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Breed proposes $1.3 billion budget bump, despite months of deficit warnings

By Gabe Greschler and Noah Baustin : sfstandard – excerpt (see graph at the source)
For months, Mayor London Breed has been ringing the alarm about an $800 million deficit and asking city departments to plan for budget cuts. But instead of cutting overall spending, Breed’s latest budget proposal calls for a record $15.9 billion outlay next year, a nearly 9% climb from this year’s budget…

Breed’s plan is likely to spur intense debate and discussion this summer and comes as the mayor—along with two supervisors and another two City Hall outsiders—seek the city’s top job in November.

Breed’s challengers are already casting her as having squandered years of bright economic growth—and a moderate versus progressive fight is almost certain in the coming weeks over at least some of the mayor’s spending priorities.

Last year, Breed was able to plug up a similarly large deficit through the use of Covid-related reimbursements and reserve funds. But by October, Breed warned that cuts were coming and directed city departments to make 10% reductions to their budgets.

San Francisco’s supervisors will propose their own tweaks to the mayor’s budget proposal before sending it back to her for a final signature by the end of July… (more)

RELATED remarks via email

…Supervisor and Budget Chair Connie Chan blasted the mayor on Friday over what she described as the mayor’s “wasteful spending and inefficiencies” in city contracting and departments.

“My task is clear—we must comb through the mayor’s proposed budget and advance a budget that prioritizes all San Franciscans—not just the demands of the wealthy few,” Chan said.

Likewise, Safaí had some harsh words for Breed: “Her budget is out of touch with working families, and there’s no way it will pass as is.”

Other critics of the mayor echoed Chan’s remarks: “We’re going to have to understand and digest the money machinations,” said Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club President Jeffrey Kwong.

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Trump convicted: San Francisco, tell us how you feel after guilty verdict

By Stanford Staff : sfstandard – excerpt
Are you headed to a party? Planning a protest?

Former President Donald Trump prepares to make comments to members of the media after being found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Thursday. | Source: Seth Wenig/AP

Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 counts in his New York hush money trial Thursday.

The landmark jury verdict makes him the first former American president to be found guilty of felony crimes in the nation’s nearly 250-year history.

Trump is set to visit San Francisco next Thursday for a fundraiser dinner at David Sacks’ ritzy Pacific Heights home.

Sacks has already shared his feelings about the trial on X… (more)

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SF Police Commission cancels five meetings, awaits mayor’s appointees

By ELENI BALAKRISHNAN  : missionlocal – excerpt

When the San Francisco Police Commission began repeatedly canceling meetings this spring, it raised questions about whether Mayor London Breed — who has made her disdain for the commission very clear — was behind it.

Breed, as mayor, appoints the majority of the Police Commission’s members. But ever since she fell out with her own appointee, Max Carter-Oberstone, in 2022, she has worked to stymy the powerful commission that sets policy for the San Francisco Police Department. In March, voters approved Prop. E, her measure to restrict the commission’s policy-setting abilities.

And then the cancellations started. Of the past eight scheduled meetings going back 11 weeks, five were canceled: one in March, two in April and two this month. The reasons: vacancies, and absences for personal and business reasons. Maintaining a quorum — at least four out of the seven commissioners are needed for the body to meet — became more difficult after April 30 when two of Breed’s four appointees, Debra Walker and James Byrne, vacated their seats…(more)

 

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Opinion: Changing the West Portal entrance is a terrible idea

By George Wooding : 48hills – excerpt

As usual, the SFMTA came up with a bad plan, without any meaningful community input.
The draft plan infuriated local residents and merchants. SFMTA graphic.

Supervisor Myrna Melgar, Mayor London Breed, and SFMTA Director Jeffrey Tumlin have attempted to redirect traffic on the first block of the West Portal Avenue.  The proposed changes would hurt West Portal Avenue businesses, cause traffic congestion, and destroy the character of surrounding neighborhoods.

From the San Francisco Standard, April 18:

“If it were up to me, I would take all of the cars off West Portal,” Melgar said. “I think that this plan takes most of the cars off the intersection, and that is my goal.”

The Melgar and Tumlin plan was so hated by Westside residents and businesses that the SFMTA was forced to allow residents and business leaders three additional months to form a committee to evaluate impacts to parking and traffic congestion, and “come to a consensus that works for all parties,” according to a statement from Melgar’s office.  Prior to the committee formation, the SFMTA had done none of these evaluations…

The SFMTA’s Slow Streets road experiments are causing more accidents and business failures than they are stopping…(more)

The subject of Tumlin’s job will be high on the list of questions asked of the candidates running for Mayor. The tongue twisting, fact shifting Tumlin is nearing the end of his useful shelf life and everyone can see that. The emperors’ clothes are falling off at a fast pace as his mouth gives him away.

