Category: Update

By Jaxon Van Derbeken : msn – excerpt (NBC video link on youtube )

The Millennium Tower may be the most recognizable sinking building in the city, but one researcher says earth-based and space-based observations confirm the entire downtown area around it is sinking as well.

“I looked at every building in the Bay Area, so just under a million buildings,” said U.S Geological Survey research geophysicist Tom Parsons, who estimates that over the last century, 3.5 trillion pounds of development and human activity – including the subsidence tied to loss of groundwater — have led to an estimated settlement of three inches across the entire Bay Area.

“Clearly, the most density and the tallest buildings are centered in that downtown San Francisco area, and that’s where we see the most calculated cumulative settlement from all of those buildings together,” he said.

Turns out that at an estimated 686 million pounds, the Millennium Tower is the third heaviest building in the city. The top nine all weigh more than 300-million pounds, but the only one that’s leaning significantly is the Millennium. Groundwater loss from adjacent construction has been blamed for the problem by the tower’s developers, while geotechnical experts say the key is that its foundation is not rooted in bedrock…(more)

Too bad CEQA environmental reviews do not include a report on the foundations and that our local ordinances do not require that engineers who design foundations communicate with engineers who design the buildings they rest upon. Perhaps this is something our city authorities should consider doing as they build denser, higher and heavier buildings. The cumulative effects of the loss of ground water should concern them as well. Who among our city representatives will take it upon themselves to fix the problem in our seismically challenged city?

By Ida Kukura :sfist – excerpt

Image: WeDrawTheLinesCA.org

One of the many quirks of the proposed SF state assembly district boundaries is that if David Campos won his assembly race, he would not even live in the district he represents.

The completion of the 2020 U.S. Census sets off another bureaucratic process for 2021, that is, redrawing districts for Congress, for the state Senate, the state Assembly, and even the SF Board of Supervisors districts. In most states, these redistricting processes are handled by legislators in a raw political grab to entrench more partisan incumbents. In California, which effectively lacks a functioning Republican party, the redistricting is handled by a citizen committee called the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. And among their goals this year is to give the state’s growing Asian population more legislative power.

They released their first draft of the districts Wednesday. Under the proposed new boundaries, Nancy Pelosi’s congressional district would take up more of San Francisco, adding the southwest neighborhoods like Lake Merced. Scott Wiener’s state senate district would expand to cover a little more of South San Francisco. These are not huge overhauls. But the proposed new state Assembly districts are drawing criticism, as the Chronicle reports on complaints that they “create a white-majority district on the east side,” and “dilute the influence of Asian American, Latino, African American and LGBTQ residents.”…

“I think this map pisses everybody off a little bit,” longtime City Hall political consultant David Ho told the Chronicle. “This iteration is just straight-up offensive. I don’t see any group that would support this iteration locally.”…(more)

by Will Jarrett and Joe Eskenazi : missionlocal – excerpt (includes interactive graphic)

In January, 2020, the first domino fell.

Mohammad Nuru, then the director of the San Francisco Department of Public Works, was hit with a raft of federal corruption charges and was accused of lying to the FBI – crimes that could see him in prison for up to 25 years.

At the time, U.S. Attorney David Anderson commented on the allegations by saying, “corruption is pouring into San Francisco from around the world.”…(more)

The SF Family graphic indicates the parties and their relationships so far released by the FBI who have been exposed by the media. There are some blanks in the chain who’s names are so far being withheld. Friends and associates of the named parties must be nervous.

Since the news of the deeply imbedded corruption DBI and the permitting Departments have been exposed by the FBI, the SF Board of Supervisors has taken on many investigations into the City Family as they consider how to fix the system that lead to the corruptions. They have their hands full. This week they considered the roll the Planning Department has and doesn’t have in determining the outcome of the construction projects that are going up and where enforcement and oversight are lacking.

Clearly the building system is failing when it relies on pay to play operators to handle such important details as engineering, contracting and inspections. How many buildings have been given the green light to open that were not properly inspected by qualified personnel?

Concerns have been rising since high levels of pollution at Treasure Island and Hunter’s Point were reported. The Millennium and Transbay Terminal disasters, the faulty steel and connectors turning up and the poor quality of steel and other mistakes made on SF expensive and public transportation systems are bringing to overfed, financially draining construction industry into full public light and the pubic is demanding action.

What are SF authorities going to do to fix the rotten building industrial complex that has been exposed as criminal to the core and unfair to the small property owners and businesses that have been over charged and sucked dry by the system?

The Supervisors Land and Transportation Committee held a hearing to give the new Planning Director an opportunity to describe what the roll the Planning Department plays in enforcement and consider how the department may do more. Judging from the discussion at the meeting this process is going to take a while.

