Category: Update

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San Francisco’s commission-cutting committee kicks off

 : sfexaminer – excerpt (audio)

    The work of figuring out how to pare back San Francisco’s dozens of commissions has begun.
    On Wednesday afternoon, the five members of The City’s newly formed Commission Streamlining Task Force gathered together in a City Hall meeting room. Among their first orders of business were figuring out some basics — things like when they’ll meet, how many commissions there are in The City, and how task force members should go about evaluating those bodies to determine which to keep, which to cut and which to reform.

Ed Harrington has been appointed to chair the task force, which was created by November’s Proposition E. In a recent interview, Harrington told The Examiner that before any reform decisions can be made, the task force must first answer some fundamental questions: “What makes a good commission? What are the kinds of commissions we’re trying to do in San Francisco, and how do we make them as strong as possible?”… (more)

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Community leaders demand tenant protections in new zoning plans

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Planning Commission hears how upzoning leads to speculation and displacement; can the city protect existing residents against the state Yimby housing bills?

In an extraordinary meeting, the San Francisco Planning Commission heardpresentation and hours of public testimony on the impacts the city’s proposal to increase height and density in neighborhoods would have on tenants and small business.

The Race and Equity in All Planning Coalition, the Council of Community Housing Organizations, and the Anti-Displacement Coalition told the commissioners that recent state laws and upcoming city policies would cause widespread displacement.

The city is considering raising height limits in some neighborhoods, particularly on the West Side of town, to eight stories, a process known as upzoning…

Developers will follow the Rent Board’s procedures for temporary eviction, so the tenants are displaced from their homes with the premise that the eviction is temporary. After some time has elapsed, the developer expands the scope of their project, sometimes adding units. The project takes longer than the former tenants had expected. The developer’s payment obligations end, and the tenants move on. These temporary evictions turn into permanent displacement, which is why tenant advocates call these “renovictions”…. (more)

How exactly does that work? Looks like no one knows yet.

 

 

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Federal mandates put a damper on State density goals

… Right now, it’s pretty much impossible to build any substantial number of affordable housing units without federal money. Gov. Gavin Newsom has allocated some state money, but not that much. Supporters are hoping for a $10 billion statewide housing bond in 2026, which would fund 35,000 units. That’s less than what just the city of San Francisco is supposed to build, and a tiny fraction of what the state needs.

It’s clear at this point that, even with the GOP holding a slim margin in Congress, Trump’s budget plans are going to pass. So what are California and San Francisco going to do?… (more)

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SF says celebrity chef walked away from two Union Square cafes

By Patrcik Hoge : sfexaminer – excerpt (audio)

Celebrity chef Tyler Florence stepped away from a role operating two cafes in Union Square last week right before the start of the NBA All-Star weekend, according to San Francisco officials who nevertheless said the downtown shopping district put on a good show for tourists in town for the basketball event and associated attractions.

As a result of Florence’s departure, city officials hastily recruited a celebrated local baker who provided pastries over the weekend and on Tuesday at one of the two kiosks leased by The City to Florence, though the woman said she did not know what would happen going forward.

Florence’s company was granted a three-year lease for The City’s properties in 2023. Efforts to get comment from Florence or someone at his company were unsuccessful…

As with the recent NBA All-Star Game, Breed and others at the time were eager for The City to put a favorable foot forward for another high-profile gathering, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, as well as for the winter holidays.

To that end, The City’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development gave Florence a grant of $440,000 to get the eateries up and running. The award rankled some who said the money had been earmarked for revitalizing lower Powell Street.

City supervisors last year subsequently voted to accept $2 million more in state grant money for upgrading the restaurant kiosks that Florence took over… (more)

Ever wonder where those millions are coming from and where they are going? Here are some hints for those who care to follow up on them.
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Tariffs, LA wildfires throw SF housing rebound into question

 : sfexaminer – excerpt

Hopes among San Francisco housing boosters that 2025 could deliver a sudden home-building boom are already fading after the year opened with a series of economic curveballs, driving fears that construction costs could soon rise.

The first shock came only days after the new year began, when fast-moving wildfires erupted in Los Angeles County and went on to consume thousands of homes. The disaster has set the stage for a massive rebuilding effort that some market watchers worry could, eventually, drive up labor and material costs throughout California.

Another shock arrived weeks later when President Donald Trump followed through on his promise to levy steep tariffs on steel and aluminum, both essential materials for construction projects… (more)

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Airbnb founder now working with Musk; here’s who was on his side in SF when it mattered

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

You know you are repeating past mistakes when past warnings confirm the threats of the past were real.  This video was shot at one of the first Airbnb demonstrations held in SF about a decade ago. All the warnings were ignored. And now here we are being overtaken by the cute little struggling tech startups we warned against. And who was around to campion them?

Breed, Chiu, and Wiener helped make Joe Gebbia a billionaire; now he’s helping destroy democracy in the US.
 

Now that Joe Gebbia, the billionaire co-founder of Airbnb, is joining Elon Musk’s attempt to dismantle the federal government, I would like to remind everyone of a little history.

Airbnb was started in San Francisco, and for its first few years, every single listing in this city was illegal. The company’s entire business model was illegal. It was also deeply damaging to tenants, many of whom lost their homes so the place could be turned into a hotel room…

Ed Lee was the mayor. He did nothing, nothing, to enforce the city laws against short-term rentals. Airbnb was a tech company; the mayor loved tech companies. His administration also did nothing to stop Uber and Lyft, which were violating city law every single day.

