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San Francisco Supervisor Asks for State, Federal Help in Fentanyl Crisis

by Mike Ege : sfstandard – excerpt

San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin has called for a regional task force including federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to target what he describes as a “fentanyl dealing and human trafficking crisis in San Francisco.”

Peskin issued the appeal in a press release April 13. He has sent letters to House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Gavin Newsom, as well as regional agencies such as the BART Board of Directors and the University of California Board of Regents, urging them to work with the San Francisco Police Department…

Peskin made the appeal after asking Mayor London Breed to reschedule her policy discussions appearance before the Board of Supervisors meant for April 11 to a future meeting to be held at United Nations Plaza, considered to be the epicenter of the city’s fentanyl scourge…(more)

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Housemate From Hell Forces Elderly SF Artist To Move Across the Country

by Kevin Truong : sfstandard – excerpt

 

Why would anybody want to be a landlord in a city where landlords and master tenants have no right to remove a tenant, subtenant or guest who is not living up to their obligations and/or exhibiting abusive behavior? 

The city could open more rentable units by writing some new rules that tenants must adhere to. We believe that San Francisco could open up more rentable spaces in the city by changing some of the most oppressive rules and regulations that pin people into bad deals with people like the “tenant from hell” so aptly described in the above article. Everyone knows someone who has had a difficult tenant or roommate. Both landlords and tenants need protection from bad actors.

Continuing the eviction moratorium will keep more places off the market unless some protections are built into the rental system. Fear of loss of control of one’s property to a recalcitrant tenant is keeping a lot of rentable units off the market. 

Where is the support for small property owners who rely on rents to cover mortgage, maintenance and utility bills? The continued eviction moratorium is creating hardship for landlords and tenants who cannot afford to pay their bills to hold onto their own property. Increasing utility bills that cannot be collected from the tenants and subtenants add to the risks. 

When the master tenant leaves the landlord is left dealing with the recalcitrant subtenants. In some cases, the master tenant leaves rather than put up with a difficult roommate, leaving the landlord to handle the problem.

Foreclosures result in the evictions of landlord and tenants. The current conditions will result in more foreclosures and removal of more rental properties as the rental units are taken over by lenders who may take them off the market. 

If the eviction moratorium is continued there must be some way to protect property owners and master tenants from the abuses or subtenants.

Possible Solutions:

We could start with a good Samaritan Law. We could create a Good Samaritan agreement to be signed by host and guests for people willing to accept visitors on a temporary basis as a guest. The host should be able to end the arrangement with the guest at any time for any reason without question and without any obligation to finance the removal of the guest. 

We request a fair Landlord/Tenant Rights Bill. This could be included as part of the master lease. We need to describe a procedure by which landlords, tenants, and neighbors may hold “bad actors” responsible for their actions by setting up a means of reimbursement or evictions where they are warranted. If people know they will face consequences for abusive behavior, including loss of the right to remain, most of the abuses will end. We need to acknowledge a chain of ownership, maintenance and control of the property that is signed by owner, master tenant, sub-tenant, roommate, and guest.

We request that our city authorities come up with legislation or establish a process to review grievances. We need a neutral board to hear requests for evictions or removal of people who are creating a nuisance for owner, master tenant, sub-tenant, roommate, guest and neighbors.

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Breaking the SF Doom Loop: Convert Downtown Offices Into Student Housing

By Josh Koehn, Kevin Trong : sfstandard – excerpt

Since the start of this year, a rotating cast of San Franciscans have been gathering for dinner and drinks while discussing the city’s most pressing problems. Rather than the typical bitchfest, this discreet group of tech entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, elected officials and City Hall commissioners spends less time bemoaning what’s wrong and more time noodling on solutions…

Bilal Mahmood, a startup founder and neuroscientist who finished third in a state Assembly special election last year, designed the dinner parties after the Junto Club, a 12-member group of tradesmen and artisans formed by Benjamin Franklin in 1727…

But as Mahmood and his guests discussed the state of Downtown over karaage, sashimi and wagyu at Ozumo, an upscale Japanese restaurant near the Embarcadero, one guest floated an idea that seemed to linger. Zach Klein, the venture capitalist and co-founder of Vimeo, suggested San Francisco should create a new university, or at least a vast array of college student housing, in the downtown core…

The theory goes: Vacant commercial towers in San Francisco will likely never again reach capacity, but they could be converted to student housing by public universities, which are exempt from much of the red tape that otherwise stymies development. These schools also receive substantial tax breaks, making the cost of such projects “pencil out.” Large cohorts of new, young residents would not only make use of the buildings themselves but also reinvigorate Downtown by supporting local restaurants, bars and other small businesses…(more)

They might run some construction classes as they convert the office buildings into housing since the trades are having trouble finding trained professionals in those fields. Teach some real life skills that the students may use to pay their way through college. They might even be able to avoid taking out those high interest student loans.

