Category: News

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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

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Forum: Drones and Public Safety

By Dr. Kerr : westsideobserver – expert

Local anti-crime non-profit Stop Crime SF sponsored “Drones and Public Safety” forum on May 21st at the Northern Police Station on Fillmore Street. Some 50 people attended, including a handful of officers with SFPD’s drone program.

Following introductions by Anna Kearney, Stop Crime SF’s Development Director, and under the watchful eye of co-founder Frank Noto, we heard from officers from SFPD’s Real-Time Investigation Center. The 4 drone models currently in use were displayed, from a tiny 8-inch model to an imposing 26-inch device fitted with a speaker, heat-sensing camera, searchlight, and zoom optics. Attendees were treated to a drone flight demonstration that surveyed the station’s parking lot.

The Real-Time Investigation Team consists of Capt. Thomas Maguire and Lt. Scott Ryan in Strategic Investigations, Capt. Steve Jonas in Field Operations, and Sgt. Tony Suhrke. Dmitri Shimolin, CEO of SafeCity Connect, manages the City’s security camera network and collaborates with SFPD’s drone team.

Capt. Maguire believes that drones, license plate readers and security cameras are partially responsible for the recent decline in crimes. Last year, in collaboration with the Oakland PD, some 500 felony arrests resulted from real-time technology that integrated license plate readers, security camera networks, and drones”…(more)

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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)

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In wake of nonprofit’s implosion, Fielder calls for audit of S.F. parks department

by MARGARET KADIFA :  missionlocal – excerpt

Parks Alliance art for donor campaigns

District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder will today submit legislation calling for an audit of San Francisisco’s Recreation and Parks department.

The move comes after a nonprofit affiliated with the department, the Parks Alliance, has come under fire for possibly misspending at least $3.8 million in donations.

Both the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office have recently launched investigations into the Parks Alliance, according to the San Francisco Chronicle…

As a city department, Rec and Parks is a separate entity from the Parks Alliance. But, the Parks Alliance has often served as a conduit for private money to flow into city projects, operating like “a city account without city oversight,” as the controller’s office put it in a 2020 audit of the Alliance…

This isn’t the first scandal at the Parks Alliance. In 2020, the since-convicted and incarcerated head of Public Works, Mohammed Nuru, used a Parks Alliance account as his personal slush fund to underwrite boozy holiday parties. Nuru was in 2022 convicted of fraud and sentenced to seven years in federal prison.

The proposed audit of Recreation and Parks would not directly review Parks Alliance funding. The Parks Alliance was most recently audited in 2020 by the controller. The proposed 2025 audit would more broadly review partnerships between the department with nonprofit organizations, according to a press release from Fielder’s office… (more)

 

 

 

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The last Black building inspector in San Francisco

By Joe Eskenazi : missionlocal – excerpt

Onaje Boone says he applied the building code fairly — and flunked builders who’d done poor work. He was abruptly let go with only weeks remaining in his probationary period.

Not long into his brief wondrous life as a San Francisco building inspector, Onaje Boone was taken aside by a higher-up. It was, to Boone’s recollection, a strange and terrible discussion.

Boone, 47, a former carpenter, a licensed contractor and a building inspector in both the public and private sector for more than a decade, was last year told there were issues with his report writing. Specifically: They were too detailed. If the rebar is good, just write Rebar Good.

This was not the sort of advice Boone expected to receive while being paid six figures to serve as a building inspector in a major city.

“The code calls for so much space, so much cleanliness of the area, a certain type of waterproofing,” he says, going into minute details about lap splicing and other matters of some importance in a town situated between two major earthquake faults.

“I write it specifically to what the code book calls out,” he continues. “Whatever was required was noted. I know how to write a report.”

For Boone, Rebar Good was not good enough. He continued to write reports his way. And do inspections his way: as in, failing people who didn’t meet the code. There were a few… (more)

The plan seems to be to let the problems fester for years and then jump up and “discover” hundreds or buildings were not properly built decades ago, Force the owners to pay for costly inspections and repairs now. Who was running planning and DBI back in the 1970s and 80s?

