domestic violence for seven years and i am a resident of san francisco. i am deeply concerned about the message it will send to survivors and batterers if one of our top said -- a top public safety officials is allowed to remain in office after admitting to a domestic violence crime and were on probation for that crime. as chair of coming he oversees the incarceration and rehabilitation of batterers. how can the survivors in our community feel safe if he is admitted -- has admitted to hurting its own partner? i urge you to support the mayor's position. >> good afternoon. my name is jennifer. i am a local advocate. i run a shelter and i do training programs around the country the fact is, sheriff

mirkarimi committed an act of violence. he said so himself. but context matters, too. the individuals charged with being the lead law enforcement officer for the city of san francisco has put his needs above his family, his son, and this city and its citizens. his behavior is consistent with that of a man who batters. he has minimized, denied, blamed, and john complete disregard for the consequences of his behavior -- shown complete disregard for the consequences of his being here. is this the individual that we want leading our city? is this the individual that we fill, but it will do the best to protect us? is this an individual to ensure accountability? >> good afternoon. i have lived in san francisco since 1996. i am a lawyer, a former director of the project juvenile life without parole.

i voted for ross mirkarimi, and eric -- and mayor ed lee. i mostly voted for mirkarimi because of the sheriff he had proven to be, and the man he has proven to be. we sorely need a share to have his perspective on criminal realignment. as far as this misconduct proceeding, greatly concerned that one man can unilaterally remove an elected official from office and thereby totally disarm the democratic process. i believe ms. lopez. i believe ross. when we talk about facts, we look at those involved. both have been very clear that there is no such concern of domestic violence, which i fully oppose. however, i believe both of them. i would like the shares that our city has voted into office to be reinstated so we can do his job.

thank you very much. [applause] >> good afternoon. my name is carl. i want to talk for a moment about the principles of levity, which has been associated with rules of levity, and they apply to ambiguities in the record. one of the things that we see in this case is a great deal of ambiguity. what i would like to submit to you is that official misconduct must be divided into two principles and one overarching nexus. if you look at whether mr. mirkarimi was in office at the time, perhaps you that some ambiguity about that. if you look at whether there was misconduct, perhaps there was some ambiguity about that as

well. and did you try to find a nexus, i think he will find a glaring ambiguity. principles of levity should apply to these ambiguities in the record. >> thank you. thank you for the comments of the public. i think that -- oh, there are still people. >> i'm sorry, commissioner. there are more people out there. >> how many more are out there? roughly 30 more?

i think we should continue. let's continue. please. >> goodlp afternoon. my name is kathy black. i and the executive director of la casa de los madres. domestic violence is a serious problem. domestic violence -- i am concerned about the message it will send it to survivors and batterers if one of our city's top public safety officials is allowed to remain in office after admitting to a domestic violence crime. this is bigger than one case. this is about survivor safety and better accountability. it's about sharing our city that

san francisco is concerned about the safety of the victims and survivors and takes this seriously, and a matter who is perpetrating it. any sheriff who has pled guilty to false imprisonment and admitted under oath that he committed an act of violence against his wife and at the time that he did, knew it was a crime, he is not fit to be shared. -- scherrer left. thank you. >> i and the associate director be- run lead advocate for more than 10 years. the arguments that you have heard from mirkarimi's team rolled back nearly 35 years in understanding of protections for victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. there ross mirkarimi admitted to committing an act of violence against his wife.

he pled guilty. would you tell those in san francisco and around the country back -- that the share collected does not fall below a standard of decency? there is a conflict interest -- and claims in contrition refuted by an unwillingness to take responsibility. i urge you to let the facts stand and support the mayor's position. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is sharon johnson. i am the former director on the commission on the status of women from 1989 through 1994. i worked as a legislative aide in city hall in 1979 through

1987. i am here because in 1981, when i was a legislative aide for a then supervisor, we wrote a letter to the commission on the status of women, asking them to please give money to the violence prevention fund, which is now futures without violence, to use specifically for messaging that domestic violence is not a private, nor family matter. it is a matter of public safety and public health. for these many years we have worked hard to have that not just roll off the tongue of our elected officials of our city and county, to be aware of the fact that domestic violence is a very serious matter. and since then, the number of homicide had decreased. in 1991, when i was the executive director on the commission of the status of women, we did a report.

