Donors opposing a ballot measure to fund more homeless services in San Francisco with a new tax on its wealthiest companies previously bankrolled a successful 2016 initiative to ban tent encampments in the city.
Category: Fall 2018 Election
Big Decisions: Schools, Housing, Privacy:
The November 2018 election once again put big issues before San Francisco voters, among them a business tax to expand funding for homelessness services and housing; stronger data privacy, and new supervisors and school commissioners. And once again, city voters backed progressive candidates for City Hall and schools, and higher taxes for social services.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Fall 2018 Election, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Labor, News, Technology
Prop. C Math Shows Potentially Greater Homelessness Benefit Than City Projects
A Public Press examination of calculations that went into projections of homeless people helped versus jobs or companies lost from a tax increase offers a clearer picture of Proposition C’s potential impacts and the limitations of trying to accurately quantify the effects of the measure — if it withstands legal scrutiny.
Posted inData Privacy, Elections, Fall 2018 Election, Media, News, Open Government, Social Justice, Technology
S.F. Voters Want Tough Data Privacy Rules, But Obstacles Loom
Voter-approved Proposition B mandates that San Francisco create what supporters say would be the toughest data-protection policy of any U.S. city, and would go beyond California’s landmark Consumer Privacy Act. Now comes the hard part: writing the rules that will overcome legal, technical and enforcement challenges.
Posted inBay Area Smart Growth, Elections, Fall 2018 Election, Homelessness, Housing, Land use
Rent Control Boosters and Bashers Both Base Claims on Incomplete Research
As Californians battle this fall over a ballot measure to allow cities much wider leeway to impose all sorts of rent control, both sides of the debate throw around citations to academic papers, economic studies and seemingly compelling statistics. But a review of the available research shows that both sides are wrong.
Posted inElections, Fall 2018 Election, Health, Housing, Land use, Law & Justice, Renters vs. Veritas
S.F.’s Largest Landlord Sued Over Alleged Efforts to Push Out Tenants
Veritas Investments owns nearly 200 buildings in the city. It’s been a target for tenant advocates, who accuse the company of building a business model that relies on pushing tenants out of rent-controlled units so they can be re-rented for much more. Veritas disputes the accusations that is “hostile or negligent” toward tenants.
Posted inEducation, Fall 2018 Election, News, Social Justice
Youths Step Up to Question School Board Candidates
In a first for the 2018 election season, students took the reins to organize a forum for school board candidates. They asked the questions and ran the show.