 

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The Bay Area has hundreds of below-market rate apartments sitting vacant

By Katalerico : mercurynews – excerpt

Some new moderate-income units offer little discount to market-rate rents. Some question whether we should prioritize building them at all

In April 2023, a new luxury apartment complex on Alameda’s waterfront, Launch, opened to renters, advertising views of the yacht club from its rooftop deck, poolside cabanas and a co-working lounge.

As required by Alameda’s inclusionary zoning law, the developer, Pacific Development, set aside 49 of the 368 units for low- and moderate-income households making between 50% to 120% of the area median income, $51,800 to $124,250 for a single person. The idea was to fill the complex with a variety of tenants, not just the kind of renters who could afford $3,000 a month.

Two years later, the results are mixed: units for the poorest tenants have filled, but all 19 designated for moderate-income renters — the so-called “missing middle” — remain empty, much to the frustration of the developer, Sean Murphy.

“The last thing we want to do as a developer is build housing units that sit vacant,” he said. “That doesn’t solve any social problems.”…(more)

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‘Dumpster fire’: In leaked email, S.F. Parks Alliance admits misusing at least $3.8 million

By Michael Barba, Accountability & Public Safety Reporter :
sfchronicle -excerpt (audio)

 

The San Francisco Parks Alliance, a major nonprofit with a long history of beautifying the city’s beloved public spaces, diverted at least $3.8 million earmarked for specific projects to cover its operating expenses as the charity rapidly imploded, the Chronicle has learned.

The stunning admission comes in an email sent Thursday by the nonprofit’s chair, Louise Mozingo, to one of its donors, in which the official described the financial crisis facing the Parks Alliance as “what a friend of mine would call a dumpster fire.”…

The revelations are spurring some of those impacted to call for a criminal investigation. One official on Tuesday called for a hearing at City Hall, and a number of the nonprofit’s partners have come together to try to save it.

The Parks Alliance has been viewed as a crucial supporter and fundraiser for everything from new parks to trail maintenance, gardening projects and habitat restoration in San Francisco. It has also hosted well-attended events, such as outdoor movie screenings, until recently. …

However, the Parks Alliance told Baker Street that its $3.8 million deficit in restricted funds that were used for other purposes includes “approximately $1.9M of Baker Street Foundation money for the Crane Cove project.”

“I think law enforcement should be involved,” Nicola Miner said in an interview Friday. “I think we’re past the point of this was some kind of mismanagement. $2 million that was supposed to go to the people of San Francisco is $2 million, that’s a lot of money.”

The district attorney’s office declined to say whether it is investigating.

The Parks Alliance, while helping funnel private dollars to city projects, also acts like a bank for more than 80 smaller neighborhood organizations around San Francisco seeking to raise money from donors. As a result, these groups don’t need to obtain nonprofit status on their own or hire financial staff to manage their books….

The nonprofit was said to owe an estimated $4.6 million, including $1.7 million to partners and service providers — the latter of which Mozingo described as largely small businesses. The organization owes an additional $1.3 million to $1.7 million to the city parks department for “executed projects” and $1.2 million for a bank loan.

As of Monday, the email said, the nonprofit had just $1.6 million in assets, with $1.2 million in cash….(more)

How much of Parks Alliance money was spent on PR and the Prop K campaign? Remember all those signs and graphics that were sprouting up touting the Great Parkway? Guess they will not be financing any of the anti-recall campaign.

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Does building homes lead to lower housing costs? New research is roiling the debate

By Christian Leonard : sfchronicle – excerpt (audio)

The new paper argues other factors besides development restrictions are behind rising home prices.

Perhaps the most contentious debate surrounding the Bay Area’s housing affordability crisis is whether building market-rate homes restrains rising costs.

Most housing researchers say it does. Increasing the number of homes, they argue, means homeowners and renters have more options to choose from, forcing sellers and landlords to moderate their prices. Those findings have galvanized pro-housing advocates and California lawmakers who are pushing to make home building easier. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, for example, has proposed allowing taller buildings along transit corridors in less dense neighborhoods.

