Category: Update

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Hundreds of SF Renters Threatened With Eviction During Pandemic (SF Public Press)

by Nina Sparling : publicpress – excerpt

Keeshemah Johnson rushed her partner to the emergency room last summer. Maurice Austin had lost his appetite and wasn’t getting out of bed much. Then he started struggling to breathe. He tested positive for COVID-19 in the ER.

Austin died on Aug. 1, less than a week after Johnson took him to the hospital.

Within days, Johnson said, their landlord began pressuring her to leave. On Sept. 15, she received an eviction notice, stating that she had five days to move out of their Hunters Point apartment. The couple had never added Johnson’s name to the lease — a fact the property owner cited to claim that Johnson and her stepson were illegally squatting in the home they shared with Austin.

“He wasn’t even in the ground yet before they were expecting us to vacate the apartment,” Johnson said.

Johnson is among hundreds of San Francisco renters whose landlords have tried to force them from their homes in the midst of a global pandemic. A San Francisco Public Press analysis of the city’s Rent Board data found that from March 1 through Dec. 31, 2019, landlords filed 1,226 eviction notices; during the same period in 2020, landlords filed 535 notices, even as city, state and federal moratoriums on pandemic-related evictions remain in effect… (more)

What happens when the landlord is a non-profit housing management contractor that works with the city? Is the next strep a complaint to a whistleblower program, call the rent board, or look for a pro bono attorney?

 

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SF moved people onto Treasure Island despite serious toxic dangers

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Navy and its contractors gave inaccurate info on chemicals and radiation as development of housing moved forward, data at hearing shows.

For more than ten years, the US Navy provided inaccurate, incomplete or false data on the risks of chemical and radiological contamination at Treasure Island – while the city was moving more than 1,000 mostly low-income people into housing on the island.

That’s what a state official testified today in what Sup. Aaron Peskin called profound information. “You are the first person in a decade and a half to tell the truth,” Peskin said to Anthony Chu, the director of radiation safety at the state Department of Public Health…(more)

Stay tuned as more hearings are on the way.

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Vaccine Information

Posted on District 5 Newletter:

It is critical that everyone in San Francisco get vaccinated as soon as it is their turn. It is not mandatory, but vaccinating most people is critical to stop COVID-19 from mutating and continuing to impact our world. Information is constantly changing, and we suggest checking the latest here.

There is also a COVID-19 Vaccinations Tracker that provides information on the number of people who live in San Francisco who have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine and the number of doses administered within San Francisco to anyone. We also encourage you to sign up to be notified when you’re eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Right now, we do not have enough vaccines for mass vaccination sites, but those will be set up as soon as we receive a shipment. Unfortunately, we have not received a timeline on the arrival of further vaccines, though it is coming. You can learn about future prioritization groups here.

To get your vaccine, contact your primary care physician. Please remember that the vaccine is in short supply so you may not be able to book your appointment today. If you do not have a physician, contact the SF Health Network.

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SF supes take on political corruption?

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

[Government Oversight and Audit Committee] Committee hearing will give us a clue. Plus: Protecting SRO tenants, preventing evictions and saving nightlife venues…
The last time a measure to create a public advocate – an independent office that could among other things investigate public corruption – some supervisors said it wasn’t needed. After all, they said, the board has a Government Oversight and Audit Committee, that can and should be investigating the kind of evolving scandal that has hit City Hall…


The supes have subpoena power if they want to use it, and can force witnesses to testify under oath.

That hasn’t happened yet in this scandal, but the committee has, indeed, decided to hold a hearing on the matter, and asked controller and the city attorney for updates…(more)

This raises some questions about who is being protected and shows a lack of will on the part of the supervisors to deal with corruption at City Hall differently from the way they handled problems with private contractors related to engineering disasters. Subpoenas were used for these hearings.)
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The urgency of vaccines for people with disabilities

by Howard Chabner,  48hills – excerpt – download the letter

January 24, 2021

Dear Mayor Breed, Board President Walton and Supervisors:

First, credit where credit is due.Mayor Breed, you and the SF Department of Public Health have made some smart, prudent decisions about lockdowns, and about closing and reopening businesses, functions and activities.You’ve implemented a strong mask policy.These actions have saved lives and reduced serious illness.San Francisco’s Covid 19 death rate is low for a city of its size. Thank you.

I’m writing, unfortunately, about something not so good. Unconscionable, in fact.

San Francisco’s COVID vaccination policy prioritizes healthy, able-bodied people 65 and older over high-risk individuals below age 65, including individuals below 65 with major disabilities and health conditions. This policy is based on guidance from the State of California and the CDC.

