The Weekly Digest (October 13, 2024)

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, October 15 at 2pm: Special meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda here):

    • Item 4 – Ordinance expanding rent control to include newly-constructed properties, sponsored by progressive supervisors Aaron Peskin, Dean Preston, Connie Chan, Hillary Ronen, and Shamann Walton. The public comment packet includes this letter in opposition from a coalition of builders, labor unions, and property owners: “this legislation denies the builders of recently constructed housing the ability to recover construction costs and jeopardizes their ability to repay their loans. In doing so, it also eliminates any incentive to invest in new housing production in San Francisco moving forward, particularly when other cities nearby aren’t considering such an antagonistic and hostile approach to the creation of new housing.”

    • Proposed Resolutions 241006 and 241007 – Two proposed resolutions to increase contracts with the Department of Early Childhood. One proposal would extend a contract with Wu Yee Children’s Services by one year and increase it by $71,971,278, for a new not-to-exceed amount of $216,467,950 over three years. The other proposal would extend a contract with the Children’s Council of San Francisco by one year and increase it by $144,238,459, for a total amount of $508,329,907 over three years. The Department of Early Childhood was formed by legislation introduced by Mayor Breed and Supervisor Melgar in 2022. At the time, Melgar stated that the ordinance “puts San Francisco on its way to  becoming one of the first major cities to offer universal early care and education.” The annual budget for this department is about $330 million.

  • Thursday, October 17 at 10am: Regular meeting of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee (agenda here):

    • Item 1 – Ordinance to establish a voluntary sobriety incentive program known as “Cash Not Drugs,” which would provide a weekly $100 payment to eligible beneficiaries of certain welfare programs who test negative for illicit substances.

    • Item 2 – Ordinance requiring large supermarkets to provide six months notice before permanently closing and to “explore ways to allow for the continued sale of groceries at the location.” 

Happenings around town


What we’re listening to

  • On the latest episode of the Briones Society podcast, District 3 Supervisor Candidate Moe Jamil talks about his plan to revitalize San Francisco. 

What we’re reading

  • The mayoral election is heating up. On Monday, less than an hour before mayoral candidate Mark Farrell was to hold a press conference announcing his ranked-choice voting strategy, former mayors Art Agnos, Willie Brown, and Frank Jordan released a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins alleging that mayoral candidate Mark Farrell is violating various election laws. In response, Farrell dismissed the letter as “a joke,” and observed, “this is the machine trying to attack me as a front-runner in this race. That is blatantly transparent, and should be transparent to every single San Francisco voter.” Brionies, we beseech you to ignore the mud-slinging and keep your eyes on the prize: new leadership for San Francisco. See our voting guide for recommendations.

  • Is it something we said? SF tries image rehab for its scandal-tainted nonprofits

Quick hits




Bill Jackson
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