San Francisco Public Press (https://www.sfpublicpress.org/category/california/page/4/)
New protections will give renters a two-month reprieve after the state’s eviction moratorium expires June 30. But rent debts incurred before that date will still be due next month, and landlords could evict over them.
San Francisco’s residential water use is among the lowest among large cities in California, said Steven Ritchie, assistant general manager for water for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Ritchie joined “Civic” to explain how the city sources and uses its water, and why it is fighting state restrictions on the use of Tuolumne River water.
Just four San Francisco households had received state money to pay off their rent debts as of Monday, with another 23 approved but awaiting payment, according to state figures.
California’s rent-assistance program opened two months ago, and its eviction moratorium is set to lift in barely five weeks on June 30, allowing landlords to eject people for outstanding rent debts.
The state’s Employment Development Department, which handles unemployment claims, is still working to resolve thousands of backlogged cases and battling fraud. Emily Hoeven, who writes the daily WhatMatters newsletter for the nonprofit newsroom CalMatters, returns to “Civic” with the latest on how the state is handling unemployment.
Shanti Singh, legislative and communications director for Tenants Together, a coalition of 50 renters rights organizations in California, talked with “Civic” about state tenant protection legislation.
In response to the disjointed publication of information from various clinics, providers and governments, a group of volunteers with some technical skills collaborated to build a statewide resource for finding vaccine appointments, now known as VaccinateCA.
Nine California legislators have proposed a slate of reform bills that would try to address some of the biggest obstacles to getting unemployment benefits to those who are eligible for them. Among them is Assemblyman David Chiu, who represents California’s 17th district, which covers much of the eastern part of San Francisco, and discussed the proposals with “Civic.”
Last year’s Proposition 22 allowed companies that dispatch app-based workers to continue considering them independent contractors, while adding some limited worker benefits. Veena Dubal, a professor of law at UC Hastings who conducts ethnographic and legal research on the gig economy, relays workers’ experiences and examines how it might lay the groundwork for other industries to shift toward gig work on “Civic.”
CalMatters, a nonprofit newsroom, has been reporting that the unemployment department is grappling with fraud — and unemployed people are ending up locked out of their benefits. Lauren Hepler, the economy reporter at CalMatters, and Emily Hoeven, who writes CalMatters’ daily “What Matters” newsletter, joined “Civic” to explain how the situation has unfolded.
Millions of Californians have gotten a push notification on their phones asking them to opt in to CA Notify to get warnings from their phones if they have been in close proximity to someone who later tested positive for the coronavirus. Gennie Gebhart, the activism director with the digital civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation, explained to “Civic” how the system works and what information is exchanged.
