News

By Rebecca Rosen : beyondchron – excerpt

Planthold Memorial Invitation

(Editor’s Note: Bob Planthold, a longtime Beyond Chron contributor and transit and disability activist, recently died in San Francisco. Senior Beat’s Rebecca Rosen-Lum wrote a great tribute to Planthold last August that we repost with permission. You can find Bob’s letters and stories in Beyond Chron by entering “Planthold” in our search box. He will truly be missed)…

A friend said that to understand activist Bob Planthold one might be best advised to start by watching “Crip Camp,” the film backed by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions that documents the rise of the disability rights movement.

With its theme of “Nothing about us without us” – a protest against policy that affects the disabled but doesn’t seek their input – the journey mirrors Planthold’s own, from a growing awareness of the need for change to building alliances to move it along.

Planthold, 72, advocates for seniors, pedestrians and people with disabilities on transit issues and in assuring access to other resources. He participates in frequent meetings – easier now, with Zoom…

A legislative turning point – The high point of “Crip Camp” – and a turning point in Planthold’s life – was the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a watershed piece of legislation, particularly the fight for section 504, mandating accessible public accommodation…

Organizing for change – Planthold has corralled comrades to push for changes in a number of areas…

Keeping it light – Lobbying can be a tough job but Planthold tries to keep it light…

Presumptions & prejudices – And if Planthold raises a strong voice for others with disabilities, he advocates as ardently for people with other needs – tapping into advocacy groups to craft effective alliances…

Working in the system – In 2008, he received the Mayor’s Disability Council Beacon Award for his service with the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, the Ethics Commission, (going on 5) Civil Grand Juries, Bay Area Legal Aid, Senior Action Network, Disaster Preparedness, Public Transit and Pedestrian Safety Issues — as well as his many years of providing valuable input and advocacy before the Mayors Disability Council.

But he continues to wrangle with government over such issues as the proposed closure of JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park or the proliferation throughout the city of “parklets,” which swallow up lengths of sidewalk and street…

As Livingston said, “For us, the fight is never over.”…

(more)

We are sad and sorry to loose Bob. He was so incredibly helpful and determined. We appreciate his lifetime of dedication to the needs of others and his big heart. We will miss him as we continue our efforts to protect the vulnerable among.

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

The major reform measures made it through their first round at the Rules Committee last week and will be back Monday/31 for what should a final vote before they move on to the full board. But it’s not clear what will happen to Mayor London Breed’s attack on the School Board.

That measure, an extraordinary power grab by a chief executive who freely accuses others of doing that, met with a chilly reception last week at Rules.

But there were enough votes to move it forward for another week…

Sup. Dean Preston wants a hearing to look into how many apartments in San Francisco are currently vacant, and what the city can do about it. That’s coming up at the Land Use and Transportation Committee Monday/31 at 1:30pm.

It’s a fascinating and important issue that often gets lost in all of the Yimby rhetoric about needed to build more housing—because it’s safe to say that a fair percentage of the housing that’s been built in the past ten years is empty.

The last time we checked in on this, we discovered that a lot of the new condos were bought by people as second or third or even fourth homes, and many didn’t live in them. We used property-tax data, which is available but imperfect: If someone’s tax bill for a downtown condo is sent to an address other than that condo, it’s pretty clear they don’t live there. But they could be renting it out.…(more)

By J. D. Morris : msn – excerpt

Mayor London Breed’s third attempt to ask voters to streamline housing production through a charter amendment failed Wednesday after a Board of Supervisors committee killed the proposal.

Breed hoped the charter amendment would be considered by voters on the June 7 ballot. Her proposal sought to streamline new housing construction by letting some qualified projects circumvent the city’s discretionary review process, cutting a year or two from a timeline that can take two years or more for developers to complete…

Peskin, the committee’s chair, said that the proposal had not been vetted properly with the various community stakeholders it would affect and that after hearing strong concerns from a chorus of opponents, it would be futile to advance the amendment…

The defeat underscores the ongoing conflict between the board and the mayor about San Francisco’s protracted housing crisis and how to address it…(more)

By John Elberling : 48hills – excerpt

It’s a good PR stunt, but it’s not going to create any new housing anytime soon.

Yimby Law, the developer/tech millionaire-funded legal action arm of SF Yimby, filed suit Thursday against the City of San Francisco, looking to overturn last October’s successful community appeal of the 469 Stevenson project’s environmental impact report by the TODCO Group’s Yerba Buena Neighborhood Consortium.

The suit—termed “legal grandstanding” by knowledgeable lawyers—dose not actually address any environmental issues about that controversial project’s EIR at all, like failing to evaluate the earthquake risks of a 27-story tower without a pile foundation on the edge of historic Soma marshlands…

When Build started planning for its India Basin, One Oak Street, and Stevenson projects several years ago, the economy was booming and it had a chance to get investment funding from one of the huge development conglomerates in China, such as the giant Vanke. But that hope was dashed last year when the Chinese government stopped all investment in projects outside China, because of a looming real estate financial crisis within China itself…

Of course, the project itself was not actually rejected by the board, just its EIR. Build could go back though the EIR process, fix what was wrong with the first EIR, and presumably get approved again and go ahead. There would be no grounds then for a second appeal. But it hasn’t. Why?

Because the irony is the 469 Stevenson project they all champion is itself a fake. There is no realistic hope that its proposed developer, Build Inc., could in fact get it built any time soon…

Build hasn’t even purchased the 469 Stevenson project site. It merely has an option lasting until 2024 to buy it from the current owner, Nordstrom’s…

You have to hand it to Yimby Law and its political allies. They sure have taken that lemon of a Stevenson project and made it into good PR lemonade…(more)

SOMA residents are painfully aware of their own circumstances so there is not much a lawsuit can do to impress them.

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Michal Barba, who is a good reporter, broke the story first in the SFStandard: Recology may have overbilled San Franciscans for even more than the $95 million the company has had to pay back as part of the ongoing City Hall scandal.

Other news outlets have picked up the story, but nobody has explained exactly what went on here, and how Recology could be on the hook for a lot more money.

There are two major factors at play here, and both of them show the problem with a single company operating as a City Charter-sanctioned monopoly with a perpetual no-bid contract—and of late, at the Department of Public Works, little to no oversight.

The way the current system works—and Sup. Aaron Peskin is trying to change that—Recology never has to submit a competitive bid. Instead, like PG&E, another government-sanctioned monopoly that has more than its share of problems—the city is supposed to closely regulate its rates…

Then there’s this piece of property that Recology sold to Amazon. It’s at the foot of Potrero Hill, and the company doesn’t need it any more. It’s a big piece of land, and at one point Recology wanted to develop it for housing. Instead, Amazon bought it for $200 million and plans to turn it into a new distribution center.

Recology has owned it since 1971. Right before the sale, Assessor’s Office records show, it was assessed at about $3 million; under Prop 13, that means Recology paid a bit less than that, probably about $2 million, for it 50 years ago.

So there’s a good bit of profit here—like, almost $200 million.

Who gets that money?…(more)