Next on the list of disasters is the Third Street Bridge that will put the T-Line out of business south of the stop to the north of it. Traffic and buses will be forced onto the two lane, rather sketchy Illinois bridge, making access to the Bay View more difficult than ever. There are some route around it, but nothing near Third Street. We can only hope that the repair is short and sweet, unlike what is happening with Taraval. and likely to happen on Folsom soon.

RELATED:

Are cars, buses, bikes, small businesses, and safe walking a zero-sum game? By Tim Redmond

Or is there a way to make SF really a transit-first city without making a lot of people miserable?…It sometimes seems as if everyone is mad and there’s no way to make drivers, bikers, merchants, and walkers better off without making someone worse off. Most of these folks are not rich or powerful; they’re just trying to make a living and get around town… So let me offer some perspective… (more)

 

 

 

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New Planning Commissioners

Gilbert Williams nominated by President Peskin
Gilbert Williams dedicated PODER member for over a decade has spent the entire pandemic learning about Land Use through his participation in the Race & Equity in all Planning Coalition’s “All Planning to the People” series. Always wanting to learn more by asking questions, and supporting his fellow community members leadership development, his leadership presented an opportunity to have a seat at the decision making table. After months of careful consideration, weeks of sleepless nights navigating the application process to join the Planning Commission. It was a whirlwind finale that started with the Rules Committee on Monday March 11th, Full Board vote Tuesday March 12th,  Sworn in Wednesday March 13th, and first day as Planning Commissioner on Thursday March 14th… (more)

Lydia So nominated by Mayor Breed
Mayor London N. Breed announced the nomination of Lydia So to the San Francisco Planning Commission. In June 2023, Mayor Breed appointed So to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board of Directors, where she has worked to advance the equity, safety, and efficiency of Muni for San Francisco residents and visitors… more)

The Current member of the SF Planning Commission are
Sue Diamond, President; Kathrin Moore, Vice-President;
Derek Braun, Theresa Imperial, Joel Koppel, Lydia So, Gilbert Williams

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Wednesday, June 5, 7-9 PM
Scottish Rite Center, 2850 19th Avenue (parking garage)
Upzoning Impacts presented by Neighborhoods United SF
District 7, along with many neighborhoods in western San Francisco, face significant upzoning mandated by the State and the City, aiming to raise building height throughout the area. These significantly taller structures won’t address affordable housing but will instead lead to luxury high-rises, tenant and small business displacement, and neighborhood gentrification, profoundly impacting our neighborhood and quality of life for all residents. Register Here: https://www.neighborhoodsunitedsf.org/d7-town-hall

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Mayor Breed withdraws from TogetherSF debate, citing ‘chaos,’ Farrell ties

By Joe Eskenazi : missionlocal – excerpt

Mayor, Aaron Peskin organize alternate Monday forum

Shades of confusion as money and suspicion flow through the 2024 election.
Mayor London Breed this morning announced she will not participate in the scheduled May 20 TogetherSF mayoral debate, citing unease with the political action group’s ties to the Mark Farrell mayoral campaign — as well as organizational “chaos.”…
Breed’s camp on May 6 had told Politico that they “have real concerns with the debate and are reevaluating our participation.”…
The mayor this week reached out to Board President Aaron Peskin, her most progressive fellow major mayoral contender, who last month pulled out of the TogetherSF debate. The two agreed to appear together at a moderated discussion. It will take place on Monday, May 20 from 6 to 7 p.m. at Manny’s at 16th and Valencia.
After agreeing to appear at a joint event, the Breed and Peskin campaigns reached out to the venue Manny’s, and then invited this reporter to moderate it.
“San Francisco needs debates free from the influence of partisan political action committees,” wrote Peskin. “I’m excited for the opportunity to have a discussion about the future in a non-partisan setting conducive to a mature debate. There’s too much at stake for anything less.”
Details and tickets to the Monday, May 20 discussion are available here… (more)
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Political foes join forces to fix SF’s job-killing business tax

By Kevin Truong and Josh Koehn : sfstandard – excerpt
Mayor London Breed and Board Supervisor Aaron Peskin are opponents in the upcoming mayoral race, but teamed up to support a pro-business tax reform measure…

It’s a rare cause that can align San Francisco’s biggest private sector employers with its nonprofits and labor unions, or bring together political rivals like Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who is challenging her reelection bid.

The urgent need to reform San Francisco’s perverse business tax formula is just such a cause—and, after two years of effort, a proposal to fix it could be going to voters for approval in November.

