Who is this guy? Well he's not the greatest person. He's a local San Franciscan who I give space to here because he's also pissed off a lot of people, but not in the same way as Mike Cherico.
In his opposition to a local development project, Francisco Da Costa managed to hurl racial insults at just about everyone. Check out what Heather Knight at the SF Chronicle reported: Activist quits Prop. F coalition over controversial writings
Heather Knight - SF Chronicle, March 19, 2008
A heated debate over two June ballot measures that would dramatically reshape San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point has taken an ugly turn over one proponent's Internet postings, which people on both sides of the campaign are calling racist, sexist and anti-Semitic.
Francisco Da Costa, a City Hall gadfly and environmental activist, has long posted his controversial thoughts on Bayview-Hunters Point and City Hall politics on various Web sites. But apparently nobody took much notice of his rants until he became a signed proponent of Proposition F. That measure would mandate that half of the new homes built under redevelopment plans for the Hunters Point shipyard and Candlestick Point be affordable.
Proposition G, the competing measure, is backed by Lennar Corp., the construction company that wants voter approval to remake the area. It has pledged that 25 percent of new homes will be affordable and calls the 50 percent mandate a "poison pill" that would kill the project.
Da Costa blasted the many high-priced political consultants and media men hired by Lennar for being "Jews that make so much money off poor people in the Bayview and want to make more."
He also wrote, "History sure will repeat itself but this time it will be reminiscent of a time when Crystals fell from the ceilings and there was a hue and cry." Many have read this as a reference to Kristallnacht, the night in 1938 Germany that saw the destruction of Jewish neighborhoods.
Da Costa also blasts African American supporters of Prop. G, alluding to them being slaves to Lennar by writing they can "partake in the bread crumbs - the same old way the Plantation was run - Masta, Masta, Masta."
When Da Costa's writings surfaced in recent weeks, they were promptly condemned by several political clubs including the powerful Democratic County Central Committee. The committee last week also voted to endorse Lennar's Prop. G and oppose Prop. F.
Scott Wiener, chair of the committee, said the group voted on the merits of the measures, but noted the Prop. F campaign's embracing of Da Costa even though his style was well-known at City Hall and raised eyebrows.
"It's one thing if you associate with someone and then out of the blue they say something offensive," Wiener said. "It's quite another thing if you have someone with a track record of acting in a really inappropriate and bizarre way, and then you consciously choose to make that person your main proponent."
Supervisor Chris Daly, Prop. F's most prominent backer, said he has heard Da Costa speak at multiple Board of Supervisors meetings and that his public testimony can be "uncomfortable." But Daly said he only became aware of Da Costa's writings on Thursday. The next day Daly said he asked Da Costa to step aside as a proponent of the campaign, which he agreed to do.
"We had a problem within the coalition and we dealt with it," Daly said. "It would be great if we could discuss the merits of the measures and vote them up or down based on the merits."
Da Costa told The Chronicle that he "never, ever" meant for the crystals comment to be taken as anti-Semitic, but he doesn't regret the other remarks. He said they reflect his anger at the city's most powerful people doing nothing to help children and the elderly in Bayview-Hunters Point.
"It's not politically correct but it's frustration," he said. "I say it as I feel it."
According to Giannina Miranda with the city's Department of Elections, San Franciscans will receive voter information handbooks before the June election - with Da Costa's name as a proponent of Prop. F even though he has asked for it to be removed.
"The proponents cannot remove their name right now," she said. "It's past the deadline."
