Joshua Sabatini

Family Court judge Donna Hitchens on the importance of adoption

The supervising judge of the San Francisco Unified Family Court will officiate at the adoption of seven children at the San Francisco Courthouse today and host a celebration for the families along with the City Attorney’s Office and Department of Human Services. The officiating comes a day before the 10th anniversary of National Adoption Day on Saturday. What is National Adoption Day? It is a celebration of adopting families who bring into their families and into their hearts children who have been in foster care. What is the importance of adopting children in foster care? Children who go into the foster care system are children who have been abused or neglected. Obviously for a...

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Let the budget bleeding begin

City departments were told to find a total of $45 million in cuts to help San Francisco offset the projected deficit already looming for the current fiscal year. Department heads were instructed Tuesday that they have until Dec. 4 to submit their proposals to the budget staff of Mayor Gavin Newsom. The reductions will be on top of deep service cuts and layoffs implemented to balance the budget for this fiscal year, which began July 1. “As you know, due to revenue weakness, expenditure growth and the loss of one-time solutions used to balance the FY 09-10 budget, we are facing another very large deficit for the coming year,” Newsom Budget Director Greg Wagner said in a letter...

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Supes OK $650K tree death settlement

The Board of Supervisors approved Tuesday a $650,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by the family of a woman killed in April 2008 when a branch fell from a redwood tree in Stern Grove and crushed her vehicle. Kathleen Bolton, a San Francisco resident, was loading her car in the grove’s concert meadow parking lot when the branch fell onto the car, crushing it and killing her....

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Hammer proves a shoo-in

The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to appoint former prosecutor James Hammer to fill a vacant seat on the Police Commission. Hammer, who is thought to be a potential District Attorney candidate, was previously praised by Supervisor Chris Daly as someone who will be “an immediate game changer.” The seven-member Police Commission is required to set “policy for the Police Department and to conduct disciplinary hearings on charges of police misconduct filed by the Chief of Police or Director of the Office of Citizen Complaints, impose discipline in such cases as warranted, and hear police officers’ appeals from discipline imposed by the Chief of...

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New debt puts services in limbo

Five months after San Francisco officials cut many city services to the bone and raised prices on everything from pool visits to bus rides, taxpayers will again be faced with a round of slashing and burning, as The City projects a new $53.1 million deficit for the ongoing fiscal year. The current shortfall to the roughly $3 billion general fund — the operating budget that pays for the police and fire departments, health services, street cleaning and parks, among other services — is based on decreases in property and payroll taxes, according to a budget report issued Monday by the city controller. Further exacerbating the situation: City departments are not receiving...

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Sanctuary change puts city officials in a pickle

San Francisco workers who adhere to the new sanctuary policy have no assurances from U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello that they will avoid prosecution. The City recently passed legislation that changes how illegal immigrant youths arrested on felony charges are reported to federal authorities. Before, they were reported to the feds after being arrested, but the new policy says they should be reported only after being convicted. City Attorney Dennis Herrera sent a letter Tuesday to Russoniello requesting “adequate assurance” that city officials or employees will not be prosecuted if they follow the new policy. On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office provided a response...

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Supes choose Hammer for commission

The appointment of James Hammer to the Police Commission was sent out of the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee Thursday. Hammer, who is thought to be a potential District Attorney candidate, was hailed by Supervisor Chris Daly. “What [Hammer} can do is he can go into the police commission and be an immediate game changer. I think that we need an immediate game changer right now,” Daly said. Hammer’s public safety experience includes serving as a reserve police officer, an assistant district attorney and a law professor. The seven-member Police Commission is required to set “policy for the Police Department and to conduct disciplinary hearings on charges of...

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Controversy raised over acting mayor appointment

Investigation: The letter designating Supervisor Carmen Chu as acting mayor on the right was signed by a staffer. Newsom signed a different version before his departure, shown on the left, a spokesman said. The question of whether Mayor Gavin Newsom properly designated an acting mayor the morning he abruptly and unexpectedly jetted off to Hawaii may be decided by the City Attorney’s Office. Newsom apparently took off Tuesday morning to spend time with his wife and recently born daughter, four days after quitting his campaign for governor of California. The City Charter allows the mayor to appoint an acting mayor to serve in his place for when he is out of state, but must make...

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‘Visual pollution’ on public street furniture curtailed

San Francisco voters have said no to more advertising in public spaces. Proposition E prohibits an increase in the number of general advertising signs on street furniture in excess of the number existing as of Jan. 1, 2008. Street furniture includes transit shelters, kiosks, public toilets, benches, newspaper racks and other structures on public sidewalks or places. Supporters of the measure argued the restriction preserves the unique beauty of San Francisco — which draws tourism — and restricts “visual pollution.” Opponents said the measure was anti-business and prevents The City from benefiting from a sizeable revenue stream, especially during tough economic...

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Budget process will have new shape as citizens vote for reform

The budgeting process for The City will take on a new look. The bleak economic forecast for The City prompted officials to place Proposition A, the “budget reform” measure, on the November ballot. The measure does three main things: creates a two-year budgeting process, requires city officials to draft a five-year financial plan and ensures all labor contracts are submitted for approval at a specific time. The measure was part of a collaborative effort between Mayor Gavin Newsom and members of the Board of Supervisors....

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Cisneros will be collecting city taxes for four more years

Running unopposed, José Cisneros was elected for a second term to serve as the treasurer and tax collector for The City. In September 2004, Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Cisneros to the position and he was re-elected to the four-year post in 2005. As tax collector, Cisneros is responsible for the collection and enforcement of most local taxes, including the payroll, hotel and parking taxes....

