The Weekly Digest (January 29, 2023)

Happy National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, Brionies! (Well, it’s actually tomorrow, but it’s never too early to start celebrating.)

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

City Hall

• Tuesday, January 31 at 2pm: Regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda and call-in instructions here)

• Agenda Item 14 – Adopting the Housing Element 2022 Update (final vote)

• Agenda Item 17 – Appropriation of $30 million to the Recreation and Parks Department, $42 million to the Port of San Francisco, and $172 million to the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development 

• Agenda Items 20 and 21 – Increasing amounts given to nonprofits for mental and behavioral health services by nearly $149 million

• Agenda Item 47 – Resolution supporting the renewal of the assault weapons ban of 2023

• Thursday, February 2 at 10am: Regular meeting of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee (agenda and call-in instructions here)

• Agenda Item 2 – Citywide Nonprofit Performance Audit Report 

Happenings around town

• Markets vs Mandates: Promoting Environmental Quality and Economic Prosperity

• Monday, January 30 at 8:15am, The Hoover Institution

• What We Can Do About San Francisco’s Drug Crisis

• Wednesday, February 1 at 6pm, TogetherSF HQ

• Navigating a Turbulent Economy: Annual Economic Forecast 2023

• Thursday, February 2 at 12pm, The Commonwealth Club

What we’re reading

• To nobody’s surprise, the San Francisco budget is facing some major challenges in coming years. Mayor Breed’s budget gurus are sounding the alarm. 

• Another nonprofit flouts the law, and this one used to be run by the mayor herself (and helped her get elected). More of these stories are coming out lately, which is quite depressing, but also serves as a sign that these abuses are coming to light. Progress?

• Did you know San Francisco has (at least) eight homeless response teams? Yeah, we didn’t, either. Does it seem like they’re doing any good? 

• There’s a housing crisis in San Francisco (duh), but even if you’ve got $1.75 million to spend on a house, you may nonetheless find yourself dealing with permitting red tape, squatters, and police indifference – like this couple did. Unsurprisingly, they’ve given up on our fair city and are now moving to the Peninsula. Another departure that San Francisco can hardly afford.

• We at the Briones Society have been calling for an increase in the number of SFPD officers for some time in order to match the ratio of cops to residents in most European countries. Doing so may mean we need to kick in some bonus money to match offers from neighboring cities. Supervisor Matt Dorsey has a plan. 

• A deep dive from the New York Sun on an art gallery owner, a homeless woman, and how San Francisco put them on a collision course.

• San Francisco is moving ahead with “safe” drug consumption sites, which Vancouver has experimented with for years yielding, umm, not great results.

Palate cleanser

• Check out this story about a dog that was rescued by an alert jogger at Ocean Beach.

Want to get involved?

For those of you that would like to take a more active role in the community, consider your local Community Police Advisory Board. SF Safe has a write-up explaining how you can get involved at the precinct level – the proverbial ground floor of policing in your neighborhood.