But I'm going to laud Gasia because she did a pretty good job interviewing SF Mayor, London Breed.
In a lengthy interview with the mayor, this (Wednesday) morning on KTVU, Mikaelian asked pointed questions to Ms. Breed. Moreover, she challenged and followed up without hesitation.
The subject matter was the state of highly-pubbed crimes that have plagued the city and made SF the centerpiece of urban blight.
While the reality is that San Francisco is still relatively safe from serious crime, the perception from the outside world is quite the opposite.
Mikaelian refused to back down by Breed's apparent irritance at her legitiate questions. While allowing Breed to speak and make her case, Mikaelian pushed back on Breed's attempt to turn the interview into a campaign speech for the mayor.
Again, major credit to Mikaelian who didn't stand for it and who was forceful but respectful.
Mikaelian's KTVU chat was a far cry from the softball-fest lobbed by KCBS Radio's pitiful Bret Burkhart and Patti Reising later in the day, (Wednesday).
Burkhart, for one, offered up chamber-of-commerce statistics for the mayor on SF crime stats without specifically asking Breed about that pesky perception thing. Reising too tried her very best to choose obedience over basic interview technique.
Here's the full interview.
*UPDATE 4/13: there's been an arrest in case, as reported by Mission Local.
Breed is the latest of a long line of politicians to kick the homeless can down the road. All of their intransigence, from DiFi to Agnos, from Willie to Newsome have all avoided doing the heavy lifting.
ReplyDeleteThe drug scene, the trash, the screaming kooks, are killing the tourist industry. Want to see jobs evaporate? Watch what happens to the convention industry. Those folks who come to town, international tourists as well, are the lifeblood of the arts, the restaurants, the watering holes.
Which politician will stop the erosion of common decency on the streets of SF? There is a day of reckoning coming, and were I a tax paying property owner I would demand that my taxes be reduced. And were I a convention organizer, I’d give serious thought of convening in Nebraska, or in Albuquerque.
Breed isn’t the worst, just the latest talking head giving lip service to serious problems.
You can have your Nebraska, but if you are going to opine about things in San Francisco or California, generally, shouldn't you know that the fellow pretending that he isn't running for president is named "Newsom", not "newsome"?
DeleteLet's Go London! = )
ReplyDeleteIt ISN'T perception. Crime appears lower because police are DISCOURAGING people from reporting crimes. I know so many people who have experienced crime in either SF or Oakland, and the standard reply is "fill out a report online and we'll get back to you." They never do.
ReplyDeleteThose reports often don't get filed either. My neighbor went to Oakland's police HQ himself to follow up a month later and found they had no report in their files. When he was a victim of crime again a month later he didn't even bother reporting it.
Same for my mother-in-law in the Haight. She filed a report. Nothing. She called them. No record of the report.
So the police have "lowered" crime by simply not recording it. Brilliant. They've tried everything else.
Five years ago crime on our street was minimal at best. Now there's a break in or catalytic converter stolen at least once a week.
Oh, and let's not forget my brother-in-law, whose house caught fire from the flames of a nearby Chinese restaurant. He called 911 and was put on hold!!! So the house burned down. Forty-five minutes later they got back to him and asked what they could do.
Yeah, get the hell of out of these nutty liberal cities. They're being run into the ground while idiots-in-denial shake their heads and say, "Oh, it used to be worse. Really. The statistics say so." The statistics also say inflation is below 5%. Anyone believe that?
I think Rich wrote, "While the reality is that San Francisco is still relatively safe from serious crime, the perception from the outside world is quite the opposite." because some yahoo commented on here with the standard "But but but red cities! Red states! Trump!".
DeleteCrime is ridiculously rampant in S.F. Out of control. And they know that they can get away with it.
Somehow I don't think that the fake "Jake, from State Farm" will go much longer without hiking insurance rates in "The City".