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Herrera will continue to fight legal battles for San Francisco

Dennis Herrera was re-elected for a third term to serve as San Francisco’s city attorney. Herrera ran unopposed. He will resume his role, where he has made legal history arguing such prominent cases as the right to same-sex marriage and universal health care on the behalf of The City. Herrera was first elected as city attorney in December 2001 and re-elected in 2005. Herrera is also considered a potential candidate to run for mayor in 2011....

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Questions dog mayor's escape from The City

Mayor Gavin Newsom abruptly left the state Tuesday, leaving behind speaking engagements and questions of whether he properly designated an acting mayor. His departure comes just four days after he stepped out of the race to become the next governor of California. Though he cited personal reasons for dropping out, it was pointed out that the 42-year-old trailed his chief rival, state Attorney General Jerry Brown, in both fundraising and polls. The decision to leave the race ignited questions about Newsom’s political future and heightened discussions about his character flaws. Newsom left San Francisco and the state at 8:49 a.m. Tuesday morning and official notification to the...

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Developers offered reason to build in SF

In an effort to spur housing development in The City, Mayor Gavin Newsom has introduced legislation that would curb a portion of the upfront fees builders have to pay. The Examiner reported in June that city officials were looking for ways to cut costs for developments amid concerns from developers that the recession would sink planned projects without some financial relief. When building housing in The City, developers have the option of including on-site, below-market rate units in the development or paying an in-lieu fee to meet San Francisco’s affordable housing requirements. Mayor Gavin Newsom has introduced legislation that would allow developers to cut affordable housing...

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Prop. E seeks to limit ads on city property

Voters will decide Tuesday whether to restrict the number of advertisements on The City’s street furniture — kiosks, public toilets, benches and newspaper racks. Proposition E would prohibit an increase in general-advertising signs on street furniture above what’s been allowed since Jan. 1, 2008. Supporters of the measure say it will preserve the unique beauty of San Francisco and restrict “visual pollution.” Opponents say the measure is anti-business and prevents San Francisco from benefiting from a healthy revenue stream. The City generally contracts with private companies to provide public facilities — such as toilets and transit shelters —...

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‘Trauma’ flatlines in The City

The plug was pulled on the television drama filming on location in San Francisco, killing the prospect of a long-term economic boost for The City. NBC Universal began filming in September for 13 episodes of the new series “Trauma,” but that’s all there will be. City officials hoped the show would have high ratings and the on-location filming would continue for years. The San Francisco Film Office estimated that the local economy is infused with about $3 million per episode. “Trauma” was the first TV series filmed in San Francisco since “Nash Bridges” went off the air in 2001. It was also the kind of activity city officials were hoping to...

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S.F. takes step toward being green-powered

The City is charging forward with a plan to establish its own power program. By May 2010, The City could have an agreement that aims to provide San Francisco’s power consumers with less-expensive energy from more renewable sources.The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation Tuesday authorizing the issuance of requests for proposals, which asks companies to submit their plans to implement The City’s Community Choice Aggregation, otherwise known as CleanPowerSF. “The City is committed to developing CleanPowerSF as an endeavor to increase reliance on renewable energy, and reduce the amount of pollution and greenhouse gasses generated by the production of the...

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Commission may get the right to shut clubs down

Troublesome nightclubs could be shuttered within hours under legislation that is headed toward a final vote within weeks. Amidst mixed reviews from community members and those in the industry, legislation granting more power to the Entertainment Commission was approved Monday by the Board of Supervisors City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee. The proposal is meant to enable the commission to crack down on troubled nightclubs blamed for violence in neighborhoods such as North Beach, SoMa and the Mission, which have the highest concentrations of the party stops. The legislation provides the Entertainment Commission “with the power to cite, to regulate and to shut...

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Voters to have say on supervisors’ aides

The size of the staff for Board of Supervisors is up for a vote Nov. 3. Each of the 11 members of the Board of Supervisors can have two legislative aides but no more, according to the City Charter. Proposition B, which is before voters on the ballot, would amend the charter to remove the specific number of aides and allow the members to have as many as they want, within the constraints of the board’s budget. Supporters of the measure say it will improve the supervisors’ ability to address the concerns of their constituents, such as more quickly responding to calls from residents about street repairs or public safety issues. There are about 30,000 voters in each of the...

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City’s sanctuary policy battle far from over

Some city workers will be faced with the dilemma of whether to violate San Francisco law or violate state and federal law after the approval Tuesday of The City’s new sanctuary policy. The guidelines, which set out rules for how city employees handle undocumented immigrants, previously mandated that illegal immigrant youths arrested on suspicion of a felony be reported to federal authorities at the time of arrest. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved legislation by Supervisor David Campos that would change the rules so illegal immigrant youths are turned over only after being found guilty. The San Francisco Deputy Probation Officers Association, whose workers deal with...

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Newsom says thanks but no thanks, FDA

As a federal agency moves to implement anti-smoking legislation, Mayor Gavin Newsom is urging it to not interfere with local governments’ ability to pass tougher laws to curb tobacco use. In a recent letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Newsom praised The City’s efforts to crack down on the tobacco industry during the past 12 years. San Francisco has gone after the industry with success, including becoming the first city to ban the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies and suing RJ Reynolds for using the Joe Camel cartoon character to sell its product, which led the company to abandon the use of the image throughout the nation. “The Food and Drug...

