Update 3:05 p.m. KQED's Peter Jon Shuler reports that San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon has announced he's asking Ross Mirkarimi to recuse himself from any part of his duties having to do with domestic violence cases.
Original post
Four members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted late Tuesday that San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi should not be removed from office over a domestic violence case involving his actress wife. Mirkarimi and his wife, Eliana Lopez, thanked supporters after the vote.
Political analyst Corey Cook told KQED's Jon Brooks he was actually impressed by how the Board handled the matter. "I thought they handled a very difficult issue in a thoughtful and nuanced way. I'm not surprised by the outcome; I'm a little bit surprised by the individual votes. But seven to four doesn't surprise me and I think it reveals how hard it is in the charter to remove someone. Nine to two is a really high bar. Seven to four is a big majority, but on an issue like this it's still well short."
When asked about Mirkarimi's comments on KQED's Forum show today criticizing domestic violence agencies and law enforcement authorities for the way in which they pursued the case against him, Cook said, "My advice to Sheriff Mirkarimi would be to take a cue from the Board of Supervisors and tone down the rhetoric a bit. My hope is that last night ended this and now we can talk about other things -- including how we actually can deal with domestic violence in San Francisco -- rather than continuing to litigate this issue about whether Mirkarimi should be removed.
