Last Tuesday, San Franciscans received a rare opportunity to see the inner workings of how the Newsom administration operates. As the Board of Supervisors prepared to vote on legislation limiting parking downtown, several Board members noted the Planning Department’s strong support for it as a reason for approval. Yet minutes before the vote was to occur, a letter appeared supposedly written by Planning Director Dean Macris that contradicted his Department’s previous support. An obvious move by the Mayor’s office to trip up the legislation, the ploy failed, as the Board approved it. Tomorrow, however, it comes before the Board again for a second reading, during which Macris will likely be called upon to explain the letter. The question is – will Newsom write a new script for Macris this time, and if so, will Macris bow to political pressure and follow it?

Legislation to allow new development to include a maximum of two parking spaces for every four new units went before the Planning Commission late last year. The Commission provided a variety of recommendations, the most substantial being to up the limit to three parking spaces for every four units. Supervisor Chris Daly, then the sponsor of legislation, worked in every change they suggested before submitting it to the Land Use Committee.

It came before the Committee not long after, accompanied by a signed letter from Dean Macris dated December 1 stating he and the Planning Commission fully supported the newly amended legislation. During several Committee hearings on the proposal, Planning Department staff reiterated this support.

However, all this occurred before Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to make killing the legislation one of his top issues. After Gap founder Don Fisher called for a December 19 meeting with the Mayor to voice his strong opposition - opposition seconded by a variety of downtown heavy hitters that accompanied Fisher to the meeting - Newsom got to work.

Last Tuesday, we learned a key person targeted was Dean Macris. Despite Macris being out of the city, the Planning Department’s Zoning Administrator Larry Badiner submitted an unsigned letter on a plain sheet of paper at last week’s Board meeting declaring Macris now had problems with the legislation he had so recently championed.

Badner stated the letter represented the cooperative efforts of himself, Macris and the Mayor’s Office. The obvious conclusion - Newsom asked Macris to change his position on the legislation to weaken its chances at passing. Macris complied, but unfortunately for the Mayor, the script assembled to deliver this effort was shoddily constructed.

While Badiner stated the letter had been written in the past few days, it had obviously been hastily assembled, as his version conflicted with a version read to the Board by Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier. Called upon by Newsom to bring the letter to the Board’s attention, it appeared Alioto-Pier had not been given the most recent draft from Badiner and the Mayor’s Office, likely because the letter was being edited up until minutes before the Board’s meeting.

Even worse, Planning’s Deputy Director Dr. Amit Ghosh publicly stated than in his thirty years of working in city planning, he’d never seen a Planning Director write a letter to the Board rescinding support he had previously offered. Ghosh’s comments reflected how out of character Macris’ politically influenced letter was – in the past, despite being a friend of developers, Macris has worked hard to maintain a professional image.

While the Mayor’s efforts failed to stop the legislation from passing, it may have helped stop the legislation from receiving a veto-proof eight votes. Now, it remains to be seen what will occur at the second reading of the legislation, to take place tomorrow.

Macris surely has some explaining to do. First and foremost, he needs to offer an explanation other than pressure from the Mayor as to why he would sign a letter to the Board of Supervisors supporting parking restrictions downtown, then dash of a letter months later declaring he now had serious problems with it. Just as important, why did he wait until minutes before the Board voted on the issue to raise these problems, when the issue had been heard for hours before the Land Use Committee?

Macris must also answer to the Planning Commission, the citizen’s oversight body Macris is supposed to represent. Macris’ last-minute letter contradicted decisions made by the Commission, undercutting the Commission’s legitimacy as the citizen’s body charged with overseeing San Francisco’s planning process. The Commission will be holding a hearing this Thursday on the letter and Macris’ role in its creation, at which commissioners will hopefully ask the tough questions that need to be answered.

It’s hard to imagine a legitimate explanation for his behavior, and for this reason, it’s possible Macris will avoid Tuesday’s Board meeting altogether. But if he does, it remains vital that members of the Board not let this issue die. A clearer example of political pressure being put upon a supposedly independent department director to achieve the political goals of small group of moneyed interests is unlikely to be found.

Whatever script developed by the Mayor’s Office for tomorrow, whether it’s to keep Macris silent or to have him deliver a statement that they hope will exonerate him from any wrong-doing, the Board needs to keep up the pressure on Newsom and his charade surrounding the parking legislation. To do any less would be a disservice to the people of San Francisco and their right to now how their government is operating.