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'It Was Inappropriate'

Published: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 12:11 PM PST



There are tons of interesting notes to come out of Steve Francis' press conference today announcing that he was, indeed, running for mayor.

So I'll do my best to go through them today (and I haven't forgotten Nos. 2 and 1 in the story countdown).

But one very interesting note to come out of the Q&A with reporters was Francis' answer to the last question we got in: Mayor Jerry Sanders made headlines across the country when he took a stand for gay marriage. Would Francis have handled that differently as mayor?

Francis said he would have.

He said that the mayor had made his decision based on the sexual orientation of his daughter (whom Francis said he had met and who he thought was very nice) and on the fact that some members of the mayor's staff were gay also.

Francis said the mayor had let his "personal situation" -- his relationships to his gay staff members and daughter -- become policy for the city.

"It was inappropriate," Francis said.

I asked if Francis would have, then, vetoed the measure that the City Council passed expressing support for San Francisco's stand in favor of gay marriage.

"I would have vetoed it," Francis said.

Like I said, this wasn't even the most intriguing of the announcement. He had a lot of interesting ways to answer a lot of interesting questions.

-- SCOTT LEWIS




9 Comments so far on this story...

Wow, This mayoral campaign is going to be great theater. Francis sticks is foot in his mouth every time he opens the gap.

Posted by ScarySteve | reply to this comment
January 15, 2008 1:39 pm

Our close personal relationships define us as people. An individual who can ignore the plight of their closest relatives and friends, who turns a blind eye to their suffering, is not a good person. While politics often require that relationships do not influence our decisions, this is not true in all situations. If the relationship is a financial partnership, the relationship should not be considered in the decision-making. However, where the relationship is such that it has made one aware of wrongs in society, the real politician should embrace the relationship and the knowledge gained and use it to the best of his/her ability to initiate change for good. Mayor Sanders did this. He saw the importance of taking this action, and his decision showed real leadership. Francis's comment, however, shows an inability to grow and learn from those who are hurting.

Posted by David Miller | reply to this comment
January 15, 2008 1:42 pm

Close your eyes and picture January 2009... Steve Francis; Mayor... Mike Aguirre; City Attorney... Carl De Maio; District 5... Kevin Faulconer; District 2... Open your eyes people this is reality... Think things are bad now??? Just wait!!!

Posted by Sparky | reply to this comment
January 15, 2008 1:52 pm

David Miller is right. If we can't accept a crybaby as our mayor, we haven't advanced as a society.

Posted by Larry | reply to this comment
January 15, 2008 2:54 pm

If Carl De Maio can terminate the scam pensions, he has my vote-well if I lived in his district he would.

Posted by Billy Bob Henry | reply to this comment
January 15, 2008 7:50 pm

Here, Francis is pandering to the right wing party who endorsed Sanders: if Sanders had not embraced support for the gay community, then Francis would be speaking out the other side of his mouth -- Francis will be jumping to the left and right of whatever Sanders does. // Here's a prediction: Francis will always do the opposite of Sanders on everything, if Sanders goes left on an issue, Francis will go right, and vice versa. What I am really looking forward to is the Steve Francis Show, which will air when Sanders plants himself firmly in the middle and we see Steve Francis dance around him from the left, then to the right, then back to the left. // OK, Everybody ready...5,6,7,8 'Put your right foot in, put your left foot out, put your right foot in and shake it all about...'

Posted by Christopher Hall | reply to this comment
January 17, 2008 8:24 am

All this makes me wish Donna Frye was running for mayor again.

Posted by OB Rag Frank | reply to this comment
January 17, 2008 11:26 am

I have read and re-read this anecdote by Scott and still can't believe that a seemingly intelligent and successful person like Steve Francis would believe this B.S. David Miller could not have said it better. You can be against same-sex marriage -- fine. But how can you ding somebody for the fact that their personal relationships and experiences influenced their decisions? Isn't that what makes us human? Sanders' change of heart -- amazing and noble -- is akin to the many White folks in the South years ago who had Black housekeepers and as a result of those relationships changed their minds on integration. Aren't we expected to evolve?

Posted by What a coward | reply to this comment
January 18, 2008 11:45 am

Billy Bob, I was betting Sanders support of gay marriage would have brought you around to his side.

Posted by Caitlin | reply to this comment
January 24, 2008 10:18 pm


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Scott Lewis on Politics

The Scott Lewis on Politics blog, abbreviated cleverly as SLOP, is a collection of observations, insights and the occasional scoop on public affairs in San Diego. Please feel free to e-mail Scott at scott.lewis@voiceofsandiego.org.


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