Sen. Leland Yee and what appeared to be a werewolf who just stepped out of the shower were on hand today in the Inner Sunset to protest against mandating San Francisco workers pay more toward their pensions and health care.
The rally was part of the
multi-million dollar rollout of organized labor
against Proposition B, the Jeff Adachi-penned measure that'd augment workers' pension costs to between 9 and 10 percent of their salaries and also double health care costs for employees' dependents from the current 25 percent to 50 percent. The wolfman here was actually a "wolf in sheep's clothing," meant as a metaphor for Adachi's measure. Actually, it's a wolfman with a towel around his shoulders. Perhaps some of the money Prop. B's opponents are now directing toward mailers, door-hangers, and TV spots can buy that wolf a sheep suit.
Hitting up Ninth and Irving at 10 a.m. may seem like an odd way to make friends and influence people. The area isn't quite abandoned at that time -- but it'd be hard to think of a daylight hour when there's fewer folks around. Of course, that was kind of the point. If you put on an event at 10 a.m., you get on the noon news. And you don't have to suffer through throngs of lunchtime pedestrians stepping in front of the camera.
Yee posed for photos and made a small speech -- but his time at the rally may have been as brief as 10 minutes. This was, truly, a made-for-TV affair. Before the crowd dispersed to attempt to chat with whatever cafe customers they could find and put campaign material in store windows, a few passers-by noticed Yee.
One asked "What are you doing here?" but didn't seem too interested in getting a response. The other was thrilled the senator had previously returned his phone calls. "This is the guy who'll return your phone call!" said the man. Then he, too, walked off.
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