The Weekly Digest (November 19, 2023)

Written By Bill Jackson

Happy post-APEC, Brionies!


Here’s what you need to know about San Francisco politics this week and beyond:

City Hall

  • Monday, November 20 at 9am: Special Meeting of the Board of Supervisors,  (agenda and call-in instructions here): 

    • Item 1 – Discussion on a Charter Amendment to permit the mayor to overrule  certain SFMTA budget hikes. This Charter amendment would further politicize SFMTA’s budgetary process and is, no surprise, championed by the progressive wing of the Board of Supervisors. Its ultimate effect would be to hinder SFMTA’s ability to fully fund itself and should be opposed by anyone who cares about San Francisco’s public transportation system.

Happenings around town

What we’re reading

  • Intrepid reporter Sanjana Friedman published an absolute banger this week, going deep into the truly epic waste and mismanagement of Mayor Breed’s Dream Keeper Initiative. In 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, the city moved 17% of the police budget – over $100 million –  to programs that were intended to support the African-American community. The details of how these funds were spent are eye-popping: self-reported “success” metrics, a six-figure grant to a podcast with less than 100 downloads, and $1.4 million for a “visual storytelling project” that “highlights the lives, stories, experiences, and voices of transgender people,” to name a few. We agree with Friedman’s thesis that “the Initiative emblemizes how bureaucracy tends to relentlessly expand outwards, transforming eye-watering amounts of taxpayer dollars into new government jobs, meaningless impact reports, and no-strings-attached grants of dubious merit.” Dare we suggest the author is … conservative?

  • Civilian commissions oversee both the San Francisco Police Department and the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department. The Board of Supervisors has long seemed intent on appointing some of the least qualified persons to sit on these powerful boards. The latest: a member of the Sheriff’s Department Commission has been arrested for a violent sexual assault. We beg the Supes to begin exercising their appointment power responsibly. 

  • Clean streets for Xi, not for thee: San Francisco solved its homeless problem in anticipation of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. It’s amazing what can get done when a communist dictator comes to town. 

Quick hits

Bill Jackson
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