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Paper could become new plastic

Bringing a reusable bag when shopping at a grocery store or drugstore could soon pay dividends. First, city officials banned plastic bags at many retail outlets. Now, the law may force businesses to cut customers’ costs — if shoppers supply their own reusable bags to carry their purchases. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi introduced legislation Tuesday that would require supermarkets and drugstores to give customers a 10-cent per bag rebate. The proposal would apply to the same businesses impacted by The City’s existing ban on plastic bags: large grocery stores and chain pharmacies. The roughly 130 such businesses in San Francisco can only use recyclable paper, compostable...

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Supes bolster sanctuary policy

A move to ensure illegal immigrant youths busted for felony crimes will not be handed over to federal authorities when they are arrested in San Francisco was approved, though it remains unclear if the law will result in any changes. The move by the Board of Supervisors — which opponents say could leave The City prone to lawsuits and the entire sanctuary city policy at risk — undoes a change made last year by Mayor Gavin Newsom. San Francisco’s sanctuary policy — a set of rules governing how city officials handle undocumented immigrants — was thrust into the nation’s spotlight last year when it was reported The City was not reporting undocumented youth...

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Supes weigh in on state booze fee bill

On Monday, the Board of Supervisors City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee will vote on a resolution in support of state assembly bill 1019 -- introduced by assembly member Jim Beall that would impose a 10 cent per drink surcharge on wholesales located in California who distribute alcoholic beverages to retailers for consumption in the state. The fee would pay for the costs associated with alcohol, such as treatment programs and emergency response. The resolution, which was introduced by Supervisors Bevan Dufty, says, “Alcohol sales and consumption in this county generates the need for numerous regulatory and service programs, costing this county millions of dollars...

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Supes to vote on $385K tasered doc settlement

The Board of Supervisors votes Tuesday on whether to approve a $385,000 settlement with Mehrdad Alemozaffar, a Harvard University resident physician who filed a lawsuit against The City after he says he was shocked more than 10 times with a taser and beaten by police. The lawsuit said that he was attacked after asking for the badge number of officer Jesse Serna, a police officer with a long history of complaints. The 2007 lawsuit is based on a Dec. 17, 2006, incident in North Beach. Alemozaffar, then a UCLA student, claimed officers pinned him against the street and smashed his head multiple times against the asphalt. Officers then tied his hands behind his back in nylon restraints...

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Pop-up aims to halt personal computer use

Continued inappropriate use of city computers by workers has forced San Francisco to move forward with an aggresive campaign of warnings. A decision was recently made to move forward with a pop-up warning after “some employees continue their inappropriate use of city resources, despite reminders in the Employee Handbook and department policies,” according to a memo from a human resources staff member. The pop-up is just what it sounds like: When a worker logs on to begin using a city computer, a box will automatically show up on the computer screen with a warning and reminder about the work rules. Head of the Department of Human Resources Micki Callahan decided to reprogram...

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Philip Morris ends lawsuit against S.F.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris has dropped its federal lawsuit against The City over its ban of selling tobacco products in pharmacies, City Attorney Dennis Herrera said Thursday. San Francisco became the first city in the nation last year to ban the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies. The ban impacted about 60 drug stores. City officials say drugstores such as Walgreens are supposed to promote health and should not sell harmful tobacco products. The ban does not affect grocery stores or big-box chains that may also have onsite pharmacies. Philip Morris USA Inc. sued The City in federal court in September 2008 arguing that the law — which was introduced by Mayor Gavin Newsom and...

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City employees’ air travel to pay for fruit trees

A new fee on city workers’ airplane travel will pay for fruit trees in San Francisco. Mayor Gavin Newsom, as part of this fiscal year’s budget, has ordered city departments to pay a 13 percent surcharge on purchased air travel. The money is to be directed into a new “local carbon fund.” The Department of the Environment, which oversees the fund, has committed to using a portion of the money to purchase fruit trees for planting in various locations throughout The City. The plantings are part of a broader food policy developed by Newsom, which he announced last year. The average cost is $200 per tree, according to the department. The purchase and planting of the...

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Chu opposes spending $150K in aid relief

It wasn’t with unanimous support, but legislation that would have The City spend $150,000 in emergency relief for three countries rocked by natural disasters – earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis, mudslides – was approved Wednesday by the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee. The full board will vote Tuesday whether to authorize the expense. The money would be split equally in three ways for the people of the Philippines, Samoa and Indonesia, countries hit hard by a “string of disasters.” The committee voted 2-1 to forward the legislation to the full board for approval. Carmen Chu voted in opposition. “I’m very uncomfortable with taking...

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More time for public comment?

Soon, the public could talk about anything under the sun at Board of Supervisors committee meetings, held routinely most weeks. The Board of Supervisors currently allows members of the public to comment on items not on the agenda during its Tuesday meeting when all 11 members are present. But Supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier wants a general public comment period for each of the board’s seven committees, such as the public safety committee or the land use committee. Legislation that would require the increase in general public comment is up for a vote at the board’s Rules Committee on Thursday. Alioto-Pier’s legislation comes from a sunshine complaint filed with the...

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SF’s skateboarding laws could change

Supervisor John Avalos said Tuesday that he is requesting legislative analyst survey skateboarding laws in different cities in California and elsewhere in the nation “and see what we might be able to apply here.” The request comes after Avalos watched a video of a group of skateboarding youth being cited for skateboarding on the sidewalk. “My children are really starting to have a lot of fun with skateboards,” Avalos said. But after watching the video, he said he realized that “my children perhaps are maybe breaking the law. I think it’s important for us as a city understand what our laws mean towards skateboarding in terms of skateboarders’...