We notice a lack of new cranes in the city? Could the exposures of corruption in DBI, and role they had in pay-to-play and fast-tracking the large projects be the reasons for the slowdown? We shall have to wait and see. Some of the data are astounding. Watch the program here to see what you think is going on: https://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/player/clip/39758?view_id=177&redirect=true Item #3

By Bob Silvestri :marinpost – excerpt

Senate Bill 9 (Atkins) (the “Bill” or “SB 9”), the California Home Act, was signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 19, 2021 and becomes effective on January 1, 2022. The following information is presented courtesy of United Neighbors, a Los Angeles, grassroots, community organization that is actively involved in state housing laws…

Since there is not sufficient time for a publicly-considered implementation ordinance to be developed, publicly reviewed, and adopted by January 1, 2022, cities and counties can develop a memorandum of understanding to obligate all City Departments and agencies to abide by interim rules and requirements to implement SB 9, locally, until such time as the permanent ordinance can be adopted…

Local governments can also establish minimum thresholds by which certain SB 9 projects cannot be ministerially reviewed and instead be subject to greater scrutiny in terms of a public hearing process and heightened environmental review…

The following are some of their suggested Draft Resolution conditions for the City of Los Angeles, most of which are applicable to all other cities in the state…(copy attached)

There are a number of suggestions on how to fight the state bills that override local control over development and zoning. The article covers some of them that activists may want to consider running by their city representatives. In addition to the MOU and the attached resolution, there is a state ballot intuitive that will soon be gathering signatures explained here:
stopsacramento.org. See more information here: https://www.livablecalifornia.org/

cbslocal – excerpt (includes video)

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) — A new temporary vehicle triage center in San Francisco’s Candlestick Point State Recreation Area for people living out of their vehicle to safely park will move forward after it was approved by the California Department of Parks on Thursday.

The center will be located in the park’s Boat Launch parking lot, providing 150 parking spaces for as many as 177 people, as well as security, staffing, lighting, electricity, bathrooms and showers, potable water, and other necessities.

The residents will also have access to social services with opportunities for permanent housing, health care, and employment, city officials said.

“As we continue to move forward with our historic Homelessness Recovery Plan and work to get people off the streets, we must find solutions for our unhoused population living in their RVs or in their cars,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. “This Vehicle Triage Center will provide individuals with a safe place to sleep, regular access to stabilizing services, and an opportunity to move forward on their path out of homelessness.”…(more)

by Dr. Derek Kerr : westsideobserver – excerpt

Awakened by federal prosecutions of City officials and contractors for corruption, the Ethics Commission (Ethics) has once-again been digging into governmental pay-to-play culture. Ethics cannot easily lead this endeavor because it’s dependent upon the same officials it supposedly oversees. For example, Ethics’ budget is subject to approval by the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors. Its 5 Commissioners are appointed by the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, District Attorney, City Attorney and Assessor. It’s all in the City Family.

As described in the June 2019 Westside Observer, the Ethics Commission had previously fractured when it came to independently fighting pay-to-play corruption. Commissioners Yvonne Lee and Daina Chiu torpedoed an “Anti-Corruption and Accountability Ordinance” that Ethics staff and then-Commissioners Peter Keane, Quentin Kopp and Paul Renne wanted to bring to the voters. Commissioner Lee had dismissed the “perception of corruption,” calling it “anecdotal.” Dismayed, Commissioners Keane and Kopp resigned. City Family interests seemed secure…

Another Crack at Behested Payments

In November 2020, Ethics released a report on behested payments whereby City officials solicit donations to favored charities and non-profits. When such donations are sought from entities doing business with the City it becomes a “shakedown” – of money for official support. Worse, those funds may go to non-profit accounts that are controlled by a City official. That was the case with Mohammed Nuru who asked DPW contractors like Recology to donate to a Parks Alliance account from which $980,000 was accessed over 5 years for holiday parties and the like…

Ethics staff concluded that current gift disclosure mechanisms are “ineffective”. They proposed remedies to deter pay-to-play transactions. Their thoughtful analyses and recommendations must weather the appeals of gift recipients and the sausage-making of their Commissioners and City Hall. If the end-product is baloney, concerned citizens can still get results by reporting governmental corruption to the FBI or the Media.”…(more)

sfexaminer headlines – expert

What are the odds that SF Examiner headlines would deal with shortage and tech troubles?

SF restaurants face product shortages and skyrocketing costs

How San Francisco tech companies are addressing the global supply chain crisis

San Francisco’s ‘Champagne problems’ — Wine industry suffers supply chain woes

Could it be that there really is a supply chain problem that is outside the realm of our government to fix immediately?

By John Elberling : 48hills – excerpt

The document needs major changes if it has any hope of promoting social equity

Editor’s note: The Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission will meet Thursday/21 to consider approving Plan Bay Area 2050, which seeks to address housing needs in the region.

Despite its lofty goals, Plan Bay Area 2050 as now constituted will in fact result in the disappearance of the Bay Area’s lower-income/working class/minority BIPOC central-city communities and the market-driven displacement of hundreds of thousands of their long-time residents. Many will be forced out of the Bay Area entirely.

Housing is a human right. Affordable housing for all the people of the Bay Area is their human right. That was the commitment of the National Housing Act of 1937 that still remains unfulfilled today, 84 years later. That must be the commitment of PBA 2050. This is social housing, housing that all low/moderate/middle income households can afford. But it can only be accomplished with the full commitment of the local, state, and federal funding that it will take.

Without that, PBA2050 is nothing but an empty shell full of empty promises.…(more)