Category: Action

Posted on

A ‘poison pill’ in California’s budget deal ties state spending to construction

By Alexei Koseff : calmatters – excerpt

IN SUMMARY: A state budget is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature, but it won’t take effect unless the Legislature makes changes to housing and infrastructure development rules that he has demanded…

After days of confusion in which a deal with Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to unravel over his demand to include new housing and infrastructure regulations, the California Legislature passed an updated state budget on Friday.

With the start of a new fiscal year looming on July 1, budget negotiations — already challenged by a $12 billion and growing deficit — dragged on this week as Newsom and legislative leaders struggled to reach an agreement on waiving state environmental reviews for priority projects.

The details of that proposal were only made public Friday morning, hours before the budget vote, despite a poison pill that would invalidate the entire $321 billion spending plan if the Legislature does not also approve the infrastructure proposal, Senate Bill 131. Lawmakers are expected to take it up on Monday, alongside the housing measure Newsom sought, Assembly Bill 130, which was unveiled and then amended this week following fierce blowback from organized labor.

Officials involved in those negotiations have been loath to explain why the budget process staggered to such an odd and protracted conclusion this year, even as California is now set to adopt sweeping changes to how it builds without much public notice. Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas refused to speak with reporters after the vote…

The final budget relies on reserves and internal borrowing … (more)

Internal borrowing?

Posted on

New S.F. planning director’s appointment process was illegal, commissioner says

By Queer Lu : missionlocal – excerpt

Commission president wrangled votes for mayor’s pick to lead department, commissioner alleges, in violation of open meeting laws

pastedGraphic.png
Kathrin Moore, Gilbert Williams and Theresa Imperial walk out of a planning commission meeting on June 18, 2025.

A San Francisco planning commissioner is challenging the legality of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s appointment of the city’s new planning director, Sarah Dennis Phillips.

Kathrin Moore, the planning commission’s vice president, emailed the city attorney’s office stating that Lydia So, the president of the commission, has “clearly and unequivocally” violated the law.

Moore recounted that So called her and two other commissioners separately the night before the June 18 vote suggesting that they “act in support of the Mayor’s wish to recommend a particular individual to the Mayor to be the new Planning Director,” according to an email addressed to Deputy City Attorney Austin Yang that was obtained by Mission Local…

Multiple City Hall veterans with varying views on development have told Mission Local that they think Dennis Phillips, who was the director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and a former city planner, is “fantastic” and “qualified for the job.”…

“The whole purpose of these laws like the Brown Act … is transparency,” Wheaton said. “It’s to try as much as we can to wring the politics out of politics, to try to get people to do things on the merits and to be proud of what they’ve done and not have it be done with secret phone calls.”… (more)

It seems the problem is not with the appointee but with the process. Given the massive number of processes that and being ignored and circumvented, it is heathy to revisit this one that is so bravely contested. We at least have a chance to discuss the importance of our elected and our civil servants following the law. So much is being made of the lack of legal process on the national front which is seemingly difficult to address. There is no reason not to investigate the problem when it is close to home. No one after all is able the law.

It would be good for the citizens of San Francisco to be aware of the law and the ramifications for ignoring it where the Brown Act is concerned. People might be more likely to recognize improper actions when they see them and speak up.

We have been investigating other cases involving questionable actions taken by other departments through sunshine requests. It appears that normal protocol for condudcting business that effects the public has been dropped by some departments. 

It will be interesting to see who is responsible for the decision to ignore the legal proceedings in such a public manner. What may the remedy be and how may we get back to legal proceedings?

 

Posted on

VC billionaire Michael Moritz’s foundation gives $3.4M to S.F. immigrant defense

by JOE RIVANO BARROS : missionlocal – excerpt

Gift is latest of $36 million donated by foundation to San Francisco city departments

The personal foundation of Michael Moritz, the venture capitalist billionaire who has been one of the most active donors in San Francisco politics, has given $3.4 million to the San Francisco Public Defender’s office to hire more immigrant defense attorneys in light of President Donald Trump’s recent crackdown.

The gift by the Crankstart Foundation, Moritz’ vehicle for philanthropy, would pay for three additional attorneys and a paralegal for the next four years. The public defender’s office applied for the funds and was awarded the gift on March 11. It’s set to be approved by the Board of Supervisors in the coming weeks.

The “immigrant defense unit” of the public defender’s office, which currently has six attorneys, is rare: It is one of a few across the country that provides free legal counsel for immigrants in deportation proceedings. It was started in 2017 in response to the anti-immigrant wave during Trump’s first term. .. (more)

Posted on

What did the director of Rec-Park know and when did he know it?

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

The Government Audit and Oversight Committee will hold a hearing Thursday/5 on the allegations of financial mismanagement at the San Francisco Parks Alliance and the impact that’s had on city agencies.

Sups. Jackie Fielder and Shamann Walton called for the hearing, and have asked the Recreation and Parks Department, as well as the Parks Alliance, to appear and answer questions.