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Farmers market fees lowered

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation that makes it easier for farmers markets to open up for business on land under the jurisdiction of the Recreation and Park Department. Introduced by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, the legislation lowers the cost of farmers market permits on rec and park land. The legislation comes as the rec and par department is working with the Haight-Ashbury Improvement Association to open a farmers market on the closed portion of Waller Street in Golden Gate Park. The department has not had applications from farmers’ markets to operate on Rec and Park land because the existing fee structure was too prohibitive. “This is a simple...

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Sanctuary policy fight heats up

The controversial proposal to alter The City’s sanctuary policy for illegal immigrant youths will receive its first public airing today during a hearing at City Hall. San Francisco’s sanctuary policy was established in 1989 and is meant to foster an environment in which illegal immigrants feel safe to report crimes, access city services and engage in local government without fear of deportation. After a public back-and-forth between city officials about whether altering the policy to stop reporting some illegal immigrant youths will help or hurt The City, the decision about its future will be made by the Board of Supervisors. Last year, it was reported that The City was...

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Tree death to cost city $650k

A $650,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by the family of a woman killed in April 2008 when a branch fell from a redwood tree in Stern Grove and crushed her vehicle is being introduced to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday for approval. The settlement will need to be heard by the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee before the full board can vote on it. Kathleen Bolton, a San Francisco resident, was loading her car in the grove’s concert meadow parking lot when the branch fell onto the car, crushing it and killing her....

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Money train skips The City’s November election

The clock is ticking down to the November elections and so far money is merely trickling in for the ballot measures. The lack of fundraising is not surprising for the Nov. 3 election, where two incumbents are running unopposed and the five ballot measures are not controversial blockbusters. There are several political committees formed to campaign for or against at least three of the ballot measures, but only one committee had raised donations as of Sept. 19, according to campaign contribution filings that were due at the Ethics Commission on Thursday. The committee supporting the Mid-Market Arts Revitalization Sign District measure raised $150,200 during the reporting period, July 2...

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Jump in jail population drags on tight budget

Criminals are being sent to jail at an increased pace, but that jump in the number of people behind bars will also be pricey. An unexpected increase in San Francisco’s jail population has prompted Sheriff Michael Hennessey to sound an early warning he will need millions of dollars more than was budgeted. The warning is the latest bad news for The City’s budget, which recently took an $8 million hit from state budget cuts. San Francisco’s budget is expected to undergo mid-year cuts as more budget hits are expected and as officials attempt to close next year’s projected budget shortfall of more than $300 million. Hennessey said he has issued an “early...

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Supes OK Shelton Theater liquor license

The Shelton Theater was successful in its application for securing one of those coveted liquor licenses. The theater, located at 533 Sutter Street, will now be able to serve beer and wine, after the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the liquor license Tuesday. The theater stays open until 11:30 pm on Friday and Saturday nights and to 10 pm on other nights. No one filed response opposing the application. Also, the Central Police station recommended its approval. Matthew Shelton, owner of the theater, wrote a letter to the Board of Supervisors, which said, “Our family has been creating theater in the community since 1947. Out patrons, who come to witness literary based...

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Pete Seeger passes up on City Hall tour – this time

The word around town is folk music legend and political activist Pete Seeger passed on an invite from Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi to tour City Hall, citing a heavy schedule. The 90-year-old Seeger is in town for a show at the Masonic Auditorium in Nob Hill Friday night. However, Seeger suggested maybe next time he was in San Francisco he may take him up on the offer. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven,” Seeger wrote in one of his well-known songs, “Turn, Turn,...

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Chiu discloses travel gift, so does Mirkarimi

Board of Supervisors President David Chiu was in China over the legislative recess, and according to a gift disclosure he filed with the Ethics Commission some of his traveling expenses were picked up by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, headed by Rose Pak, a longtime influential figure of Chinatown. The filing shows the chamber paid travel expenses totaling $1,140. The purpose of the travel: “Meetings with Shanghai officials; discussions regarding San Francisco’s participation in Shanghai’s 2010 World Expo.” The filing says. The dates of travel: Sept. 12 Dalian, China to Shanghai, China. And Sept. 14 Shangai, China to San Francisco. Meanwhile, Supervisors Ross...

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Car sharing pitched to cut costs

In an effort to save money and reduce abuse of its vehicle fleet, The City is close to finalizing a contract with two private car-sharing businesses. Officials are expected to sign a $500,000 three-year deal with City CarShare and Zipcar Inc. for their fee service of providing the use of sedans for hours at a time. The deal is expected to improve The City’s fleet operations, which have long been plagued by inefficiencies and abuse, and also cut down on costs. The Civil Service Commission is expected to vote Monday on whether to allow San Francisco to sign the contract. Negotiations between The City and the two companies began more than four months ago and are close to being...

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Supes to vote on new arts commissioners

Fresh back from recess, the Board of Supervisors will meet Tuesday to vote on whether to support Mayor Gavin Newsom’s two appointees to the Arts Commission, Barbara Sklar and Astrid Haryati. The appointments come following an abrupt resignation from some commissioners. Dede Wilsey, the matron of the renovated De Young Museum, and Jeannene Przyblyski, wife of former Newsom advisor Eric Jaye, resigned from the Arts Commission in July. At the time, Wilsey did not provide a reason for her resignation, but it came on the same day Przyblyski sent a detailed letter blaming open-government legislation for her departure. The legislation requires the commissioners to provide a detailed...

