S.F. Zoo's reward for missing monkey on hold

San Francisco police have decided to take a closer look at the return of Banana-Sam, the 2-pound squirrel monkey that was "found" by a passer-by in Stern Grove two nights after being kidnapped from the zoo.

"At this point, I can only say that the police have asked us to hold off on handing out any reward" for the returned monkey, said zoo Director Tanya Peterson.

Banana-Sam made international news when he was snatched from his home at the zoo's primate center either late Thursday or early Friday.

The 17-year-old monkey was returned to police Saturday evening. The man who came in with Banana-Sam told officers he had been walking with his dog at Stern Grove when he heard the monkey in the bushes and coaxed him into his backpack.

"Not likely," was the response of the zoo's assistant curator of primates, Jill Andrews. Squirrel monkeys, even those accustomed to humans, aren't the type to hop into a backpack willingly, she said.

The police apparently had the same reaction as Andrews. Not wanting to be made to look like monkeys themselves, they have decided to do a bit more investigating before closing the case.

They haven't identified the man who brought Banana-Sam to police, and for now, the zoo's $5,000 reward for the monkey's safe return isn't going anywhere.

Recall rebound: Oakland Mayor Jean Quan is already busy fending off a possible recall, and so is her husband.

In a Dec. 22 e-mail to Quan supporters, her husband, Dr. Floyd Huen, asked for volunteers to host a series of house parties in the town's affluent foothills, where some of the recall leaders live.

"We are billing it as a listening tour," Huen wrote. He said he and a crew from the mayor's former Block by Block Organizing Network election campaign would like to have the meetings set up by mid-January, when recall petitions will probably be popping up in the hill neighborhoods.

"We just need to meet this recall movement head on; turn a bad thing into a good thing; and move toward reforming Oakland for everybody," Huen wrote.

Huen, who took part in the first Occupy Oakland shutdown of the port Nov. 2, has become a bit of a lightning rod himself for those pushing a recall.

He did not respond to our own e-mail request seeking comment.

Shoplift update: Supervisor-turned-Judge Gerardo Sandoval is signaling he may be prepared to reduce a felony shoplifting charge against Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi to a misdemeanor.

Hayashi, a Castro Valley Democrat, was charged with felony grand theft in late October after being filmed by a surveillance camera allegedly shoplifting $2,450 worth of merchandise from the Neiman Marcus store on Union Square.

At a recent meeting in his Superior Court chambers, Sandoval said he would consider reducing the charge to a misdemeanor if the defense requested it, sources tell us.

Reducing the charge would result in the case being kicked to another judge who handles misdemeanors. It would also take some of the steam out of the prosecution.

Prosecutors say Neiman Marcus security put Hayashi under video surveillance because they suspected her of an earlier shoplifting. They say the footage shows the legislator "messing" with a shopping bag containing the allegedly stolen skirt, blouse and pair of leather pants while preparing to return another item at the checkout stand.

Hayashi, who was detained just after leaving the store, has insisted it was all a mistake. Her spokesman says she was distracted by cell-phone calls and texts in the store and simply forgot to pay for the items.

Her attorney, Douglas Rappaport, said he probably won't be ready to ask for a reduction in charges when he and prosecutors face off in Sandoval's courtroom on Friday. But he added, "I never know what's gong to happen in court."

In labor: Former bad-boy Supervisor Chris Daly, who has been running a bar on Market Street since leaving office, may have a new job with some of his biggest political supporters - the Service Employees International Union Local 1021.

"I'm in discussions with them right now, and am supposed to have something worked out this week," Daly told us Tuesday.

Daly has been moonlighting with the union for a while, taking on troubleshooting projects around Northern California.

As for the Buck Tavern, Daly says he's not giving it up completely - though he'll be tending bar far less regularly.

Power players: Never one to miss the chance to throw a party, former Mayor Willie Brown is tossing a pre-inaugural dinner Saturday night for Mayor Ed Leeat the Palace Hotel's Garden Court restaurant.

About 300 people are expected to attend the invitation-only affair, which includes dinner and music by Pete Escovedo and Ricardo Scales.

"This will not be your typical Willie Brown affair," said the former mayor and current Chronicle columnist. "It will be modest. In keeping with Ed Lee, no black tie - just business dress."

EXTRA! Catch our blog at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.