Coming soon to a skyline near you (Credit: La Casa de las Madres)

The new billboard that will be seen starting Wednesday near the Hall of Justice reading “Domestic Violence is NEVER a private matter” is an obvious dig at Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi.

Last month Mirkarimi said that the domestic violence he allegedly committed against his wife is “a private matter, a family matter.” But the billboard is also a way to confront the “deafening silence” from City Hall in response to that archaic way of thinking, said Kathy Black, director of La Casa de las Madres, a domestic violence shelter that is fundraising for the billboard.

“When those comments were made, I feel like the city and city officials should have stepped right up and said, ‘No, that’s not correct. It’s a crime,’” she said. “If the last message people hear is the sheriff saying it’s a private matter, why report it? How can you encourage safety for women and children who are victims of domestic violence if they don’t understand it’s a crime?”

Black said the sheriff’s case “could have been a big teaching moment.”

Instead? Crickets.

Mayor Ed Lee has called the charges against Mirkarimi, whose trial on three misdemeanor counts is set for Feb. 24, “serious” and has met with domestic violence advocates and members of the city’s Commission on the Status of Women. He told Mirkarimi he should consider stepping aside, which the sheriff refused to do.

But Lee hasn’t publicly said anything regarding the importance of reporting domestic violence or condemning Mirkarimi’s remarks — and neither, to our knowledge, has any other city official.

Emberly Cross, coordinating attorney for the Cooperative Restraining Order Clinic, which helps domestic violence victims obtain restraining orders against their abusers, said she has been disappointed by City Hall’s collective shrug about the cavalier attitude Mirkarimi has displayed since the allegations surfaced.

“I am shocked that somebody can make a comment that domestic violence is a private, family matter and not have there be an uproar from all of our elected politicians,” she said. “This is 2012, not 1972.”

City officials say they’re keeping mum because of advice from the city attorney’s office that they must not address the Mirkarimi case. Lee could temporarily suspend Mirkarimi from office while the court case plays out. That would trigger a hearing by the Ethics Commission, which could then make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. Nine of the 11 members would have to vote to remove Mirkarimi from office for him to be out of a job.

Lee said he was aware of domestic violence advocates’ concerns and that he’s worked with many of the organizations for years and appreciates their work. But he said, “My public comments have to be very constrained about it because I have a legal participation in the case.”

Supervisor Christina Olague said the supervisors were being “extra cautious” because of their potential role as Mirkarimi’s jury should the mayor move to expel him, but she said she was pleased by the billboard campaign.

“Anything that’s calling attention to the issue of domestic violence is good, but maybe there’s been a reluctance to speak about the issue because we might have to weigh in on it,” she said. “It doesn’t mean we’re not sympathetic to it or sensitive to it.”

Matt Dorsey, spokesman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera, also couldn’t say much, but noted, “We generally advise board members and commissioners to refrain from commenting on matters they may be required to consider in a quasi-judicial capacity.”

But Beverly Upton, president of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, said there’s a difference between commenting on a legal case and speaking out against the notion domestic violence is a private matter. Upton led a group of advocates who asked Lee to use his “moral authority” to usher Mirkarimi out of office.

“He asked the sheriff to consider stepping down and again, all he has to do is say no and everybody goes away,” she said. “Well, we’re not going away.”

By the way, we hear at least one supervisor is pushing Lee to take a more public role in the matter.