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DA won't seek death penalty in triple murder

San Francisco’s district attorney is not wavering on her anti-death penalty stance after deciding Thursday that an illegal immigrant and alleged gang member will not face execution if he’s convicted of murdering a father and two of his sons. The decision not to seek the death penalty in the prosecution of Edwin Ramos, an alleged MS-13 gang member accused of the June 22, 2008, fatal shooting of Tony Bologna and two of his sons, was announced Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court. Harris called the crime “horrific” and said her office is seeking life without the possibility of parole. She would not say what specifically made her decide not to seek the death...

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Art for empty storefronts coming soon

The Arts Commission is keeping mum about how many artists applied to have their work displayed in some of the empty storefrontsthat are plaguing the city’s commercial corridors. Kate Patterson, the commission’s public art project manager, said details about how many artists applied to the project, who was selected and how many empty storefronts will have art installed could be released as early as next week, but refused to provide any information until the official release. Mayor Gavin Newsom announced the pilot program in July. “These tough economic times have had an impact on our treasured neighborhoods, leaving storefronts empty or underutilized.” Newsom...

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Carmen Chu to seek another term

District 4 Supervisor Carmen Chu filed paperwork Aug. 18 with the Elections Department to run for re-election. Who will fill the District 4 seat on the board along with the other even-numbered district seats will be decided by voters on November 2, 2010. Chu’s career as a supervisor representing the Sunset District began when Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed her in 2007 to fill the seat vacated by former Supervisor Ed Jew, who resigned amid allegations and later pleaded guilty to extorting $80,000 in cash bribes from local business owners and not being a resident of the district he represented, as required by city law. Chu ran in her first election for the seat, after serving as the...

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Sparks’ new human rights gig

Theresa Sparks – who until recently headed up the Police Commission – has begun a new career and Tuesday she will give her first report as director of the Human Rights Commission. The meeting takes place at City Hall, Room 416, at 4:30...

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Log Cabin Ranch targeted for change

The Juvenile Probation Commission meets Wednesday to vote on a resolution that would set the stage for improving the city’s Log Cabin Ranch facility, which house juvenile offenders. Mayor Gavin Newsom has directed chief of the Juvenile probation Department, William Siffermann, to develop and implement a new way of doing business at the ranch “to improve the outcomes of Log Cabin Ranch residents,” according to the resolution. If approved by the commission, the Board of Supervisors would next vote to allow the department to implement the plan. The plan includes offering new vocational training and educational opportunities. The ranch dates back to 1953, when it was the...

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City leaders make use of time off

Some ventured far and some traveled closer to home, but all 11 members of the Board of Supervisors took advantage of their summer break to step out of the political spotlight. Tuesday is the board’s last day of the official legislative summer recess, a 21-day period in which supervisors are rarely seen at City Hall, if at all, and the hallways are relatively quiet. Supervisors said the time off is a chance to reconnect with constituents, spend time with and visit family, rest up and prepare for when the legislative process inevitably ramps up again. By the sound of it, many will return refreshed. Some jetted off to Cape Cod, Mass., Mexico, Los Angeles or China. Others took...

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Commission wants ambulance response times

The Fire Commission requested and now apparently the Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White has complied. The commission is scheduled to hear a report Thursday on the Fire Department’s “ambulance response times, and its strategies and time frame for meeting EMS response time...

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Developer fees going back to community

Money gained from fees for developing high-priced housing in Rincon Hill is about to start flowing back in to the community. In an unprecedented process, The City is asking for proposals offering certain services in the SoMa neighborhood that would be paid for by developer fees. In 2005, developers agreed to pay a fee per square foot in exchange for The City lifting zoning height limits to allow for a 55- and 45-story private residential towers in the Rincon Hill area of SoMa. At the time, Supervisor Chris Daly, whose district includes SoMa, had fought to make sure developers pay to offset the impacts of high-priced development. The fear was that the high-priced housing units would...

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Community liason plan for chain stores

When a formula retail business – defined as a chain store with 11 or more locations nationwide – when it tries to open up in some San Francisco neighborhood it usually generates a lot of controversy. Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier has introduced legislation that would add a new requirement for a chain store hoping to obtain a permit to open for business. The proposal would require the chain store “appoint a community liaison officer to address issues of concern to neighbors related to the construction and operation of the formula retail use.” The legislation would require approval by the full Board of Supervisors. It comes as the latest fight over a chain store...

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Bond targets dirty blocks

Sprucing up The City’s streetscapes does not come cheap. San Francisco voters may be asked this November to approve a $309 million bond for street, curb and sidewalk improvements. Most of the money, $139 million, would be spent on road resurfacing or rebuilding. Another $40 million would fund “full streetscape improvements,” averaging $2 million per block. Another 16.25 million would be allocated to “corridor improvements, and $30 million would fund smaller streetscape and corridor improvements. The $70 million for the range of streetscape improvements is expected to fund 65 different projects, according to the Department of Public Works’ draft Road Repair...

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Rebate pitch for ‘Trauma’ creates drama

It’s a wrap for one television pilot looking to receive a large rebate for filming here. In an unexpected turn, “Trauma” will not benefit from a change in a city program that offers film productions more money. When taking a final vote Tuesday on legislation that would offer more cash to bring more filming to The City, the Board of Supervisors rejected applying the new rebate to the NBC show. The pilot, a show about the lives of a team of San Francisco-based emergency medical technicians, began a four-week shoot March 23. Supervisor John Avalos said it made no sense to offer more money to something already in production. The bill was successfully amended to apply only...

