Category: Update

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Could SF get anticorruption ‘inspector general’? Peskin hopes good-government proposal doubles as good politics.

By Joe Eskenazi : 48hills – excerpt

Ballot measures for mayoral candidates serve as as publicity engines, storyline generators and soft-money conduits
Board President Aaron Peskin on April 6 officially announced his mayoral run. He mentioned a potential future ballot measure regarding the establishment of an ‘inspector general’ to confront San Francisco’s rampant corruption issues.

This was what was ostensibly in the back of Board President Aaron Peskin’s mind when he shocked, shocked gatherers at his April 6 mayoral launch with the announcement that he’d establish “a new tool for fighting corruption and cleaning up City Hall – an Inspector General, under the Controller, with the power of subpoena and investigation.”

An inspector general? That’s a very dramatic title; surely others also envisioned Russell Crowe glowering in an ill-fitting period costume. But that’s not what Peskin is envisioning. Rather, his proposal is, literally, cribbed from “best practices” reports for “promotion of the public trust.”

That would make it neither creative nor theatrical. And, if Peskin can persuade five of his Board colleagues to get to yes, we’ll all be voting on this come November…(more)

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CSFN Meeting and Newsletter

CSFN April Newsletter: April 2024 News
Linked on the front page: csfn.net

April-2024-NL
PDF Document · 3.8 MB

Download flyers re: Coastal Commission and Traffic Bills.

Lots of actions coming up this month.
Send any photos you have with the candidates for the May Newsletter (zrants)

This meeting is about SFMTA and our transportation problems.
Thanks for those of you who sent in questions and suggestions.
There is still time to add your issues to the list.
Or suggestions if you have any.

Register for the meetings. Invite anyone who is concerned about transportation.

Tuesday, April 16, 6:30 PM – Zoom
CSFN General Assembly Meeting Program: Transportion
Bob Feinbaum on Muni Trains (with Reso)
Up-zoning brings parking nightmares for residents.
Ask the candidates what they will do to protect us.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvf-6grT0tGtWqftDIQgyIUjo6rMfrelZf

Thursday, April 11, 2024, 6:30-8:30 PM – a live event Zoom
Christ Church Lutheran, 1090 Quintara Street
Sunset/Parkside District 4 Town Hall – Up-zoning Plans
Protect Neighborhoods, Support Merchants, Meet Housing Needs
Register – in person* Limited space of 125
Register – via Zoom

Download flyers re: Coastal Commission and Traffic Bills.

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Four Anti-California Coastal Commission Bills Hit Sacramento.

These four bills — all by Democrats — take different tacks:
Actions may take if you oppose them

•   SB951 By San  Francisco Senator Scott Wiener
Puts further restrictions on what kinds of projects can be appealed directly to the Commission. In it’s current version. https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb951?slug=CA_202320240SB951
An earlier version of that bill would have cut a chunk of San Francisco out of the Coastal Zone entire, but that proposal was amended. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/coast-housing-wiener-18624806.php Together they show that many pro-housing legislators have taken heart from last year’s battle for the coast.

•   AB2560 by San Diego Assemblymember David Alvarez.
Exempts from the Coastal Act apartment projects that make use of density bonus law – a policy that lets developers build taller, higher and with fewer restrictions if they set aside units for lower income residents. https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2560?slug=CA_202320240AB2560

•   SB1077 Encinitas Senator Catherine Blakespear
Makes the same exception for accessory dwelling units ( ADUs) https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1077?slug=CA_202320240SB1077,

•   SB1092 by Encinitas Senator Catherine Blakespear
Forces the Commission to process appeals of locally-approved apartment buildings faster.  https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1092?slug=CA_202320240SB1092

RELATED:
Fresh batch of YIMBY housing bills clash with coastal protections (again)

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Have SF voters truly weakened city‘s ‘strong mayor’ government?

By Patrick Hope : sfexaminer – excerpt (includes audio track)

Some people say the post of mayor of San Francisco is one of the strongest of its kind in the nation; others insist it has been so hobbled by voter-approved restrictions that nobody could do the job effectively.

The question, central to the current mayor’s race, reflects the historic tug-of-war in San Francisco over how much authority should rest with The City’s elected chief executive versus other arms of city government — notably the Board of Supervisors — especially since 1996, when voters most recently approved a City Charter.

That was the year that the legendary Willie Brown began the first of his two controversial terms as mayor, a tenure that many cite today as an example of what a powerful and effective executive can be — but which rankled others who perceived a culture of corruption…(more)

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Sunset/Parkside District 4 Town Hall – Up-zoning Plans

Find out what you can do if you object to this plan.

Example of the up-zoning planned for commercial corridors in the Sunset and  Richmond including 19th Avenue, Sunset, Lincoln, Judah, Lawton, Noriega, Taraval, Vicente, and Sloat.

Thursday, April 11, 2024, 6:30-8:30 PM – a live event (Zoom)
Christ Church Lutheran, 1090 Quintara Street
Sunset/Parkside District 4 Town Hall – Up-zoning Plans
Protect Neighborhoods, Support Merchants, Meet Housing Needs
Register – in person*  Limited space of 125
Register – via Zoom

https://www.neighborhoodsunitedsf.org/d4townhall

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Aaron Peskin vows to lead San Francisco’s ‘recovery’ in mayoral campaign kickoff

By Han Li and Joel Umanzor : sfstandard – excerpt

San Francisco’s mayoral race officially entered a new era Saturday as longtime progressive leader Aaron Peskin joined the contest for the city’s top job.

Peskin, 59, president of the Board of Supervisors, formally kicked off his campaign at a rally in Chinatown’s Portsmouth Square, where throngs of his supporters—and a few dozen detractors—gathered.