it was the first case study that we did regarding domestic violence where a woman who had gone through all of the traditional procedures of restraining orders for a 12- month time frame, and 15 months after her husband was released he shot and killed her. [tone] through that report we were able to do a lot of changing of county and city policy. i hope he will honor the hard work that men and women have done for the past 40 years on domestic violence. thank you. >> good afternoon. i am an artist and activist and mother. one of the most profound place of the 20th century is arthur miller's the crucible. he parallels the events of salem in 1600 to the blacklisting and discrimination of those labeled

as communist during the 1950's. it shows how mass hysteria can sweep an entire community. this is how i felt about the initial press coverage and the charges against the mayor. seeing something that was not there, demanding vengeance, shocking to watch as they made every effort to destroy family, a career, not unlike some 16th century witch hunt. i believe this has been a witch hunt and a scary time for our community. if what can happen between them can be front-page news, many citizens should be run out of town. he was being tried in the court and then in the news and then before the ethics commission.

people are outraged, but what about the assassination of the abortion doctor in colorado? how many articles are there about the rape of women in chicago? [tone] has anyone brought up the fact that women are second-class citizens? or that 13 congressmen have recently voted against the reissuing of the violence against women act. this is the oldest trick in the book. ecuador today gave julien has launched asylum. -- julian a staunch asylum. [tone] [no audio] >> good afternoon, members of the commission. my name is arthur. i am an hispanic transgender

woman. i am also an elected delegate to the 2012 national convention. i am here today to express my support for sheriff ross mirkarimi. i believe the evidence presented against tampa does not warrant -- against him does not warrant his removal from office. the public elected him overwhelmingly. he is a very popular shared in our communityñilp, and he is the kind of shares that makes me feel safe. given that there is a lot of trafficking of women in united states and, some say, in san francisco, i would ask that all of his efforts that have been put toward ross be put toward all of these crimes against women, much more serious human

crimes. i would ask that we reevaluate the situation and hold hearings on matters of severe concern to the city and county of san francisco. thank you and have a great day. [applause] >> money ms. lindsay. -- my name is lindsay. my son and lies in the san francisco police department and he thinks this is a travesty, because he knows of many instances that are much more severe that are not prosecuted. this is a very minor domestic violence case. i can only see it as a consolidation of power, political power kind of effort. the last hearing, there was very instructive testimony by a lesbian woman, who was

credentialed as much as a domestic violence worker. in her case, she was one of the first people to talk to ms. lopez. you could hear in the background begging them not to call police. this is a case that has been blown out of proportion and has cost the taxpayers a lot of money. it is not about domestic violence. it is destroying a family, and a child, too. i hope you consider that in your vote. thank you for your time. [applause] >> good afternoon. my name is jeff myers. i have not prepared any remarks. i hope you will be refreshed to know that. i do not want to repeat any of the accusations, critiques of procedure, or interests that have been represented.

i merely want to be here to testify as to the absolute probity of ross under every single circumstance that i have seen him engaged. he has always been the perfect advocate for women's rights, for the sensitivity to all minority and disadvantaged people. and i have seen that borne out in a long time as i have spent alone with him in the field. i have seen the note do things that did not please ross. it -- theo do things that did not please ross. and i've seen how perfectly calmly calmlytheo -- perfectly

calmly theo accepts the judicious discipline of its parent. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is kathrin. i have no rocket -- ross mirkarimi for years and -- i have nallen ross mirkarimi ifor years -- i have known ross mirkarimi for years and i think he will make a very good cheer. this has been a witch hunt. i hope we will put this much energy into other matters that have been referred to this commission, as the civic league sunshine complaint 11-049, the parks and rex department, notice of willful for guerrier

-- willful failure and its conductor this was referred to you by the 2011 sunshine task force and has yet to be aired by this commission. i respectfully ask you why that is. i ask you to show everyone you are not today following a political agenda. please, follow up on the complaint i mentioned, 11-049. this will show that you're trying to follow your heart. and please reinstate ross mirkarimi. thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is michael o'connor. i am a small business person. i just finished two terms on the small business commission and i'm a resident of district 5.

i witnessed the above and beyond call of duty that -- approach that then supervisor mirkarimi took to our district. we saw him shoring up nightly in the middle of the night -- shelling out nightly in the middle of the night to homicide scenes because he wanted to put these incredible passion into our district up to the front. he worked as hard as anyone in this building. as a former commissioner, i would ask that all five of you really look at yourself. you cannot call in this vote. you cannot go upstairs -- you have to go with your conscience on this. this man is a good man. he made a mistake. none of us are perfect job but under no circumstance candies

votes be called in. -- canby's votes be called in. i quit my commission because i and another commissioner, we both great, because we saw on our commission votes being called in. he has a right to stay as our sheriff. >> my name is jim. i've had the privilege of knowing ross for over seven years. he was my supervisor and i aggressively supported him in his run for sheriff. when i walked into the room, there was a woman speaking very passionately on his behalf. i could say did go on everything that she said. instead, i would like to take a slightly different point of view. i also serve on the district attorney's community board on