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City cracks down on illegal massage work

The City is looking to crack down on massage parlors where illicit activities are occurring. San Francisco has had a challenging time shutting down such businesses, which in some cases remained operating even after receiving a citation for solicitation from an undercover officer. Today, Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to introduce legislation that’s intended to shut down the phony massage parlors. It is suspected that at least 50 such establishments are operating in The City. Newsom’s legislation would require massage establishments and out-call massage services to close up shop between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. and increase the penalties for violations, which will make it easier...

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Tax relief comes to businesses

Businesses shouldering one heavy tax burden may now have a way to lighten their loads. Amid the economic downturn, the nearly 9,000 businesses on the hook for a payroll tax in San Francisco can obtain relief under a new program launched Thursday by The City’s tax collector. Payroll taxes collected by The City are based on the number of workers employed by a business. The amount of the tax, which is paid throughout the year in installments, is based on a company’s previous year’s payroll. With the nation’s economy in turmoil, some businesses that have decreased the number of employees on their payroll will still be paying tax amounts based on the higher number of...

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Eviction impact on school-age children revealed

At least 76 families with school-age children were evicted from their homes in the previous year — most of them while school was in session. Three years ago, the Board of Supervisors passed legislation signed by Mayor Gavin Newsom requiring the Rent Board to report the number of families with school-age children — those in kindergarten through 12th grade — who are evicted, and if those evictions occurred during the school year. Now, two years into the reporting of those numbers, a clearer picture of how evictions are uprooting kids in school is starting to emerge. For the first time, The City is capturing data of evictions affecting school-age children. Between March...

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Taxi medallion-auction plan berated

Backlash from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s proposal to auction off taxi medallions could prompt “breaks in taxi service,” an elected official warned Thursday. Earlier this year, Newsom floated the idea of auctioning off The City’s 1,500 taxi medallions, which are operating permits, to help generate $56 million, as San Francisco faces a massive budget deficit. Currently, drivers must wait years on a list to obtain a medallion, and they are generally in the hands of older drivers who lease them out to others. Medallion holders are also supposed to meet an annual driving requirement to be able to retain them. The plan to auction off the medallions was blasted by Supervisor...

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Habitat restoration at golf course target of legislation

The days of hitting the links at the city-owned Sharp Park Golf Course could become a thing of the past. The future of city-operated golf courses has long been a topic of debate, with some arguing for the closure of at least one for other uses — especially since the Recreation and Park Department struggles to operate them. Last year, the Center for Biological Diversity threatened to sue San Francisco after accusing The City of killing the endangered California red-legged frog and the San Francisco garter snake, which populate the park area that is located in Pacifica. The group is campaigning to restore the species’ habitat. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi on Tuesday introduced...

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Supervisor: Muni police protection nonexistent

Muni may not be receiving its money’s worth when it comes to paying millions of dollars for the help of the Police Department. As the Municipal Transportation Agency faces a projected $129 million deficit for the fiscal year beginning July 1, Supervisor Bevan Dufty is calling into question the $19 million the agency will have to spend for police services next year. Dufty requested a hearing Tuesday to examine the agency’s payments since 2006 for police services. He suggested the Police Department is failing to perform the services Muni is paying for, such as having officers ride buses, trains and light-rail vehicles. The Police Department charges the agency for services...

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Moving data center may be too expensive for city

The City is shelling out $83,965 a month in lease payments for the problem-laden location of its main data center, and the expense to relocate it just increased by $8.1 million. The City currently leases 7,000 square feet of space at 1 Market Plaza for the data center, which houses “critical city computer systems for e-mail, payrolls and public safety,” according to a report from Budget Analyst Harvey Rose. The space, the department said, has not only become costly but is also “aging, in need of considerable upgrades” and poses security and system-failure risks. Since 2006, the Department of Technology has failed to find a new location for the data center and is...

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City takes top-spender honors

San Francisco outspends other California cities per capita when it comes to providing police, fire and health and human services, according to a report issued Monday. The report comes as The City finds itself more than $460 million in debt for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Mayor Gavin Newsom must submit a balanced city budget to the Board of Supervisors for review by June 1. The City’s operating budget has increased during the past 10 years from $2.4 billion to $4 billion, with 60 percent of the spending growth attributed to the Public Health, Human Services, Police and Fire departments, the report said. Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard embraced the report as providing...

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Hotel bookings indicate conventions are waning

After having one of the strongest performances in 2008, San Francisco’s convention business is projected to have one of its weakest year’s in 2010. San Francisco’s No. 1 industry is tourism, and annually the convention business contributes a huge chunk of tax revenue from visitors. The health of The City’s convention business is often measured by hotel bookings. They are important for The City’s budget since a hotel-room tax is collected on every stay. In addition, those who stay in hotels during conventions spend money on residual taxable businesses, such as restaurants, retail shops and taxis. In 2008, events at The City’s SoMa convention site, the...

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Preparing city for life after oil

To avoid “a much darker future” The City should pursue transforming a city golf course into farmland, offer free Muni to low-income residents and quickly turn garages of homes into livable spaces, according to a city task force whose mission is to prepare San Francisco for an oil shortage. The so-called Peak Oil Preparedness Task Force was created in December 2007 and has spent the last 15 months hammering out a plan that would transform San Francisco into a city with more people riding Muni, chicken coops in backyards, widespread farming on public and private lands, and extensive use of wind, solar and tidal energy. “A much darker future” could...

