Category: City Hall
Posted inCity Hall, Community, Elections, Neighborhoods, Politics

Recall Supporters Consider This Non-Endorsement a Victory. Why?

Avatar photo by Zhe Wu

When Chair Nancy Tung announced that the Democratic County Central Committee of San Francisco would not take a position on the recall of District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, recall supporters cheered.

In the lead-up to the vote, a narrative gained traction: if the DCCC opposed the recall, it would signal to west-side Asian American voters that their voices didn’t matter.

While the decision is unlikely to change the outcome of the Sept. 16 special election, political strategists say it signals that this constituency is becoming harder to ignore and demanding a seat at the political table.

Posted inCity Hall, Law & Justice, Public Safety

Union Left in the Dark Over Possible SF Police Accountability Attorney Layoffs

Avatar photo by Sylvie Sturm

As San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie signed a $15.9 billion budget Thursday, two attorneys tasked with investigating and reporting police misconduct still don’t know whether they will keep their jobs.

Cutting these positions raises concerns that the city is initiating a material reduction in police oversight while simultaneously increasing the San Francisco Police Department’s budget.

Posted inAging, City Hall, Health, HIV & AIDS, LGBTQ+

Medicaid and Other Cuts Threaten Older LGBTQ+ Adults in SF

Avatar photo by Madison Alvarado

The Trump administration is attacking LGBTQ+ rights nationwide, and San Francisco has declared itself sanctuary city for transgender people. But even as the city anticipates an influx of newcomers, older trans adults already living here face discrimination and threats to their health as the federal government cuts funding for crucial programs and erases data about their demographic groups. 

Advocates expect LGBTQ+ seniors in particular to be negatively affected by the gutting of Medicaid, funding cuts at every level, and the erasure of key data focused on gender identity and sexual orientation. San Francisco’s population of older adults has been growing rapidly, which strains limited resources.

Posted inCity Hall, Public Safety

Mayor’s Budget Proposal Sparks Outcry Over Cuts to Police Oversight Amid Law Enforcement Spending Boost

Avatar photo by Sylvie Sturm

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is facing backlash over his $16 billion, 2025-27 budget for significantly cutting police oversight while boosting funding for the Police Department and Sheriff’s Office by $22 million each.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to adopt the budget by July 31.

Lurie’s proposal would eliminate key roles in the city Department of Police Accountability, which is responsible for investigating civilian complaints against police officers and sheriff’s deputies — such as those alleging excessive force, racial bias or unprofessional behavior — and ensuring transparency and accountability in officers’ and deputies’ conduct. The department’s Office of Inspector General will also see crippling cuts.

Posted inCity Hall, Homelessness, Housing, Law & Justice

Eviction Rates in SF Soar as Legal Aid Faces Deep Funding Cuts

Avatar photo by Sylvie Sturm

San Francisco is experiencing a surge in eviction court filings that has taken even the most seasoned eviction defense lawyers by surprise.

In February, 365 eviction lawsuits were filed — up 57% from a year earlier — and March had 303 filings, bringing the total for this year to 929.

At this pace, San Francisco is on track to seeing more than 3,700 eviction lawsuits this year, versus 2,923 cases filed in 2024, according to the Tenant Right to Counsel, which was established in 2018, when San Francisco passed the “No Eviction Without Representation Act,” requiring the city to fund legal representation for residents facing eviction.

Posted in“Civic” Podcast, City Hall, Homelessness, Law & Justice, Public Safety, Social Services

Visible Progress or Political Theater? Factions Disagree on How to Clean Up Street Conditions

Avatar photo by Sylvie Sturm

In February, the San Francisco Police Department converted a Sixth Street parking lot in South of Market to what it called a triage center — a fenced-off area where police could connect people to social services or put them in a van bound for jail.

According to a city staff report, in the first month of the triage center’s operation, police made 350 arrests, three-quarters of them drug related. Triage personnel connected 275 people to shelter and 408 people to health care.

Advocates for people struggling with homelessness or substance use disorder say the city’s approach is unnecessarily punitive, but some business owners and community members say they approve of what the mayor and Police Department are doing.

Posted inCity Hall, Government & Politics, Neighborhoods

Complaint Alleges Ethics Violations by Campaign to Recall Engardio

Avatar photo by Zhe Wu

A complaint filed with the San Francisco Ethics Commission accuses the group campaigning to recall District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio of failing to properly report its spending and disclose funding sources of campaign materials. The commission has not yet indicated whether it is taking any action on the complaint, according to the attorney representing the filer. 

Under local ordinance, the Ethics Commission may not publicly disclose whether it has received a complaint or is conducting an investigation, though filers are notified if their complaint is dropped or sustained. Campaign finance experts said that without further investigation, it’s unclear whether the alleged reporting failures constitute violations.

Posted inCity Hall, Government & Politics

Democratic Club Splits From Engardio Over Great Highway

Avatar photo by Zhe Wu

The Chinese American Democratic Club, one of the city’s oldest political associations for Chinese Americans and a vocal opponent of closing the Upper Great Highway to cars, voted on Thursday to withdraw support of Supervisor Joel Engardio.

The supervisor faces a recall attempt brought by constituents angry over his co-sponsoring last fall’s successful ballot measure to close the highway, which runs along the Pacific shoreline in his district. 

Posted inBay Area, City Hall, Homelessness

Advocates Fear Fremont’s New Homelessness Ordinance Will Force Domestic Violence Victims to Stay With Abusers

by Viji Sundaram

With Fremont passing an ordinance that many say is one of the nation’s most stringent on homelessness, advocates for domestic violence survivors say the tough law criminalizes vulnerable community members — and advocates are concerned that they themselves could be punished for helping to those living in cars or encampments.

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