Today’s rally in support of public defender Jeff Adachi lacked the luster of last week’s event – or so I’m told. Expecting to arrive in the midst of the same Power-to-the-People-infused vigor shown by community members last week on the steps of City Hall, this reporter showed up a scant 20 minutes after 2 and saw… an abandoned, idling ABC7 van.
Clearly the action had moved inside. Michael Summers, hotdog shiller at Annie’s Hot Dogs (staple sustenance of protesters and reporters due to its proximity to the steps of City Hall) gave me the time of 2:23 with my Polish sausage and said he had seen nary a rallier. His sad little tip jar testified to a dearth of activity in the area.
Further inquiry with the security desk at City Hall (with its clear view of the steps outside), revealed that T-shirts had been handed out to Public Defender supporters around 1:30. “It was more like a ‘small gathering’,” said the security guard at the desk when I asked about a rally.
This afternoon’s vote by the Board of Supervisors is Adachi’s last chance to get an amendment added to the city budget that restores the $1.6 million in cuts to his department’s funding.
Photo of Adachi during last week’s agitation by Chris Roberts.
