The Weekly Digest (February 25, 2024)

Happy Sunday, Brionies!

Here’s what you need to know about San Francisco politics this week and beyond:

City Hall

• Tuesday, February 27 at 2pm: Regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda and call-in instructions here)

• Item 13 – Resolution approving a $8.6 million increase in a loan from the city to finance a 100% affordable, 63-unit multifamily rental housing development at 78 Haight Street. The city originally agreed to a $26.7 million loan for this project. Construction started in April 2022, but stopped a month later because of dangerous conditions at an adjacent property. The developer is now asking for an increase to cover additional construction work, an escalation in project cost due to an 18-month delay, increase in construction loan interest, and other expenses. The new not-to-exceed cost for this project is $35,306,233.

• Item 15 – Ordinance waiving competitive bidding process for homeless service providers. A 2023 Civil Grand Jury investigation of contracting practices with community-based organizations that provide homelessness services found (1) inconsistent measurement of results-based outcomes in contracts and grants; (2) insufficient on-site program monitoring; and (3) inadequate tracking of homeless sub-populations. Moreover, grant recipients like Urban Alchemy have spotty track records. We submit that greater oversight of these expensive and critically important contracts is essential.

• Item 35 – Resolution supporting California State Senate Bill No. 915, introduced by Senator Dave Cortese, which would allow each local government to set up its own rules for self-driving vehicles. As Supervisors Peskin, Chan, Ronen, and Mandelman consider ways to stymie autonomous vehicle technology, this piece offers a grim reminder that 40,000 people die annually in this country as a result of motor vehicle collisions, and 90% of them are caused by human error. Oh, and the Police Commission wants to bar cops from making the kind of traffic stops that promote safe driving (by humans). 

Action items

• It is time to turn in your ballot as election day is only nine days away: March 5! Vote for our candidates for Republican County Central Committee (RCCC) and refer to our voter guide here. 

Happenings around town

• Log Cabin Republicans Monthly Meeting Featuring Director General for Taiwan Cultural Affairs in San Francisco, Ming Chi Scott Lai

• Wenesday, February 28 at 6:30pm, the Sausage Factory

• San Francisco Police Department Station Captain’s Community Meetings

• Mission Station, Tuesday, February 27 at 5-6pm

• Richmond Station, Tuesday, February 27 at 5-6pm

• Tenderloin Station, Tuesday, February 27 at 6-7pm

• Southern Station, Wednesday, February 28 at 6-7pm

• Park Station, Wednesday, February 28 at 6:30-7:30pm

What we’re reading

• We’re blushing over this endorsement of our candidates for RCCC by the Pirate Wires Editorial Board: “political change is afoot in the city, and if Republicans begin to field smart candidates capable of expressing good ideas in language palatable to the average left-of-center SF moderate, they might start to emerge from the margins.”

• SF woman shares story of domestic violence to help others escape abuse

• The Court Case Against a Massive Encampment That Won

• San Francisco math lesson: What did it cost for 13 officials to spend 2 weeks in Japan?

• San Francisco needs more police funding. But not with the trade-offs in Prop. B

• San Franciscans overwhelmingly back police cameras, vehicle pursuits

• Court battle over SF homeless sweeps paused, but injunction remains

• Riley Gaines hostage for ransom, assault investigation 'suspended' by SFSU police with no charges 

• California’s Push for Ethnic Studies Runs Into the Israel-Hamas War 

• Educators Turned Activists: Librarians Sound Alarm over Left-Wing Takeover of Profession

• An Early Referendum on Chicago’s Mayor? 

• Foster kid who went to Yale says family trumps college