Among the issues that should, and I suspect will, come up: What role has Rec-Park Director Phil Ginsburg played in the management, direction, financing, and operations of the private alliance? What did he know about the current mess, and when did he know it?… (more)

UPDATE:

S.F. supervisor seeks to subpoena ex-leaders of collapsed parks nonprofit

By Michael Barba : sfchronicle – excerpt (audio)

A city supervisor is seeking to subpoena the former leaders of the collapsed San Francisco Parks Alliance, compelling them to testify about the demise of a prominent and politically connected nonprofit that is the subject of multiple investigations.

Supervisor Shamann Walton plans to subpoena the Parks Alliance’s last CEO, Robert Ogilvie, and his predecessor, Drew Becher, as well as its former treasurer Rick Hutchinson.

His request for a subpoena, which needs approval from his colleagues, comes after the Parks Alliance began to wind down its operations this week ahead of a scheduled hearing on its collapse and outstanding debts to the city at a Board of Supervisors committee.

The hearing was supposed to be held Thursday, but has since been postponed…

The Parks Alliance was in the grips of a deepening financial crisis long before its decision to shutter. Its board chair, Louise Mozingo, admitted in a leaked email obtained by the Chronicle that the organization had misspent $3.8 million in restricted funds on its operating expenses.

The shutdown left small neighborhood groups around San Francisco that entrusted the nonprofit to safeguard their money unsure about the fate of their savings. Before all of its board members resigned and itsremaining staffers were terminated, the Parks Alliance hired an outside firm to liquidate its remaining assets through a process akin to bankruptcy...

“I want to know how the city will collect the outstanding dollars and how the Parks Alliance could get away with using city and organization resources for their own operations,” he said.

Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who joined Walton in his call for a hearing, still plans to introduce a motion Thursday calling for a full audit of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, including its long-running financial ties to the Parks Alliance, her office said.

The district attorney, controller and city attorney are investigating…(more)

Posted on

Engardio Recall – Press Release

Department of Elections
City and County of San Francisco
John Arntz, Director

For Immediate Release:

SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, May 29, 2025 – Today, the San Francisco Department of Elections announced the certification of the petition to recall Joel Engardio, Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 4. The petition, submitted on May 22, 2025, was determined to contain 10,523 valid signatures, above the required threshold of 9,911 signatures.

With the petition deemed sufficient, the Department will proceed with preparations for a special municipal election, which will take place on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, in accordance with San Francisco Charter Section 14.103. Only voters registered and residing in Supervisorial District 4 will be eligible to participate in this election.

San Francisco Department of Elections
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
City Hall, Room 48
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 554-4375
www.sfelections.gov

Posted on

Mayor Lurie halts funding for S.F. parks nonprofit that misused millions

By Michael Barba, Accountability & Public Safety Reporter : sfchronicle – excerpt

Mayor Daniel Lurie ordered a citywide pause Friday on all public funding to the San Francisco Parks Alliance after the Chronicle revealed that the prominent nonprofit fundraiser for open space projects had misspent millions and is facing a criminal probe.… (more)

Two city supervisors have also taken action in response to Parks Alliance admissions that they misplaced 3.8 Million dollars of client funds, setting them up for yet another investigation. The last one ended with multiple city employees going to jail after money laundering schemes were revealed by zealous investigative reporters before the books could be hidden or fixed.

This time Parks Alliance has a lot to answer for, and forgiveness will not be likely.

Supervisor Shamann Walton has called for a hearing on the Parks Alliance, scheduled for June 5, while Supervisor Jackie Fielder is seeking a full audit of the city parks department and the Parks Alliance, its longtime nonprofit partner..(more)

Posted on

Supervisor Calls For Hearings Into Whatever’s Going On at Beleaguered SF Parks Alliance

By Joe Kukura : sfist – excerpt

The cancellation of the free movies in the park series may just be the tip of the iceberg of the financial problems of the SF Parks Alliance, and Sup. Shamann Walton is calling for hearings into why the group doesn’t seem to have money it should have.

We should start here by pointing out that the SF Recreation and Parks Department and the SF Parks Alliance are two different groups, despite having very similar names. SF Rec and Parks is a city department that manages SF’s public parks. The SF Parks Alliance is a nonprofit that organizes free movie nights in the parks, playground renovations, or giant Ferris wheels in parks.

And the SF Parks Alliance is able to take private donations that Rec & Parks, as an official city department, cannot legally collect themselves. Thus, the SF Parks Alliance also collects donations and grants for some 80 or so smaller neighborhood or “Friends of So-and-So Park” groups, helps these groups raise funds, and then “stores” their money like a bank so they don’t have to apply for nonprofit status themselves.