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Yellow buses sink Muni into red

The special bus line Muni created to shuttle riders among The City’s cultural institutions lost nearly $550,000 during a four-month period. The distinctive yellow 74 bus, which was launched in September, transports riders between the museum district in SoMa, Union Square and the museum concourse in Golden Gate Park. The Culture Bus drops sightseers off at institutions such as the Asian Art Museum, California Academy of Sciences and SFMOMA. The service launched with five daily buses arriving at stops every 20 minutes. Adults are required to pay $7 to ride the bus, but those with a regular Muni pass pay $3. It costs $1.50 to ride regular buses. As The Examiner first reported in...

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San Francisco to eliminate 150 voting sites

San Francisco voters will have to trudge farther to vote after 150 of The City’s 561 voting places are eliminated. Along with the plans to cut polling places is a proposal to provide less information about ballot measures. Elections Department Director John Arntz said he must cut costs and will eliminate nearly 27 percent of the polling sites in The City — places where registered voters vote, such as in churches, fire stations and garages of homes — for future elections. Voters impacted by the loss of a polling station will receive a postcard in the mail that will include an application for a vote-by-mail ballot in case they do not want to travel the extra distance to...

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The 3-Minute Interview: Evelyn Huang

The Small Business Loan Program Director for the Opportunity Fund, a Bay Area micro-lender, will participate on a panel tomorrow for the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association on the role of microfinance in local economic development. The event is a prelude to the “Microfinance, CA” conference at Stanford University in May. What is microfinance? Microfinance, at least in the United States, is about providing financial education and tools to low-income individuals to help them earn, save and invest. What’s the difference between microfinance and a small business loan, for example? Microfinance is a little bit more broad of a concept. For example,...

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Federal stimulus money sought to clean up Mountain Lake

A lead-contaminated lake in the Presidio could soon be full of clean water. Critical of cleanup delays, Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier is now seeking federal stimulus dollars to fund the removal of toxins from Mountain Lake — one of the last two remaining natural lakes in San Francisco — and prevention of future contamination. Mountain Lake is a spring-fed natural lake largely in the southern portion of the Presidio and east of State Highway 1, near the MacArthur Tunnel leading to the Golden Gate Bridge. Park users are known to picnic along the shoreline and families feed ducks that swim in the lake. A 2000 study by students on pollen levels in the area led to the...

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Judges mull rival Prop. 8 debates

Now the wait begins. All the buildup, all the legal filings come down to this: Seven California Supreme Court justices have 90 days to rule whether the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage will stand. The court heard arguments Thursday for and against Proposition 8, an amendment to the state constitution, defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Gay-rights advocates are urging the court to overturn Prop. 8 which was approved Nov. 4 by 52 percent of voters. They say the ballot measure was put before voters improperly, or at least prematurely. The sponsors of Prop 8, represented by Pepperdine law school dean and former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr, argue against...

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Newsom ‘hopeful’ 18,000 same-sex nuptials will stand

Mayor Gavin Newsom said he is “hopeful” 18,000 same-sex marriages will remain legal even if the California Supreme Court does not overturn Proposition 8, the November voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. “The idea of stripping away the rights of 18,000 couples retroactively, I don’t think there was a very compelling argument to do that,” Newsom said, after listening to a portion of Thursday’s Supreme Court hearing, in which the validity of Prop. 8 is being decided. The measure, approved by 52 percent of the voters, changed the state constitution to say marriage can only be between a man and a woman. The justices, who have 90 days to issue their...

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Muni operating on borrowed time

Service will suffer unless Muni shells out $18 million to repair trains and buses sidelined by accidents, and $663 million to maintain or replace the entire fleet in the coming years. “If we do not find the funding, you will see a degradation of service,” Municipal Transportation Agency chief Nathaniel Ford said this week. A properly maintained fleet, Muni officials said, would increase reliability, ensure less-crowded rides and cut down on longer-term costs for the agency, which carries about 700,000 riders daily. The transit agency, which oversees Muni, is trying to secure $50 million in federal stimulus funds for the repairs. But even with that money and $54 million more...

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Sunday Streets expands routes

Mayor Gavin Newsom wants dancing, running and bicycling in San Francisco streets to be more frequent and in more neighborhoods. Newsom is rolling out an expanded version of his Sunday Streets program. The plan calls for closing six streets to vehicles in four different locations throughout The City. The closures allow people to dance, run, walk and exercise in the roadways without fear of being hit by cars. The first event this year is scheduled for next month. Pointing to the success of last year’s two trial street closures, Newsom is taking the show to such locations as the Mission district and Ocean Beach. “Every neighborhood in San Francisco deserves the opportunity to...

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Bills aim to boost struggling renters

San Francisco renters could soon be allowed to bring in roommates to help pay the rent without fear of eviction or rent hikes. Supervisor Chris Daly introduced several pieces of legislation Tuesday that he said are intended to help renters deal with the economic downturn. Among the bills is a provision that would expand the rights of tenants to add roommates to help pay rent. The number of roommates would be controlled by existing city code based on size and number of bedrooms. The proposal would prohibit a landlord from increasing rent if a tenant brings in an additional occupant and prohibit the landlord from evicting the tenant as punishment for bringing in additional...

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City departments hesitant to offer mandatory budget cuts

Each city department was told to come up with 25 percent in cuts to help San Francisco deal with its budget deficit — but that has not happened in every case. The budgets were due to Mayor Gavin Newsom by Feb. 20, with the proposed budgets containing the cuts for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The order came as The City projects a more than $460 million deficit. Some departments did not comply with Newsom’s request. They did, however, warn of the devastating impacts of such deep slashing. The Adult Probation Department was "unable" to identify 25 percent in cuts "without jeopardizing the department’s core functions, including supervisor of adult...

