The Weekly Digest (June 11, 2023)
Happy Sunday, Brionies! Here’s what you need to know about San Francisco politics this week and beyond:
City Hall
Tuesday, June 13 at 2pm: Regular Meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda and call-in instructions here)
Item 14 – On May 7, 2021, a San Francisco police officer accidentally shot Xavier Pittman in the hand. The officer was attempting to arrest Mr. Pittman after he had allegedly been involved in a string of auto burglaries throughout the city. The Board will consider settling a lawsuit Mr. Pittman filed for roughly $200 thousand. If Mr. Pittman was indeed responsible for the auto burglaries, the settlement should be garnished for restitution to his victims. Crime should not pay in San Francisco.
Item 32 – The Board will vote one last time in the ongoing saga over including the Castro Theatre’s seats in that venue’s historic landmark designation (yes, you read that right). Why are we even having a debate over whether the seats, which were installed in 2001, should be designated as “historic?” Because the Castro Theatre’s new owner, Another Planet Entertainment, needs to be able to remove some of the seats in order to turn the venue into a modern entertainment space. Unfortunately, even at a time when businesses are fleeing San Francisco (and taking the City’s tax base with them), some members of the Board still believe that the proper role of government is shameless extortion. Hence, the familiar two-step from Supervisors Peskin, Chan, Preston, and Walton: “That’s a nice business model you’ve got there. Would be a shame if someone regulated it into bankruptcy. Perhaps you’d like to make a donation to one of my pet causes/nonprofits/community projects?”
Item 39 – The Board will consider an ordinance declaring the parrot to be the official animal of San Francisco. Alas, chalk up another win for the shadowy parrot lobby (aka Big Parrot). It is now clear that their agents of influence have infiltrated all levels of municipal government.
Happenings around town
Palo Alto Republican Women Federated Speaker Series: Bill Wiltschko on a Convention of States
Tuesday, June 13 at 11am, Baylands Golf Links Cafe, Palo Alto
Wednesday, June 14 at 5pm, Deputy Sheriff’s Association Building, Redwood City
Tuesday, June 20 at 6:30pm, online
SPUR presents Reinventing the City: How New York and Los Angeles Are Approaching Downtown Recovery
Thursday, June 22 at 12:30pm, online
Saturday, June 24 at 9am, Marines Memorial Club & Hotel
The Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley presents a Conversation with Riley Gaines
Tuesday, July 11 at 7pm, Mountain View (location provided upon registration)
What we’re reading
A mass shooting in San Francisco’s Mission District. Thankfully, no one died. Our thoughts, of course, are with the victims. We are also begging our elected officials – and would-be elected officials – to consider the actual root causes of, and probable solutions to, violence in San Francisco, rather than wringing their hands about driverless cars.
In an effort to address San Francisco’s unyielding drug crisis, the Sheriff’s Department will mobilize over 100 deputies to arrest dealers in Civic Center, SOMA, and the Tenderloin. In light of SFPD’s staffing crisis, supplementing enforcement with deputies is a welcome and encouraging development.
The San Francisco Standard addresses some of the most frequently asked questions about the city’s homeless population.
BART’s Board of Directors votes to increase fares and parking fees to address looming budget deficit. BART’s problems, however, do not stem from failing to ensure its fares rise with inflation. BART ridership is declining in part due to the Bay Area’s changing commuter patterns and in part to the deplorable safety conditions on the system’s trains.
Local journalist Erica Sandberg, writing in City Journal, laments the tragic state of our City by the Bay. Yet, she remains hopeful: “Gorgeous, wild San Francisco has been dragged through the mud by the very officials who have been tasked to keep it clean. Years of grift and extremism have done tremendous damage. Yet serious efforts to revive the city are ramping up.”
Palate cleanser