In those days, if you were a tech startup, you didn’t have to worry about local laws. Move fast, break things; it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Never mind if you are ruing the lives of low-income renters and struggling cab drivers; they don’t count… (more)

Not much has changed except the coddled cute little techies that needed room to grow have outgrown SF and jumped from local to state to national destruction. When is enough enuf? Share this one if you can.

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San Francisco’s Right-Wing Tech Bros Go National

By Lincoln Mitchell : excerpt

Many of the acsendant crypto-goniffs in Washington have roots in San Francisco.

As recently as a few years ago many would have indentified San Francisco as the capital of liberal, or at least Democratic, America. The Vice-President was from the Bay Area and had gotten her start in elected office in San Francisco. One former mayor of San Francisco was the governor of California and an emerging national leader of the Democratic Party. Another former mayor was an aging, but groundbreaking, US Senator. The Speaker of the House and longtime leader of her party in that chamber was San Francisco’s congresswoman. This was still a time when people would, inaccurately, say things like a conservative in San Francisco was a radical in the rest of America.

Over the last few years, something began to change. In San Francisco, right-wing politics reemerged, initially in the form of self-styled feel-good civic groups sneaking conservative messaging into other fora-come for the garbage clean-up and the opportunity to mingle with other young singles, and stay for the right-wing spin about San Francisco…(more)

First thing they said was, “Parking isn’t a right it is a privilege.” Second thing they said was, “Disruption is good before it forces change.” After that the systems all fell apart. If the author is right, the country  will soon look like San Francisco. We were the Petri dish.

 

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NEWSOM JUST QUIETLY FLOATED AN IDEA THAT COULD HELP FIX CALIFORNIA’S HOUSING AND FIRE RECOVERY CRISES

By Ben Metcalf : sfchronicle – excerpt (audio track)

Rebuilding after the Los Angeles fires is going to be time-consuming and expensive. Accordingly, much attention has been given to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent executive actions to speed up the process and cut red tape, including by waiving environmental reviews, sidestepping Coastal Commission oversight and providing additional state resources to city and county planning and building officials

However, a different and little-noticed idea from the governor, included as part of his budget proposal to the Legislature early in January, also has the potential to be impactful. A small paragraph teases a big vision for housing: a new California housing and homelessness agency.

This proposed agency — which would replace the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency that oversees a kitchen sink of other state functions (such as horse racing and cannabis regulation) — promises instead a “more integrated and effective” administrative framework for addressing the state’s housing and homelessness challenges. It would oversee all of the existing housing entities and be tasked with leading the state’s response on aligning housing policies with transportation, climate and community planning… (more)

We need to look into the process for creating and dissolving state agencies because that is what Newsom is suggesting. What happens to the staff? We might want to talk to them.

What is the connection between an agency that oversees Business, Consumer Services and Housing and one that oversees Housing and Homelessness issues. Are they eliminating state oversight of Business and Consumer Services, combing them with other agency, or setting up a new oversight agency?

The new agency just adds climate and community planning to housing and transportation. How does combining “housing policies with transportation, climate and community planning” solve homelessness? Is this a ploy to circumvent CEQA more than they already have?

This makes no sense unless it is a power play. Once again the state wants to force change on us and is eliminating some basic services and oversight we need in the process.

Once again our state representatives are trying to control us while eliminating the basic services and oversight we need.

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Rafael Mandelman is San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors president

By Joe Eskenazi : missionlocal – excerpt

Watching the Board of Supervisors elect its president often feels a bit like observing a live-action game of three-card monte. There’s ever so much twirling about and, until the cup is lifted, you don’t know where the votes are going to be.
Today, however, the political legerdemain took place off-camera. After several furious days of votes being whipped and deals being brokered, District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman ended up being the sole nominee for the position. And, lo, he won.
There’s a lot of cachet in being board president, because it’s a position that has great possibilities. If Mayor Daniel Lurie is hit by a meteor, or runs off and joins the French Foreign Legion, for instance, Mandelman will be your new mayor. And it could happen: In just 2017, Mayor Ed Lee was felled by a heart attack while in the frozen-foods section of the city’s worst Safeway, and Board President London Breed was the next woman up…

So, Mandelman is board president, having been the sole nominee. But expect Melgar to oversee the County Transportation Authority and its billions of dollars in transit monies. Expect Melgar to also accept the mixed blessing of helming the land-use committee.
Why did this happen? Mandelman is perceived by his colleagues as more predictable than Melgar in his votes, for good or ill, and more willing to make deals. The bloc of left-leaning supervisors is counting on it; it will be lost on nobody that he is in this position because of their votes. Expect Connie Chan, who successfully lobbied her colleagues for Mandelman, to remain budget chair…(more)
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City of San Francisco set to close parking site for homeless living in vehicles

KPIX CBS News

This is a problem that someone should be able to fix as soon as the new administration steps in.

We understand there is a well-managed private RV park close by that cost less to operate than the city managed one. Perhaps there is someone better able to manage this safe parking site and our new Mayor will find that person in time to save it. Trailer parks are a perfectly legal and widely accepted lifestyle for many. Why San Francisco opposes them is somewhat of a mystery.