The Weekly Digest (June 25, 2023)

Jun 25

Happy Sunday, Brionies! Here’s what you need to know about San Francisco politics this week and beyond:

Action items

Use these forms (courtesy of our friends at Iconic D3) to send letters to the Board of Supervisors in support of:

City Hall

Monday, June 26 at 10am: Regular meeting of the Budget and Appropriations Committee (agenda and call-in instructions here)

A public comment period will precede the agenda items.
Item 1 – Budget and appropriation ordinance for all departments.
Item 6 – Funding reallocation ordinance to allow the mayor to use $60 million of receipts from the Proposition C Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax to invest in shelter (see “Action items,” above).

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

Item 14 – Ordinance amending the Planning Code to facilitate residential-to-commercial conversions and diversify commercial uses downtown.
Item 17 – Proposed interim budget and appropriation ordinance for all departments.
Item 28 – Resolution urging the Department of Human Resources to explore ways to offer competitive recruitment bonuses for law enforcement officers and for oversight bodies to develop staffing plans.

Wednesday, June 28 at 9:30am: Rescheduled meeting of the Budget and Appropriations Committee (agenda and call-in instructions here)

Item 1 – Ordinance appropriating $50 million of General Fund General Reserves to the Human Rights Commission to establish the Office of Reparations and to implement approved recommendations in Fiscal Year 2022-2023.

Happenings around town

What we’re reading

This week, UCSF released a report on homelessness in California that it calls “the largest representative study of homelessness in the United States since the mid-1990s.” According to the study’s principal investigator Dr. Margot Kushel, high housing costs are the main driver of homelessness, with 90% of participants from California and 75% of participants living in the same county as where they were last housed. Critics point out, however, that the study does not cite any evidence for the residency statistics – or, frankly, any of the claims it makes – other than participant interviews. Readers looking for a more informed take (from someone who’s actually experienced homelessness) would do well to listen to episode 3 of the Briones Society Podcast.
Apropos the foregoing: Only 3 of 45 people arrested in SF drug crackdown from city: SFPD.
This is a sobering look at the state of the commercial real estate market around the US. In short, it’s going to get worse… before it gets worse.
San Jose mayor Matt Mahan channels Don Draper. Other mayors want housing first; he wants “housing now.”

Quick hits

Palate cleanser

Bill Jackson

The Weekly Digest (July 9, 2023)