The Weekly Digest (May 21, 2023)

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

City Hall

• Tuesday, May 23 at 2:00pm: Special off-site meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda and call-in instructions here)

• Item 1 – Field trip time! Mayor Breed will make her monthly appearance before the Board at a special outdoor meeting at UN Plaza, where Supervisor Peskin will roll out some very expensive, Board of Supervisors-branded tablecloths and ask the mayor to address “public safety coordination.” Following this item, the supervisors will return to City Hall for the remainder of the meeting. Your tax dollars at work, folks.

• Item 11 – Resolution authorizing the city to provide $90 million in financing for the construction of a 160-unit multifamily affordable housing project at 730 Stanyan. Currently an empty lot, this parcel at the corner of Stanyan and Haight has long been a microcosm of San Francisco’s dysfunction and our elected officials’ corruption and fecklessness. The parcel previously housed a McDonald’s franchise plagued by vandalism, drug trafficking, and shootings. In a tour de force of victim-blaming chutzpah that you can’t help but admire, then-City Attorney Dennis Herrera wrote a letter to McDonald’s Corporation in 2015 threatening to sue if the franchise didn’t clean things up. Although we must admit that Ronald McDonald has shown remarkable skill for a spokes-clown in foiling the dastardly plots of the Hamburglar, law enforcement is traditionally the purview of municipalities. Well, the McDonald’s eventually closed, and then found itself at the center of a political fight between District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston – who wanted to convert it into a permanent encampment center – and Preston’s constituents – who objected to the way a Preston-aligned nonprofit had operated a temporary center there during the pandemic.

• Item 33 – Resolution extending time for the Historic Preservation Commission to respond to a landmark designation for the Alexandria Theater at 18th and Geary, which has sat empty since 2004.

• Item 34 – Resolution urging the US Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Agency to designate San Francisco for Operation Overdrive, an initiative to reduce fatal drug overdoses and deter fentanyl trafficking.

• Item 36 – Resolution in support of a state assembly bill to increase teacher pay by 50 percent over the next seven years.

• Item 39 – Resolution urging the California Attorney General and the US Department of Justice to examine evidence in the killing of Banko Brown.

• Item 41 – Resolution urging SFMTA to delay the extension of parking meter hours until the completion of an economic impact report.

• Wednesday, May 24 at 10am: Regular meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee (agenda and call-in instructions here)

• Item 7 – Ordinance sponsored by Supervisor Preston appropriating $10 million for “non-police” safety programs in the Tenderloin.

Action items

• Tell the Board of Supervisors that SFMTA should reverse its decision to extend parking meter hours.

• Send an email to compel action by our elected officials against the fentanyl crisis.

Happenings around town

• Housing Action Coalition Spring Symposium

• Wednesday, May 24 at 2pm, online/Spark Social 

• Log Cabin Republicans monthly meeting featuring Rep. Kevin Kiley

• Wednesday, May 24 at 6:30pm, the Sausage Factory

• San Francisco Republican Party Summer Dinner with Michael Shellenberger

• Thursday, June 8 at 6:30pm, downtown San Francisco (location provided upon purchase of ticket)

What we’re reading

• Amid the protests, calls for federal intervention, and heated debates on NextDoor, we at the Briones Society encourage you to read District Attorney Brooke Jenkins’ detailed report setting forth the reasons behind her decision not to bring charges against Walgreens security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony for the fatal shooting of Banko Brown. In particular, the report includes witness testimony, information about the security guard’s state of mind, and an overview of the relevant legal standard in a case involving a self-defense claim.

• Did you know that May is Small Business Month? No? Our local merchants didn’t, either. In a recent survey, one small business owner reported feeling “broken hearted” about the state of the city, and said he thinks about closing up and moving every single day. The owner of Le Marais bakery has spent over $27,000 repairing broken windows since the pandemic, yet has received no assistance from the City despite seven applications to the Storefront Vandalism Relief Grant program. And High Road Bike Company in Hayes Valley was forced to close after “countless” burglaries resulted in loss of insurance coverage.

Quick hits

• What if San Francisco never pulls out of its ‘doom loop’? 

• In Israel, S.F. Mayor London Breed looks to take lessons back to the Bay Area

• Could SF bin costly trash cans? City committee has concerns

• San Francisco Democrat under fire for 'ridiculous' proposal to restrict gun use by security guards

• What’s going on with long-promised Caltrain Station in Bayview? Another study.

• Reporter calls San Francisco 'worse than the third world' due to drugs, homeless problems

• Snarky Anti-Fentanyl Ads Attempt to Shame SF Mayor, City Hall Officials

• SF’s Top-Paid Employee Last Year Made $726K After City Fired Him

• SF leaders plan $6 million in upgrades to Powell Street 

• Opinion: School Board President Boggess the lone vote to back the likely illegal and racially biased parent advisors slate

• California budget deficit an uphill battle for new bills

• Dianne Feinstein's health: The senator seems not to remember being absent from the Capitol

• Portland Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Ballot Measure to Use Tax Dollars on Lawyers for Residents Facing Eviction 

• When the Rule of Law Fails Us 

• Unopposed mayoral races are bad for the Dems

Palate cleansers

• The greatest narrative-framing headline of all time, brought to you by modern journalism 

• Also: San Francisco Is a Fashion Incubator. Yes, You Read That Right