Proposition D would amend the city’s Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code by expanding the kinds of gifts that city officials are prohibited from accepting. It also expands existing rules to bar people who have tried to influence city officials in the past or who have business with city departments from giving gifts.
Category: City Hall
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Public Safety
Proposition E — Police Department Policies and Procedures
Proposition E is a package of policy changes that would allow the San Francisco Police Department to engage in more high-speed chases, permit drone use in pursuits and grant the department the ability to install new security cameras in public spaces and test new surveillance technology on the public with less oversight from independent bodies.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Health, San Francisco March 2024 Election Guide, Social Services
Proposition F — Illegal Substance Dependence Screening and Treatment for Recipients of City Public Assistance
Proposition F asks voters whether the city should be allowed to screen single adult welfare recipients for drug dependency and require those identified as suffering from substance use disorder to enter treatment to continue receiving cash assistance through the County Adult Assistance Program.
Posted inCity Hall, Education, Elections, San Francisco March 2024 Election Guide
Proposition G — Offering Algebra 1 to Eighth Graders
Proposition G is a non-binding policy statement urging the San Francisco Unified School District to offer Algebra 1 courses to middle school students by the eighth grade and develop a coherent math curriculum for all grade levels, especially in elementary and middle school.
Posted inCity Hall, Health, Homelessness, Overdose Crisis
2023 Is San Francisco’s Deadliest Year on Record for Drug Overdoses
Last Thursday San Francisco’s chief medical examiner released the city’s updated overdose death count — 752 so far — making 2023 the worst year on record for drug-related fatalities. One-third of those people were listed as having no fixed address. Later that day, a crowd gathered at Civic Center Plaza to remember more than 420 who died in the city while experiencing homelessness this year.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, City Hall, Health, Overdose Crisis
City Officials Lack Urgency to Prevent Overdose Deaths, Say Safe Consumption Proponents
Several weeks after a crucial legal hurdle blocking safe consumption sites in San Francisco was seemingly resolved, proponents said they were dismayed that city leaders and public health officials were still not greenlighting centers that could reduce deaths related to drug use.
Overdose deaths have reached 620 this year — on track to have the highest annual tally since counting began, with fentanyl causing the vast majority of fatalities, according to the chief medical examiner’s latest report.
Posted inCity Hall, Government & Politics, Homelessness, Housing, News
Missed Connections: SF Shelter Hotline Staff Could Not Reach Most People Who Called for Help
Data from San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing show that accessing shelter is very difficult for unhoused people in San Francisco due to a lack of available beds and other barriers.
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Parks & Open Space
SF Uses Events, Construction Projects to Clear Streets Ahead of Pacific Rim Economic Summit, Other Gatherings
San Francisco is pursuing strategies to reduce visible homelessness and drug use in several locations ahead of a fall filled with high-profile events, including the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting, which will put San Francisco in a global spotlight.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, City Hall, Health, History, Homelessness, Overdose Crisis, Social Services
San Francisco’s Fatal Overdose Crisis Was Decades in the Making
As San Francisco continues to search for solutions, our team at “Civic” is exploring the origins of the city’s opioid overdose crisis, what has been done to help and what might be making things worse. After six months of research involving hundreds of studies, reports and archival news clippings, and three dozen interviews with people with lived experience and professional expertise in homelessness, addiction, medicine, criminal justice, housing, social work, street outreach, business, education, harm reduction, policymaking and advocacy, we’re launching the series, “San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis.”
Over six episodes, the series will explore what influenced rampant opioid addiction and its connection to homelessness, the 150-year history of policing and prosecuting drugs in San Francisco, the long battle to open a safe consumption site in the city, and grassroots efforts to stem the tide of drug-related fatalities.
Posted inCity Hall, Health, Law & Justice, News, Overdose Crisis
Supervisor Defends Dropping Support for Addiction-Treatment Centers
Supervisor Matt Dorsey received backlash this month for asking the mayor to redirect the entire $18.9 million in city funding budgeted for a new drop-in addiction treatment center toward jails instead.
Dorsey told the San Francisco Public Press that he reversed his previous support for the centers — called wellness hubs — once the city’s plans narrowed to one site from six, and removed safe consumption sites, which would have allowed people to consume drugs under supervision so they could receive immediate help in case of overdose.
Dorsey said he now wants the funds to go toward jail health services, including forcing treatment for people in jail who are struggling with substance abuse disorder.