Modifying the gross receipts tax to focus on a company’s sales instead of its on-site headcount, the proposal would slash taxes for many small businesses while making it more attractive for large ones to keep their workers in town.

City officials acknowledged to The Standard that the plan, which underwent an extensive review by former City Controller Ben Rosenfield and the Treasurer and Tax Collector’s Office, will likely bring in less revenue for the city in the first few years but make San Francisco’s budget less dependent on a handful of companies over the long term. (Hardened policy wonks can delve into the specific language of the plan here.)… (more)

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Peskin, Farrell, balance neighborhood wants with housing needs

By Adam Shanks : sfexaminer – excerpt (includes audio)

Mark Farrell has joined the growing list of candidates delicately attempting to accede to demands for new housing in San Francisco without rankling homeowners.

The mayoral candidate introduced a set of housing policy proposals Thursday that included targeting new housing largely in areas that have already seen the greatest surge in development in recent years, including SoMa and Mission Bay…

Farrell and Peskin’s prescribed solutions to The City’s housing woes differ radically, with the former seeking to get government out of the way and the latter calling for government to be an active facilitator…

Farrell and Peskin occupy opposite ends of San Francisco’s political spectrum but share a belief that The City can address its housing crisis without radically altering the aesthetic fabric of its iconic neighborhoods…

Farrell’s focus… Farrell’s plan focuses on neighborhoods in and around downtown, or on increasing the number of units in the existing footprints of west-side buildings. Asked if the housing built in the neighborhoods he highlighted in his plan would be hospitable to families, Farrell said his vision “will include housing for all sizes of families, from the single individual to larger families.”…Farrell has also called for ending the current caps on how many units can be built into a single building, but would maintain height limits. On the surface, it offers assurance to neighborhood preservationists that new apartment towers won’t be built next door…

Peskin’s plan…Peskin announced legislation Tuesday that would allow The City to issue bonds to fund housing projects in which middle-income families would live. Rather than heading to the ballot for a sweeping bond measure, the Board of Supervisors would issue bonds directly for specific projects…Peskin argues that the revenue generated by tenants paying rent would offset the debt without affecting The City’s general fund and — unlike low-income housing projects — would not need government subsidies…“The City must lead on addressing the real barriers to housing construction, particularly for demographics the market is not able to subsidize: middle-income workers who don’t qualify for significant public subsidies but who also can’t afford market-rate rents,” Peskin said in a statement…(more)

It appears Ferrell and Peskin hold similar intentions to protect the neighborhoods, but, have different ideas on how to add housing. They are both mindful of the voters’ desire to preserve their neighborhoods and lifestyles.

YIMBY spokesperson Corey Smith seems to doubt either of them can persevere against the state intentions of overriding everyone and everything that puts a damper on the desires of the developers to build as dense and as high as they want. The corporate carpetbaggers want to push land values up and the middle class out, even though it will take a while for the economy to cooperate. This is going to be a choppy ride. We will need to rely on the current board of supervisors to get as many protections in place as fast as we can.

We shall see how well the candidates connect with the voters during this stressful season.

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Exclusive: Aaron Peskin announces financing tools to create more ‘missing middle’ housing in S.F .

By Laura Waxman : sfchronicle – excerpt

Over the past year, San Francisco has slashed its building fees and cut its affordable housing requirements almost in half. The city has also come up with a plan that promises to produce thousands of new homes in the coming years.

Now, a supervisor who is running for mayor is working to create a permanent funding source for a section of the housing market that’s challenging to finance: the “missing middle.”

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin — who earlier this month promised a “Marshall plan for middle-class housing” after starting his candidacy in the November mayoral race — announced legislation Tuesday to create a way to pay for workforce housing using tax-exempt bonds…

Peskin’s proposal, called the “Missing Middle Workforce Housing Act,” aims to “produce and protect” thousands of affordable units using “little to no public funds,” kick-start stalled housing projects and “bring people to live downtown and other opportunity sites.”…

If adopted, the ordinance would authorize the city to issue two new types of tax-exempt housing revenue bonds that, according to Peskin, would not impact the city’s general fund: government bonds for publicly owned but privately developed and managed facilities and 501(c)(3) bonds to finance projects owned by nonprofits that serve a governmental purpose.

Revenue bonds are already issued by city entities to finance projects such as roads, schools and sewers.

The city would own the properties and hire nonprofits to manage them or would work with for-profit developers to build and manage them

Peskin said that the new “tools” that the proposed program provides to developers can be applied to a variety of projects. These include acquiring distressed or foreclosed rental housing portfolios, funding office-to-housing conversions and public surplus sites as well as for new construction…(more)