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)

 

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)