Starting next year, the Police Department will have to regularly staff foot beats around eight of San Francisco’s 10 police stations and within six months report to the Board of Supervisors how effective the foot beats are in reducing crime. The report will also include how often police officers were out walking the beats.

In what has become one of the hottest political fights of the year, that of the Board of Supervisors against the Mayor’s Office and the Police Department, nine supervisors voted in support of the policy that was authored by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi.

Mirkarimi introduced the legislation that dictated the foot patrol policy in June, saying he was frustrated with the mayor’s and police Chief Heather Fong’s lack of response to the record-setting homicide rate of the last three years and ongoing growth in violent crimes. Foot patrols are seen by Mirkarimi and others as a way to build community trust, deter crime and generate a feeling of safety in neighborhoods long plagued by violent crime.

On the day of the vote, Newsom blasted the legislation.

“Let the police chief decide where these officers go, not a supervisor that has no public safety experience, that has no history in this department,” Newsom said. “It’s just a terrible precedent and I am not going to stand by and watch politicians play cop. No city in America does this.”

A day before the board vote, police Chief Heather Fong unveiled a new effort to put more officers out walking the streets, seen as an attempt to kill the legislation. The chief’s plan mirrored the Mirkarimi legislation but did not require updates to supervisors.

Nevertheless, the board voted 9-2 to override Newsom’s veto. It takes eight votes from the 11-member board to override a mayor’s veto.

Fong’s plan does not have an accountability aspect and “the timing of her proposal is suspect,” Mirkarimi said.

Supervisor Jake McGoldrick also questioned the motivation of Fong’s new plan as the veto was pending. “I guess somebody else would like credit for it,” McGoldrick said.

Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, who backed Newsom’s veto along with Sean Elsbernd, said police operations should be dictated by the chief and the captains, not the legislative body of city government.

“The Police Department should be run by the mayor and by the police chief and by the captains,” Alioto-Pier said.

Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who said his district is being hit by crime, said the board was not intruding on the operations of this department, but that the board “needs to step forward because we are not seeing the level of leadership at the command structure that we need right now.”

Following the override vote, Fong, who Monday said that if the legislation passed she would defer to the opinions of police captains and not the legislation, said, “I do not believe that there is a problem with complying.” Starting Nov. 24, 44 additional beat officers would be out walking the streets, Fong said.

Vote caps rough time for Newsom

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s having a bad week — make that two.

The candidates Newsom endorsed in the pivotal Board of Supervisors races did not win, the 49ers announced they were relocating to Silicon Valley, The City pulled out of contention to host the 2016 Olympics and, for the first time ever, the Board of Supervisors shot down one of his vetoes.

Political pundits, however, do not figure these recent events will damage Newsom’s political career, particularly his re-election next year, or show that Newsom’s popularity is waning.

“Nothing sticks to Newsom. Nothing hurts the guy, really,” political analyst David Latterman said. “He’s having a rough time, but I don’t think any of this will affect next year,” when Newsom is up for re-election.

Coming out of Election Day, the candidates Newsom endorsed in the Board of Supervisors District 4 and District 6 elections were defeated. Particularly stinging was businessman Rob Black’s loss to Newsom’s political adversary, incumbent Chris Daly, in District 6. His preferred candidate in District 4, Doug Chan, lost to Ed Jew.

Four days later, it was learned that 49ers owner John York was moving the storied football franchise to Silicon Valley, abandoning plans for a brand-new stadium at Candlestick Point. Without the prospect of a new stadium, Newsom was forced on Monday to retract San Francisco’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

Newsom’s spokesman, Peter Ragone, was quick to point out that none of these events were related to one another.

“The situation surrounding the Olympics and the 49ers was perpetrated by John York,” Ragone said.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors shot down in a 9-2 vote Newsom’s veto on legislation requiring regular foot patrols. It was Newsom’s seventh veto since coming to office.

With politicking in full force, Newsom was unable to secure the four votes needed to uphold his veto.

“The administration doesn’t blackmail, doesn’t intimidate, doesn’t threaten,” Ragone said. “We do our best to present our position and then let the chips fall where they may.”

Latterman was not surprised by the board vote and said it doesn’t suggest Newsom’s political power has weakened at all, but is illustrative of “Newsom’s never-ending battle with the board on all things political.” He added, “There’s no doubt that he has very little political support on the board. On the best day, he has four votes.”

jsabatini@examiner.com