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When the microphone was handed to Christopher Muhammad, the lovefest was over. "These babies have been poisoned," he yelled. "Black, Latino, Pacific Islander, they've been poisoned, and the health department admits they were poisoned." A couple of folks in the audience clapped; others booed, while several taped the exchange to later post on YouTube. Newsom frowned and shook his head, later shuffling to a stool to pour a glass of water.
That wouldn't be the end: Muhammad's allies showed up two days later at Newsom's campaign stop in Napa. A week later in San Diego, Newsom ignored Leon Muhammad, who was waiting at the microphone. In Palo Alto, a Nation of Islam member took on the mayor again. Newsom later met with Muhammad twice, asking the minister to present any proof to substantiate his claims. Those at the meeting said Muhammad still presented no hard evidence, one calling his arguments "rhetorical theater."
Muhammad characterized the sit-down with the mayor at one of his own meetings at Grace Tabernacle, bestowing Newsom with a bumbling stutter in his impersonation: "I was with the mayor in a meeting recently," he began. "'But, but' — listen to how he said it — 'B-bu-but, listen, minister, what do you want?' What do you mean, what do I want? My message has been clear from day one. Haven't you been listening? We want you to stop work temporarily and assess these children's health. Again, for the 105th time."
Muhammad's contentious relationship with Newsom is a stark contrast to the supportive one he had with Brown. In a 2008 interview with SF Weekly, Muhammad said his support for Newsom cooled after the mayor refused to adopt the protocol developed by the African American Community Police Relations Board, a group of religious and neighborhood leaders of which Muhammad was the chairman.
But it's the issue of the dust that has most irritated both men. Two years ago, an agitated Newsom told the San Francisco Sentinel, "You know what, why does Minister Muhammad still have his kids up there? ... He was given an opportunity to move his kids. If he believes what he is saying, why would he still allow those kids to still be there?"
After the confrontations on the campaign trail, the Housing Authority filed separate lawsuits against the Center for Self-Improvement and Community Development, which operates the Muhammad University of Islam. One suit alleged the school carried no insurance, as required in its 2002 lease. Secondly, the school had paid no rent — set at $2,000 per month — until January 2006, when the housing authority would deduct any school expenses from the rent. The Housing Authority itself has yet to pay the school district — the original owner — the agreed-upon $100,000 for the property, despite "efforts to collect money over the years," says school district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Housing Authority's decision came after consulting with Commissioner Reverend Amos Brown, a vocal opponent of Muhammad and supporter of Lennar, who recently wrote an editorial in the Examiner denouncing the "intimidation tactics" of the "extremist group" of the Nation of Islam.
Last month, a state Superior Court judge threw out the city's lawsuits. According to the Nation's lawyer, the judge found that the statute of limitations had passed to collect most of the back-rent. The school had obtained insurance after being served the eviction notice, rendering that complaint by the city moot. Point Muhammad.
Muhammad declined SF Weekly's request to discuss his face-offs with the mayor, although he has addressed the issue in recent speeches that, at times, have sounded vaguely threatening. "The target is Lennar and those who support Lennar in doing what Lennar has done in criminality to this community, and if Mayor Newsom or whoever else doesn't want the focus on them, then do the right thing," he said at Grace Tabernacle. "You've got time, but the window of time is closing."
One by one, city agencies, boards, and commissions moved past the asbestos issue. Yet Leon Muhammad found another venue to talk about the dust: the Navy's Restoration Advisory Board (RAB).
Dating back to the beginning of the Navy's shipyard cleanup in 1993, the board was intended to be an advisory volunteer group of community stakeholders who hear and voice opinions on the methods of the Navy's efforts. While long-time attendees say the board has gone through rough patches before, they say the process has disintegrated further since Leon Muhammad came on as cochair. The Navy says the discussion turned to asbestos dust on the city-owned parcel, which, from the Navy's perspective, is no longer its problem.
The last straw came at January's meeting, when six new members were voted onto the board. All but one formed a voting bloc to help pass three off-agenda motions introduced by Muhammad. First, the board voted to have a civil grand jury investigate whether there was a fair amount of community truckers receiving Navy contracts at the shipyard. Then the members voted DPH representative Amy Brownell off the board, alleging she had refused to answer their question about exceedences detected by a dust monitor on the border between Lennar and Navy property. (Brownell counters that she has given all the answers she has: "They don't like the answers, so they come up with new questions.") Lastly, the board voted to stop all construction work at the entire shipyard until the Navy and DPH explain the source of exceedences at that monitor, and detect the health risk to the adjacent community.
After that meeting, the Navy suspended the board, presenting information on cleanup at generic community meetings. The RAB cochair, Keith Forman, who was not present at the January meeting, told Leon Muhammad that the resolutions passed in his absence weren't approved RAB functions. The RAB later called an emergency meeting, during which the attendees voted Forman off the board. According to an e-mail from RAB member Lonnie Mason, Forman had "degraded the comments of others in this community as well as attacked the voices of the people from this community."
