i live in western addition, district 5. i would like to say a few things. we all have our problems and issues. one thing about this guy, he has your back. whenever i come to city hall, he has never had a closed door policy. he says, come see me, we will take care of the. he has always been there. it is unfortunate we have to judge this man on personal issues. we have to look at his record. he fought hard to make district 5 a safe place. another thing i do not understand, you have police offices, they are not elected. you have bus drivers, they are

not elected. he gets suspended without pay when you give cops and bus drivers suspended with pay? i do not understand that. how can you try to kill this man. he is strong. he is going to make it. he is going to be ok. [applause] we have his back. he was sworn in and he did his job. he did his job in district 5 for the african-americans. there were a lot of murders. i am sure you all know that. he stopped that, by just talking to them. implementing programs that would give them something to do. instead of being out there on the quarter. -- corner. you have a job. you of doing good. that is why we need him. that is why we need him.

[applause] >> good evening. i am here representing billeting a democratic club. ross one the election with 53% of the vote. our entire system comes from the will of the people. when one of elected officials actions have the result of voiding the election of another, that action must be addressed -- a wrong that is fundamental to our democracy. to do otherwise sacrifices of our democracy. the memories of disenfranchisement arise from experiences abroad in undemocratic regimes or in

experiences in the united states where latinos are denied democracy. this has dared those memories. the process began with disenfranchising a latina. we ask you reinstate share for mirkarimi -- reinstate sheriff mirkarimi. we ask you respect the dignity of every person who enters the criminal justice system. these are excerpts of a four page letter. it has been submitted to you. i would like to thank you. you have been very fair and just. we appreciate that. i want to let you know that i am a former commissioner on the commission on the status of women. i understand what it dv and not dv.

this is not dv. [applause] >> hello. i am here to ask that you immediately reinstate ross mirkarimi. i hope that we all take a moment to observe that this follows the memorial day weekend. the power of the vote, it is fundamental to this country. that is what lawyers have been fought over. another thing that is fundamental -- that is what wars have been fought over. another thing that is fundamental is freedom from government. i have struggled to understand how an ethics commission -- what price, what crime testifies in validating the vote of 53%?

this is a commission that looks at election law. that is what happens here. we have a basic issue of democracy at stake. if we are going to be litigating admitted conduct and and convicted conduct, where is our standard going to be for anything that comes forward in the future? what president eliciting? what conduct will you be referencing in the future? if you are going to lower the standard as to what will be the basis for in validating an election, it must be a strong case. something where we are going to be litigating everyday activities simply cannot be a

presidencedent was set in. i am also a member of the latina democratic club. i hope you'll take our public comments seriously. [applause] >> good evening. my name is richard stone. i am a member of the sentences goh greed party. i have served for ross in the past. -- of the san francisco agreed party. i have served for ross in the past. with all the endeavors i have seen him in, dating back to before he was elected, such as being able to get the environmental impact report that stopped the building of a nuclear power plant, up to the

time i worked with him with the formation of laws for medical marijuana, the community policing and all of the great accomplishments he has brought to the criminal justice community. i think it is a crime that for something that is not so serious that it would be stretched to the limits that it has been. i really think he should be reinstated with back pay. even though it is really sad to have to go through this process, i am glad that the journey to

have a due process has come from other than i thought it would. i commend you guys. i hope that in the ensuing sessions, not only will be processed a cold, but used -- will do process take hold, but justice will be served. [applause] an>> commissioners, thank you for hearing my remarks. i am here because i am upset that you did not stop this. the sheriff is being railroaded. the mayor is squandering public funds. he is claiming official misconduct. he has not said a single specific conflict of interest.

