An investigation into San Francisco’s uneven response to domestic violence exposed holes in the tracking of criminal cases and a declining rate of prosecution for abuse within the home.
Category: Series
Posted inHuman Trafficking, Immigration, Labor, Law & Justice, Public Safety
Without long-term support, human trafficking survivors at risk of re-exploitation
Some who flee captive labor conditions end up with low-wage jobs, insecure housing
People trafficked into the country receive temporary government and nonprofit social service benefits after rescue or flight from captivity: shelter, health care, counseling, employment and legal help. But once these benefits term out, counter-trafficking specialists worry that victims, who generally have little work experience and weak social and family networks, could fall back into labor conditions as exploitative as the ones they fled. As a victim of international labor trafficking, Lili Samad received government help to stay in the U.S. But she is among hundreds of trafficking survivors each year who end up, months after getting help trying to build a new life, living in marginal housing and working in low-wage jobs.
Posted inMuni, Transportation
Muni’s all-door boarding plan sees modest improvements in waiting times
Muni’s all-door boarding policy that went into effect July 1 appears to be working – although riders on at least one line are complaining about everyone not lining up at the front. A transit agency report found that passengers spent less time waiting at bus stops for riders to board while use of the back door became more frequent.
Posted inCity Hall, Muni, Transportation
Muni train switchbacks insult San Francisco riders, says watchdog panel
Hate it when you’re late to work because the Muni driver tells you to get off the train? You’re not the only one. San Francisco’s civil grand jury — a kind of officially sanctioned panel of city residents who report on what doesn’t work in county government — recommended on Thursday that Muni officials do away with the practice of switchbacks. That’s when riders are forced off a Muni train before it makes its usual final stop, and heads in the opposite direction to make up for lost time elsewhere. Muni downplayed the report. “We recognize that anytime you do a switchback, it has an inconvenience to the riders,” Haley said. “So we do everything we can to minimize that,” said John Haley, Muni’s director of operations.
Posted inMuni, News
Regional transit panel rejects free Fast Passes for low-income S.F. youth
A pilot program to give the city’s low-income youth a free Fast Pass to ride Muni will not happen as planned. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted 8-7 Wednesday against giving $4 million to help Muni fund a $9 million pilot program. The commission had been debating for months on whether or not to give the […]
Posted inMuni, Neighborhoods, Transportation
Geary bus rapid transit project poses design challenges for city transportation planners
Bus rapid transit, which is meant as a cheaper substitute to light rail by using special buses in dedicated traffic lanes, is set to debut on Van Ness Avenue in 2016. However, design challenges and funding are slowing down plans for the Geary route.
Posted inCity Hall, Health, Healthy SF: Who Pays?
S.F. civil grand jury slams restaurant health care surcharges
San Francisco’s civil grand jury on Thursday chastised many of the city’s restaurants for profiting from surcharges they add to customers’ bills under the name of paying for health care and recommended that the city ban the practice.
Posted inMuni, News
S.F. Muni paid bonuses tied to inflated on-time rate
By Zusha Elinson, Bay Citizen Muni paid thousands of dollars in bonuses to top executives for meeting or exceeding on-time performance goals, even as the agency inflated its on-time rates by as much as 18 percent. The agency’s two previous chief executives, Michael Burns and Nathaniel Ford, received the bonuses. Both men have denied knowing […]
Posted inArts & Culture, California, Health, Human Trafficking, Public Safety
Comic: Obedience is the best weapon
One woman’s true tale of human trafficking and rescue
Human trafficking is largely seen as a problem overseas, but its rise in the U.S. has gone largely underreported. For its Spring 2012 edition, the San Francisco Public Press published a special report on human trafficking in the Bay Area. The report examined the financial and political challenges facing agencies that aid trafficking victims and prosecute perpetrators. As a follow-up to this report, renowned cartoon artist Dan Archer illustrated one woman’s story with a full-page cartoon in the Summer 2012 edition.
Posted inBay Area Smart Growth, Environment, Land use
Visualizing smart growth through photo art
People need realistic pictures to understand development options. Using photo-editing and 3-D modeling software, we create seamless photo simulations that realistically show how revitalized urban and suburban places might look.