The Weekly Digest (April 16, 2023)

Apr 16

Happy Sunday, Brionies! Here’s what you need to know about San Francisco politics this week and beyond:

City Hall

Hopefully, vandals can resist the urge to pull wires out of the underground fiber enclosure that provides internet service to the Board of Supervisors and meetings will proceed as scheduled.

Monday, April 17 at 5pm: Regular meeting of the Youth Commission (agenda and call-in instructions here)

Tuesday, April 18 at 2pm: Regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda and call-in instructions here)

Items 1 and 2 – An ordinance to expand the Public Defender’s Immigration Defense unit with an additional attorney and legal assistant. This unit, which currently has thirteen people on staff, is one of only three public defender programs in the country that provides legal representation to immigrants; the other two are in Alameda County and New York City. Such units are rare because unlike in criminal proceedings, defendants in immigration court do not have a right to government-appointed counsel. Funding for the first two years of the additional positions proposed would come from a $1 million legal settlement, and thereafter would come from the City’s general fund.
Items 16 and 17 – A resolution authorizing the Recreation and Parks Department to accept $1.7 million in state funds for a public restroom in Noe Valley. Remember the $1.7 million toilet? The cost of the restroom has been reduced, thanks to the private donation of a prefabricated loo. The savings will go towards bathrooms in other parks.
Item 28 – An ordinance to extend Covid-19 tenant protections for an additional 60 days. Yes, again.

Wednesday, April 19 at 1:30pm: Regular meeting of the Budget and Appropriations Committee (agenda and call-in instructions here)

Item 1 – Resolution adopting the city’s ten-year capital expenditure plan, which calls for $41.3 billion in capital improvements over the next decade.

Happenings around town

Action item

Supervisors Matt Dorsey and Catherine Stefani have introduced a charter amendment that would establish a fully staffed SFPD within five years. Show your support by signing petitions here and here.

What we’re reading

It was a rough week in San Francisco. Police arrested Nima Momeni for the fatal stabbing of tech executive Bob Lee, in what the District Attorney has described as a “planned and deliberate” attack. The New York Times argued that the arrest “upended the tech narrative” of a city overrun with crime, but Lee’s murder wasn’t an isolated event. In the Marina, former fire commissioner Don Carmignani suffered a fractured skull, a broken jaw, and cuts on the head and face requiring 53 stitches when he was beaten by a man with a metal pipe. Whole Foods closed its Market Street store, citing employee safety concerns. In a survey by the Controller’s office, residents gave the City a C+ in public safety, the worst grade since 1996.
The economic outlook is similarly bleak. We are dealing with a major office vacancy crisis, and in a nationwide study of the downtown recoveries of major cities, San Francisco ranked last.
In political news, Senator Diane Feinstein has missed 60 of the 82 votes taken in the Senate this year, which is hurting the Democrats’ ability to confirm Biden’s judicial nominees. Ever loyal, Nancy Pelosi says it’s sexist to criticize DiFi for not showing up.

Quick hits

Palate cleanser(?)

Bill Jackson

The Weekly Digest (April 23, 2023)