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Fire commissioner says Safe Streets SF program could put community at risk

By Andre Senior : ktvu – excerpt

Fire Commissioner criticizes continuing Safe Streets SF program

SAN FRANCISCO – There’s been a lot of support for the Safe Streets SF project, which began in April of 2020 to give residents of San Francisco more elbow room to physically distance outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Safe Streets SF led several streets across the city to be closed to cars to emphasize pedestrian activity…

San Francisco’s Fire Commission devoted much of Wednesday’s meeting to the topic where during public comment, a resident commented that he welcomed the continuation after previously being hit twice while on his bicycle. He said he can now safely navigate from one end of the city to the other through the network of Safe Streets converted roads…

Was he perchance one of the cyclists joy-riding through the stop signs or swirling in and out of traffic?

But during the meeting, one issue took center stage following a report from Fire Marshal Dan de Cossio who said that there has been a delay in response times on average of five to 30 seconds over the last year…

The revelation drew a sharp response from Fire Commissioner Francee Covington, who expressed concern that the Safe Streets project could put the community at risk.

“When you talk about a delay of five seconds or 30 seconds, you have to really if your house is on fire, that’s a lifetime to you that is not just a stopwatch period of time,” said Covington…(more)

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New Renderings Revealed for 300 De Haro Street, Potrero Hill, San Francisco

Jay Alex of Potrero HIll on nextdoor referred to this article: By: Andrew Nelso : sfyimby – excerpt

New renderings have been revealed from planning documents for a twelve-story group housing project at 300 De Haro Street in Potrero Hill, San Francisco. The recent iteration of the proposal is poised to create 450 co-living units on the neighborhood border with SoMa, including affordable housing. DM Development is responsible for the project, with BAR Architects in charge of design…

The 120-foot tall structure will yield 216,890 square feet, with 134,360 square feet of rentable residential space, 24,590 square feet for amenities, 3,580 square feet for retail use, and 2,780 square feet for 150 to 180 bicycle parking spaces. Vehicular parking will be included for 35-53 vehicles using second-level stackers…

The project includes affordable housing because of the State Density bonus from Senate Bill 35. Over half of the units will be affordable, for a total of 239 affordable units. These affordable units will be offered at various tiers, with 40 units to be priced for residents earning 50-55% of the Area Median Income, i.e., AMI, 185 at 80% AMI, and 14 at 110% AMI…(more)

Jay’s comments:

I want to raise awareness of a development that is coming our way. I have personally been involved with this developer, trying to meet in the middle of a design plan, density plan, that is actually affordable housing as well as forward thinking for the neighborhood and specifically the 16th street corridor. Im a big advocate of affordable housing, as well as I understand that 16th street is absolutely prime for development. As a Potrero Hill neighbor, I know we don’t have the infrastructure, parking, sewage etc to support this density. This is also a developer loop hole. Consider the current building has 18000 sq ft of retail, and we are now looking at 3500. I live in a building where developers used the Live/Work zoning to circumvent dues to the community, schools, taxes etc. We are about to suffer the effects of SB35, which is an aggressive law, projects have to be approved in 90 days, zero environmental review.

This is not a Nimby issue, we have always been supportive of a building at 60 feet (current zoning). however a 120 foot building with 500 units at 300 square feet is not housing that supports a neighborhood. The initial plan had 15000 square feet of retail, 3500 is nothing As you see info come about regarding this, please read the fine points, this is not affordable housing…And the focus is an 8 – 12 month tenant. Not good. No ownership. No neighborhood. Just visitors…

https://sfyimby.com/2021/05/new-renderings-revealed-for-300-de-haro-street-potrero-hill-san-francisco.html

The Plan set:  https://static1.squarespace.com/static/52082f45e4b0734e32db0224/t/60a85302aa94945b3ac375ff/1621644053133/300+DeHaro+SB35+BAR+plan+set+-+April+28+2021.pdf

Most of the YIMBY’s commenters oppose this building. That could be a first. I don’t know what the developers are thinking unless they want to insult everyone and see who blinks first. I think it is called pushing the envelope.

Potrero Hill  gets and Amazon distribution center as well.

While plans to build up to 500 residential units, between 550,000 and 625,000 square feet of office space and an additional 200,000 to 312,500 square feet of “PDR” space with ground floor retail on the nearly 6-acre Recology site at 900 7th Street – which is bounded by 7th, Berry, De Haro, Carolina and Channel – have been in the works since 2018, Amazon has just announced that it has paid $200 million for the prime Showplace Square site and plans to build a 510,000-square-foot distribution center on the parcel instead.

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Not one dollar of state rent-relief money has arrived in SF

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Hundreds of millions in federal funding is available — but tenants aren’t getting it.

Governor Gavin Newsom is talking about spending $12 billion on housing for homeless people and rent relief for tenants. It’s a great picture.

But in reality, the existing state program to help tenants who can’t pay rent because of the pandemic has not sent a single check for a single dollar to a single tenant or landlord in San Francisco, public records show.

It’s not much better on a statewide basis: Of the $403 million requested by landlords and tenants, only $4 million – that’s one percent – has actually been paid out.

“It’s just unacceptable,” Molly Goldberg, staff director for the San Francisco Anti-Displacement Coalition, told me. “The state of the need is huge.”

The story is a complex issue of federal, state, and local agencies, but the bottom line is simple:

California is leaving vast sums of federal money on the table because Newsom’s administration can’t seem to get it together to send the money where it’s needed…(more)

Too much talk and not enough positive action out of Sacramento. What is the hold up? Who are what is to blame?

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CCSF Faculty May Trade Layoffs for Across the Board Salary Cuts

By Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez : kqed – excerpt

A majority of the threatened layoffs at City College of San Francisco may soon be rescinded, but the deal came with a financial cost as faculty face the prospect of pay cuts across the board.

