what is going on here is that two people had a personal problem that they did not want turn into a personal reality show. the share of mercury me was elected by the people. -- share if mirkarimi was elected by the people. as you can see it today by having to listen to the testimony, you can see as many supporters. i urge you not to uphold the charges. thank you very much. >> that afternoon, commissioners. >> you can raise the microphone. it moves. >> i come here for truth and justice for all. and i think i stand for ross

mirkarimi on this matter. i want to read something for you here. i think that mr. ross mirkarimi having already pled guilty of the lesser crime of domestic violence. and he met the payments and sanctions. to think that he should be pleading for his position as an elected official, in my opinion, that constitutes double jeopardy. no one should be tried -- tried twice for the same crime. if it is a crime. as a reminder, just a few requirements for moving an official, which i learned from

the books. gross negligence, [unintelligible] and gross incompetence. i think we should not try the family here. [tone] we should promote family unity. if the wife stands for the has been -- for the husband, then no one should jeopardize that interest for the sake of justice and truth. thank you. [applause] >> my name is michael. i live in district 5. i am a 35-year resident of san francisco. i would like to ask the people on the ethics commission weather

during their lives they have never done anything that they regret. something that happened out of anger, possibly, or something that happened out of greed, or even out of stupidity. i wonder if there is anybody on the ethics commission that will answer that. i feel this is a political case. i know there are other factors involved, but to me, this boils down to a political case. there are people within city -- the city, whether it is the mayor, williexdlp brown, rose p, etc. who have been foreseen this as an issue from the get go.

the chronicle editorial every day for the first couple of weeks -- i knew there was something fishy going on and much more than just the case of the share collect -- the sheriff's elect getting into an argument with his wife. [tone] i do not know your background. i do not know the background of the commission and what politics are involved in the commission. i just hope that you make the right decision, because if you do not, i believe there will be a very strong movement against the mayor and against the policies that have brought this on. thank you. >> i will be brief. i really like ross mirkarimi and i like the work he did as a supervisor.

but in the position of one of the lost law enforcement officials in the city, i wonder as a woman if i said to my husband, if he were an abuser, i'm right to get out. and he said to me, the sheriff, they let him keep his job. do you think anyone will listen to you? you need to think about the position that the ads and the message that sends to our city. >> can i ask for a status update as to how many people out outside? eight more. can we bring everyone who is in line right now into the room?

>> i would like to say that i appreciate the comments of the public. it is the public's right to participate in this process. it is an important and integral part of the process. the comments, of course, are not evidence. and i have noticed that some of the comments have become fairly repetitive. of course, we are not in any way

going to limit your right to participate. but i would urge, if there are some who feel that their comments have already been made through the voice of others, you would help us in our efforts to hopefully bring an end to this process today, if some of you would consider forgoing the opportunity to speak. again, ii want to be crystal clear that i'm not limiting your right to participate here. just in light of the link the -- the link the -- lengthy proceeding that we have today, please consider your participation. and please be brief. >> i came here today on behalf

of a grass-roots organization here in the city of immigrants. i will not take any more of your time repeating what you know already. i'm here today to appeal to the sense of justice that you might have been cited you. you are here today because you were rightfully elected for us, the citizens of the city. it is the same as we did with our sheriff. we need him back to work. we need you and to start working for us. -- we need him to start working for us. i want you to consider that. because next time, it might be one of you and we will have to stand here for you, too. we are going to come and say, this is unfair. please, do not do this. i'm here to support ross mirkarimi because we need him

right there. at his post. i hope you do something about that. as a latino immigrant, i feel highly this respected by all of these people, all of these different organizations here in san francisco supporting families. [tone] this is not a case of domestic violence. we need all of this to be done in a right and just way. thank you for your attention and consideration today. [applause] >> criss evening. my name is michelle. i'm here to stand for not only ross mirkarimi, but for the family and any of you that may go into a situation like this. i think he has done incredible work.

