SAN FRANCISCO -- You might say that Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi is trying to dance his way out of the domestic-violence controversy that almost cost him his career.
Mirkarimi, who was nearly booted out of office last year after a misdemeanor false imprisonment conviction for an incident with his wife, is helping to arrange a choreographed dance for inmates and staff at county jails on Thursday, Valentine's Day.
He invited Dancing Without Borders -- a group dedicated to "the healing and unifying power of dance and music as a ritual, community building and empowerment vehicle," according to the group's website -- to coordinate the event in the men's and women's jails in conjunction with One Billion Rising, an international effort to call attention Thursday to violence against women and girls. Female inmates in the Sisters in Sober Treatment Empowered in Recovery program will take part, as will male inmates in the Resolve to Stop the Violence Program.
"Being incarcerated can be very isolating and disempowering," Magalie Bonneau-Marcil, Dancing Without Borders' founder and producer, said in Mirkarimi's news release. "By dancing, inmates can find an opportunity for personal healing and an invitation to rise as part of a global healing movement to stop violence and oppression."
Mayor Ed Lee suspended Mirkarimi in early 2012 after he pleaded guilty to false imprisonment related to a Dec. 31, 2011, altercation that left a bruise on the arm
of his wife, Eliana Lopez, a former Venezuelan telenovela star. He was sentenced in March to three years of probation, including a year of weekly domestic violence classes.
Mirkarimi spent much of 2012 fighting Lee's effort to permanently remove him from office, through a lengthy series of San Francisco Ethics Commission hearings. The commission ultimately voted 4-1 that he had committed official misconduct, but four members of the Board of Supervisors voted in October to reinstate him. Removing him would have required nine votes from the 11-member board.
Beverly Upton, executive director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, a network of 17 domestic-violence service agencies, in the fall had spoken in favor of Mirkarimi's ouster. On Wednesday, however, she declined comment.
After the supervisors' vote, activists had discussed a recall effort but instead launched a website in December to gather petition signatures urging Mirkarimi to resign. That site appeared dead Wednesday.
Andrea Shorter, a member of the city and county's Commission on the Status of Women who had led the short-lived Citizens for an Accountable Sheriff, didn't return a call or an email seeking comment Wednesday.
Neither Mirkarimi nor a department spokeswoman could be reached for comment Wednesday on whether the sheriff will don his dancing shoes.
His news release, however, said the sheriff "echoed the words" of Delia Ginorio, the department's survivor restoration and women's services director.
"It is very powerful that we are all coming together, survivors and offenders who are incarcerated and in the community, forming the third link of restorative justice's principle of community outreach and education," Ginorio said. "We all need to come together in stopping all violence, particularly violence against women."
Josh Richman covers politics. Contact him at 510-208-6428. Follow him at Twitter.com/josh_richman. Read the Political Blotter at IBAbuzz.com/politics.
Copyright 2013 - The Oakland Tribune
