Category: News

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Fearing tall buildings, westside homeowners look to Aaron Peskin

By Han Li : sfstandard – excerpt


Many moderate westside voters are finding themselves attracted to Aaron Peskin for his stance on rezoning—despite his progressive record.

Within San Francisco’s relatively narrow political spectrum, Michael Nohr, a Sunset District homeowner, thinks of himself as a moderate.

He supported the recalls of former District Attorney Chesa Boudin and three progressive school board members in 2022 and prefers a more business-friendly environment. Most importantly, he wants a more cautious approach to building dense apartment buildings on the west side of the city.

In the upcoming mayoral election, Nohr is struggling over whether to vote for the most left-leaning candidate—Supervisor Aaron Peskin—because of his similar views on housing.

“It is truly a conundrum,” Nohr told The Standard. “Peskin and I are not in alignment on most policies, but he is the only candidate currently making sense on the issue of housing.”

San Francisco’s west side, which generally refers to the area west of Twin Peaks, had been largely zoned for single-family homes, with multi-family buildings banned on most of the land. But as the city grapples with how to meet a state mandate to accommodate 82,000 new homes and city officials look to loosen zoning restrictions, the opposition is mounting on the west side as residents fear mega-projects that they believe would crowd streets and threaten neighborhood character…

In a statement, Peskin’s campaign said it is gaining momentum on the west side of the city.

“We are finding strong support [on the westside] for Supervisor Peskin’s effective leadership and record of giving neighborhoods a voice at City Hall,” the statement said…(more)

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URGENT — OPPOSE SB 7

This is an URGENT call to action. SB 7 is a terrible bill, and it needs to be opposed before it’s next heard on 6/26. Letters and calls should be in ASAP. Today if possible.

What is the Problem with SB 7?
This is a housing bill that makes HCD stronger and RHNA worse. SB7 takes recommendations from a 176 page report — “California’s Housing Future 2040: The Next Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)” — sent to legislators just two months ago, and hastily tries to get them passed into law in the next few weeks.

Through a sneaky process called “gut and amend,” new language has been put into SB 7 — which already passed the Senate in another form — and is now working its way through the Assembly.

No underlying problems of 6th cycle RHNA are addressed. This bill relies on unsubstantiated claims about the state’s housing crisis to justify usurping local control.

The 6th cycle RHNA is not even mid-way through, and all cities are failing its metrics. The solid reasons why are heavily documented — to the point that a housing element audit was recently authorized to examine the process.

The HCD is doing an end run around the audit and any flaws it might uncover; the new language of SB 7 bolsters their powers for 7th cycle RHNA, and they want it done now.

WHAT HCD GETS WITH SB 7:

  • An increase in authority, zero oversight, no transparency
  • Heavier hand against cities, bolstered by new punitive legislation
  • Further control over local zoning control
  • Eliminates the right to appeal RHNA mandates
  • Allows unchecked lobbyist influence
  • Continue to disregard infrastructure costs and other impacts to cities
  • Continue to disregard actual data, including population projections that show California’s numbers flat through 2060
  • Inclusion of open space in their calculation for how much new development a jurisdiction can absorb
  • No requirement to base policy on robust economic theory
  • No requirement to base RHNA mandates on legitimate population projections
  • RHNA allocations will continue to increase market rate housing
  • RHNA will require — but not advance — affordability.
  • Unelected bureaucrats will continue creating policy with no accountability

THIS IS HAPPENING FAST:
SB7 is being rushed through without due diligence.
This “gut and amend” bill bypassed normal deadlines, and showed up at the last minute. In the Senate it was an innocuous bill about group housing.

June 10th: Amended in Assembly
June 18th: Passed Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee
June 26th: Up for a vote in the Local Government committee

your message can be this simple: I OPPOSE SB 7.
Contact for direct representatives are below, they also need to hear from us.

First Last Email Phone
Chair, D Juan Carrillo juan.carrillo (916) 319-2039
V-Chair, R Marie Waldron marie.waldron (916) 319-2075
R Bill Essayli bill.essayli (916) 319-2063
D Matt Haney matt.haney (916) 319-2017
D Ash Kalra ash.kalra (916) 319-2025
D Blanca Pacheco blanca.pacheco (916) 319-2064
D James Ramos james.ramos (916) 319-2045
D Chris Ward assemblymember.Ward (916) 319-2078
D Lori Wilson lori.wilson (916) 319-2011
Chief Cons. Angela Mapp angela.mapp (916) 319-3958

SB 7 Verville sample letter

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Confederacy of NIMBYS cheer Peskin, criticize Melgar on housing

