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This is a video of a fundraiser I attended on July 1st at Yoshi's In San Francisco. The hosts of the event were Hala Hijazi, the President of Professionals VIP, and Former and Legendary Speaker of The Assembly and Mayor of San Francisco Willie L. Brown, Jr. Speaker Brown was at his best, holding court, and at the end of her speech, he encouraged the crowd to "Drink. Drink. Drink. And then let me represent you for driving drunk!" Brown is now an attorney at Kay and Merkle. It was a great turn out, with everyone from Art Torres the head of the California Democratic Party, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and several SF supervisors like Aaron Peskin and Sophie Maxwell, to Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, and business leaders like Michael Johnson, who owns Yoshi's in San Francisco to Kofi Bonner of Lennar, and Steven Kay of Kay and Merkle, and my friend Beth Schnitzer who heads marketing for Pier 39 and Melissa Galliani who's the local sales manager of KFRC.

The San Francisco 49ers are good for San Francisco; they bring pride to the City and its residents. It wouldn't make any sense to take the 49ers out of San Francisco. The team's owners need to seriously consider and then reconsider what the team brings to the City and its neighborhoods, especially the neighborhoods around the stadium. Lennar Corporation's proposed new 49ers' stadium is a good thing for the residents of Bayview Hunters Point because it will bring with it 6500 new housing units, which means help for local small businesses, and a beautified, improved neighborhood. The 49ers are as much a City tradition as the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf. Keep the stadium in SF!

In San Francisco, the second annual International African Marketplace (IAM) brought music, dance, food, art and crafts of the African Diaspora to the Bayview-Hunters Point district on three consecutive weekends in September. The IAM ran from 12 to 5 p.m. on September 15-16, 22-23 and 29-30 at the Bayview Opera House located at 4705 Third Street at Oakdale Avenue, easily accessible from the MUNI "T" line. Admission was free. The IAM is a celebratory series of events and activities of cultural diversity representing the African Diaspora and its cultural influences worldwide. It serves as a venue for all cultures of the African Diaspora and as a rallying point for coordinating resources in the African-American business, social service and art communities. It further serves as a cultural destination for tourists and residents. By presenting global goods and wares of the African Diaspora, local vendors will recreate a cultural destination venue within the Bayview-Hunters Point co...

Kofi Bonner | Bonner With Lennar in SF Bay Area | 49ers Stadium Issue After a stellar career as an executive in the National Football League and with a credit card company, my friend Kofi Bonner is back in the San Francisco Bay Area as Director Of Urban Land for Lennar Corporation. Here's some background on the person who was once Interim City Manager for Oakland from the SF Business TImes. Kofi Bonner is back. Lennar Corp. has hired the former Bay Area planning and political whiz to help in its Hunters Point and Treasure Island developments and search for fresh Bay Area opportunities from San Jose to Sacramento. "It's wonderful to see the old faces. Many have moved onward and upward and are as cantankerous and loving as ever," said Bonner. "It's great to be back." Known for his aggressive role in redeveloping Emeryville during the 1980s, Bonner also served as the head of economic development and interim City Manger in Oakland before becoming an...