RELATED:

Enrollment Data Just Dropped—and So Did the Number of CA Students

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Bob Lee deserved better than to be killed — and then co-opted in death

By Joe Eskenazi : missionlocal – excerpt

Robert Harold “Crazy Bob” Lee died on the pavement in the wee hours last Tuesday after being stabbed while he walked through an abandoned downtown street.

He was 43, a father, and while the moments after a man’s violent, senseless death are not ideal for gleaning unvarnished opinions, the heartfelt tributes emanating from his many friends and loved ones made it clear that this was a better world with Lee in it. And he deserved far better than this.

While the police insist this was the 13th homicide this year, the medical examiner provided only 12 names. This is an area in which you’d like to have everyone on the same page and police have not answered our questions about this jarring discrepancy; they are apparently very busy working on the present case…(more)

Cold dark empty abandoned streets are a good description of San Francisco’s problem. Those streets that Bob stumbled down were bereft of traffic because of city policies that cleared them. The only eyes that captured the distress and calls for help were the heartless digital ones our society has decided to trust. What is missing from this scene is a human heart and helping hand. We are losing our humanity as we quibble over priorities and process.

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Should SF Tear Down the Central Freeway? How About Fixing the Streets Underneath First

By Kristi Coale : thefrisc – excerpt

Among changes to help bikes and other alternatives, a safer 13th Street that also lets drivers get to local stores could be the stiffest test yet.

After the devastating 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, San Francisco tore down roughly six miles of elevated freeway, clearing room and sky and letting the Embarcadero, Ferry Building, and Hayes Valley flourish.

Now, some city and state officials are floating the idea of more removal: the elevated 1.5 mile Central Freeway, which runs east-west from Market Street to the confluence of Interstate 80 and Highway 101.

Until this long-shot dream comes to fruition, however, SF faces a more immediate reality. The streets and chaotic intersections that run under the Central Freeway are some of our busiest, most dangerous, and most important for crosstown travel — and they need to be fixed. Changes are coming; a safety upgrade is due to begin later this year or early 2024…(more)

We have two objects to removing the Central Freeway. Increased surface traffic through the Mission and spending money on anything other than improving MUNI.

Not only do we agree with Kirsti that 13th Street could use a little work, but, where are the funds to tear down freeway coming from since SFMTA is claiming they are broke and the businesses the state chose to support over all others are driving out as fast as they can?

How many more businesses can the city afford to kill? As the rate they are going, we will be lucky if we have any big grocery chains remaining in San Francisco.

This is a bad idea.

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SF is sitting on $500 million in unspent affordable housing money

Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Audit shows Mayor’s Office of Housing lacks transparency—and can’t explain a huge surplus

The Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community development is sitting on roughly half a billion dollars that could be spent on immediate housing needs, a new audit shows.

And that doesn’t count another close to $200 million in annual tax money earmarked for housing that the mayor has diverted to other uses…

In a city with a notorious lack of affordable housing, we have a department, nested under the Mayor’s Office, that does not follow reporting rules, has highly-politicized decision making, and, with an apparent balance of nearly a half billion dollars, can’t even tell us how much money is committed and how much isn’t.…(more)

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Matt Haney Seeks To Eliminate Only-in-San Francisco Appeals

By Thomas P. Tunny : reubenlaw – excerpt

Housing developers in San Francisco no doubt recognize this entitlement moment of disbelief: after a grueling, years-long process of working with staff, neighbors, and policy-makers, with numerous concessions made to address the potential impacts of their proposed project, the project finally receives its entitlement from the Planning Commission (a recent study found that a multifamily housing project takes 627 days on average to obtain a building permit) when lo and behold, the Board of Appeals sends notice that the project’s site permit has been appealed; and/or the demolition permit is appealed; and/or the grading permit; and/or the tree planting permit…(more)

This comment was sent from a resident in Southern California:
I heard them discussing a bill on KCBS this morning that the governor is trying to use to build a high rise Residential in San Francisco by over-riding the Board of Supervisors. Is this the Mr. Haney bill, AB 1114, Introduced? If it is and the way KCBS was describing how the governor was planning on using it in San Francisco , it was really frightening and threatening…

My response is that California is not looking good to the rest of the country. The national press is not very sympathetic to some of the more radical ideas that target communities and single projects coming out of the state legislature. It appears the Biz Journal ran a story on this. Article attached: AB 1114- Sloat

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Can You Fight Bureaucracy With Bureaucracy? This New Commission is Optimistic

by David Sjostedt : sfstandard : excerpt

Members of a new committee overseeing SF’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing are optimistic that their recently formed watchdog panel will cut through red tape and ultimately speed up City Hall’s response to the crisis unfolding on the streets of San Francisco.

