Frederick Commentary: Uber-progressive DA is a ‘sinking ship’

San Francisco’s DA will face a recall, likely in June. That’s the news from the city this week. Even bigger is the news that Brooke Jenkins, a widely known progressive prosecutor under Chesa Boudin, has jumped ship. She has had enough of Boudin’s brand of justice. She left the DA’s office and joined the recall effort. 

She told the SFChron’s city hall podcast that Boudin’s office is “a sinking ship and it is taking public safety along with it.”

Further, Jenkins says some 50 attorneys and staff have abandoned Boudin’s brand of windmill tipping, characterizing the office as chaotic and driven by ideology, not law and order.

That reinforces my biases. I’ve been writing about his mess for some time. The lofty goal was to shield the poor from an unfair bail system and draw a finer line between those who need incarceration and those who need mental care. OK. Fine. That’s a nice goal on paper. But in real life, Boudin’s interpretation of that has translated into a spiraling failure to provide the fundamental basics of law and order. 

That result stains the reputation of one of the greatest cities in the world. You can’t sacrifice law and order for justice. You gotta have both. Boudin provides neither. He’s gotta go.

ANOTHER STATUE BITES THE DUST

There is no historical evidence that early San Jose Mayor Thomas Fallon was anything other than a normal dude of his time. He wasn’t a war criminal or a slave holder. But a U.S. soldier who passed this way and in 1846 planted an American flag in San Jose as a symbol of the U.S. winning its war with Mexico and claiming California as its prize. 

Those kinds of historical remembrances have fallen out of favor in the Bay Area, as we all know. A statue commemorating that flag planting will be taken down because it offends some. 

At the end of the day, I’m OK with such changes. Public art should lift up, not offend. But for me, I wish we had taken all of Mexico at the time and made it part of the union. Imagine how much better the U.S. and Mexico would be today if we were all one magnificent country. 

GARDENERS UNITE!

The good people in Maine will vote this week on an amendment to the Maine Constitution “to declare that all individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being.”

Proponents of the move say it’s the second amendment for food that makes sure the government can’t stop people from doing things like saving and exchanging seeds and protecting people’s ability to grow gardens and raise animals in their backyards. 

I can’t believe Marin didn’t come up with that idea first.

PERFECT WEATHER

Nothing says “California weather” like last week’s deluge of rain only one day after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide drought emergency. Of course, we’re used to these weather flips, but when it turns on a dime in such an ironic way, it’s worth noting.

ONE MORE THING

— Remember when they said they’d fix these robo-calls and they never did. Now, we just don’t answer our phones. 

— Would anybody like to be in love so we can split the rent?

— How to make a tissue dance? Put a little boogie in it.

— Be sure to bring up politics at Thanksgiving dinner. It’s going to save you money on Christmas gifts. Follow me for more holiday tips.

Thank you for reading. Until next week, please be kind to all you meet, laugh a little and always question authority. 

(Sherman Frederick is an award-winning journalist and publisher of Marin’s community newspapers — the Novato Advance, San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Ross Valley Reporter, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. He is co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)