The agreement, announced in the early morning hours Saturday, comes after days of bargaining meetings between City College of San Francisco’s faculty union and administration.

Union members have until Monday afternoon to approve the deal. If approved, the Board of Trustees will vote on the proposal later that day.

‘This agreement allows the college to continue its mission as a community college by preserving classes that serve all our diverse communities.’Alan Wong, San Francisco City College Trustee…

‘This agreement allows the college to continue its mission as a community college by preserving classes that serve all our diverse communities.…(more)

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Top SF Public Works Official Retires Amid $100 Million Overcharging Scandal

By Jaxon Van Derbeken : nbcbayarea – excerpt

Julia Dawson, the chief financial officer at the San Francisco Department of Public Works, retired Friday amid the still ongoing investigation into what city officials knew about $100 million in overcharges by the Recology garbage hauling firm…

Dawson spent 24 years working for the city, seven and a half years of them at Public Works, as well as earlier stints at the airport, fire department, municipal transportation agency and the department of parking and traffic…

In March, City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced a $100 million settlement with Recology over customer overbilling. The company says was due to an error in how it accounted for its revenues…

After Porter acknowledged at the meeting in December 2018 that the company had indeed been undercounting revenue, Dawson enlisted an outside consultant to study the issue in 2019, records show. However, record shows Dawson failed to alert the public -even after that outside consultant confirmed the overbilling in early 2020.

Gordon said while the city’s probes continue, “we see no criminal wrongdoing in the investigations so far involving Julia Dawson.”…(more)

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City Attorney Dennis Herrera to take over as head of SFPUC

By Joshua Sabatini : sfexaminer – excerpt

After serving as City Attorney since 2001, Dennis Herrera is expected to step down to become the next head of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

Mayor London Breed announced Monday that she is nominating Herrera to serve as the next general manager of the SFPUC.

The news came as a surprise to many and has raised some concerns since it would allow Breed to appoint Herrera’s successor. Herrera’s office has been investigating public corruption at City Hall since shortly after the federal arrest of former Public Works head Mohammed Nuru became public in January last year.

Herrera would be stepping in to run the power and water agency after its former head, Harlan Kelly, resigned in November. Federal prosecutors have accused Kelly of accepting bribes from City Contractor Walter Wong in exchange for help with city business, as part of the unfolding investigation centered around Nuru…(more)

At least the SFPUC will have legal council and there will be fewer excuses for illegal actions and errors in judgement with an attorney running the commission.

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San Francisco’s Supervisorial Districts Will Be Redrawn

By Laura Wenus Laura Wenus : sfpublicpress – excerpt (includes audio)

Redistricting, the process by which electoral districts are drawn, will happen locally as well as at the state and federal levels. San Francisco will use census and resident input to redraw its supervisorial districts, a process that begins this year and will likely carry on into 2022. Alison Goh, president of the League of Women Voters of San Francisco, explained to “Civic” how the process will work and outlined the transparency and outreach the League wants to see from the city…(more)

Podcast: https://civic.simplecast.com/episodes/san-francisco-will-redraw-its-electoral-districts

 

 

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What you Need to Know about SB 9 and SB 10 And Actions you may want to take

Presented by UnitedNeighbors.net
April 7, 5 PM – Zoom Townhall

https://zrants.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/pastedgraphic-1.png

Green space disappears as private yards are covered by more housing when Sacrament politicians support Builder Opportunity Bills such as SB9 and SB10. Find out more about the City’s new plans for our trees at the May 5 Land Use and Transportation Committee Meeting,

Guest Speakers Maria and Jeff Kalban United Neighbors explained SB9 and SB10 to us at our Land Use and Transportion Town Hall meetings  Apr 7, 2021 05:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1q2ITxx470
Check out the latest updates on the bills here:
and here:
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SFMTA Gives Updates on Subway, JFK, Transit Lanes

By Benjamin Schneider : sfweekly – excerpt

Major changes are headed for California, Lombard, and Park Presidio, while car-free JFK and the Great Highway are slated for extensive study.

How was your 4/20? Hopefully, you didn’t spend it the way the SFMTA Board of Directors did, in a meeting that stretched nearly to the 8-hour mark.

Of course, some things do require a great deal of planning, and this past Tuesday, the SFMTA staff provided the board with updates on transit service, presented plans for new transit-only lanes and “high occupancy vehicle” lanes on some of the city’s busiest streets, and provided a glimpse of their future plans…

Car-Free Streets

In recent weeks, there’s been a whole lot of drama surrounding the question of whether to keep JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park car-free in perpetuity. Supervisor Shamann Walton has described the car-free stretch of road as “recreational redlining,” making the park inaccessible to his Bayview-Hunters Point constituents arriving at the park by car. The De Young Museum has also been lobbying to bring cars back to JFK, arguing that it prevents visitors from accessing the museum. The nearby Academy of Sciences has been more equivocal, saying they support a “thoughtful planning process” before a decision is made on a permanent closure to cars.(more)

Not sure how much the people in San Francisco are willing to put up with, but it looks like SFMTA and SFCTA are going to continue to push drivers out of town, as they are doing all they can to close the streets to cars. Not sure how much longer the majority of the city voters will continue to support the financial demands of the those entities either, but, there is a plan to protest the closure of the Great Highway May 1 at noon. Corner of Lincoln and Great Highway.

If you can, and you care about the way the SFMTA and SFCTA have been managing the streets, you should show up with a personal sign that describes your case for re-opening the Great Highway and the many other streets that have been closed.
Petitions: https://www.discoveryink.net/wp/petitions/
Protests: https://www.discoveryink.net/wp/actions/