that should be enough for you to vote to recommend that the reinstatement of the share of. the lot is quite clear. -- the share of. the law is quite clear. the mayor has to show he did something he should not have done, or did not do something he should have done. none of the above applies. instead, the mayor is using this to produce a telling a vella -- a telenovela. he should get private funding. for the effort the mayor has put into this, you would think the ballots were found floating in the day. that did not happen. mr. mirkarimi has suffered for at arms grabbing. that has nothing to do with official misconduct. you have only one ethical

choice, vote to reinstate the share sheriff. do your job mel, please. thank you. [applause] >> good evening. i want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. i am here because i believe the ethics commission has a duty to the voters of this city to uphold the will of the people who democratically elected ross mirkarimi to the office of sheriff. the country is watching what you do. undoing an election is an extremely serious matter. the suspension of our sheriff did not happen because he engaged in official misconduct. he was suspended due to political pressure. the same pressure that has victimized his wife.

it has had a dramatic impact on his young son. i ask the commission to recommend that the charge be dropped and give us back our share of. -- sheriff. i also want to submit a resolution that was passed in support of ross mercury. -- ross mirkarimi. we oppose the removal of ross mirkarimi. we request the mayor reinstate mirkarimi in the interest of justice. we encourage the members of the ethics commission and the board of supervisors to oppose this. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you commissioners and deputies for a service. my name is brian webster. i am a community organizer. i work with the business, labor, and community organizations. i have worked in at san francisco for over 25 years. i support the share of -- sheriff. this is all about politics. it is not about the law. the situation has turned into a political witch hunt. that is clear and obvious to the people of san francisco. there was no case. politics as there was. -- says that there was.

the mayor suspended him and san francisco got another black eye. they should stop shooting themselves in the foot. it is said that what is at issue is wrongful behavior. the witch hunt against ross is wrongful behavior. it would be unethical to not let ellen elected share of kodak to work. please stop wasting our -- to not let our elected sheriff go back to work. please stop wasting our time. [applause] >> good evening. i represent myself as a community and neighborhood activist. we live in a world full of gray area. people choose to live in the black and white.

the mayor's role appears to be retribution. i disagree with have the mayor is handling this whole matter. it emphasizes repairing the harm caused by criminal behavior. it is best accomplished through cooperative processes that include all stakeholders. justice requires that we work to restore those who have been injured to those most directly involved affected by crimes. the government's role is to preserve a just public order. not to destroy a person, not to destroy his career or also the remnants of his marriage and separate him from his wife and child. we got to open our minds and live in those grey areas.

i voted for a man who has experience as a share. he has worked on legislation to give free entry to criminals. he has a commitment and the know-how. he is a workaholic. we need his dedication. i ask you to stop spending our money with furthering this. i ask each and every one of you to do what is right, not what the mayor wants to do. i believe this is unethical. stop the attack on his personal life. i voted, i want my vote to count. [applause] >> for the last 37 years i have lived in san francisco. i am proud to support ross mirkarimi.

his tireless leadership on local law enforcement issues. his courage. he should be returned to duty immediately and made whole for the losses being suspended without pay. the public assault that has been waged on sheriff mirkarimi -- there has been a total disregard for his wife and their son. in a deal to destroy his ability to survive, not only as a public official, but as a human being, they have trampled on his rights. they are abusing tax dollars with these manufactured charges. i want to speak to you in terms of the substantive issue. it is whether or not he has engaged in conduct toward permanently removing him from office.

i advocated for working people and a variety of work places. i would say the issues did not come close to warranting termination of employment. this is such an obvious example of the mayor making a political decision and tasking the cities attorney's office with developing a case after the fact. nothing took place during his duties as sheriff. all of the allegations deal with issues out of his duty. he has been fully punished under the law. he has been treated to a greater public humiliation. it is your opportunity to rise above this, to exercise reason, [inaudible] [applause]

>> long evening. i was born and raised in san francisco. i am a father of three children. my wife is my best friend. i spent decades working as a union worker, in the press room, and also as a representative. i have never seen in the most egregious attack, this kind of assault that has gone on. of course, the city attorney is a friend of mine. i am ashamed of him. i have told him so. it is a public lynching. you guys, i am concerned about, a going to be used -- are going

to be used to make this something you shift to the board of supervisors. the board of supervisors have to decide, do i sacrificed my relationship with the mayor or do i do what is right? nothing in the incident rises to the level of a crime. he pled guilty to false imprisonment in a deal. he has explained it. he was guilty of what happened. that does not rise to the level of domestic violence. there is no history, no pattern. there was no burning of buildings. there was no falsifying addresses. there was a family argument over the custody of theo. i went through something like that. i felt pain when i thought of is going to lose the custody of my children.

