Through The Looking Glass

MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 2011

Special interests

I felt like Alice after she stepped through the looking glass when I opened my Chronicle Wednesday morning and read the opinion piece entitled “We mustn’t yield to special interests” (Jan. 12) by none other than former Mayor and Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

For years, Brown has been the chief consigliere and adviser to a who’s who of the most powerful special interests in San Francisco, including PG&E, Chevron and mega-real-estate developers. In the wake of the latest late-night backroom deals at City Hall, it’s clear that – along with Rose Pak – Brown himself appears to be the most powerful unregistered special-interest lobbyist in town. He is right about one thing – if we love our city, we mustn’t yield to special interests. We need to shine the spotlight on what they’re doing and stand up to them.

Jon Golinger, San Franciscans for Clean Government

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/16/EDA11H93BD.DTL#ixzz1BK4C1TfN