i really appeal for you to consider his career, his thoughts, and a benefit for the community that he would bring, and that he has brought all through his career. thank you. >> hon. commissioners come eileen hansen, a former ethics commissioners. i want to thank you for your service. i know the kind of time and energy it takes. i am understand there are tremendous pressures on you. thank you for your professionalism and your fairness. i had not intended to speak today, but i was struck by something i earlier. which is that both parties canker -- concur that relation of duties is key to whether official misconduct occurred. we know that with regard to ms. contact -- with regard to

misconduct, there have to be a relations. the conduct unbecoming was maybe not so clear. both prongs of official misconduct have to be related to the duties of office. i do not believe this case arises to the level of official misconduct because i do not believe this is elevated to the level of official misconduct. i do not believe this is about whether domestic violence occurred. we do not need to charge again this case. [tone] the sheriff pleaded guilty to a related charge. that has concluded in my mind. i do not believe this is about

whether you are minimizing domestic violence. i believe this is about official misconduct and i do not believe it occurred. >> nice to see you, ms. hanson. >> good afternoon. my name is ernestine whites -- weiss. this was not official misconduct. ihe was not an official yet, so it has nothing to do with his job. i can tell you about domestic violence. when i had an infant in my arms and my husband shoved me. not a little tug of the yard. let's be reasonable. if willie brown can father a child in office at 68 years old and did not get a slap on the rest, gavin newsom had an affair in the office and to drugs and alcohol and not a slap on the rest.

how can you call this misconduct by comparison? how can you sit there and judge this man? this is wrong, from beginning to end. [applause] please, use your good judgment and weigh the facts. this is not official misconduct. it is not violence. because i have a little bruise on my arm from something else, that is no proof. you were not there. you did not see how hard it was or how little it wise. some people breeze very easily. that is no proof of violence. this is not justice. if willie brown and gavin newsom, the mayor, could get away with that -- [tone] and here you are trying to make -- lay this mantle on him, and reasonable. think of your conscience. but what if you were in that position?

it is not fair. you have to legalize the justice scales, right? i'm not a lawyer, but i know a lot about the law. so do your job and tell this man he is to report for work as soon as possible. [tone] [applause] >> before we move on, i appreciate that members of the public are going to have reactions to things that are said. this is public comment. this is not evidence. i feel like we can have a little bit of -- more reaction than we can add other parts. but please respect of speaker and please respect this process. let's not the way things are having a link the outburst, please. thank you. >> lpmy name is francisco.

i am standing here on behalf of -- >> please, speaking to the microphone. i'm having trouble hearing you. >> use the microphone, sir. >> oh, sorry. i'm here on behalf of ross mirkarimi and his wife and little boy. i am understand human rights. like the lady that talk about injustice. [unintelligible] the commission is not ready to take on our sheriff.

[unintelligible] i want to also congratulate -- [tone] the attorney for ms. lopez, and also the attorney for sheriff. keep fighting. do not give up. we are always behind you. thank you. >> hello. my name is james. i've volunteered down at united

players. not long ago mr. mirkarimi spoke. he is a compassionate man he has his heart in it the people in the city in our communities. not a lot of people do these days. i hope you keep that in mind. >> i am glad to see ross back with his wife and his family.

i am the executive director of a youth program called united players. personally, i don't know what happened. but don't nobody know what happened except him and his wife and god. i do not that we should put judgment on anybody. it's as in the bible that if i tell you about the splintered in your eye, what about the log in your eye? i'm not here to speak about the issues. i'm here to tell you what i know about him personally. i have been here 17 years now and for me to come out and speak for somebody, to support him, it is serious for me. i truly believe the actions that i have seen ross do in the city of san francisco have saved lives. the streets speak about ross. they are out there, the families, the kids, the mothers, they see what impact he made on the people out there when he was district supervisor.

he always came out and demonstrated through his actions that he cared for other people. i see how much it affects somebody when you take their kids away from somebody, because it almost happened to me. i commend our brother. there is a lot of violence going on on the streets. we need someone like him to step up. [tone] i will say this and then i will finish. there is something about forgiveness. a lot of people do not know about forgiveness. but when you forgive others, god will forgive you for your staff. i loved san francisco. . san francisco has a love for ross. thank you. [applause] >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

my husband was the sixth homicide last year. to see an official, a city official, somebody who sits on the board, come to where we are and here are stories and comfort us, not for votes, but because he truly cared meant a lot to me. and do not have a right to vote? you people will not say specifically, but you push it out. people in their offices drinking white substance is everywhere, but they move to higher seat on panels, people that keep it a real and stayed with the people and try to make the communities grow and prosper, how come they get left out and pushed out? >> i have a 4-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son and their

daddy is in heaven. this gentleman cannot even lawfully be with his own life because of political smearing. it means to stop. we care about what happens in the communities. someone that has a strong hand in law enforcement because they care. god bless. [applause] >> good afternoon. i am a citizen and i have been teaching at san francisco state for 16 years. the first time i met ross he said to me, you are not very politically involved out, are you? and i said, not really. i like to teach my students about the process. >> we talk about spin.

