Break out the chairs and air mattresses, it's time for a good old fashioned sitting and lying party.
With the passage of Prop L this week, sidewalk fans will face new challenges from neighbors and police who would prefer that they move along. But they're not going away without a fight.
Two separate protests are planned against the new sit/lie law. The first will take place on Sunday, the 7th, in front of the Westfield Shopping Center. Protesters are planning to eat lunch on the sidewalk at 1pm. Sounds delightful!
The second event happens Monday outside city hall from 8am to noon. Participants will be asked to sit. Even if you can't make it to the event, they've requested that supporters sit down on a sidewalk, wherever the happen to be.
Both events sound like they'll be super-effective.
The actions follow a bitter campaign. On one side was the mayor, chief of police, and various neighborhood organizations. On the other side were other neighborhood organizations and a mysterious, anonymous group of graffitti artists who commandeered advertising space to advocate against he measure.
The official No On L campaign has kept quiet since the election. The last update on their website is from election day, and they told the Guardian that they're exploring legal avenues to challenge the measure. A similar law in Portland was ruled unconstitutional, so the same could easily happen in San Francisco.
Meanwhile, the SF Chronicle has acknowledged that its coverage tended to skew in favor of the measure, but defended that as merely a reflection of the news. Even after the election is over, tempers are still high, and probably won't simmer down for quite some time.