you a going to be used. i think you are being used. i wanted to recognize that and pass on -- >> thank you. i would invite the next speaker to come up. thank you. [applause] >> good evening. thank you for giving me the opportunity to express my feelings. sorry if i am nervous. i feel said today. i see good people in front of my eyes. s@zwhat is happening, this is turning into a circle.

what i am asking you is please do not be part of this. i think there are better things to do in san francisco and all over the united states. what you are doing right now, you are destroying this man's life. you are tearing his family apart. you say, i have been hearing about criminal violence, what we are doing to him, it is a violent crime. destroying a family, destroying his career. please, i am asking you, do not

be part of this. i am sorry i feel nervous. god bless it. thank you. [applause] >> good evening. i have been a grass-roots organizer for social justice and for 18 years. i know the vagaries of city hall. i am here to ask you to send a strong message to the board of supervisors. it to reinstate ross mirkarimi -- it should reinstate ross mirkarimi. i am happy to report i am sfgreen party. even though ross left the party, we had the wisdom to realize when a serious breach of democracy was taking place.

we put a statement up on our web site. i would encourage you to look at the statement. it is at sfgreenparty.org. let's refocus. we are talking about a misdemeanor case in which the court decided the remedy is family counseling. this does not by any stretch of the imagination rise to the level of removing someone from office. i watched this today. what i saw from the mayor's attorneys was an attempt to take a large industrial sized pot of spaghetti and throw it at the wall to see what would stick. i have never been so appalled. please, your job as ethics commissioners is to consider the politics.

that is what you do when you address campaigns. if you go with this nonsense, who is going to be next? what is the mayor going to do to the moderate? this could open up a ridiculous can of -- [mic turned off] [applause] >> my name is tracy brown. i wanted to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. it is hard for me to come out and speak at a 11:00 at night. there are a lot of other people who would love to be here. i worked on his campaign. it was a great campaign. we were successful at getting him collected. when he did win, all of the kids

i work with, they said, finally, you won an election. [laughter] i have campaigned my life -- my entire life. it is my folly. -- value. crime reduction, the way we deal with homeless. the way we deal with this is also a san francisco value. i am pleased with how the session went. i have faith in our system. ross has been there for the people. he has heard our voices. i do not have to explain that. there were some voices that were not heard. as a woman, i have to say, if this was my family put on trial, i would be devastated. i hope that you, as people to support women, you look at what

she is going through. hear her voice and allow her voice to a marriage. you heard a lot about ross. you have not heard about his former wife and how she feels. you have not heard from her. a lot of people have not heard from her. she is -- she just delivered a baby. i doubt she will be able to come in. you should listen to the voice of women. [applause] >> good evening, commissioners. my name is maria. as they say, it is about who you know in city hall. that happened to be my union

member who was a custodian here. she happened to have some extra fried chicken because we did not have dinner tonight. bless his heart. a want to be here. it is as simple as the three r's. that is redemption, restore to justice, and reunification of families. redemption is much more positive and proactive. i think it is something that san francisco was all about. we all are human. we all have our flaws. i have always thought that a person's worth his -- when you know that there has been a challenge or a moment of shame that they have had to face and then make amends.

i think that makes for a much stronger individual and also much more compassionate. that is something that we will all lead at some point. in terms of restorative justice, that was explained earlier tonight. let's restore peace, not just punishment. punishment itself will continue the cycle of violence. i also want to speak on the importance of family. that is without question. i do not know one family without some form of dysfunction. i know that families must work hard and sacrifice family unity among themselves. you consider when an intrusive or -- or overpowering outside entities it comes in. >> thank you, ma'am. [applause] >> good evening.

i just want to speak briefly about the politics of political assassination. that is at state operations. this has not been mentioned. when that video was obtained, the call went to fill up. that was day one. day two, he had plot -- lunch with willie brown. on day three guitar chords him again. the decision was made to call the police.