we look at euphemisms and that kind of thing. my children, though, are more politically active than i am. they got caught up in the campaign. during that campaign, i got to meet all of the constituents from all over san francisco, men and women from all sorts of economic and educational backgrounds and from all sorts of causes and grouped and to a person, they were behind ross because of what he did, not because of what he said, but because of how he changed their lives. i became a pretty big supporter for ross myself. and then when this incident happened and i got to witness the way the "chronicle" handled it, the way mayor ed lee handled it, the way the supervisors handled it, i lost my faith again in politics. i can't believe that anyone, after the joe indiana haze white incident several years ago, my god, that this man is

being hung out to dry like this. i just ask that you guys find it within yourself that we as citizens depend on politicians to break the storyo types that so often we have of them. do you know what i mean? i wasn't ready to speak, but i just hope that you look and listen to what you said and do the right thing. thank you. >> hello, commissioners, my name is babette hogan, i'm a eighth generation san franciscan and in 12 years i have seen a lot of ross' work. when i first moved to that district, i was a little afraid of my neighborhood. but that was quickly overcome in part by the great work that ross did on the streets in my hood. so i am very appreciative of his work.

i would like to also speak to you as a media professional, a media professional who not at all been falsely arrested recently in another state where conditions between journalists and the sheriff's department is not quite so easy. i would like to commend the relationship that our police officers hold with the citizens of san francisco. we have a fabulous, fabulous county and i'm very proud of it. i do not believe that our media has properly represented what has ghon on and for that i am ashamed of our media. our first amendment rights are insulted when paid advocates can come and make their arguments for a national case

using alp case that is complete taken out of context and out of reality for political gain. i ask that you consider true and long-term democracy for our city and county of which i am very proud. thanks very much. [applause] >> my name is alex, i'm a lawyer here in the city. the question before us and before you is whether or not our sheriff committed official misconduct. official misconduct when you look at the plane language of the time, misconduct by one who is in office. he was not in office. therefore, he cannot commit official misconduct. i mean what official misconduct would mean if he had been in office, that's another question. that question is not you are really asked to answer. the question is whether he

committed official misconduct. and ross who i have known for a long time did not commit official misconduct because he wasn't in office. it's that simple. he has done a an awful lot good for this city as a supervisors, as a sheriff and i would ask that you reinstate him in office. thank you. [applause] >> hi, i'm jeannie maher. like so many others, a resident of this city and i want to thank you all for the time that you have devoted to this matter. i don't envy you having to have done that. but thank you again. i think that we have heard some very thoughtful comments from a number of people on both sides. i did hear a supporter of ross

mirkarimi tell me at the end of this process, we will find a man much better than he began. i can only hope that that is the case. i think that that is possibly the only thing that we and his family can do is hope that he will find from this experience that his conduct was not becoming to whether he is sheriff designate or sheriff. i cannot imagine that someone incarcerated in the jail for domestic violence would want to sit and listen to him talk to them about what they should avoid doing. i don't know that that is

possible and i really beg you to consider what it is that you have to decide and what you have to refer on to the board of supervisors and the outcome of your actions. thank you. >> good afternoon, my name is tracy brown and i came before you to share the club resolution of keeping ross mirkarimi for sheriff. this case really comes down to two women and their truths. my friend eliana lopez and lynette peralta haynesworth. these are two women with small children, two women whose lives have been torn apart about these events. this is a san francisco that belongs to families and values family. yet this is a san francisco that has went after two women

with families and almost drove them away. i heard testimony that lynette was harassed during her work hours, during her high risk pregnancy. this is not my san francisco. i expect my san francisco to be a san francisco that values families, that helps families, that provides services and interventions to families. my san francisco values a process that is fair and equitable and a process that is the same and consistent across the board. this is not what i'm saying. this is not how these kinds of cases play out. my san francisco treats everyone equally. please, please this is up to you guys. please let this be our san francisco. please let this be a san francisco that we are proud of that values families that does not allow for political games to get in the way of small children's lives. thank you so much for your time.