigations Thomas Boyd found the following:

“Supervisor Daly has consistently stated that he spends most of his time in San Francisco and that he intends to remain at the Stevenson Street residence. His actions — as evidenced by witness observations as well as public and private documents — corroborate that intent. We have reviewed a number of documents, including Department of Motor Vehicle registration records, voter registration records, tax returns, utility and related bills, homeowner’s exemption records, and other public documents, all of which are consistent with Supervisor Daly’s assertions and link him to the Stevenson Street residence. In contrast, we are aware of no documents that demonstrate Supervisor Daly has changed his domicile to Fairfield. Additionally, a number of witnesses, including Ms. Low Daly, Supervisor Daly’s Stevenson Street roommates and third party neighbors in San Francisco and in Fairfield, corroborate his statements. Based on our inspection of his bedroom and other rooms in the unit, it appears that Supervisor Daly resides at least part-time at Stevenson Street.

“Applying the established legal standard, we conclude that Supervisor Daly currently remains a resident of District Six. Under the Charter, he must remain a resident of that district and intend that it continue to be his fixed home for as long as he remains in office as the District Six Supervisor. We do not reach any conclusions here about whether Supervisor Daly’s domicile will change at any point in the future.”

The City Attorney’s memorandum additionally offers a comparative analysis of facts and applicable laws involving the office’s 2007 investigation into the residency of former Supervisor Ed Jew, whose failure to establish legal domicile in San Francisco’s District Four prior to seeking that office violated provisions of the City Charter and contributed, in part, to his decision to resign the office in January 2008. Daly’s disclosure last month of his family’s property purchases in Fairfield led several news organizations to draw parallels between the two district supervisors and the extent to which each met the residency requirements of state and local law.

A PDF copy of the complete City Attorney memorandum on Sup. Daly’s legal domicile is available online at the following URL:

http://www.sfcityattorney.org

Last week I sent this message to Region 4 Delegates to the California Democratic Party. Region 4 includes all of San Francisco and some of San Mateo (the 12th, 13th, and 19th Assembly Districts)…

Last year we elected a community organizer to the White House. But we need good community organizers at every level of our Party. That is why I have decided to run for Region 4 Director of the California Democratic Party, and that is why I am asking you for your support.

While I may be best known for getting things done in San Francisco’s rough and tumble political world, my roots are in community organizing. I moved to San Francisco as an organizer to work on issues of homelessness and poverty. Over the next 8 years I organized on San Francisco’s streets and in residential hotels –in working class, immigrant neighborhoods and communities of color– on issues of affordable housing, tenants rights, social services, immigrant rights and police accountability. Make no mistake about it, as tough as my current job is, it’s never matched the challenges I faced as an organizer on some of the toughest issues in communities forgotten by the powers that be, or even worse, communities under siege.

Years of community organizing didn’t just ground me in my political work, it led me to the Obama for America campaign. Two years ago I began to notice that some of the best young organizers in our City were leaving for other parts of the country to join the campaign. As a movement politician, I felt compelled to follow their lead. I realized that while Obama was an impressive candidate, the real beauty was in the Obama organization that laid the foundation for a widespread movement for change.

This movement, that we all became a part of at some point along the way, didn’t just deliver the Presidency to a progressive Democrat, it gave us an opportunity to continue the politics of hope and change. But like any movement built around a candidate, the challenge of keeping it going to affect lasting change over time is even greater than the challenge of winning an election. The architects of the Obama operation seem to understand this. They have launched Organizing for America through the Democratic National Committee to help implement an agenda of change in Washington.

While change has become a buzzword of nearly every Democrat, the commitment to enact that change is not as universal. Organizing is difficult work, and it’s true that we still need our policy wonks, fundraisers, and deal-makers. But in order to affect the change we need, we have to organize the structures to help facilitate that change. I believe that structure needs to be created in the California Democratic Party. Like Obama’s South Carolina operation, we here in Region 4 have the ability to organize the structures for change that can be replicated across the state of California.

The resources are most certainly here to do it – from progressive elected officials to the netroots, from organized labor to issue-based advocates, and from the youthful energy unleashed by the Obama campaign to those at the center of liberation struggles, most recently fighting against Prop 8. But in order to build a structure to facilitate lasting change, we will need a Regional Director with a vision, drive, and capability. As an active member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, a convener of the San Francisco Young Dems, the Democratic choice for District 6 Supervisor, and most importantly, as a community organizer, I am ready to take on this task. I believe that you are ready as well.

Join me in Sacramento on Saturday, April 25th, as we begin this task at the California Democratic Convention. And please feel free to email me here or call or text me on my cell phone with any questions, comments, or suggestions.

Together we can!

Chris Daly

“I’m asking people like you who fought for change in the campaign to continue fighting for change in your communities.” – Barack Obama