Proclaiming Principles of Freedom

On March 5, 1946, Winston S. Churchill spoke at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, having traveled 1,000 miles with then President Harry S. Truman from Washington D.C. to do so (Churchill also observed: “I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken over me.”)

After Truman introduced him, Churchill declared: “We must never cease to proclaim in fearless tones the great principles of freedom and the rights of man which are the joint inheritance of the English-speaking world and which through Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Habeas Corpus, trial by jury and the English common law find their most famous expression in the American Declaration of Independence.”

Accomplishing Independence

Those who accomplished our independence by providing leadership to do so included John and Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee (father of Robert E. Lee), Robert Livingston, James Madison, George Mason, Robert Morris, Peyton Randolph, Roger Sherman, Joseph Warren, James Wilson, George Washington and John Witherspoon. Witherspoon was the only clergy member to sign the Declaration of Independence and later became president of Princeton University, then called the College of New Jersey. He taught the governmental system that has survived for 250 years!

Livingston was later appointed minister to France and with James Monroe doubled our nation’s size by negotiating the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The important element of “separation of church and state emanated from a letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Baptist congregation in Danbury, Connecticut in support of their right to exist and worship as they deserved after the Congregational church in Danbury suggested that Baptists didn’t belong in Connecticut because the Congregationalists considered Connecticut a Congregational state. (The phrase “separation of church and state” is not in the U.S. Constitution, although people generally believe it is.)

“The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha in the History of America by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

That’s John Adams’ wisdom in a letter to Abigail Adams, his wife, on July 3, 1776. This succeeding generation celebrates on 4 July 2026 its 250th anniversary. (I had to use my Collegiate Dictionary to learn “shew” is a British variation of “show.”)

In summer 1775, the Second Continental Congress had enacted a “Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms,” which informed American reasons for resisting British Rule.

The Upper Great Highway

The Upper Great Highway Debacle continues. It began after recalled District 4 Supervisor Joel Enguardio double-crossed constituents and waited until the last day legally possible to do so June 15, 2024 and delivered to our Registrar of Voters a ballot measure to close the already compromised street to motor vehicles all seven weekdays. As users know, the road was already closed from Friday at noon to Monday at 6 a.m. pursuant to a compromise

Engardio had been working on this subject-matter for over three months. He declined to notify his constituents or business owners, never mentioned it in his monthly “Sunset Beacon” column, ignoring obligations of open government while his constituents, neighborhood clubs and the West of Twin Peaks Home Improvement Council were uninformed.

Then State Sen. Scott Wiener and staff tried unsuccessfully to remove the Coastal Commission’s legal oversight of the Great Highway which didn’t matter because that state commission later ratified the road closure.

In the ensuing election 65% of Sunset voters and 70% of Richmond voters voted “No” on closure, but were outvoted by Telegraph Hill, North Beach, Russian Hill, Marina, Pacific Heights, Mission and Bayview residents. That resulted in 14,000-20,000 motor vehicles being forced to use Lincoln Way, Sunset Boulevard and 19th Avenue on weekdays for work, school and medical visits, all without prior traffic studies regarding this major evacuation artery in event of a fire, earthquake or law enforcement need.

Lurie’s Upzoning

Mayor Daniel Lurie replaced Engardio with Alan Wong who must do Lurie’s bidding as witness his subsequent vote to “upzone” District 4 and then wins election to replace Engardio.

(A side fact is the spending on June 2 supervisorial candidates in the primary.) Bear in mind a principal argument for electing supervisors by geographical “districts” instead of at-large was the reduced amount of campaign money supposedly needed in such elections. The data of the Ethics Commission shows, however, massive election spending which amazes those like me who abhor what district election of supervisors has produced. Some candidates spent more than $150,000, some spent more than $500,000 – so much for supervisorial elections by geographical districts enabling less expensive campaign spending. It’s another hoax on voters.

Restore the Compromise

Registered voters to restore the compromise treatment of allowing private vehicles on the Upper Great Highway Monday to Friday have until July 6 to sign the requisite voter petition. Please do so and save taxpayers’ money now spent twice every week on shoveling sand because the Department of Public Works can’t remove it by merely sweeping. That City department now needs more funding from taxpayers. Businesses now use residential streets such as 48th Avenue to replenish their stores. So does J.B. Hunt Co.

The Great Highway is part of San Francisco’s “49 Mile Drive,” a historical part of our City. Meanwhile, the failed Engardio who called the Great Highway “The Road To Nowhere” lied by claiming the all-week closure to vehicles cost taxpayers “nothing.”

Bidding and Redistricting

Meanwhile, Lurie requested the Board of Supervisors to abolish competitive bidding on contracts relating to homelessness, drug overdose, substantive use disorders, mental health and public safety hiring. Only Supervisor Shamann Walton voted against such abrogation of common sense.

Just like California and Texas, New York Democratic legislators voted two months ago to give themselves the power to revamp the Empire State’s Congressional districts and allow themselves to draw the House of Representative lines before the 2030 census. Like California, it’s a predominant Democratic state and both state legislative bodies approved their June power play to supplant the state’s independent redistricting expert and re-district themselves between the once-every-10 years-census figures. The measure awaits gubernatorial approval, which is assured in the Democratic state.

Incidentally, I remember when our southern state legislators, federal and state, were all Democrats. Not anymore. No Democrat now holds statewide office in Alabama!

Supreme Integrity

My favorite Wall Street Journal columnist, Peggy Noonan, noted on April 5 that national decisions in Washington, D.C. appear to emanate from “Draft Dodger” Trump’s moods which “mowed down all!” She noted the Department of Treasury announcement in late March that his signature would appear on U.S. currency, just as he was “in the mood to knock down the East Wing of the White House and build something huge and dominating.” At least, the Kennedy Center won’t add Trump’s name to it because of a federal judge’s decision in May preventing him from doing so without Congressional approval.

It was that Great American, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who observed: “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army or in an office.”

Quentin Kopp is a former San Francisco supervisor, state senator, SF Ethics Commission member, president of the California High Speed Rail Authority governing board and retired Superior Court judge.