The Weekly Digest (July 16, 2023)
Happy Sunday, Brionies! Here’s what you need to know about San Francisco politics this week and beyond:
Action items
This Wednesday, July 19, the Police Commission will “discuss” the SFPD’s response to the riot near Dolores Park last week – or, what the Commission, Supervisor Dean Preston, and Mission Local have been attempting to spin as a “skating event.” San Franciscans aren’t having any of it. While SFPD is by no means perfect, in this case their performance was exemplary: They responded to a riot, imposed law and order, protected the neighborhood from further harm, and held the rioters accountable in a fair and proportionate manner. We encourage you to voice your support for their efforts by writing to the Police Commission using this pre-filled form, courtesy of our friends at Connected SF.
City Hall
Tuesday, July 18 at 2pm: Regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda and call-in instructions here)
Item 4 – An ordinance sponsored by Mayor London Breed to increase the minimum hourly wage paid to nonprofit City contractors to $23 per hour by 2026, and to public entity City contractors to $25.50 by 2027. Le sigh, where to begin? Even if we did want to put more money into the pockets of San Francisco’s nonprofit industrial complex, economists generally agree that minimum wage laws are counterproductive in almost every imaginable way. Optimizing for progressives’ much ballyhooed “equity?” The minimum wage, on balance, kills jobs – and the first ones to go are held by the least skilled, least politically connected, and most vulnerable members of society: non-unionized workers who are very young, very old, or medically disabled. Want to put more money into the hands of the working class? Better to reduce the cost of essential goods and services than to juice demand for those goods and services, especially when we’re coming off of two years of generationally high inflation. Of course, many on the far left favor minimum wage hikes not because they help the working class, but because they punish those perennial boogeymen: mustache-twirling owners of capital. But when you’re talking about City funds, those “owners of capital” are Average Joe and Jane Taxpayer. That’s why public sector unions suck and are probably unconstitutional. In any case, do we really think that San Francisco should be subsidizing the lifestyles of an incompetent activist class that regularly engages in criminal activity, political interference, and graft?
Item 15 – Another ordinance sponsored by the mayor, this one to increase fees charged by the Department of Building Inspection by 15 percent, because – y’know – the department is doing such a bang up job serving the public.
Item 54 – Okay, okay, the mayor’s not all bad; let’s give credit where it’s due. She’s sponsoring this ordinance as part of an overall effort to reallocate funds from 2018’s misguided Our City, Our Home initiative and putting that money to work for actual solutions to homelessness.
Happenings around town
Together SF Action presents Why SF is Broken (And How to Fix It)
Wednesday, July 19 at 6:30pm, 2505 Mariposa St.
Monday, July 24 at 6pm, The Commonwealth Club
Webinar with New York Times bestselling author Carol Roth (You Will Own Nothing)
Wednesday, July 26 at 11am, online
What we’re reading
Last week, the Chronicle published a remarkable series of stories detailing the inner workings of San Francisco’s drug trade. To the surprise of (almost) no one, the paper’s investigation revealed that the open air markets in the Tenderloin are largely run by Hondurans who crossed into the US illegally, that they are not being trafficked here, that many of them make hundreds of thousands of dollars each year selling death to vulnerable San Franciscans, and that Chesa Boudin is a shameless liar. Supervisor Matt Dorsey’s response to the Chronicle’s series is entirely appropriate: He wants to know why fentanyl traffickers are qualifying for public defenders, when court-appointed lawyers are only supposed to be provided to the “indigent” accused.
While we don’t agree with everything in them, these two pieces by Randy Shaw contain thoughtful critiques of the SFPD’s strategy in the Tenderloin.
“The judge had a prosecutor read into the record a letter from Ford’s mother, who wrote that the sentence was unfair.” This courtesy of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, who – thankfully – now faces a recall.
Speaking of the East Bay: Oakland mayor could see $75,000 salary bump despite historic budget woes. Of course, we can’t pass up this opportunity to revisit one of our favorite interviews of all time, where then-candidate now-Mayor Sheng Thao struggles not only with basic economics, but also simple facts about a measure she herself voted to put on the ballot last November.
San Francisco Activists Are ‘Coning’ Cruise, Waymo Robotaxis. When a guy named “cyberdouche” thinks your antics have gone too far, it may be time for a little self reflection.
As we’ve previously noted, San Francisco has an insane form of government where a concert permit must be approved by a commission, then a sub-committee, and then the Board of Supervisors. This is sclerosis-by-design, and a way for as many parties as possible to “wet their beaks” by making payout demands of anyone trying to start a business or put on an event in our city.
Quick hits
San Francisco Mayor, Lawmakers Cut Deal To Unleash 8K New Homes
There’s a new high-rise in the middle of the S.F. bay. It’s all housing
San Francisco city attorney fires back at homeless advocates’ allegations
Affirmative Action Has Been Specifically Discriminatory Against Asians
S.F. doesn’t blame the tech bros for ruining city, poll finds
Wiener Raises $820K as Nancy Pelosi's Future in Congress Remains Uncertain
Department of duh
Palate cleanser