The Weekly Digest (March 23, 2025)

Written By Bill Jackson

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

San Francisco City Hall 

  • Tuesday, March 25 at 2pm: Board of Supervisors (agenda here):

    • Items 1-2: Approval of a legal settlement with Hotel des Arts at 447 Bush Street relating to the conversion of Single Room Occupancy units. Under the settlement, the City will allow the hotel to convert 38 of its rooms from SRO to tourist use in exchange for 34 rooms at other properties to be converted to residential hotel rooms. The history of SROs in San Francisco illustrates the folly of letting “father knows best” bureaucrats manipulate the housing market. Since the 19th century, privately-owned and operated SROs have been a low-cost housing option for low-wage workers, transient laborers, and new immigrants. As part of so-called urban renewal in the 1950s and 1960s, progressive government interventions caused the destruction or conversion of many SROs. Many critics on the left and right now recognize that removing SROs was a mistake that contributed to the explosion of modern homelessness. As one scholar of the period wrote, “under the rubric of ‘slum clearance’ and ‘blight removal,’ the (Redevelopment) agency turned to systematically sweeping out the poor, with the full backing of city’s power elite.” San Francisco is now trying to reverse course and bring SROs back through legislation and lawsuits. Let’s keep this in mind when today’s progressives tell us they know better than the market. 

  • Wednesday, March 26 at 10am: Budget and Finance Committee (agenda here):

    • Item 7: Resolution authorizing the City to issue up to $64 million in multifamily housing revenue notes to finance construction of a 92-unit rental housing project at 850 Turk Street. 

    • Item 11: Resolution confirming that the Marina Improvement and Remediation Project is financially viable and responsible, if not well received by all.

    • Item 16: Resolution approving the issuance and sale of up to $160 million in general obligation bonds by the San Francisco Unified School District. 

Happenings around town

What we’re listening to

  • Our podcast with BART Director, Debora Allen! The Briones Society has launched a new project: a bi-monthly series of live conversations with Bay Area leaders and policy experts. The first is with Debora Allen, who recently completed an 8-year term as BART Director. What she revealed about the mismanagement of multiple ongoing crises of BART over the past decade will astonish you.

What we’re watching

  • OCTOBER 8 offers an important perspective on the explosion of antisemitism following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7. Tickets here.

What we’re reading

  • Smile – you’re on Candid Camera! As part of San Francisco’s Vision Zero initiative on traffic safety, the City has launched a speed camera program targeting 33 locations to reduce fatalities and improve road safety. Exceeding the speed limit by 11-15 mph will get you a $50 citation, while drivers going over 100 miles per hour will be cited $500. That is, unless you qualify for a reduction for being low-income or receiving public assistance. If you’re on public assistance and are caught driving over 100 MPH, your fine drops from $500 to $100. Unfortunately, the dangers of high-speed driving don’t correlate to a driver’s income. The speed limit exists for the safety of everyone.

  • Investigators have discovered troubling new details about Sheryl Davis, former head of the City’s Human Rights Commission. Davis led the Dream Keeper Initiative, a signature program of former Mayor London Breed that allocated tens of millions of city dollars to the Black community and has been mired in allegations of fraud and mismanagement. Davis is accused of a years-long scheme involving bribes, illegal gifts, and the misuse of city funds for personal expenses, including her son’s UCLA tuition and a weeklong stay at a luxury Martha's Vineyard property. Davis also accepted a $5,500 portrait from another nonprofit before awarding it a $270,000 contract, which auditors called a potential bribe. That was one expensive selfie.  

  • The SFGOP has officially endorsed the Recall Joel Engardio campaign, and while the Chinese American Democratic Club didn’t go as far endorsing it, they did vote decisively to withdraw support of District 4 Supervisor Engardio. The driving force behind the recall is Engardio’s support of Proposition K, the ballot measure to close the Upper Great Highway (UGH) to cars. The measure was approved by 54% of city voters last November but was largely opposed by those who live closest to the UGH: Engardio’s constituents in the Sunset and Richmond districts. On Tuesday, opponents of the closure filed a lawsuit arguing that closing the UGH to cars illegally bypasses review required under the California Environmental Quality Act. The campaign is centered on District 4, but if successful, it will have a ripple effect across the city, including a debate over what to name the park.

  • Archimedes Banya, a nude bathhouse, has announced that its bi-monthly “ladies only” and “men’s only” nights would be restricted to individuals whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth. The change, aimed at accommodating cultural and religious needs, allows trans people access on all other days. The policy triggered a backlash from some customers and Bay Area transgender and intersex communities. You can support the new policy by signing this petition.

Quick hits

Palate cleanser

This week in San Francisco history

  • On March 21, 1963, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closed its gates permanently. The prison operated for over 29 years, housing some of the most notorious criminals in American history.

Bill Jackson
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