low-level crimes and getting restored a justice process. we brought in a speaker from oakland who gave a very informative speech about how restorative justice is really what we are after. not only with misdemeanors and infractions, but they should be front and center in our minds with more important crimes. after lunch, i asked the district attorney, isn't this almost a poster child case of -- clearly, something happened here, and now we have a wonderful person who loves his wife and child, is well suited to this job. it shouldn't we be seeking restorative justice so we move forward constructively? he said, yes, as soon as ross plead guilty to something, then we can have the restorative

process began. [tone] i would look to you to think about where there is restoration. his wife clear they want him to keep his post. the public is very strongly behind him. look to the restorative thing. here we have a fabulous public servant who is very dedicated. we look to you so that this can move forward and be instructive. [tone] >> i will speak as an individual and as a member of the san francisco green party. throughout the years, efforts have been becoming more green. on the day that the u.s. decided to invade afghanistan, i've worked on many campaigns,

including ross's in 2004. i was in his office in 2004 and in 2005. we eventually became aware -- as the previous gentleman said, restore give justice. it was his hallmark in -- restorative justice. it was his hallmark on a lot of the legislation that he worked on. ever since the incident happened between him and his wife, i have seen the party going from a position of doubt -- especially among the female members of our party and those who are advocates for domestic riots. you basically have two separate issues. the issue of domestic violence,

which me and most of the doubters now believe that he has taken due course. [tone] but most of all, i believe that in terms of the green party, we would like to see ross reinstated to his position. we believe that is the way their processes unravel. we believe the process is two separate issues. that is, the domestic violence park, which we believe he is dealing with. and the fact that -- [tone] [no audio] >> i am a civil engineer practicing in san francisco. i do not know mr. mirkarimi personally, but i have followed what happened. the question is of ethics.

i am sure you are all ethical persons. even an unethical person thinks that he or she is an ethical person. the question of ethics is not what you think. you have to be in a position to act as an ethical person. i watched mirkarimi during the whole process. i have seen him be very ethical, very gentlemanly through the whole process. i have not seen anybody even coming close to him as his actions being ethical. i hope that you can see him in action. follow what he has done during the whole process. he has seen a lot of injustice, but acted very ethically.

ithanks very much. >> good afternoon. my name is barry. i live in san rafael, but i have been following these hearings on line. and at the same time, looking at your background. on the web site you have your biographees. each of you were appointed by a different entity. three of you were appointed by parties that have a very important concern in this process. i think it is important, whenever your decision, that you talk about the fact that the person who appointed you may decide that you may not be wanted it to stay on this commission. i have filed a couple of complaints about a former mta

board member, who is no longer on the board. who actually helped bring a lawsuit against the city as a result of some of his participation in the process. he was sticking his nose where he should not. and i asked for your help in this, and i got some help from staff, but it should have gone further. my concern is, you're supposed to deal with ethics and not with politics. that is the truth. and if you do, you need to a knowledge that is in your opinion. [tone] in the yiddish we have a word. i watched ms. lopez during the trial. she is a beautiful face.

she can take care of herself. if you do not believe that, it becomes a political ploy because people were disappointed in the election. [tone] thank you. >> commissioners, my name is debra walker. it i stand here in support of ross mirkarimi, ms. lopez, and theo, the family that has been most affected by this process. i paid attention. i watched as the questions were asked by europe -- by you all. this is a process that never should have happened. and everything after that fact has been created to justify a bad act. initially, there should not have been harshness between people love each other. as people who have families, you probably understand it gets to that point. but this process, especially the

removal of an elected official, it should never have begun. i feel for you because it was begun and you have had to go through the process of wading through the mountains of evidence. i understand that you have the lot to look at here. and that is what i suggest you do. the facts from the people who were there, ross and ms. lopez arte all the people whose testimony matters here. what we are seeing now, and what we saw from the beginning of this case is the highly on to justify, i think, the responsible act of putting this forward. as a voter in san francisco and someone who voted for ross mirkarimi every time he has run -- [tone] i ask you to honor my vote and a vote of over 85,000 people who asked for this man to be our

sheriff. certainly, this process has punished not just ross, but ileana and audio -- theo as well. you have the power to stop it. [tone] thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is michael. i am a city resident and supporter of ross mirkarimi. thank you for letting me speak and the work that you're doing on this. it has not been an easy process. i have watched these proceedings from the beginning. just as a side note, i was here during the bomb threat for the mayor. it would have been nice if you could have told some of us about it, just so we did not get blown up, bu