By KELLY WALDRON : missionlocal – excerpt

As dozens of slides on the evils of new housing construction flashed on the screen, the 100 or so residents gathered Wednesday night at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center agreed on one thing: Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin best represented their views, while the local district supervisor Myrna Melgar did not.
Peskin, who is running for mayor and spoke for around 10 minutes, often skeptical of new market-rate housing, was a clear winner for the crowd. District 7 Supervisor Melgar, who represents the area in which the meeting was held and is running for re-election there, attended but did not speak. She was not a fan favorite — and she made it clear the feeling was mutual.
“These are not my people,” said Melgar about the event put on by Neighborhoods United, a coalition of over 50 neighborhood associations across the city…(more)  
 
Melgar was invited to speak but just sat in the audience and said nothing. One of her opponents, Stephen Martin-Pinto was in attendance and gathered a lot of support last night. There were a lot of people from D-4., D-7, and D-11 that I recognized.

RELATED:

An Open Letter to Mission Local reporter Kelly Waldron

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Longshot mayoral candidates to host ‘People’s Debate’ every Saturday at Dolores

By Oscar Palma : Missionlocal – excerpt

Mayoral candidates Serena Hughes, Dylan Hirsch-Shell, Shahram Shariati, Guy McCoy and Honest Charley Bodkin spoke in Dolores Park during the first People’s debate for mayor this season on Saturday June 1, 2024.

Cruise ships to alleviate the housing crisis, temporary get-out-of-jail cards to allow prisoners to work, blue poles around the city with buttons that summon a police officer and many more gardens to grow food for San Franciscans.

These are all ideas from San Francisco mayoral candidates. Nope, not Mayor London Breed, Mark Farrell, Daniel Lurie, Aaron Peskin or Ahsha Safaí. Instead, they come from some of the other 48 candidates hoping to defeat incumbent Breed in November and claim Room 200 in City Hall… (more)

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Breed proposes $1.3 billion budget bump, despite months of deficit warnings

By Gabe Greschler and Noah Baustin : sfstandard – excerpt (see graph at the source)
For months, Mayor London Breed has been ringing the alarm about an $800 million deficit and asking city departments to plan for budget cuts. But instead of cutting overall spending, Breed’s latest budget proposal calls for a record $15.9 billion outlay next year, a nearly 9% climb from this year’s budget…

Breed’s plan is likely to spur intense debate and discussion this summer and comes as the mayor—along with two supervisors and another two City Hall outsiders—seek the city’s top job in November.

Breed’s challengers are already casting her as having squandered years of bright economic growth—and a moderate versus progressive fight is almost certain in the coming weeks over at least some of the mayor’s spending priorities.

Last year, Breed was able to plug up a similarly large deficit through the use of Covid-related reimbursements and reserve funds. But by October, Breed warned that cuts were coming and directed city departments to make 10% reductions to their budgets.

San Francisco’s supervisors will propose their own tweaks to the mayor’s budget proposal before sending it back to her for a final signature by the end of July… (more)

RELATED remarks via email

…Supervisor and Budget Chair Connie Chan blasted the mayor on Friday over what she described as the mayor’s “wasteful spending and inefficiencies” in city contracting and departments.

“My task is clear—we must comb through the mayor’s proposed budget and advance a budget that prioritizes all San Franciscans—not just the demands of the wealthy few,” Chan said.

Likewise, Safaí had some harsh words for Breed: “Her budget is out of touch with working families, and there’s no way it will pass as is.”

Other critics of the mayor echoed Chan’s remarks: “We’re going to have to understand and digest the money machinations,” said Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club President Jeffrey Kwong.

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Trump convicted: San Francisco, tell us how you feel after guilty verdict

By Stanford Staff : sfstandard – excerpt
Are you headed to a party? Planning a protest?

Former President Donald Trump prepares to make comments to members of the media after being found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Thursday. | Source: Seth Wenig/AP

Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 counts in his New York hush money trial Thursday.

The landmark jury verdict makes him the first former American president to be found guilty of felony crimes in the nation’s nearly 250-year history.

Trump is set to visit San Francisco next Thursday for a fundraiser dinner at David Sacks’ ritzy Pacific Heights home.

Sacks has already shared his feelings about the trial on X… (more)

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SF Police Commission cancels five meetings, awaits mayor’s appointees

By ELENI BALAKRISHNAN  : missionlocal – excerpt

When the San Francisco Police Commission began repeatedly canceling meetings this spring, it raised questions about whether Mayor London Breed — who has made her disdain for the commission very clear — was behind it.