No one is discouraging people from reporting crimes. Put down the Fox News Kool-Aid and go out and touch grass. The fact is San Francisco is near the bottom of the list of homicides (6.9%) in comparison to other major metropolitan cities. St. Louis in comparison is the highest at a whopping 66.5 %!!! And that state is all red state legislature leadership.
DeleteSo you can continue to scapegoat and create hysteria to feed an agenda but the data doesn't lie. I live in SF and I know it has it's issues. But everyone needs to cool their heels and realize it's hard out there no matter where you go in the good ol' USA these days.
Oh and look-ie here...The murder of tech exec Bob Lee which fueled this recent wave of 'liberal cities are a mess' outrage was actually killed...ahem....BY HIS OWN FRIEND AND FELLOW TECH EXEC. It would be nice if people waited before coming to their own biased often irrational conclusions. And then using those conclusions to paint a whole city as on the brink of anarchy and destruction.
Thank you, DA Brooke Jenkins for calling out Elon Musk for jumping to conclusions about this case with lies and misinformation before ANY FACTS were known. Imagine owning Twitter and being the leading purveyor of misinformation. Musk...An idiot savant who will singlehandedly be the end of Twitter soon enough.
My condolences to the Lee family.
So what murders are you claiming weren't reported? 4:43 SF has a much ,much lower murder rate than most American big cities.
Delete@2:32, Don't be so dismissive. The police are ABSOLUTELY discouraging filing reports. They knew the prior DAs office wouldn't file charges event if they could determine the culprit. Too much paperwork and time consuming for no resolution. Now 'the powers that be' want to create reduced stats and police departments are understaffed. The standard response to citizens and business owners is "Just file an insurance claim." Who cares about the unlicensed hit and run driver? Who cares about the smash and grab of your vehicle or store front? Paint over the daily graffiti and pressure wash the piss yourself. Ignore the drug users and dealers and the profanity laced unhoused & mentally deranged violent folks. SF, Oakland & SJ have continued to be a safe haven for illegal activity - its not made up, it's our experience.
DeleteSo, we have one reported in the Bay Area who can report.
ReplyDeleteYou lost Whole Foods on Market due to CRIME!
ReplyDeleteRemember what Nixon said to Walter Cronkite (not the Indian one)???
SalesForce is bailing out of some of their leases.
San Francisco is in a "Doom/Death Loop".
"You lost Whole Foods on Market due to CRIME!"
DeleteAnd a Safeway in the Marina in the same week.
Oakland's new Target on Broadway is next. They're making arrangements to clear out.
The Marina Safeway closed? Looks open to me. That is one of their highest performing stores.
DeleteJust announced on the news, the closure, scheduled for May 27, has now been changed. It will become a Gorcery Outlet after Safeway leaves.
DeleteThat's the Safeway in North Point. The Marina Safeway is still open and was just recently remodeled. I shop there all the time. Some people will go out of their way with hysterics just to try and prove a point.
DeleteThe fact is if more of these companies invested in neighborhoods and communities instead of existing mainly for profit and greed we might actually see an improvement in these areas of crime, addiction and homelessness. Education, jobs, hope and opportunity over lining CEO's pockets and providing them with yet another yacht, summer home and land investments...What a concept.
Capitalism will eat itself. Along with the rich.
"Upon further review... its the Safeway on Bay St. that is closing. NOT the Marina Safeway."
Delete@5:53 pm, 4/12/23 - SF has 10 additional Whole foods, with one at the foo of Haight Street! The biggest problem with the mid Market WF is LOCATION?! Whose big idea was it to place a Whole Foods a stone's throw from the Tenderloin? This was a bad idea from the get go.
DeleteSomeone finally called out a Democrat in leadership in the Bay Area for their bullshit after all of these years? Give this woman a raise!
ReplyDeleteThe Cops and the DA are doing what they can do. But the liberal policies handcuff the Cops from doing much or it violates new unreasonable policies which will get them in trouble. The DA is charging and trying to prosecute cases, however the liberal judges and new liberal bail policies let everyone go. This is only the beginning. This generation does not want to be police officers because one can not do from a keyboard. So what's next. The Chronicle just publishes biased liberal propaganda.