This all sounded like a noble arrangement, until the whole Mohammed Nuru scandal showed that Nuru was using the Parks Alliance as something of a slush fund for staff parties, merch, and shwag. That all blew over with Nuru now in prison, but new questions arose about the SF Parks Alliance after they laid off about two-thirds of their staff within the last six months, and their director abruptly stepped down… (more)

Looks like the Nuru curse never left the Parks Alliance. We look forward to a very detailed report on where the money went, including any funds that went into the recent ballot initiatives. We hope the PR and legal firms that represent most of the city departments and their close associates will be investigated as well.

Posted on

Supes approve public notice for neighborhood zoning changes

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Chan bill approved; Dorsey, Melgar, however, say the city should not ‘alarm’ people by telling them what’s about to happen to their communities.

The Board of Supes approved by a veto-proof majority today a bill that would require the Planning Department to notify tenants, businesses and property owners about the massive new zoning changes proposed for the West Side of town.

The 8-3 vote came after two supes, Matt Dorsey and Myrna Melgar, warned that notification would cause under alarm in the impacted neighborhoods.

Dorsey said the notices would be “incredibly alarming.” Melgar said the city would be “needlessly alarming” people…(more)

Wow! and Wow! Why would Matt Corey care since his site is already densified and up-zoning the West side will not affect his constituents.

I can see why Melgar may be concerned because she is already on the bad side with many of her constituents, who will see major changes in their neighborhoods as the development shift to them. Was she planning to hide the plan and spring it on them after it is too late? Of course the are alarmed. They are more than alarmed. They are angry and she knows it.

Posted on

Planning Commission – Big Meeting on April 8

I’m reaching out to make sure you are aware of an important small business anti-displacement hearing taking place at City Hall Thursday April 10th at 1pm.

In the face of upzoning plans on commercial corridors driving small business displacement, as was recently seen in the Fillmore (1) (2), the Race and Equity in all Planning coalition and Small Business Forward have written a letter to the Planning Commission asking for permanent controls for neighborhood-serving businesses for equity and protections in displacement situations.

Please review the Permanent Controls for Neighborhood-Serving Businesses Letter here https://bit.ly/controls-neighborhood-serving

We are collecting sign-ons from representatives that can speak for small business names that will be listed on the letter. We started collecting signatures this week, currently the list includes Bangin’ Hair Salon, SF Beauty Network (Geary Blvd Merchants Association), Joe’s Ice Cream, Booksmith, Bar Part Time, Mercury Cafe and many others. We are looking to get as many small business names on the list as possible, especially in upzoned areas! You can see the upzoning map here https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/6e0e399f9c82456dbda233eacebc433d
Please reach out to discuss more at 415-649-0522 and I hope your small business and merchant association can sign onto the letter which will give small businesses more protection and equity in the face of displacement.
Posted on

Letter to the Editor: Plenty of Questions About the New Ocean Beach Park

via email from richmondsunsetnews – excerpt

Editor:

To Mayor Lurie and the Board of Supervisors:

Don’t you think you had better slow down ramming this park idea down our throats and what artwork should be commissioned? The sand, wind, and graffiti will make quick work of destroying whatever you plan to put up. The graffiti on the art sculptures at the end of the Taraval line have had graffiti on them for months. Who’s in charge of cleaning it up?

Who is in charge around here anyway, giving away taxpayer dollars without the community allowed any input? Have other supervisors of the City had any input? Why don’t you use the money to buy art and school supplies for the children and public schools in the City? Our schools are broke, laying off teachers and cutting programs. Trump is talking about cutting off funds that San Francisco and California badly need. This is not a playground for children, it’s for adults who want to see the ocean from their high rise condos. The people backing this are mostly out-of-town millionaires. Their skin in the game is making money.

We already have over 250 parks and playgrounds in the City. Why don’t you paint murals at our schools and playgrounds and better maintain what we already have? The schools are laying off staff, and contemplating closing schools and you folks want to paint murals on the ground and walls next to the sand? Isn’t the purpose of going to the beach, is to go to the beach, lay in the sand and look out at the ocean and watch the waves? Art is nature itself! How many statues and murals do you see when you go to Yosemite or Yellowstone national parks?

I am including all of the supervisors whose areas suffer from a lack of funds in their own areas. SFMTA and Muni are millions of dollars in debt. They are cutting Muni lines, and want to raise parking fees to raise money. Our large and small businesses are leaving. Is it OK for all of you to approve money for art projects, money that we don’t have? How many of you supervisors have had input in this Ocean Beach playground? How many of you know what the city budget is for this two-mile playground? We have a lack of transparency!

Maybe you should have murals of high rise condos painted to match the view looking east.

Friends of Ocean Beach Park have become the Elon Musk of the west side of the City. Like Elon, Friends of Ocean Beach Park are not part of the city government, yet they are out there making decisions for the City. The same with the San Francisco Bike coalition and Walk SF who are funded with taxpayer dollars yet are not part of the city government. It’s rather embarrassing.

Tony Villa, D4 resident

RELATED:
TRUMP, NEWSOM ATTACK CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION
protestors are out in force today, March 23, 2025