But a new paper from researchers at the University of California and the Federal Reserve of San Francisco challenges that stance. It specifically calls out the Bay Area, saying that whatever the reason is that homes are so much more expensive here than those in Houston, it’s not because it’s easier to build in Texas…

The paper measured changes in housing units, home values and for-sale house prices from 1980 to 2020 across U.S. metropolitan areas. The authors then compared the trends between places where housing is harder to build — whether because of policies or geographic constraints — and areas where it’s easier to build…

Vancouver-based economist Michael Wiebe made a similar critique, and also argued that looking at constraints at the metropolitan level could obscure potential connections between total income and building challenges. The report’s authors, who declined to speak on the record, responded to his critique in a follow-up paper. An additional analysis, they said, showed those connections aren’t strong enough to affect the results… (more)

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NO DAY AT THE ZOO

Via sfstandard email…

There’s nothing better than two controversies crashing into one another. That’s what happened late last month after the San Francisco Zoo director quietly suggested the closure of Upper Great Highway, now called Sunset Dunes, was screwing them over. 

In an April 25 memo, SF Zoo CEO Tanya Peterson said the highway’s closure had caused decreased attendance, impacted staff and volunteer commutes, and confused drivers in the area. The note was meant to be internal, Peterson later said, but it wound up in the hands of the campaign to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio, which blasted it out to supporters.

Asked for comment Friday, Peterson added that other factors may have impacted attendance, such as Sunset Dunes protesters and competing Easter weekend events. Then things got interesting.

By Saturday, the zoo director had issued an entirely new statement calling the April memo “premature” and saying she was “thrilled to witness the beautiful opening of Sunset Dunes and see first-hand how important parks are to our community.”

In the background was PR guru Sam Singer, whose firm represents both the Stand with Joel campaign and the San Francisco Zoo, which has had its share of bad press over the years. In a phone call, Singer said it was a “matter of fact” that protesters had caused traffic disruptions during Sunset Dunes’ opening weekend. Sunset United Neighbors, a neighborhood group that endorsed the recall and shared Peterson’s initial memo with members, issued a clarification Saturday.

Asked whether his relationship with both the zoo and the anti-recall campaign presented a conflict of interest, Singer acknowledged the optics but said the recall camp “politically damaged themselves” by blasting out the memo prematurely. On Sunday, Peterson issued yet another statement: “While we appreciate Mr. Singer’s long-standing relationship with SF Zoo, we amended our analysis independently. We look forward to working with everyone to enhance our Zoo and our community…

Conflicts are growing as the opponents dig in their heels for the next round. The Zoo is finding itself in the place that the SF Museums have already gone, as the anti-car people continue to cut their businesses. Parks are free. Museums and Zoos count on paying customers to survive. Those seeking free fun do not intent to pay for anything. PR professionals should know better than to wear too many hats at one time. It is getting harder for city agencies and departments to keep from stepping on each other’s toes, especially during budget cutting season. PR might be considered a bit of an extravagance.

 

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Here’s a map of where SFPD officers work private security side gigs

by JOE RIVANO BARROS and KELLY WALDRON  : missionlocal – excerpt (map)

FPD says its officers working as security guards are ‘out in the community.’ But mostly, they’re downtown.

When Supervisor Jackie Fielder and Assistant Chief David Lazar sparred at a San Francisco city hearing this week, two questions arose: Is it good for public safety that the city’s police officers can go work private security after work, and are those officers spread out equitably across San Francisco’s neighborhoods?

Lazar said yes, full stop. The program “is a big win for the community, the public, the city, and for the department,” he said. Allowing SFPD to act as a broker for off-duty police officers is a way to have police ”visible in public” and “out in the community” reducing crime — but with private businesses paying the tab. It’s a great program that needs to continue, he said. SFPD should actually look to expand it.

Fielder countered. The program — known as 10(b) — gives certain parts of the city a stronger police presence, she said, based on the ability of local businesses to pay for it. The police department “should be equitably allocating public safety resources, including officers” where they’re most needed, without an option to buy your way into city-trained and subsidized security…

10(b) program underlies SFPD’s overtime abuse  Concern over geographic equity is not the only criticism of the 10(b) program. It’s now at the center of uproar over overtime misconduct within the San Francisco Police Department.

At the city hearing this week, six supervisors lambasted police brass for asking for another $61 million in overtime for the year… (more)

Instead of cutting back on police education, the academy ought to set up a less intense program to train security guards. Academy students may even work their way through the police program by gettin their start as security guards. That would solve two problems at one time and get a lot more people on the street faster.