“I am so deeply and sincerely grateful to have received the support I needed to recover and become sober,” Peskin, who previously sought treatment for alcoholism, said to a crowd of hundreds of supporters, “and it has inspired me to dedicate the next chapter of my life to the recovery of this city.”

“I believe San Francisco deserves a mature discussion, not a shouting match,” he added.

Prominent progressive leaders, including former mayor Art Agnos and former state legislators Mark Leno and Tom Ammiano, were among those who showed up to support Peskin, who is currently in his fourth—and final—term as supervisor. Also in attendance were local Chinatown leaders and hundreds of Chinese seniors led by Community Tenant Association.…(more)

RELATED:

Peskin Campaign Begins With Protest, Promises And a little love for police

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As prime as prime can be. So why is this huge building still empty after years?

By Garrett Leahy : sfstandard – excerpt

It’s as prime as prime San Francisco real estate can be: a bustling North Beach corner with views of Sts. Peter and Paul Church and Washington Square Park close to amazing restaurants, historic bars, cafes and a plethora of bakeries.

But it’s a grimy shell of its former self. The building at 659 Union St. is barely even a building at all. What’s left of it after two ravaging fires is essentially a brick exterior propped up by metal rods. So why is the space still empty?…

San Francisco Planning Chief of Staff Dan Sider said the developer needs to work with the city to get redevelopment plans fully approved. Demolishing the old brick walls is possible, Sider said, but it’s a lengthy process requiring Jurow to meet with the city, something he hasn’t done since November…

The demolition would require an environmental report and a public hearing at the Historic Preservation Commission, which takes at least 18 months and does not guarantee success, Sider said…

Jurow said he didn’t know he could tear down the old brick wall until The Standard passed on Sider’s comments. The developer said he would like any new exterior to fit the current style of the neighborhood…

The office of Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose district includes North Beach, said it is working to make Jurow’s plans a reality.

“We’ve been working closely with the City Attorney, Planning Department and Project Sponsor on a Special Use District for this site, which would provide numerous exceptions for the developer to build the project that they’ve proposed,” a representative for Peskin said. “It is our understanding that the Planning Department has been waiting on critical information from the project sponsor that the Department and City Attorney requested some time ago, in order to facilitate the crafting of the [district]. We stand ready to move this forward whenever the project sponsor gets back to the city.”…(more)

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WILL SAN FRANCISCO ELECT AARON PESKIN MAYOR?

By Randy Shaw : beyondchron – excerpt

Peskin Galvanizes SF’s Mayor’s Race (Updated April 4)

On Saturday, Aprill 6 Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin is announcing he is running for San Francisco mayor. I had long assumed this would happen.

San Francisco now has the most open mayor’s race since 1975.

There is no clear front runner.

Let me share by sharing my history with Aaron Peskin…(more)

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Dissecting Mission Local’s reporting on big money donors

By Yujie Zhou :missionlocal – excerpt

Neighbors for a Better San Francisco and TogetherSF are gonna go for Farrell. GrowSF and Abundant SF will go for Breed,” Joe Rivano Barros, told the audience at Manny’s.

That was the prediction for November’s looming election offered by Mission Local’s senior editor at a Tuesday night debrief on big money in San Francisco politics.

Mission Local has been covering the groups that have collectively launched a more conservative-leaning movement to oust progressives from elected office in San Francisco — and their spending. “We’re gonna see a big divide, a big rift in November,” said Rivano Barros. Also on the stage were Will Jarrett, Mission Local’s former data reporter, and managing editor Joe Eskenazi. All three have been contributors to Mission Local’s BigMoneySF series…

The tech- and real-estate-backed groups who have put millions into city elections do not only diverge on mayoral candidates but also differ more generally: Neighbors for a Better San Francisco has geared towards public safety, while GrowSF and Abundant SF are more urbanist and YIMBY, focused on market-rate housing, bike lanes, keeping the great highway and JFK Driver car-f-ree, according to Rivano Barros…

As for the progressive-leaning candidates, one reflection Rivano Barros has heard: “They’ve got to stop just talking about billionaires controlling this.” At some point, you have to offer voters a reason to vote for you, not just reasons to vote against your competitors: “There was a question mark there [in the March election] about what progressives were proffering.”

“If you allow your opponent to define who you are and they have ten times the money you do,” added Eskenazi, “you will lose.”.… (more)

RELATED:

BigMoneySF: Explore the major players paying out to remake San Francisco

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Supes blast Potrero, Sunnydale public housing management

By Annika Hom :missionlocal – excerpt

Supervisor’s anger follows series of Mission Local articles revealing squatters, deferred work, and failing habitability scores in public housing

Supervisor Shamann Walton Thursday ripped into the property manager overseeing troubled Potrero Hill and Sunnydale public housing, criticizing its explanations for mismanaged properties.

At a meeting Thursday, the Board of Supervisors Government Audit and Oversight Committee grilled management corporation Eugene Burger for recent incidents, such as squatters living in vacant units, mounting trash, deferred work orders and poor habitability scores, and a lethal fire…

But Walton was unsatisfied with the majority of management’s answers.

“Now I understand where the problem lies,” Walton said, feigning sudden enlightenment. “We think quality of service for residents is different than what Eugene Burger thinks” it is, he said.

“Everybody who is in the development working on properties, developer, contractor, Housing Authority, HOPE SF — you are all responsible for meeting residents’ needs, point blank,” Walton said sternly…

Supervisor Catherine Stefani also questioned the city agreements that pay Eugene Burger to run the sites: “I don’t understand why we continue to engage and ask people to do the work if they are not able to perform it,” she said…(more)