The seven-member Homeless Oversight Commission, approved by voters last November, was initially criticized by Mayor London Breed for introducing yet another layer of bureaucracy to the city’s cumbersome homelessness response.

But some members of the newly formed oversight body—which is scheduled to meet for the first time in May—told The Standard that they hope to reduce the obstacles the homelessness department faces in quickly moving people off the street.

“What we don’t need is another grenade landing in everyone’s lap,” said former president of the Small Business Commission Sharky Laguana. “I don’t want to tie everybody up in a lot of long meetings, and I don’t want to go on a lot of wild goose chases.”…(more)

Looking forward to seeing who else is on the commissin. We hope they are able to clear up the mystery of where the money is going and set up a new system that replace the current DAHLIA that has failed to fill the emtpy spots for years. Where are those empty units and why are they so hard to fill?

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Legalized prostitution in SF and California? Not so fast

By Adam Shanks : sfexaminer – excerpt

A proposed resolution that would ask California lawmakers to legalize consensual sex work has been put on hold, with tis sponsor — SF Supervisor Hillary Ronen — citing differences of opinion about which aspects of the world’s oldest profession should be decriminalized.

It’s the world’s oldest profession — and remains one of the most vexing.

That’s why San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen has delayed her proposed resolution that would ask California lawmakers to legalize consensual sex work.

Ronen now plans to hold a hearing on the subject of sex work with testimony from experts in the field, and she hopes to draft a model law that The City could push state lawmakers to adopt.

Ronen first introduced the resolution in February in a hasty response to the rampant prostitution disrupting the daily life of residents near Capp Street, which sits in her district. The conditions on Capp Street had reached a new nadir, prompting Ronen to ask The City to establish concrete barriers that would at least stem the flow of late-night vehicle traffic.

The barriers are a temporary solution to an entrenched problem, Ronen acknowledges. If California would legalize sex work, Ronen hoped, it would be regulated and safe — without late-night transactions occurring on Capp Street sidewalks…(more)

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San Francisco ‘Tech Families’ Plot to Spend Millions Influencing Policy

by Josh Koehn : sfstandard – excerpt

A network of “tech families” in San Francisco are forming a new political group that intends to spend up to $5 million a year—over the course of decades—to radically rewrite the script on housing, transportation, education and public spaces in the city.

Abundant SF, whose name gives a nod to a line in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1937 inaugural address, is seeking to make a sustained investment in YIMBY ballot measures and candidates who are ideologically aligned on the group’s core tenets, according to more than a dozen people who are familiar with the organization.

While other political groups backed by tech money have flexed their muscles in San Francisco, what’s novel about Abundant SF is its ambitious targets and prolonged time commitment….

Aaron Peskin, the president of the Board of Supervisors, had not heard of Abundant SF before being contacted for this story, but he seemed unconcerned by a new political player in town backed by substantial tech money.

“God bless them, they have the right to spend their money however they choose,” Peskin said. “But I don’t think there’s anything new here. All I have to say is: same shit, different name.”…

Disclosure: Michael Moritz, a partner at Sequoia Capital, provided initial funding for The Standard and Together SF. He is not involved in editorial decisions.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to clarify that Abundant SF supporters also have ties to Effective Governance California…(more)

RELATED:

Michael Moritz’s strange and terrible diagnosis of San Francisco

by Joe Eskenazi : missionlocal – excerpt

Let us start with the premise that San Francisco is a city with serious challenges and an unserious government. Let us be frank: This is a poorly governed place. You could even claim it’s the worst-run big city in the United States. And long has been…

Once you get into the why, though — why is San Francisco, a place that’s so rich and so replete with smart government officials, governed so abysmally? — it gets tougher…

San Francisco’s problem is not liberalism. It’s incompetence. It’s sloth. It’s poor governance, dysfunctional bureaucracy, and casual corruption enabled by vast and steady torrents of wealth… (more)

These articles attmept to place the blame for San Franciso’s woes on the influence of big money on San Francisco politiics. Certainly money is a large factor, but, after seeing the results of a lot of investigations conducted by all of our local media, I tend to agree with Joe.

San Francisco’s problems begin and end wtih incompetent dysfunctional bureaucrats and contractors, hired and managed by under-qualified or corrupt department heads and managers. Who hired these people? Why is the transportation system run on floppy discs and why are our teachers not being paid? These are the problems we need to solve. How can we replace incompetant and under-performing management and staff?

Those wealthy people who feel compelled to throw money into city politics should do a better job of vetting the people they select to run for office. They should look for people with proven mangement skills. We should all demand more from all our city officials.