By: Andrew Nelson : sfyimby – excerpt

California Assembly Member Matt Haney has introduced legislation to eliminate appeals for build permits. The State-wide law, AB 1114, aims to reduce insecurity for residential development after receiving entitlement in San Francisco, the only jurisdiction in California with such an appeal opportunity.

The build-permit appeals introduce yet-more costs to the approval process, increasing construction costs in the already expensive city. The city usually takes nearly two years to provide build permits to developers. During this time, the public will still be able to file appeals and voice opposition during public hearings and to city staff. The new legislation by Haney, the California State Assembly from the 17th District and former District Six supervisor in San Francisco, will cease the unique circumstance in San Francisco where individuals can appeal an entitled project…(more)

I hope you guys are happy you voted for Haney instead of Campos.

Opinion by Eric Jaye | Special to The Examiner : sfexaminer – excerpt (includes audio track)

Why is the moderate political coalition in San Francisco suddenly organizing against more effective city government? The answer shows just how toxic our politics has become.

In the last week, you might have received an email or seen press reports about Supervisor Connie Chan “holding up” $27 million in funds for police overtime. As chair of the Budget Committee, this is within her power to review and consider a supplemental budget request from the mayor.

Her choice to exercise that right brought howls of outrage from the broad ecosystem of political organizations, blogs and online press outlets supporting the mayor and the moderate coalition.

In the past, the moderates in San Francisco embraced oversight and accountability — and in the past there was a general consensus that political gamesmanship needed to end where public safety began.

But as demonstrated by this most recent political battle, those old rules are changing.

A quick review of data from the U.S. Department of Justice shows a long term and dramatic drop in recorded arrests per San Francisco officer (the efficiency, if you will, of each sworn officer) and highlights the need for thoughtful oversight and stronger leadership…(more

By Josh Koehn, Ida Mojadad, Kevin Truong : sfstandard – excerpt

Affordable housing projects in San Francisco could be in peril after the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which not only counts tech startups among its clientele but also manages assets for many low-income housing developers in the region.

A high-ranking City Hall official told The Standard that at least two affordable housing projects could be adversely impacted after federal regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank on Friday and froze more than $200 billion in assets.

“I’m aware of a couple affordable housing projects that could be impacted,” the source said. “It’s real—there is a real, tangible impact beyond the rattling of the cages of investors and the markets.”…

Anne Stanley, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, said the agency is still trying to identify all projects that could be affected…

Laura Foote, the executive director of pro-development nonprofit YIMBY Action, estimated as many as 20 affordable housing projects in San Francisco could be impacted, but she suggested a wholesale catastrophe is less likely than minor delays in funding and project timelines…(more)

By Sullivan : westsideobserver – excerpt

Need Help Getting a Record from City Hall?

After Sergei Severinov and his immigrant family were harassed, intimidated, insulted with racial slurs, abused and racially profiled by San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), he filed multiple complaints with the Office of Citizens Complaints and the Department of Police Accountability over several years. Finally, fed-up with the victimization of SFPD, he decided to find out what records SFPD keeps on him and his family. He sought help from the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force (SOTF) and in particular, all records of interaction with SFPD. He believes he has the right to do so under the California Public Records Act and the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance…

Sunshine

“Elected officials, commissions, boards, councils and other agencies of the City and County exist to conduct the people’s business. The people do not cede to these entities the right to decide what the people should know about the operations of local government. The right of the people to know what their government and those acting on behalf of their government are doing is fundamental to democracy, and with very few exceptions, that right supersedes any other policy interest government officials may use to prevent public access to information. The people of San Francisco enact these amendments to assure that the people of the City remain in control of the government they have created.” San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance of 1999, Findings and Purpose, Administrative Code §67…(more)

by Liz Lindqwister : sfstandard – excerpt

Between 2017 and 2022, the San Francisco Police Department spent $88.9 million more on its employees—despite its staff working fewer hours, according to employee pay data from the City Controller’s Office.

The cause? Police say it’s the department’s significant increase in overtime: Over the last five years, the number of overtime hours logged by the department steadily increased, before jumping 54% between 2021 and 2022…

Growing Political Turbulence

Though Breed’s plan has garnered support from District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, Urban Alchemy leadership and the Board of Supervisors’ moderate wing, a political skirmish is brewing in City Hall as some supervisors voice strong opposition to Breed’s agenda.

Supervisor Connie Chan unveiled a contrasting vision for the city’s budget on March 3, laying out a plan that did not prioritize efforts to get more police on the streets or to fund the police department more. Budget committee meetings to consider Breed’s agenda were pushed back to March 15, signaling growing tension in City Hall surrounding the mayor’s contentious bill… (more)

RELATED:

Mayor Breed Pushes $27M Police Overtime Bill, Slams ‘Obstructionist’ Board

Political Turbulence Ahead for Breed’s $27M Police Overtime Bill

By Jonathan Farrell :sfrichmondreview – excerpt

The 1700 block of 22nd Avenue, between Noriega and Moraga streets, was jolted by a huge blast on the morning of Feb. 9 when a house exploded into a three-alarm fire resulting in one death, three injuries that required hospitalization and damage to 18 homes and several cars.

