The America’s Cup may not turn out to be the benefit to San Francisco that city leaders and private boosters once promised. But the city’s economic development officials still say taxpayers can break even by hosting a scaled-back version of the boat race this summer. Buried deep in Mayor Ed Lee’s proposed city budget released on May 31 was $22 million directed toward planning, permitting, emergency, security and transit measures for the America’s Cup.
Category: City Hall
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Government & Politics, Homelessness, News
State Homeless ‘Bill of Rights’ Put on Hold Until Next Year
A “homeless bill of rights” in California must wait until next year for a vote in the full Assembly after clearing its first hurdle. Advocates say the legislation would protect homeless people from local enforcement of so-called “quality of life” laws, and specify homeless people as deserving of protection in the state’s antidiscrimination statutes.
Posted inCity Hall, Domestic Violence, Public Safety, Social Justice
Domestic Violence Record-Keeping Still Flawed, but Police Say Fix Is Near
Some cases were not referred immediately to Special Victims Unit
This story appeared in the Spring print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.
Nine months after the San Francisco Police Department fully implemented a new digitized case management system, inspectors were still finding as many as 20 domestic violence cases per month that were not immediately referred to the Special Victims Unit for investigation, said a lieutenant in charge of the domestic violence team.
Posted inCity Hall, Housing, Public Safety, Social Justice
Rent-Control Tenants May Foot the Bill for Mandatory Seismic Retrofits
Tenants in 3,000 rent-controlled buildings could potentially pay all the costs of retrofitting those structures against earthquake damage unless they receive a financial hardship waiver from the city’s Rent Board, under the provisions of a new law approved Tuesday by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors will vote again on the retrofit law on April 9, and it will need the mayor’s signature before becoming law.
Posted inCity Hall, Housing, Public Safety, Social Justice
Tenants Say Earthquake Retrofit Law Could Circumvent Rent Control
A proposed San Francisco law designed to save rent-controlled housing stock from the next big earthquake could actually displace low-income tenants, say tenant rights advocates. Building owners could pass through the cost of the retrofits to tenants in the form of monthly rent increases. Tenants’ only recourse would be to successfully declare financial hardship.
Posted inCity Hall, Social Justice, Transportation
UCSF Facing Cuts in Wake of Sequester; Free Bus Passes for Youth
Sequestration isn’t just some Washington abstraction. It’s hitting home. The automatic federal budget cuts that rolled out on Friday — known as the sequester — are going to hurt the University of California, San Francisco. The world-class teaching hospital and research center receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. According to KQED’s “California Report,” the university’s vice chancellor for research, Keith Yamamoto, said that some laboratories have already instituted hiring freezes.
Posted inCity Hall, Earthquakes, Housing, Media, Public Safety
San Francisco Would Post Signs Warning of Earthquake Risk on Buildings Whose Owners Fail to Retrofit
A plan being unveiled Tuesday in San Francisco would require the city to inform the owners of thousands of potentially earthquake-unsafe buildings that they need to retrofit at their own cost or demonstrate why not. If they don’t comply, the city would post a scarlet-letter sign on the property: “This building is in violation of the requirements of the San Francisco Building Code regarding earthquake safety.” (Listen to Public Press reporter Noah Arroyo on KQED Radio’s “Forum”)
Posted inCity Hall, Housing, Media, News, Public Safety
Mandatory Earthquake Retrofit Proposal Advances Quickly in San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco Supervisor David Chiu Tuesday unveiled legislation to make seismic retrofits mandatory for so-called soft-story buildings throughout the city. Chiu called the proposal to make retrofitting mandatory in stages by 2020 the “next major step to ensure that we are prepared for the next big one.” He said he expected a major quake, which could happen anytime, could be two to three times stronger than the 1989 Loma Prieta quake that destroyed 7,000 buildings statewide. (Listen to Public Press reporter Noah Arroyo on KQED Radio’s “Forum”)
Posted inCity Hall, Earthquakes, Housing, News, Public Safety
San Francisco Plan Would Earthquake-Proof Thousands of Soft-Story Buildings by 2020
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is planning to take up a proposal to force owners of soft-story buildings to retrofit them by 2020, said a city official in charge of earthquake safety. Supervisors Scott Wiener and David Chiu plan to sponsor the ordinance and other supervisors might co-sponsor it by Tuesday. The legislation would apply only to wood-frame buildings built before 1978, with at least three stories. Unlike previous proposals, the new law would come without direct financial aid from the city. Financing questions, one official said, were “a major reason for the delay.”
Posted inCity Hall, Homelessness
As Long Lines Form Daily Outside Homeless Shelters, City to Eject Disorderly Clients
Frequent calls to the police to respond to disturbances outside a South of Market homeless shelter have prompted the city to crack down on misbehavior and make it easier for shelters to summarily reject clients seeking a bed. Practically every day at the Multi-Service Center South shelter, the police are called to break up a fight or quell acts of violence. But the problem isn’t just inside the shelter. Homeless activists say the long lines people must wait in for hours makes the space outside the building a conflict zone.