Adachi's feisty response came as no surprise. During his eight-year tenure, Adachi hasn't hesitated to tangle with public officials who crossed him. When the city created a new court to handle cases in the Tenderloin, San Francisco's red-light district and the focus of a recent cleanup effort, Adachi refused, saying his 93 attorneys were too busy. Eventually he agreed to provide legal defenses there himself.
Adachi's antics have frustrated officials in the mayor's office, who insist that in the current fiscal situation, everyone must live within their means. But Adachi disagrees. The Public Defender's Office, he said, is the only department constitutionally obligated to perform its function. Most San Franciscans seem to agree. Observers expect Adachi to be easily re-elected in 2010. Unless, that is, he runs for another office altogether-the mayor's office.