Another San Francisco Supe Supports Mirkarimi Recall
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Another member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors said Monday that she would support a recall effort against Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, who was reinstated last week after the board fell short of the votes it needed to remove him on official misconduct charges.
Supervisor Malia Cohen joined Jane Kim as supervisors who said they would support a voter recall of Mirkarimi. The sheriff was suspended by Mayor Ed Lee in March, after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment in a case in which he grabbed his wife's arm during an argument, causing a bruise.
Cohen was one of the seven supervisors who voted to uphold the charges against Mirkarimi at a hearing last Tuesday, two votes shy of the total required by the city charter for the 11-member board to remove him from office.
KCBS' Doug Sovern Reports:
Kim had said she would support recalling Mirkarimi despite being one of the four supervisors to dissent from the majority last week. She said she did not think the city had adequately proven that Mirkarimi used the powers of his office to commit wrongdoing.
Cohen, speaking at a news conference Monday in support of domestic violence legislation being proposed by Supervisor Eric Mar, said while she would also support a recall election against Mirkarimi, a campaign for it would have to come from the public.
"The ownership lies within the community," Cohen said. "It would take away the undertones that it's politically motivated."
Mar declined to say whether he supports a recall of Mirkarimi, saying he would wait to see if such an effort would indeed be made.
Organizers of a recall would have to collect signatures from at least 10 percent of the San Francisco electorate to place the proposal on the ballot, according to the city's Elections Department.
Mar's legislation, which he will introduce at Tuesday's board meeting, includes a resolution asking the city's Commission on the Status of Women to distribute guides on how to deal with domestic violence to all city employees and to aid private organizations in doing so.
Mar will also propose creating a new policy to help domestic abuse victims in the city's workplace.
"What happens when an employee shows up at work with a black eye?" said Emily Moto Murase, executive director of the Commission on the Status of Women. "Currently, San Francisco has no policy."
Andrea Shorter of the commission told KCBS victims' advocates are still reeling from Mirkarimi's return.
"The work doesn't end in terms of the myriad of conflicts of interest that his reinstatement will present," Shorter said.
Mar said the legislation has been in development for several years, and its announcement shortly after the Mirkarimi vote was merely coincidental.
"Even if there weren't kind of a major case like the one that we recently heard last Tuesday, I think I would be strongly supportive of the women's organizations and domestic violence groups to strengthen our policies," Mar said.
Mirkarimi said he's ready to move forward and work with women's groups on the domestic violence issue.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee didn't want to comment on Mirkarimi returning to work but said he is determined that he recuse himself from areas related to his own conviction.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
