“Civic” Podcast
Community
Latinos in This Liberal City: From San Francisco’s Big Strike to Gay Liberation
Years before charting the evolution and diversity of Latino political life in the city, a historian came here to become an activist. His book recalls major battlegrounds from the 1930s to the 1970s: union campaigns; civil rights organizing; elections; Great Society mobilizations; and feminist, gay and lesbian activism. Read an excerpt from “Latinos and the Liberal City” by Eduardo Contreras.
Neighborhoods
They Saved Girls and Women in Chinatown From Slavery
Donaldina Cameron captured the nation’s imagination at the turn of the 20th century. She was an early anti-human trafficking pioneer who ran a safe house for vulnerable girls and young women on the edge of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Read an excerpt from “The White Devil’s Daughters,” by Bay Area author Julia Flynn Siler.
Food Systems
State Law Cracks Down on Free Public Meals
Many city residents who are not housed or are food insecure depend on humanitarian aid from Food Not Bombs to survive. But state regulations taking effect in January jeopardize the group’s 35-year mission of sharing food outside the confines of government bureaucracy.
Economy & Business
Business Improvement Districts Use Public Funds to Pursue Anti-Homeless Agenda, Advocates Say
Nearly 200 California cities allow private organizations to manage key aspects of their downtown and commercial districts and to implement policies that restrict the rights of homeless people, according to a new report from the UC Berkeley School of Law.
City Hall
As Mayor, Kim Would Try to Expand Inclusionary Housing Citywide
District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim represents the city’s wealthiest and poorest ZIP codes. She has focused much of her political energy on inclusionary housing — programs mandating a percentage of apartments in new developments be set aside at below-market rates — and set a new standard by securing higher-than-normal affordability ratios on several mega-projects. On homelessness, she says that if elected mayor, she would treat it more like a public health crisis than an economic problem. Second in a series analyzing the mayoral candidates’ records and pledges on housing and homelessness.
Community
Candidates Say How They Would Help African-American Community
A trio of African-American organizations aimed to get some answers from aspiring local leaders at “Facing the Voters,” a candidates’ forum hosted by the Public Press and moderated by its publisher. The candidates were given the opportunity to lay out their bona fides with respect to this city’s dwindling, marginalized African-American community; some did that and some did not. First of two articles.
Community
African-American Groups Convene Candidate Forum
Three African-American groups are sponsoring a May 5 candidate forum to focus attention on issues important to the black community. Organizers have invited all candidates running for San Francisco mayor, District 8 supervisor, Superior Court and the 12th Congressional District.
Climate Change
State Looking to Require Cities to Plan for Rising Seas
California officials are taking their first, tentative steps toward requiring cities to plan for severe sea level rise that scientists now say could conceivably elevate high tides by up to 22 feet by the middle of the next century. A state-funded study recommends that local planners adopt a risk-averse approach to permitting developments such as hospitals and housing in areas that have even little chance of flooding in the coming decades.
Education
On the Move: One Hardworking Family’s Struggle to Escape Homelessness
City native Victoria Ortiz’s path to homelessness began in the East Bay more than two years ago when she was pregnant, working at a Staples and subletting a room. A housemate stopped forwarding the rent to the landlord, and everyone was evicted. This is the story of her determination to find stable housing for her family while living at a shelter in San Francisco.
