More SF Grand Prix musings: I think that Aaron Peskin, the SF supe from the North Beach area, needs a reality check. How can a politician spout catchy, politically charged phrases like “Corporate Welfare” about a tourist and family-oriented event that brings 10.2 million dollars to SF businesses? How does that mesh with the City shutting down the streets and providing police for political and environmental protests by the dozens, throughout the year: year after year. How about other events like the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, or the Chinese New Year Celebration or Gay Pride celebration in the Castro? How about the Bay to Breakers? How about Critical Mass?

Think of all the events that shut down streets in SF and think about all the members of the SFPD who are on duty at each of those events. Maybe some of you can name some of the other events for us.... Do all these folks pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in city costs for that one event day? Maybe they do - I don’t know....

Think about the last SF protest march that you saw live or on TV. Think about all the police and emergency personnel, think about all the cops on horseback and all the cops in full SWAT gear. Does the group that staged the protest and broke all the store windows pay for their political day in the limelight?

I’m from San Jose and don’t give a rat’s ass about the politics in SF, but it sure seems like there are some real inconsistencies in Peskin’s political name-calling. Why are Peskin and Chris Daly not talking about the costs to the City for all these other events? Perhaps because these other events fall into the category of “Political Vote-Getting Welfare”?

Photo is from the 2004 T-Mobile in SF. Freddie Rodriguez, Charles Dionne and George Hincapie on the podium. You can find the Audio for this post at www.velogal.podomatic.com