The Weekly Digest (September 24, 2023)
Happy Sunday, Brionies!
Here’s what you need to know about San Francisco politics this week and beyond:
City Hall
Tuesday, September 26 at 2:00 pm: Regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda and call-in instructions here)
Item 21 – Hearing regarding Laguna Honda Hospital’s recertification plan. Last year, citing safety concerns and decades of mismanagement, federal regulators terminated the hospital’s participation in Medicare and Medicaid programs and threatened to close the 150-year-old facility. The Board will take up the hospital’s plan to get back into compliance.
Item 28 – Resolution accepting the African-American reparations plan. The Board clearly has no idea what it is doing with this plan, so if you’re interested in seeing government dysfunction at its finest, we encourage you to tune in.
Thursday, September 28 at 10:00 am: Regular Meeting of the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee (agenda and call-in instructions here)
Item 6 – Hearing on the Medical Examiner’s report regarding accidental overdose deaths and response from City departments.
Item 7 – Hearing on the state of traffic enforcement. Spoiler alert: it’s not good.
Friday, September 29 at 10:00 am: Special Meeting of the Homelessness and Behavioral Health Select Committee (agenda and call-in instructions here)
Item 2 – Hearing on the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing’s strategic plan and how that plan will impact the state of homelessness over the next five years.
Item 3 – Hearing on plans to implement CARE court by October 1, 2023.
Action items:
StopCrimeSF is sponsoring a voter education project about the 12 incumbent Superior Court judges who are up for re-election in March. If you are a prosecutor, defense attorney, or have other experience with the justice system, please rate the judges here.
Supervisor Matt Dorsey wants to investigate whether wealthy drug dealers should be eligible for publicly funded defense attorneys. Support his effort here.
Assembly Bill 819 is a proposed state law that would reduce the penalty for third or subsequent fare evasion offenses with a fine of up to $400. Currently, a third strike for fare evasion is a misdemeanor, punishable by jail time and a fine. If we want our public transit system to be safe, inviting, and financially solvent, we must insist on real consequences for scofflaw behavior. Encourage Governor Newsom to veto this bill here.
Happenings around town
Tuesday, September 26, 6-7pm, Manny’s, 3092 16th Street
Tuesday, September 26, 7-8pm, Manny’s 3092 16th Street
Tuesday, September 26 at 5pm: Mission and Richmond Station meetings
Tuesday, September 26 at 6pm: Tenderloin Station meeting
Wednesday, September 27, 6:30-7:30pm: Park Station meeting (online)
Community Meeting with D.A. Brooke Jenkins and SFPD Chief Bill Scott
Tuesday, October 17 at 6pm, online
What we’re reading
In 1994, San Francisco voters passed Proposition D, which approved a change to the City Charter requiring SFPD to have 1,971 full-duty police officers. The rationale for the 1,971 number was unclear, but experts later argued that staffing numbers should tied to workload. In response, voters passed Proposition E, which established a requirement that the Chief of Police and Police Commission submit semi-annual staffing recommendation reports to the Board of Supervisors but removed the staffing floor. Supervisor Matt Dorsey has wisely submitted a charter amendment that would re-establish a staffing floor. Longtime readers likely know that the Briones Society supports this. If you’d like to learn why full police staffing is good municipal policy, you’re in luck! We wrote about it in the Briones Review.
Proposed charter amendments abound this week: former supervisor Quentin Kopp has proposed a significant change to the Board of Supervisors’ membership. For decades, the City has bounced back and forth between electing the supes in at-large and district elections. Kopp’s proposal would maintain districts but allow voters to take part in every district election rather than merely their own. We generally support at-large elections, as district elections empower hyper-ideologues (exhibit A: Hillary Ronen). Unfortunately, Kopp’s proposal is legally dubious as it may run afoul of California’s Voting Rights Act. To avoid this problem, we would like to see a hybrid approach that would allow for both district and at-large elections.
The Board of Supervisors is diving back into the thorny issue of reparations. While we don’t know what (and whether) reparations will be enacted, we do know that the Supes don’t know either.
Elon Musk has pledged $100,000 to unseat Supervisor Dean Preston. We can’t say whether this will be money well spent, as Supervisor Preston is doing a fine job of ruining his re-election chances all on his own. The good supe’s prescription for our auto break-in crisis is that people simply stop leaving belongings in their vehicles. We humbly suggest two things that would be more effective: a more visible police presence and aggressive prosecution of perpetrators. What we do not need is a supervisor who scolds victims instead of criminals.
Gavin Newsom’s fanciful belief that he may one day be President of the United States is forcing him to hedge toward sanity. “The Gav” has announced his intention to have the state intervene in the lawsuit between San Francisco and the Coalition on the Homelessness that has interfered with the city’s ability to clear homeless encampments. The case may end up in the Supreme Court, where we expect Governor – not President – Newsom to watch from the front row.
Twin Peaks is one of San Francisco’s most bucolic tourist spots. Unfortunately, it continues to be a hot spot for crime. This week, a 19-year-old was shot to death just blocks from the famous vista. The City has proposed to increase patrols and install security gates with license plate readers. We hope the plan works: it is unconscionable that a great American city cannot keep people safe at one of its most popular attractions.
Quick hits
Mayor Eric Johnson: America’s Cities Need Republicans, and I’m Becoming One
Elections Commissioner Cynthia Dai working with political allies to reshape redistricting maps
Man with six gun convictions back in court for auto burglary of tourist’s rental car, another gun
Daniel Lurie Files Papers To Run Against San Francisco Mayor London Breed
UC Berkeley study: To cut crime, put city police on foot patrol
San Francisco Corruption: Ex-Waste Hauler Executive Avoids Prison Time
How new housing can save S.F. schools from financial freefall
Gavin Newsom to Attend Second GOP Debate at Biden Campaign's Request