ReplyDeleteLike that brain dead BOS member Hilary Ronen calling for defunding the police in 2020 and now squalling like a baby, begging for more law enforcement. Liberalism isn't a mental disorder. These people are beyond stupid and batshit crazy! Let it burn.10 major cities in this country with half of the offices unoccupied. Wonder why? Dumbasses.
DeletePeople who became cops expected compliance with their lawful commands. But Gen X was the last to comply. It's all risk, no reward. Even cops want to go home to their families at the end of the day.
DeleteKCBS just ran yet another story about Elon firing Twitter employees. Has anybody heard a KCBS story on the Chronicle’s finances and staff levels? Anybody? Anybody?
ReplyDeleteKudos to Gasia !! I appreciate it when reporters ask politicians tough questions. Years ago, Juan Williams lobbed up some softballs to George W Bush, and lost all credibility as a reporter. It was pathetic. Everyone knew Bush was a puppet of Cheney & Gang, and as dumb as a rock - maybe he would have been flummoxed by tough questions, but the least Williams should have done was ask a few tough questions and find out where the conversation would lead.
ReplyDeleteI suggest all reporters grill the hell out our politicians. We want real answers, not southern-fried-triple-talk.
I didn't see the actual interview, but before we give Gasia the Nobel Prize, keep in mind the questions are very often written by other people before the anchors come in. It used to be a writer, but since they don't have many of those anymore it could be a desk assistant or some such.
ReplyDeleteI was an anchor for 40 years. Trust me those questions come from gasia. The anchors are responsible. The producers just book the guest.
DeleteI didn't say producers; they're too busy. I said writers or desk assistants. I was both, for 20 years cumulatively. I've written dozens of such interview questions.
DeleteBefore Gasia moved to mornings, she was an excellent reporter and anchor. Perhaps, she should take over at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 and move Julie Haener to the mornings.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time she asks asinine questions, such as when she asked London Broil whether she voted for Chesa Boudin's removal! I would have suspended her a week for that if I were ND.
DeleteDEI mayor. Not qualified
ReplyDeleteWhat do qualifications matter? Her skin is brown! That makes up for 404 years of racism (2023 - 1619). Except that it doesn't. They'll be wanting something else next—reparations, guaranteed minimum income, paying less for utilities (seriously, it's coming next year), free college, free iPhones...you name it!
Delete@11:21 Duly elected mayor of SF. The people have spoken. So take your keyboard courage racism and all the systemic b** s*** that goes with it and shove it. People like you are the main part of the problem.
DeleteI wish the people who hate SF so much would just leave if it’s that bad for them. Alabama and Mississippi must have somewhere they can move too.
DeleteKeep checking boxes SF. Who cares about competent leadership!
ReplyDeletebreed won't be re-elected, will she?? HMMMM
ReplyDeleteShe already was, once.
DeleteRich, Crime in San Francisco helps one class of legitimate businesses: parking garages. People don’t want to park on the street because of all the smash and grabs.
ReplyDeleteRich doesn't understand ... if you don't charge the crime, the statistics don't reflect their existence. Plus how many robberies go unreported because we know it's pointless in SF. Don't ever say SF is 'relatively' safe
ReplyDeletebreaking news...sf cops arrest suspect, acquaintance of Bob Lee, in his stabbing death.
ReplyDeleteSF violent crime stat's are better or at least competitive w/other major US cities; but property crimes? That's another matter. Property crime stats are much worse in SF. I didn't see the interview, but SF's property crime problem is definitely something the interviewer should have posed to the Mayor.
ReplyDeleteGasia did nothing wrong in the interview. She even asked clarifying questions when London Breed accused her of being speculative. Breed seems to be hyper-sensitive when someone brings up the subject of crime in SF. She obviously knew more about the Lee case and could've been more professional about her response - something along the lines of "there is an active investigation on the matter and I cannot comment further at this time"
ReplyDeleteGasia def has interviewing chops. Solid.
ReplyDelete