This policy means that people younger than 65 with muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, Down syndrome, primary progressive multiple sclerosis, other autoimmune diseases, Huntington disease, Parkinson’s disease, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, Gaucher disease, and others at high risk of contracting COVID and at high risk of severe illness or death if they do contract it, will have to wait longer — and depending upon vaccine supply, often far longer — to be vaccinated than healthy, able-bodied people 65 and older who have no significant medical conditions.

The policy also does not take caregivers into account, which is wrong both for the caregivers themselves and for individuals who rely on them…

San Francisco must immediately change its policy to very highly prioritize:

  • People of any age with specified chronic medical conditions, including but not limited to ALS, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Huntington disease, sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, and Down syndrome. People of any age with other specified chronic medical conditions should be placed in this category if they can demonstrate by compelling medical evidence that they are at great risk of severe health consequences, including death, if they contract the virus.
  • Disabled people of any age who rely on caregivers coming to their home for assistance with activities of daily living.
  • Caregivers of any age, regardless of whether they are from government agencies or programs, private agencies, hired directly by disabled clients, or are family members of the individual for whom they are caring…

Howard Chabner, is a disability rights activist and retired lawyer…(more)

download the letter. Supportive comments are appreciated on the source site.

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The safety of Treasure Island residents must be addressed

By Guest Columnist  : sfexaminer – excerpt

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news-columnists/the-safety-of-treasure-island-residents-must-be-addressed/

“… It’s not surprising residents struggle to trust the Navy, which is why Supervisor Matt Haney called the hearing. After years of inaction, Treasure Island residents deserve transparency and accountability. They also could use a groundswell of action from San Franciscans who care about environmental justice and systemic racism…

“The health situation is pretty bad,” Carol Harvey, an investigative reporter who covers Treasure Island for the San Francisco Bay View National Black newspaper, told me.

At the upcoming hearing, Harvey plans to anonymously list residents’ health issues. She has photos of people’s painful skin rashes, pustules and lesions. She has reports of above average rates of miscarriages, stillbirths and birth defects. Cancers and strokes are common. Bones break — an indication of radiation exposure. Family dogs have seizures.

robynpurchia.com…(more)

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Report on the Wiener Town Hall

Posted December 22, 2020
There were some problems at the start, and Twitter crashed.  Congress had just passed the Cares package, and much of the talk was about that, and about the vaccine regimen and unemployment problesms.  He talked about emphases for the new legislative session: housing in general, extending the eviction moratorium, helping small landlords, reforming criminal justice (policing), and mental health programs, including safe injection sites.  The legislature has a windfall for the state budget due to the stock market and other reasons; SF has a drug overdose epidemic to deal with; there are problems with the EDD payments, with the PG&E bankruptcy, and with the Homekey program.  (No specific bills were mentioned)
     He ended the hour by saying there would be more town halls in the future, with some great guest speakers…
Regards,
Charles
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Two of architecture’s biggest names just pulled out of an ambitious climate pledge

By Nate Berg : fastcompany – excerpt

In as many days, two of the world’s most well-known architecture firms have shocked the field and removed their names from a pledge aiming to reduce architecture’s contribution to climate change and biodiversity loss. First Foster + Partners and then a day later Zaha Hadid Architects withdrew from Architects Declare, a pledge launched by architects in the U.K. in 2019 that commits to reducing the architecture and construction industry’s nearly 40% contribution to global carbon emissions…(more)

At last we have an admission that the ordinary citizens going about their lives are not the primary producers of GHG. Read the article for a list of the primary contributors.

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SF to launch COVID-19 testing site at Alemany Farmer’s Market

By Joshua Sabatini : sfexaminer – except

Following the closure of the South of Market testing site, access to free COVID-19 testing will begin Tuesday at Alemany Farmer’s Market and operate five days per week, city officials announced Monday.

The site will have the capacity to test to 500 persons per day.

The City decided to relocate the SoMa testing site to the Alemany site to better serve the southeast area of San Francisco, city officials said…

The City is currently testing about 5,800 people daily…

The testing site, called Alemany CityTestSF, is located at 100 Alemany Boulevard. People can walk up for tests and drive-through. Appointments can be scheduled at sf.gov/gettestedsf but residents and essential workers can obtain tests without appointments.

The hours for the Alemany CityTestSF will be 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday…(more)

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San Francisco Faces $116 Million Budget Shortfall

By Raven : sfnews – excerpt

SAN FRANCISCO—On Tuesday, November 10, the San Francisco City Controller’s Office projected a $116 million shortfall due to economic impacts as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

According to the report, the Citywide General Fund revenue is projected to decline by $143.5 million. City Controller Ben Rosenfield cites a slower re-opening and increase in telecommuting as a concern for the city’s budget.

“If the level of telecommuting returned to its pre-Covid levels at the beginning of Fiscal Year 2020-21, our projections for business would be about $190 million higher than our current projections,” Rosenfield said…(more)

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