News

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COVID-19

This page will be used to link any important documents pertaining to COVID-19: https://discoveryink.wordpress.com/covid-19/

During the Pandemic we will be posting related links on the above page. We will not cover the news that everyone sees daily. We will post links to the legislation that is being passed as a result of the pandemic and try to add to the details on how to work within the system.

During the March 17 Board of Supervisors Meeting plans were made to set up a remote meeting system that overrides the Brown Act. Questions were raised by Supervisor Peskin and others regarding pubic participation rules and power shifts within local governments. A number of questions could not be answered at the meeting and we requested notice on the answers after the meeting. We can share the link to the information here as it came to us from Angela Calvillo and Eileen McHugh. Thanks to everyone who helped us.

On behalf of the Clerk of the Board I am sending you a link to the City Attorney’s memo you are seeking. Please find the memo here: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Public-Memorandum-Legal-Authority-of-the-Mayor-Health-Officer-and-Board-of-Supervisors-in-an-Emergency.pdf If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. eileen.e.mchugh@sfgov.org / www.sfbos.org

Since the Emergency Declaration at two supplements have been signed by the Mayor. One of them that concerns rents and utility services is here: https://sfmayor.org/sites/default/files/SupplementalDeclaration2_03132020_stamped.pdf Details on the “rent moratorium” are laid out in pages 4-6. It appears that tenants must take action to communicate their circumstances to the landlord within 30 days after the rent was due. There is also some language about the utility bills etc. Read the document to see how it may apply to you. Don’t just assume the media reports are correct as they may be leaving out details you need to protect yourself.

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volunteers recruiting volunteers

We are a group of volunteers recruiting other volunteers in a position to help (healthy, below 60) to support people who are particularly isolated and need help. We are also looking for people and small businesses that need assistance. We are using www.ho2pe.org to centralize requests.
 
Immediate needs may include:
1. Transport material (food, cleaning equipment) to specific locations
2. Prepare meals
3. Virtual after school care for families of healthcare workers
4. Virtual companionship for elderly people and those who are more isolated than most of us
 
We’d be so grateful if you could share the below blurb within your community, or let us know the best way for us to do so. We created quickly a website for people to request and propose help.
 
“Friends and neighbors in the Bay Area, the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all our lives. Some at risk communities are disproportionately impacted. This is an open call to stand in solidarity as a community, in supporting and caring for one another. If you can offer time or resources, or know someone who needs support please sign up at www.ho2pe.org.”
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Updates from SFMTA

OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT ON SFMTA BUDGET. With declining transit ridership (before and after Covid-19), focus on simpler/ citywide transit improvements. No more boondoggles.
https://www.sfmta.com/projects/meeting-transportation-needs-growing-city-sfmta-budget-fiscal-years-2021-2022

Tell them what you think is important now!

For the duration of the current public health emergency related to COVID-19, we are responding by making important changes to key SFMTA operations. This is an evolving and challenging situation, and it’s reasonable to have questions. That’s why we created an up-to-date resource to help you keep up with changes that currently include:

  • Modified Muni service
  • Paratransit guidance
  • Parking enforcement rules
  • Parking garage operations that include some facility closures
  • Temporary adjustments to SFMTA “Fines and Fees”

To get the most up to date information, please check our regularly updated webpage at SFMTA.com/COVID19.
The SFMTA is also taking proactive measures to minimize the risk of exposure for employees and customers and to ensure that our transportation system works for people when needed – like when residents need to make a grocery trip or when a healthcare worker needs to go to their job.

We all should continue to follow public health guidance

  • Stay home if you are sick
  • Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
  • Cover your cough or sneeze
  • Avoid touching your face
  • Try alternatives to shaking hands, like a wave or smile

The current “Shelter in Place” Public Health order could be extended. And we are preparing. Thank you for your support and your patience.

SFMTA Updates: SFMTA.com/COVID19
Citywide Updates: sf.gov/topics/coronavirus-covid-19

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A $60 Billion Housing Grab by Wall Street

By Francesca Mari : nytimes – excerpt

Hundreds of thousands of single-family homes are now in the hands of giant companies — squeezing renters for revenue and putting the American dream even further out of reach… (more)

The (above) New York Times article states that private-equity firms have grabbed roughly $60 billion worth of single-family homes. Although, the strategy of the investors, described in the article, has been somewhat different (it seems they have bought distressed homes) than what their strategy would be if they bought up single-family homes in order to convert them to triplexes as allowed by SB-773, it shows that private-equity firms have a strong appetite for single-family homes.

