Author: admin

by Annie Gaus :sfstandard – excerpt

San Francisco voters could decide on a slew of changes to City Hall governance in November 2024 under a reform package that would grant the mayor more power over department heads and cut the number of boards and commissions.

Under a proposed ballot measure dubbed “Effective Governance,” Supervisor Rafael Mandelman wants to change the city’s charter to allow the mayor to directly fire and hire certain department heads, eliminate the ability of the mayor and Board of Supervisors to place initiatives on the ballot and authorize a task force that would consolidate or abolish some of the city’s dizzying array of commissions, board and advisory bodies… (more)

What is this rush to re-align the system by re-shuffling the power structure? This reminds me of tall those people who moved here and then decided to change our city to meet their needs. The structure may be difficult and overly heavy and the top, but, that is no excuse for not managing the city. The crime on the street and the impossible transportation system and trash on the streets is not going away any faster by rearranging the deck chairs. I like Lurie’s idea of bringing in the department heads and letting them reapply for their jobs. Good way to meet and evaluate people. Much better than threatening voters and blaming them for your problems doing your job. Hint to those in authority. Blaming the public for your problems does not make you look very good, smart, or friendly.

By Annie Gaus and Mike Ege : sfstandard – excerpt

A hearing over a ballot measure intended to increase San Francisco police ranks devolved into a rancorous debate at City Hall Monday, leaving the future of the measure up in the air.

The measure in question, authored by Supervisor Matt Dorsey, seeks to mandate that the police department reach full staffing within five years, adding about 100 officers per year and offering $75,000 hiring bonuses for new officers, among other provisions. At the Board of Supervisors’ Rules Committee, Supervisor Ahsha Safaí proposed amendments that Dorsey called “hostile” and a “poison pill” during a testy discussion.

Safaí and Supervisor Shamann Walton, along with labor organizers and members of progressive political groups, took issue with the measure’s estimated price tag of $300 million over 5 years, suggesting it should include a tax or other funding source and also be expanded to include staff for other first responder jobs, such as 911 operators.

“I find it strange it took you months to come up with a charter amendment that does absolutely nothing,” Walton said. “It’s a myth to get voters to think we can guarantee a minimum number of staffing. … This is something that can happen in the executive branch of government.”…(more)

By ANNIKA HOM : missionlocal – excerpt

The Westside is one step closer to raising the roof.
As a strategy to increase housing density, Supervisor Joel Engardio this summer proposed allowing six-story buildings on corner lots and four units on single lots in better resourced neighborhoods of San Francisco, including the Westside. The Planning Commission on Thursday passed three amendments to tweak it and lowered a height limit on corner lots from 65 feet to 55 feet, with no density change.

The one amendment prevents odd-shaped lot mergers, another clarifies rear yard space, and the third proposed by planning requested larger lot mergers…

All three modified legislation by Engardio that went into effect on Oct. 15 — one of several policies the Planning Commission must consider as San Francisco completes the ambitious task of creating some 82,000 homes over the next eight years.

Planners are zeroing in on the city’s well-resourced neighborhoods, which has historically avoided tall or dense buildings, to help fulfill that lofty goal…(more)

by George Kelly :sfstandard – excerpt

Fresh images for two new towers near San Francisco’s Caltrain station that could bring over 1,100 new homes to the area have been filed with the city.

Developer Tishman Speyer is behind the project at 655 Fourth St. between Townsend and Bluxome streets. The towers will both be over 400 feet tall. The 4th Street Tower, would be 38 floors tall and reach 405 feet; the Townsend Tower would be 40 stories tall and top out at 435 feet…

Construction of the podium building would require the demolition of three current buildings along with seven surface parking lots and landscaping. The site will be just steps from Caltrain and the Central Subway’s 4th/Brannan station as well as several minutes’ walk from the San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park.

When complete, it would include 129 studio apartments, 539 one-bedroom units, 400 two-bedroom apartments and 37 three-bedroom homes. Of the building’s total 1,105 residential units, 391 would have balconies for private open space.

READ MORE: Massive San Francisco ‘Floating Cube’ Tower May Bring 826 New Homes …(more)

More housing in SOMA proposed.

By James Salazar : sfexaminer – excerpt (includes audio track)

A critical lifeline for over 18,000 San Francisco households will soon come to an end.

Earlier this month, the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank announced it would shutter roughly 20 pandemic-era pop-up pantries throughout the region by 2025 and roll back enrollment in its grocery delivery program, utilized by some 13,000 households.

The pop-ups, which opened in March 2020 in response to the pandemic, have become an essential service in a city where food insecurity impacts one in four San Franciscans…(more)

Letter in opposition to the Marina Green Project is posted here.

There may be a resolution coming later. Please sign onto this one or write your own and share with your neighbors who you think may be concerned about this matter.

Mari

Marina-Green-Letter PDF Document · 55 KB

by Kevin Truong : sfstandard – excerpt

The value of one of Downtown San Francisco’s largest luxury apartment buildings has been cut nearly in half, according to commercial real estate data provider Trepp.

NEMA, the glass-covered tower at 8 10th St., has seen its value drop from $543.6 million in 2018 to $279 million. Trepp notes that this decline means the value sits well below the loan balance, making the debt more expensive than the property itself.

The Real Deal first reported the news…(more)

By Griffin Jones : missionlocal – excerpt

The SF-Marin Food Bank announced in a sobering 8 a.m. press conference that, by 2025, a majority of the food-distribution services introduced during the pandemic will be closed or reduced, significantly affecting the growing number of hungry households in San Francisco.

Over the next two years, all 21 Pop-Up Pantries introduced during the pandemic will close. And, by January 2024, the Home Delivered Groceries program, serving seniors, families and people at their households will be reduced by 40 percent.

Currently, upwards of 18,000 households rely on the farmers market-style pop-ups each week. Around 13,000 San Francisco households receive weekly food deliveries…(more)