San Francisco Public Press

Housing

A view looking up toward both low and high-rise resdential buildings in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood.

Would Tax on Vacant Homes Be Enough to Push Owners to Lease Empty SF Units?

Designed to combat San Francisco’s long-standing housing shortage, an empty homes tax on the November ballot, Proposition M, would apply to multi-unit residential buildings with prolonged vacancies. Voters will decide the fate of the measure that has garnered support and criticism for its exemptions and low tax amount.

While revenue from the empty homes tax would go toward rent subsidies and affordable housing, its architect, Supervisor Dean Preston, stressed that its primary purpose is returning vacant units to the market.

News

Hey, San Francisco: What Are Your Priorities?

The San Francisco Public Press is asking residents to identify issues that concern them. We will use responses to inform our voter guide and ongoing reporting.
Cool San Francisco Could Get Walloped by Next Heat Wave, but City Says It’s Ready

Since the 1970s, San Francisco’s average temperature has increased by 2 degrees Fahrenheit. City leaders are developing new strategies to keep people safe, with infrastructure designed for much cooler weather. The question is whether San Francisco is ready for the next deadly heat wave.
California Indian Tribes Denied Resources for Decades as Federal Acknowledgement Lags

In the last 13 years, the U.S. Department of Interior has actively reviewed applications for acknowledgement of only 18 tribes, even as hundreds remain in line. The Public Press has identified more than 400 tribes seeking federal recognition and is working to confirm that 200 others with publicly listed applications are genuine. Many have been waiting for decades. The Death Valley TimbiSha Shoshone Band is the only California tribe that has been recognized in the 44 years since the federal acknowledgement process was established.
Laguna Honda Hospital Has to Self-Destruct to Survive

Administrators are overhauling policies and procedures to regain federal funding that is set to expire following the issuance of multiple damning inspection reports at Laguna Honda Hospital. They have until Sept. 13 to implement changes, which include a requirement to transfer or discharge all patients, before they can apply for recertification from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services — which has the authority to restore funding for patient services. But administrators say they’re struggling to fulfill the center’s mandate to move out all patients by the looming deadline.
Uber, Lyft Must Adopt Measures to Prevent Sexual Assaults, California Regulator Rules

Nine years after becoming the first agency in the nation to legalize ride-hailing — and after thousands of publicized sexual assaults on Uber and Lyft rides — the California Public Utilities Commission for the first time is requiring the industry to adopt comprehensive measures to prevent such attacks. In a previously unreported vote last month, the commission issued a decision requiring that all ride-hailing firms train drivers to avoid sexual assault and harassment, adopt procedures for investigating complaints and use uniform terminology in their annual reports to the agency so it can accurately monitor them.
San Francisco Rent Relief Tracker

More than one month after statewide eviction protections expired on June 30, less than 4% of rent relief funds requested by San Francisco households remain unprocessed, with 55% of funds paid out.
San Francisco’s 102.5 FM Is Back on the Air

Nonprofit community radio stations KXSF-LP and KSFP-LP are broadcasting again on 102.5 FM from the second level of Sutro Tower in San Francisco. San Francisco Community Radio and the San Francisco Public Press each broadcast 12 hours a day on their shared frequency, which can be heard throughout the city.
Laguna Honda Doctors Warned SF of Looming Crisis

Nearly 700 live-in patients at Laguna Honda Hospital were thrown into chaos this spring after a series of damning inspections led the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to pull funding and mandate a closure plan for the facility. It’s a dire situation for residents of the skilled nursing facility who have specialized needs that make them hard to place elsewhere. Hospital administrators are scrambling to attain the recertification needed to continue to receive federal funding. Two former Laguna Honda physicians say they have continued to warn city officials about this looming crisis after first flagging it 18 years ago. That’s when a Department of Public Health policy began admitting to Laguna Honda patients whose needs fell outside the scope of a typical nursing home for the elderly.

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