Per our attached list of problems with SB-773: “By prohibiting local agencies from requiring a homeowner to live on the premises, SB-773 incentivizes large-scale investors to buy up single-family homes, convert them to triplexes and then operate them as commercial enterprises. Over time, as supply of single-family homes diminishes, the price of single-family homes would rise more rapidly for residents.”

Recap About Senate Bill 773:
SB-773 is a “clean-up bill” and corrects chaptering errors in accessory dwelling unit (ADU) legislation enacted in 2019 (AB-68, AB-881, SB-13 and others). The bill combines all the ADU legislation enacted last year into one bill. It passed through the State Senate on January 27th and is now being heard by the State Assembly Rules Committee.

We believe that amendments to the bill could correct much more than just chaptering errors. This is an opportunity to amend the flawed ADU bills that were signed into law last year. All further comments about SB-773, also apply to the other newly enacted ADU bills.

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs) can be very beneficial. However, by requiring ministerial review and stripping away local control of land use and local development standards related to second units, SB-773 goes too far. This is particularly true in high fire risk areas.

This detrimental bill eliminates single family zoning and enables the transformation of beneficial accessory dwelling units (second units and granny flats) into overcrowded multifamily triplexes with potentially multiple adverse impacts.

Besides other mandates, SB-773 requires local agencies to approve detached ADUs that exceed the Floor Area Ratio (FAR), provided the ADU is 800 square feet or less, 16 feet or less in height, and 4 feet or more from the rear/side property lines.

In addition, SB-773 prohibits cities and counties from requiring additional off-street parking spaces in any of the following instances:

(1) The accessory dwelling unit is located within one-half mile walking distance of public transit. [**SB-773 defines ‘Public transit’ as “a location, including but not limited to, a bus stop or train station, where the public may access buses, trains, subways and other forms of transportation that charge set fares, run on fixed routes, and are available to the public.”]
(2) The accessory dwelling unit is located within an architecturally and historically significant historic district.
(3) The accessory dwelling unit is part of the proposed or existing primary residence or an accessory structure.
(4) When on-street parking permits are required but not offered to the occupant of the accessory dwelling unit.
(5) When there is a car share vehicle located within one block of the accessory dwelling unit.
(6) When homeowners convert garages to new housing.

Best regards,

Sharon

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SF’s Proposition E, new limits on office development, has sizable lead

By Roland Li  : sfchronicle – excerpt

A San Francisco ballot measure to put new limits on office development was holding a hefty lead Tuesday night.

Proposition E, which would tie allowable office construction to the amount of affordable housing built in the city, was ahead 55% to 45% with 100% of precincts reporting. The measure needs a simple majority to pass, but an unknown number of mail-in ballots were still outstanding.

A San Francisco ballot measure to put new limits on office development was holding a hefty lead Tuesday night.

Proposition E, which would tie allowable office construction to the amount of affordable housing built in the city, was ahead 55% to 45% with 100% of precincts reporting. The measure needs a simple majority to pass, but an unknown number of mail-in ballots were still outstanding.

Nonprofit sponsor Todco sought to reduce office growth if the city failed to meet state affordable housing goals, where it has consistently fallen short…

“The commercial sector is growing so fast because of the boom,” John Elberling, executive director of Todco, previously said. “We’re not keeping up with the housing needs of all the new workers that are flooding into the Bay Area.”

Under 1986’s Proposition M, the city can approve only 875,000 square feet in large office projects each year, with unused space rolling over to the next year. Prop. E would reduce the amount of office space that can be approved by a percentage equal to the city’s shortfall in issuing building permits for affordable housing… (more)

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

As many of you may know, Mayor London Breed declared a local emergency last week in response to the growing impact of the Coronavirus.

As the situation changes rapidly in the Bay Area and on the West Coast, we expect to have confirmed cases in San Francisco and are preparing for community spread of the virus.

The SF Department of Public Health and the SF Department of Emergency Management have provided the following information and documentation for your consideration.

Preventing the Spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) – COVID-19 Factsheets : Updated COVID-19 Factsheets from the Department of Public Health are here: English,Spanish, Chinese and Filipino. Please distribute these factsheets to your constituents, clients and community.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) : COVID-19 FAQs are available here. Translations for this document are currently in-progress.