It took the efforts of more than 100 firefighters and 35 units/apparatus to attend to the blaze, which occurred at 9:22 a.m….

While later news reports said Price was described as a contractor (who “flipped houses”) and his wife Rita of eight years was a “kitchen designer,” nothing in the formal press releases provided by the SFFD/SFPD gave any such specific details.

Not even the mention of what type of narcotics were involved on the premises of the house were said in initial SFPD/SFFD press releases. The releases did report that Price has been charged with felonies of involuntary manslaughter, manufacturing of narcotics and two counts of child endangerment….

The SFDA’s office also said in official statement that investigators recovered suspected butane tanks, ovens and other materials consistent with processing hash oil with volatile solvents. Investigators also tested a jar of suspected hash oil and found it contained acetone and other dangerous and highly flammable solvents…(more)

A primary reason that the streets need to remain open and cleared for fire engines to easily move across the city when emergencies arise that require fast action from all the neighborhoods. The same may be said for other emergency responders. The streets need to be passable for reliable responses to emergencies.

RELATED:

SF’s street barriers to curb alleged sex work could be violating state, city law

The fire department is worried about delayed emergency response times, but that’s not the only reason the plan is drawing controversy. Both purchases may not be tax money well spent. Public safety advocates are concerned the barriers may be in violation of state statute and city ordinance…(more)

By Eric Jaye : sfexaminer – excerpt

Earlier this year, Breed partied in Vegas while SF was flooding. Who is playing the blame game now?

Who is “ruining” San Francisco?

Well, doesn’t the answer come down to who runs San Francisco?

A recent Sunday opinion piece from investor Michael Moritz published in the New York Times blamed progressive policies for ruining San Francisco. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight recently wrote about how local politicians are responding to a “pledge” to prosecute drug dealers.

These articles serve as well-crafted bookends to the growing body of reporting blaming progressive policies for San Francisco’s rising level of homelessness, crime and general dysfunction. The storyline is well-crafted and seemingly well-coordinated; the progressives fiddle while San Francisco burns…

San Francisco has been called an “imperial city,” and when it comes to our governance, that is not an exaggeration. We have a strong mayor system of governance, perhaps the strongest in the nation. For all intents and purposes the Board of Supervisors has the power to pass a budget, but after that they are largely on the sidelines. They can make noise, but they really can’t do much else under our city charter. They are literally barred by the charter from “interfering” in day-to-day city operations…(more)

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Mayor London Breed and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins want to change the city’s sanctuary law so the Department of Homeland Security can extradite two people who are accused of serious crimes and are now on the lam in Mexico.

It makes so little sense: DHS doesn’t need the city to change anything. The huge federal agency can work with Mexican authorities to bring those two to justice anytime (assuming, for the moment, that the Mexican authorities actually have custody of the two)…

In reality, this is just a matter of politics, a way for Breed and Jenkins to grandstand as “tough on crime” while they give in to what several supes have called federal “blackmail.”…

But the mayor’s move will come directly to the board this week, when the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee considers Thursday/9 a pair of bill aimed directly at extradition for the two Mexican suspects…(more)

I must be ill-informed. I thought sanctuary city is supposed to allow people to stay in the city, not force them to return.

by David Sjostedt : sfstandard – excerpt

Supervisor Connie Chan wants to address homelessness in San Francisco by sending some people living on the city’s streets to shelter, housing and health-care facilities in other counties.

The proposal, which is included as part of Chan’s “Equitable Recovery Plan,” aims to address the city’s inability to meet local demand for shelter and housing by sharing social services with other Bay Area counties. The proposal comes as the city grapples with deteriorating street conditions and a $728 million budget deficit over the next two years.

Chan told The Standard that she hopes a regional approach would allow some people to receive housing and other services faster and cheaper than they would in San Francisco. The option to accept services in another county would be made by the individual, she said.

“If they say they want to wait to [receive housing] in San Francisco, of course, we’re going to do whatever we can to help them,” Chan said. “But it’s not compassion for them to be left out on the streets.”…(more)

by Noah Baustin : sfstandard – excerpt

It’s been more than a year since the Justice Department announced new charges in its investigation into corruption at San Francisco City Hall. But new reporting from The Standard suggests that, far from drying up, the allegations of corruption that prosecutors tapped may run deeper than previously known.

A former employee of the waste-hauler Recology now alleges that a top company executive was actually responsible for payments made as part of an alleged bribery conspiracy meant to curry favor with the public official who signed off on garbage fee increases in San Francisco.

John Porter, a former manager of Recology’s San Francisco operations, faces trial on charges he helped steer money to the company’s chief regulator, then-public works director Mohammed Nuru. But Porter said in a court filing, which has not been previously reported in the press, that responsibility for certain suspect payments should have fallen on his former boss, former chief operating officer Mark Arsenault.

“Mr. Porter refused to approve the payment unless instructed to by Mr. Arsenault,” Porter said in the December filing…(more)