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It looks like Gov. Jerry Brown will not get his wish, and his tax plan will not be the only one on the November ballot.

Multimillionaire Molly Munger, with her income-tax increase for education, and the California Federation of Teachers, with its millionaires tax, show no signs of backing down.

Unlike the governor, who fears that multiple measures will amount to a circular firing squad, I say choice is healthy.

Let's be honest - all the tax plans are set up to pay for the interests of their backers. Munger and the teachers are all about money going to education. Brown, while saying his plan will help education, actually would give himself the freedom to spread the money around to a host of state programs.

Why not let the voters compare and decide, much the way they did with the dueling pension reform measures on the last San Francisco ballot? You'll notice, by the way, that one of those plans managed to pass, even though it had competition.

Compare, contrast and decide.

As for the antitax forces taking advantage of the situation? They are going to be antitax no matter if there are one or three measures on the ballot.

There's a real surprise in store for President Obama when he comes to town later this month.

You might recall that just a couple of weeks ago, when he was in Harlem, Obama stepped out of his professorial character when he sang the opening bars to Al Green's hit "Let's Stay Together."

It was a rare glimpse of the guy hanging loose.

Well, his San Francisco host, Robert Mailer Anderson, has lined up the Reverend Al himself for the president's fundraiser.

Who knows, maybe they can sing a duet.

The Chinese New Year's Parade is, of course, mandatory for our politicians. And you have to hope you're insulted by Rose Pak at the grandstand so people will remember you were there.

But it's the Coronation Ball for Miss Chinatown, which was held Friday, that's the big one for our town's big shots.

The pecking order is determined by when you're called from your table to dance with the contestants - with the biggest names in the house being summoned to dance with the winner.

There's a move in town to string 25,000 LED lights off the western span of the Bay Bridge, part of the bridge's upcoming 75th anniversary.

They rolled out the plan at the Waterbar restaurant the other night to kick-start a $7 million fundraising effort. It's going to be one of the most spectacular displays you've ever seen.

The LEDs will create a floating light show that will outdo anything Las Vegas has ever tried. Leo Villareal, who's known the world over as a light artist, is designing patterns that will vary depending on where you're looking at them.

Mayor Ed Lee and many of our local tech types were at the preview, because this is going to be the ultimate symbol of San Francisco as the high-tech capital of the world.

A few years back, the first Heroes & Hearts auction of giant painted hearts to benefit San Francisco General Hospital was held in Union Square.

They're still doing it, and so many people come now that Thursday's event had to be held at AT&T Park. The first event was 90 percent women. This year, it was a 50-50 split.

Guess the guys are getting some heart.

Movie time: "Safe House." Denzel Washington gets out of the car from "Training Day" and into a CIA quadruple double-cross in South Africa.

Run, don't walk, to see this one.

The Museum of the African Diaspora is having an informal Black History Month film festival. They're playing "Stormy Weather" with Lena Horne, "St. Louis Blues" with Nat King Cole, "Pinky" and "Harlem Nights," among others.

Not only is the museum playing them, it's selling them on DVD as well.

The other night this guy comes up to me and says, "Those swipes you've been taking about Silicon Valley millionaires exporting jobs are really hypocritical, especially considering all the jobs you've created overseas."

"What jobs are those?" I asked.

"Tailoring. Everything you wear is made in Italy."

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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Jerry Brown tax plan has competition