Thoughts on Carl DeMaio

DeMaio’s a net positive

Your March 16 editorial slammed Carl DeMaio for being 30 minutes late to a City Council meeting. No doubt this is a debit to his record. But how about the credits, the most notable being his “Roadmap to Recovery,” a proposed solution to the city’s budget deficits.

None of the other council members has proposed anything like the Roadmap. In fact, the mayor’s task force on the budget opined that $41 million of the Roadmap’s suggested savings are practical and should be enacted by the council.

Let’s balance that $41 million savings against his half-hour tardiness.

Mel Shapiro, Hillcrest

DeMaio and his ‘ilk’

Thanks much for your wonderfully accurate March 16 editorial about Carl DeMaio. Anybody who has been paying attention to his career already knows that he is a wealthy, self-promoting political narcissist posing as a populist. We need less of his ilk in government.

Markel Tumlin, Normal Heights

‘Up and down’ DeMaio

I must agree with your March 16 editorial: Carl is wrapped up in Carl. I lost a lot of respect for DeMaio and Todd in January. I was at City Hall for a proclamation for a friend sponsored by Councilmember Marti Emerald. Gloria was absorbed in his laptop and DeMaio was in and out, up and down, missing for long periods and working on his laptop. It appeared to me that neither of them could have told you a thing about the honorees. If you’re too busy to direct your attention to the rules of order, you might expect the same treatment. It would have been better to remain absent or less distracting. Be kind to the folks on the way up, Carl, because you’ll meet the same folks on the way down.

Howard Gillins, San Carlos

This issue of CityBeat is snorting crushed potassium iodide.