You know Caille — If more people read Naomi Klein than your fetid almost unbelievably greedy corporate-apologia journal, the world wouldn’t be in the crisis state you outline. You are an asshole, and a very smug one to boot.

AA will be fine, and SF will be fine. AA will open in another neighborhood or on another street in SF, and life will move on. Meanwhile, the residents and business owners around Valencia will get exactly the neighborhood they want and deserve. Whether the result is better or worse remains to be seen. But the important thing is that the outcome was chosen by people who actually live here, not imposed upon us by distant corporations, no matter how cool and friendly those corporations may be.

AA would be welcome on Mission street. We’re not too proud, we need the jobs and we need shoppers with more than $5 in their pockets.

As much as I dislike her tone, she does. She suggests that commercial vacancies are a problem and that property standards are low as a result. She says that the neighborhood needs more jobs like AA’s ($30k salary + health insurance.) She says that the city would benefit from the increased tax revenue – every city’s revenues are being drastically cut this year.

I don’t understand what was gained here. People in the Mission like AA the brand and wear AA clothing. So why protect a small business that sells AA from AA at the expense of workers? Health insurance for workers is surely one of the most important things in our country, and small businesses in the Mission are not offering it.

You might cite high commercial rents as the reason why small businesses on Valencia can’t offer health insurance (which would be relatively cheap given their mostly young and healthy workforce.) But let’s say that neighborhood activists got a commercial rent control ordinance passed (a worthy solution, perhaps). Would small businesses offer health insurance or sick days as a result of the reduced financial pressure?

We know that it took legislation to get restaurants to charge the SFHSO fee and use it to pay for health insurance, and it wouldn’t be different with other kinds of businesses. If Valencia businesses were so progressive and concerned about their workers as to justify protection from AA, would they not have done something innovative like collect SFHSO donations and pool the proceeds to help their employees?

I think a lot of people here need to stop mythologizing small businesses. Keeping revenues local is not a victory when it doesn’t actually benefit working people. In virtually every case, the only people who make a living wage from them are the owners and their families. Profits don’t trickle down to workers.

I say that because Half-Truths don’t usually make people show up to a hearing from 1:30pm til 7pm.

I know I showed up because I was told that if I didn’t go that Roe v. Wade was gonna be overturned and that there was free ice cream. It’s a hard lifestyle trying to make people believe I am progressive.

unbelievable delicious

Keep quessing zinzin. Eventually you might be right. But, sadly, not quite yet.

That’s one of the wonderful things about a constitutional republic system. It’s designed for the people that bother to show up and speak out.

And so as irony would have it, these “friends” you’re referring to are the very definition of insular. But actually I seriously doubt there are any “friends.” You might as well be saying your point of view is valid because that lots of people sent you emails saying they’re not against it. It’s unverifiable, self-referential and therefore total b.s. Which gives us a fair viewpoint on your objectivity – read: lackthereof.

Aw.