Breed, as mayor, appoints the majority of the Police Commission’s members. But ever since she fell out with her own appointee, Max Carter-Oberstone, in 2022, she has worked to stymy the powerful commission that sets policy for the San Francisco Police Department. In March, voters approved Prop. E, her measure to restrict the commission’s policy-setting abilities.

And then the cancellations started. Of the past eight scheduled meetings going back 11 weeks, five were canceled: one in March, two in April and two this month. The reasons: vacancies, and absences for personal and business reasons. Maintaining a quorum — at least four out of the seven commissioners are needed for the body to meet — became more difficult after April 30 when two of Breed’s four appointees, Debra Walker and James Byrne, vacated their seats…(more)

 

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Wednesday, June 5, 7-9 PM
Scottish Rite Center, 2850 19th Avenue (parking garage)
Upzoning Impacts presented by Neighborhoods United SF
District 7, along with many neighborhoods in western San Francisco, face significant upzoning mandated by the State and the City, aiming to raise building height throughout the area. These significantly taller structures won’t address affordable housing but will instead lead to luxury high-rises, tenant and small business displacement, and neighborhood gentrification, profoundly impacting our neighborhood and quality of life for all residents. Register Here: https://www.neighborhoodsunitedsf.org/d7-town-hall

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Mayor Breed withdraws from TogetherSF debate, citing ‘chaos,’ Farrell ties

By Joe Eskenazi : missionlocal – excerpt

Mayor, Aaron Peskin organize alternate Monday forum

Shades of confusion as money and suspicion flow through the 2024 election.
Mayor London Breed this morning announced she will not participate in the scheduled May 20 TogetherSF mayoral debate, citing unease with the political action group’s ties to the Mark Farrell mayoral campaign — as well as organizational “chaos.”…
Breed’s camp on May 6 had told Politico that they “have real concerns with the debate and are reevaluating our participation.”…
The mayor this week reached out to Board President Aaron Peskin, her most progressive fellow major mayoral contender, who last month pulled out of the TogetherSF debate. The two agreed to appear together at a moderated discussion. It will take place on Monday, May 20 from 6 to 7 p.m. at Manny’s at 16th and Valencia.
After agreeing to appear at a joint event, the Breed and Peskin campaigns reached out to the venue Manny’s, and then invited this reporter to moderate it.
“San Francisco needs debates free from the influence of partisan political action committees,” wrote Peskin. “I’m excited for the opportunity to have a discussion about the future in a non-partisan setting conducive to a mature debate. There’s too much at stake for anything less.”
Details and tickets to the Monday, May 20 discussion are available here… (more)
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The San Francisco Influence List: People who are directing the city’s future

By Chronicle staff : sfchronicle – excerpt

San Francisco is changing. These are people whose decisions will shape that change — for better or worse. You might not know them all. But you should.

Since the pandemic, San Francisco has been thrust into the global spotlight for its myriad problems: homelessness, the fentanyl epidemic, the affordability crisis and the potential for an economic “doom loop.” These challenges have forced a place known for historic cataclysms and rebirths into one of its most difficult transformations.

The election in November comes at a critical time: Residents are eager for solutions, and the decisions being made have the potential to dramatically alter what it’s like to live in San Francisco. It’s important that you, our readers, understand how things grow from idea to reality, so we are identifying the people directing that process. You might or might not like what they’re doing, but you should know who they are.

Enter the San Francisco Chronicle’s first Influence List…

Kanishka Cheng : Founder and CEO of Together SF Action
Jennifer Friedenbach : Executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness
Rudy Corpuz : Executive director of United Playaz
Sean Elsbernd : Mayor London Breed’s chief of staff
Chris Larson : Chairman and Co-founder of Ripple
Sheryl Davis : Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission
Phil Ginsberg : General manager of the SF Rec and Park Department
John Elberling : President of TODCO
Laura Crescimano : Principal of SITELAB Studio
Enrique Landa : Managing Partner of Associate Capital
Rudy Gonzalez : Secretary-treasurer of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council
Larry Baer : President and Chief Exceutive of hte SF Giants
Malcolm Yeung : Executive director of Chinatown Community Development Center
Lena Millier : Founder dn CEO of Urban Alchemy
Joe Derisi : President of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco
Mira Murati : Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI
Greg Perloff : Co-founder of Another Planet Enertertainment
Pim Techamuanvivit : Chef-owner of Kin Khao and Nari
Brandon Jew : Chef-owner of Mr. Jiu’s
D’arcy Drollinger : San Francisco drag laureate