Mayor Gavin Newsom, who earlier this year said he'd change the way his office issues proclamations after he unwittingly honored a gay porn studio, found himself in hot water Wednesday over two more controversial proclamations.
This time, a representative from the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice said proclamations would be given to Perry Mann, founder of the Exotic Erotic Ball, and rapper Snoop Dogg, who earlier this year pleaded no contest to felony gun and drug charges and who is accused by critics of glorifying the gangster lifestyle in his music.
Snoop Dogg is scheduled to perform a benefit concert Friday night as part of the ball, and proceeds will go to the Healing Circle Soul Support Group, a group of 230 Bay Area parents who have lost children to homicide.
Snoop Dogg in July gave the group $47,000, and Mann has given the group $45,000. The group plans to use the money for antiviolence publicity campaigns and to help new members pay for funeral costs, counseling and other services.
Tinisch Hollins, community outreach liaison for the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, sent an e-mail Tuesday to the public relations firm representing the Exotic Erotic Ball reading in part, "We would like to present both Snoop and Perry Mann with a proclamation on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco for their generosity and support for San Francisco families."
Mann and members of the Healing Circle called a news conference Wednesday afternoon at a recreation center on Sixth Street during which Hollins was scheduled to announce the proclamations on behalf of the mayor. She was due to hand Snoop Dogg and Mann the official proclamations at Friday's concert.
But when word of the proclamations reached higher-level members of the mayor's administration, the plan was quashed. Hollins showed up to the news conference briefly but stayed in the back and didn't speak. She wouldn't answer reporters' questions about the proclamations.
Nathan Ballard, press secretary for Newsom, said that no proclamations have been drawn up for Mann or Snoop Dogg and that none would be forthcoming.
"We have no plans at present," he said.
That was news to Mann, who announced the proclamations for himself and Snoop Dogg during the news conference and said he was under the impression he'd still receive his proclamation at Friday night's benefit concert.
"I want to thank the city and the mayor's office," said Mann, who said the Exotic Erotic Ball, an annual party at the Cow Palace that celebrates all things sexual, has received city proclamations before from Mayor Willie Brown and even from Mayor Newsom himself in 2004. "I've received many proclamations, but never a proclamation that has meant so much to me."
Mattie Scott, who co-founded the Healing Circle after her son was gunned down in the Western Addition 11 years ago, said she felt let down that nobody from the mayor's office spoke at the news conference and that the proclamations wouldn't be forthcoming.
"It's really hurtful when you're trying to do something positive and people like that don't show up," she said. "It does bother me, it really does."
Ballard said that the mayor fully supports the Healing Circle and that the controversy over the proclamations has nothing to do with the group.
The episode was reminiscent of the debacle earlier this year when the Newsom administration made national news for declaring Feb. 23 Colt Studio Day, honoring the 40th anniversary of a gay porn studio. The official document, bearing Newsom's name, was given by a representative of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services to the company during its anniversary party.
Newsom's office hands out 2,000 proclamations each year, usually for innocuous topics such as Graffiti Watch Day. Ballard said at the time that the mayor had been unaware of the Colt Studio proclamation and would promptly change his proclamation policy to ensure future potentially controversial decrees be reviewed by either his chief of staff or director of government affairs.
In this case, Ballard said plans for the proclamations were withdrawn after they were brought to his attention by the media and had been relayed by him to Mikail Ali, interim director of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, where the idea for the honors originated.
He wouldn't say why proclamations for Snoop Dogg or Mann would be inappropriate.
"In the wake of the Colt Studios controversy, procedures were put in place to prevent this from becoming a chronic problem," Ballard said. "In this case, the procedures worked and there was no proclamation issued."
E-mail Heather Knight at [email protected].
Source: SFGate.com
This time, a representative from the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice said proclamations would be given to Perry Mann, founder of the Exotic Erotic Ball, and rapper Snoop Dogg, who earlier this year pleaded no contest to felony gun and drug charges and who is accused by critics of glorifying the gangster lifestyle in his music.
Snoop Dogg is scheduled to perform a benefit concert Friday night as part of the ball, and proceeds will go to the Healing Circle Soul Support Group, a group of 230 Bay Area parents who have lost children to homicide.
Snoop Dogg in July gave the group $47,000, and Mann has given the group $45,000. The group plans to use the money for antiviolence publicity campaigns and to help new members pay for funeral costs, counseling and other services.
Tinisch Hollins, community outreach liaison for the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, sent an e-mail Tuesday to the public relations firm representing the Exotic Erotic Ball reading in part, "We would like to present both Snoop and Perry Mann with a proclamation on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco for their generosity and support for San Francisco families."
Mann and members of the Healing Circle called a news conference Wednesday afternoon at a recreation center on Sixth Street during which Hollins was scheduled to announce the proclamations on behalf of the mayor. She was due to hand Snoop Dogg and Mann the official proclamations at Friday's concert.
But when word of the proclamations reached higher-level members of the mayor's administration, the plan was quashed. Hollins showed up to the news conference briefly but stayed in the back and didn't speak. She wouldn't answer reporters' questions about the proclamations.
Nathan Ballard, press secretary for Newsom, said that no proclamations have been drawn up for Mann or Snoop Dogg and that none would be forthcoming.
"We have no plans at present," he said.
That was news to Mann, who announced the proclamations for himself and Snoop Dogg during the news conference and said he was under the impression he'd still receive his proclamation at Friday night's benefit concert.
"I want to thank the city and the mayor's office," said Mann, who said the Exotic Erotic Ball, an annual party at the Cow Palace that celebrates all things sexual, has received city proclamations before from Mayor Willie Brown and even from Mayor Newsom himself in 2004. "I've received many proclamations, but never a proclamation that has meant so much to me."
Mattie Scott, who co-founded the Healing Circle after her son was gunned down in the Western Addition 11 years ago, said she felt let down that nobody from the mayor's office spoke at the news conference and that the proclamations wouldn't be forthcoming.
"It's really hurtful when you're trying to do something positive and people like that don't show up," she said. "It does bother me, it really does."
Ballard said that the mayor fully supports the Healing Circle and that the controversy over the proclamations has nothing to do with the group.
The episode was reminiscent of the debacle earlier this year when the Newsom administration made national news for declaring Feb. 23 Colt Studio Day, honoring the 40th anniversary of a gay porn studio. The official document, bearing Newsom's name, was given by a representative of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services to the company during its anniversary party.
Newsom's office hands out 2,000 proclamations each year, usually for innocuous topics such as Graffiti Watch Day. Ballard said at the time that the mayor had been unaware of the Colt Studio proclamation and would promptly change his proclamation policy to ensure future potentially controversial decrees be reviewed by either his chief of staff or director of government affairs.
In this case, Ballard said plans for the proclamations were withdrawn after they were brought to his attention by the media and had been relayed by him to Mikail Ali, interim director of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, where the idea for the honors originated.
He wouldn't say why proclamations for Snoop Dogg or Mann would be inappropriate.
"In the wake of the Colt Studios controversy, procedures were put in place to prevent this from becoming a chronic problem," Ballard said. "In this case, the procedures worked and there was no proclamation issued."
E-mail Heather Knight at [email protected].
Source: SFGate.com
