The Weekly Digest (February 19, 2023)
Happy President’s Day Weekend, Brionies!
Here’s what you need to know about San Francisco politics this week and beyond:
City Hall
Our Board of Supervisors is super into honoring our presidents and thus will not hold a meeting this week. Meetings of the Budget & Finance and Budget & Appropriations Committees were also canceled.
Happenings around town
Tuesday, February 21 at 7pm, Dominican University in San Rafael
Cancel Wars: Free Speech and the University – A Conversation with Sigal Ben-Porath
Wednesday, February 22 at 5:30pm, Stanford Humanities Center
Understanding Homelessness in San Francisco, a series at Manny’s SF(editors’ note: judging from the lineup of speakers, which tilts heavily towards advocates of the failed harm reduction and housing first policies that have led to San Francisco having the highest per capita number of unsheltered persons in the US, it’s likely that you will actually understand less about homelessness after having attended these sessions)
Part 1 – The Causes of Homelessness with Dr. Margot Kushel, Professor of Medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital
Tuesday, February 21 at 5:30pm
Part 2 – The History of Homelessness with Randy Shaw, E.D. of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, and Beth Stokes, Coalition on Homelessness (others TBA)
Wednesday, February 22 at 5:30pm
Part 3 – What is Being Done? with Shireen McSpadden, E.D. of the SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, and Tomiquia Moss, founder of All Home and former Chief of Staff to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
Thursday, February 23 at 6pm
Part 4 – What Should Be Done? a debate between Jennifer Friedenbach, E.D. of the Coalition on Homelessness and D8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman
Friday, February 24 at 5:30pm
What we’re reading
A Streetcar Named Maya Angelou: SF to Honor its Most Important Black Poet.
We at the Briones Society have long argued that San Francisco needs to dramatically increase the size of its police department. Among the many reasons to do so is avoiding the significant expense of paying the ever dwindling number currently serving officers $28 million in overtime to maintain public safety in our neighborhoods.
The Growing Chorus has once again reunited, and is playing some shows in Sacramento – this time wondering where all the money we spend on homelessness is going.
Supervisor Matt Dorsey has proposed a carve out to our execrable sanctuary city policy such that the City would no longer be prohibited from assisting federal authorities seeking to deport fentanyl dealers, while District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is seeking a one-time suspension of the policy’s application to a murderer and a child molester currently residing abroad. Both proposals require approval by the Board, which means fighting an uphill battle.
The Board is finally starting to address rampant corruption at the myriad nonprofits that benefit from the contracts awarded to them by, uh… checks notes… oh, the Board over the years with little to no oversight.
A coalition of real estate firms and property owners is suing the city to challenge the recently passed residential vacancy tax as an unconstitutional taking.
Palate cleanser