Best Practices for Service Workers : Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) COVID-19 FAQs are available here. Translations for this document are currently in-progress.

Best Practices for Service Workers : Many organizations have also requested guidance for service workers. Click here for information on initial best practices. Please note we expect to have updated guidance as we learn more about the virus.

Request a Presentation : Emergency Operations Center staff are available to conduct presentations at community meetings or table at resource fairs and events. To request a presentation, visit:www.sfdem.org/covid19requests.

Organizational Support : If your organization, business or educational institution needs support in protecting the health and well being of your staff, clients and immediate neighbors, contact sfcommunitybranch@gmail.com.

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Gov. Newsom Says He May Be Wrong on Housing

For some time the state authorities have been using an inflated number. Finally the Governor is admitting the number is wrong. This information needs to reach a wider audience. Please let your people know the real housing shortage number is 1.2 million, not 3.5 million.

Thank YOU for helping Livable California fight Scott Wiener’s false narrative in his failed bill, SB 50 — the phony claim that California needs 3.5M million units of trickle-down housing and we must destroy communities to build it.

Wiener’s divisive view, conjured up by the huge consulting firm McKinsey, has influenced legislators, the L.A. Times, NYT and the governor.

Please join us by donating today, to pay our costs to face down Scott Wiener, starting NEXT WEEK when he unveils his misguided version of “SB 50, Try Again.”

We applaud Gov. Gavin Newsom, for last week openly questioning the wildly inflated 3.5 million number that set off panic bills in Sacramento. Gov. Newsom told a reporter that his own team is going to produce “realistic” housing goals, and that his team did not produce the 3.5 million figure.

We can help with that! The real need is 1.2 million, as shown by extensive data from the state’s housing department, HCD (read about it here).

Cities are WELL ALONG in approving projects to hit the 1.2 M need, and not slowing down (read about it here.)!

We at Livable California, and you, our members, play a key role in changing the debate. Please donate, and we’ll stop Wiener and finally get some decent housing laws in 2020.

Livable California is a non-profit statewide group of community leaders, activists and local elected officials. We believe in local answers to the housing affordability crisis. Our robust fight requires trips to Sacramento & a lobbyist going toe-to-toe with power. Please donate generously to LivableCalifornia.org here.

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Proposed California law aims to close car break-in ‘loophole’

By Karma Dickerson : fox40 – excerpt (includes video)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — Across California, more and more people are coming to their cars to find someone has forced their way in and taken their belongings. Almost everyone has a car break-in story to tell.

Many people FOX40 spoke with were surprised to learn that finding the thieves isn’t the only challenge for authorities — holding them accountable in court isn’t is as straight forward as many might think.

When it comes to stealing from cars, California law defines burglary as entering a vehicle “when the doors are locked.”…

“We have to prove the vehicle is locked to make it a felony,” Ronald Lawrence, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, told FOX40…

Assembly Bill 1921 would create a new law that simply makes forcibly entering a vehicle to steal a crime…(more)

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Bloomberg Endorses Measure to Revise Prop. 13, Raise Commercial Property Taxes

By Scott Shafer : kqed – excerpt

Stepping up his presence in California ahead of the March 3 presidential primary, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg  threw his weight behind a proposed ballot measure to remove tax protections on commercial property currently enjoyed under voter-approved Proposition 13, the landmark anti-tax.

Under Prop. 13, county assessors treat all property — commercial and residential — the same when it comes to taxation. That would change under the proposed initiative, dubbed “Schools & Communities First” by its supporters.

Homeowners and some small businesses would not be affected by the measure, which includes a tax of 1% based on the purchase price and annual increases of up to 2%.

Supporters of the ballot measure, including powerful public employee unions such as the Service Employees International Union and the California Teachers Association, say they are in the final stages of collecting the signatures needed to place the measure before voters in November

The media mogul, who is self-funding his entire presidential campaign and spending lavishly in Super Tuesday states, including California, is the fifth Democratic presidential candidate to back the measure, joining Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg. Other candidates, including Kamala Harris and Julian Castro also endorsed it before they dropped out of the race.…(more)

I wonder if anyone has explained to the presidential candidates the divide and conquer plan to turn single family homes into commercial properties? If not, someone should. The split roll will be meaningless when they remove single family zoning. Rents will go up to cover the expenses.