The Weekly Digest (August 18, 2024)
Happy Sunday, Brionies! Here’s what you need to know about local politics this week and beyond:
San Francisco City Hall
The Board of Supervisors continues its August recess. Crack open a cold one and enjoy your best month of local governance responsibly.
Happenings around town
Briones Society events
Free the Market: How to Build Four Walls and a Roof Without Spending $48 Billion
Tuesday, August 20 at 6pm, location provided upon RSVP.
“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.” California legislators have taken this famous quote by Republican Senator Everett Dirksen to heart, increasing our state budget by more than $120 billion in just the last five years. Some housing advocates want to spend even more to subsidize thousands of affordable housing units in the Bay Area. While their most recent proposal – a $20 billion bond sponsored by the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) – was scrapped last week, other measures remain in the pipeline. Join us for a special event with Cato Institute Analyst Marc Joffe and Independent Institute Scholar Christopher Calton to discuss why the BAHFA bond was pulled and explore better ways of increasing the supply of housing for residents of all incomes.
Thursday, August 22 at 5pm, online.
Other events of interest
Tuesday, August 20 at 530pm, Bayview District Police Station
Thursday, August 22 at 5pm, Foster City Lagoon
San Francisco Young Republicans August Social
Thursday, August 22 at 7pm, Novella (662 Mission St.)
Contra Costa Republican Party Chairman Circle Dinner, featuring Shawn Steel and Kevin Kiley
Sunday, August 25 at 530pm, Zio Fraedos (611 Gregory Ln., Pleasant Hill)
SVGOP and SPARC Summer Picnic, featuring Kevin Kiley and Steven Hilton
Sunday, August 25 at 4pm, Linda Vista Park (Cupertino)
What we’re reading
On April 15, protestors shut down Golden Gate Bridge traffic, thereby ending the war in Gaza, persuading Hamas to release its hostages, and bringing about the most significant progress in Middle East peace since Jared Kushner engineered the Abraham Accords. Wait, no… [checks notes]… okay, we’re actually reading here that the protest achieved none of those things, but it did trap commuters for hours, leading a man with a brain tumor to miss a crucial appointment, a doctor to cancel a surgery, and a disabled child to be stuck on a school bus. Great success! District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has rightfully filed felony and misdemeanor charges against those responsible. Guess what? Crime is illegal again in San Francisco.
San Francisco is finally cracking down on urban camping, says Mayor London Breed. Normies are hyped. Randy Shaw is skeptical she’ll follow through. “Journalists” are doing their best to portray sweeps as cruel. Los Angeles voters are going to get more of the same – having voted in a faux moderate as mayor, rather than her infinitely more competent challenger, because the latter once had an R next to his name. And Jennifer Friedenbach, queen bee of the Homeless Industrial Complex, is worried that if drug users get treatment she’ll lose customers.
Want a clear explanation of the Supreme Court decision this summer that paved the way for cities to finally do something about encampments? Look no further than episode 15 of the Briones Society Podcast.
Local ballots will be voluminous this November, including 10 statewide propositions and 15 San Francisco ones. The Briones Society has been selected as author of the Official Opponent Argument to San Francisco Proposition B. But, of course, we’ve got a lot of problems with other propositions, too. For example, Proposition C, a watered-down, poorly structured version of an idea we’ve been talking about for years.
We’ll have plenty more to say about these and other measures in our upcoming voter guide, including candidate endorsements like Bruce Lou for US Congress, Yvette Corkrean for State Senate, Matt Susk for D3 Supervisor, Autumn Hope Looijen for D5 Supervisor, Matt Boschetto and Stephen Martin Pinto for D7 Supervisor, Jose Morales and Oscar Flores for D11 Supervisor, and Min Chang for Board of Education.
What we’re listening to
The latest episode of the Briones Society Podcast just dropped! We interview Wilfred Reilly about his latest book, Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me, wherein he debunks pernicious myths on the left ranging from Marxist malarky to postcolonial poppycock.
Quick hits
'Last Black Man in San Francisco' actor says Harris laughed when she wrongly convicted him
Breed, Farrell are neck-and-neck in mayor’s race, poll shows
In race for San Francisco Mayor, Chinese voters take center stage
Two recalls, an FBI raid, a Gavin Newsom intervention: What’s happening in Oakland?
“Data! Data! Data!” Holmes cried. “I can’t make bricks without clay!”
Curious about a property or parcel in the city? Check out the Property Information Map
Palate cleanser
On the one hand, there’s a lot of data showing autonomous cars are safer, cleaner, and more efficient than those driven by humans. On the other hand, this.