The restrictions, vigorously opposed by McDonald's, the California Restaurant Association and other representatives of the fast-food industry, are set to take effect in December 2011.
The new law, modeled after a Santa Clara County ordinance adopted earlier this year, aims to combat childhood obesity and hold "the fast-food industry accountable to creating healthier choices for our kids," said Supervisor Eric Mar.
The board voted 8-3 to override Newsom's veto, the bare minimum needed. Joining Mar were Supervisors John Avalos, David Campos, David Chiu, Chris Daly, Bevan Dufty, Sophie Maxwell and Ross Mirkarimi. Opposed were Supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier, Carmen Chu and Sean Elsbernd.
It was one of the few times during Newsom's seven years as mayor that his veto wasn't upheld.
In his veto message on the toy ban, Newsom said that although it is well intentioned, it goes too far. Parents, not the government, he said, should make the call on what their children eat.
- Rachel Gordon
So much for first: This might be hard a hard pill for San Francisco politicians to swallow, but San Mateo County was the first in the nation to collect and destroy residents' old drugs for free.
We told you about Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi's proposal to require drug companies to pay for the disposal of their expired products. Mirkarimi's office has said it would be the first of its kind in the nation - the favorite phrase of many a San Francisco city official.
While Mirkarimi's requirement that drug companies pay for the program is unique, a very similar program has been chugging along for years in the suburbs of San Mateo.
When that county's Supervisor Adrienne Tissier lost her father to cancer in 2004, she was overwhelmed by his large number of prescription medications and wondered what to do with them. That led to the creation two years later of the county's Pharmaceutical Disposal Program.
Sixteen police stations and sheriff's offices around the county collect expired drugs. Under federal law, only law enforcement agencies can take back controlled substances.
We asked Tissier whether it's true that San Mateo County was the first in the nation to implement such a program, noting it's our politicians' claim to fame. "I don't need to brag about it," she said laughing.
The county pays for the expense of pickups, which have cost $60,000 over the past four years.
"The city is in no position to be paying for anything right now," Mirkarimi countered. "We're asking the pharmaceutical industry to help subsidize this, which they should."
He is working with the companies and hopes to have a compromise in place on or before Dec. 7.
But supervisor, is your hesitation really that San Mateo County beat you to it? Mirkarimi laughed, saying that doesn't matter to him.
- Heather Knight
Alert! It's cold: The Department of Emergency Management's Alert SF notification system is certainly worthwhile and has notified residents who sign up for the service of tsunami warnings, bomb scares, Bay Bridge closures, major BART shutdowns and the like.
But there were a few chuckles at City Hall Tuesday over the frantic-sounding alert entitled "Arctic Cold Blast." We couldn't help but imagine the voice-over for a horror movie trailer as we read the following:
"A new modified artic (sic) airmass originating over western Canada will reach the Bay Area this afternoon. This will be the coldest weather of the season so far and it will be arriving during a major holiday week. ... Chilly weather will linger through the end of the week."
To be fair, low temperatures can be a big problem for the city's homeless, and that appears to be the intent of the message because it highlights available shelter space. But we can only imagine non-Californians reading an emergency alert that "low temps will range in the lower 30s" in late November and sneering.
- Heather Knight
E-mail the City Insider team at cityinsider@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Read more: News
No comments:
Post a Comment