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Talks focus on empty storefronts

A new discussion is under way at City Hall to offer incentives to fill vacant storefronts that dot neighborhoods throughout The City with businesses residents need. In recent years, proposed restrictions or bans on certain types of businesses have prompted some community members to call for a different method. Instead of making it more difficult for certain types of businesses to open, why not — or in addition to any restrictions — offer incentives for businesses residents would like to see? This week, the Small Business Commission will begin examining options to offer incentives to fill empty storefronts with neighborhood-serving businesses, such as butchers, shoe shops,...

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Layoff notices issued to 262 city workers

Layoff notices were issued Friday to 262 city workers in the second wave of job eliminations to help close a massive budget deficit. Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Friday the elimination of nearly 320 city positions — of which 262 were filled positions — for a savings of $21.9 million to the city’s operating budget during a 14-month period. Newsom has implemented the layoffs to help close a projected $460 million budget deficit for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The deficit projection is expected to increase. The Recreation and Park Department saw the most layoffs with 78. However, the city plans to use nonprofits to provide many of the services the city workers...

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Virgin Megastore closing its doors

The eye-catching three-story Virgin Megastore overlooking Market Street is closing down in two months, striking a blow to The City’s already ailing economy. San Francisco is not the only major city that will lose the music store franchise. The company previously announced the closure of its Times Square location in New York, also scheduled for an April farewell. City officials, business advocates and shoppers expressed sorrow about the closure, and characterized the store’s demise as another casualty of the economic downturn. The Virgin Megastore, located at Stockton and Market streets, offers music, movies, games and software. “It’s very sad that this is...

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Bay to Breakers organizers to allow floats

Floats will be allowed in the annual ING Bay to Breakers race after all, despite a previously announced ban on all wheeled objects, a race spokesman said Thursday. Sam Singer said organizers are trying to compromise on some recently announced restrictions for the race. “We are working on a way to get floats, and there will be floats,” he told city officials during a hearing granting street-closure permits for this year’s race. Details about how floats will be allowed have yet to be finalized. New rules for the annual race were announced Feb. 11 which banned alcohol, nudity and floats in response to last year’s event, which infuriated residents in neighborhoods...

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City wants to curb flow of water

Toilets, faucets and shower heads in San Francisco businesses and residences may be required to use low-flow models as part of a large-scale water-conservation effort. Although all new construction since 1994 has utilized low-flow toilets, there are existing bathroom fixtures in older buildings that use more water. Supervisor Sophie Maxwell introduced legislation Tuesday that would require existing toilets, faucets and showers to use low-flow devices. The proposed law “will again put San Francisco on the cutting edge of environmental policy and stewardship,” Maxwell said. An unknown number of buildings in The City do not use low-flow fixtures. “Water saved from these...

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Special June election put on hold — for now

San Francisco voters will not go the ballot box in June to decide whether to tax themselves to help close The City’s massive budget deficit — but they may in July or November. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday did not vote on Mayor Gavin Newsom’s vetoes of legislation that would allow the board to hold a special June election. The plans for a June election were instead abandoned by the board amid opposition from the business community and others concerned that it was too early for thoughtful ballot measures. Those parties also thought that The City should first look to cuts and efficiencies before taxes. Board President David Chiu has organized talks with leaders of...

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Departments ordered to budget in carbon footprint

If city employees take to the friendly skies, their departments’ budgets are going to lose more than just airplane fare. Mayor Gavin Newsom wants San Francisco departments to pay 13 percent of their air-travel costs to generate money for a plan he announced more than a year ago, a carbon-offset fund to pay for local projects that would reduce emissions. The idea is similar to what is commonly referred to as carbon credits. Department heads were not only ordered by Newsom to submit by Friday proposed budgets identifying 25 percent in cuts, but for the first time to declare how much they plan to spend on air travel. They were also ordered to budget for 13 percent of air-travel...

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Accord sought for annual race

Don’t pack away that float just yet. City officials and race organizers are striving to reach an agreement in short order about relaxing new rules to curtail partying during the annual ING Bay to Breakers race. The rules, announced Feb. 11, came after last year’s event infuriated residents in neighborhoods along the 7.46-mile course. The event, which is held the third Sunday in May and is a mix between a marathon and Mardi Gras, has always spurred complaints, but last year’s outrage about the litter, drunkenness and public urination reached new proportions. The backlash about the new rules that would ban alcohol, floats and nudity, however, prompted negotiations...

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Supes offer mayor warm wishes — with a wink

The news that Mayor Gavin Newsom’s wife is pregnant drew heartfelt congratulations from the members of the Board of Supervisors — with reactions that were also colored by political overtones. Supervisor Bevan Dufty said that when he became a father two years ago he learned the importance of investing in child care and said Newsom would soon learn that lesson. “My first suggestion would be to get on the waiting list for Marin Day School day care at City Hall,” Dufty said. “It’s great to have your child close by, and more work places should have day care.” Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who is expecting a baby with Venezuelan soap-opera actress Eliana...

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Babies make for good politics

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s potential run for governor can only be helped by the news that his wife is expecting a baby, political experts said. Newsom has had a playboy image, suffered a divorce, admitted to having an affair and sought treatment for an admitted alcohol problem. But with his marriage last year to actress Jennifer Siebel and news the couple is expecting their first child, Newsom’s image appears to be improving. Political analyst David Latterman said the pregnancy is an “advantage” for Newsom in a race for governor. “Babies make good politicians,” Latterman said. “They have for 200 years.” Latterman noted that voters throughout...

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Public property could be used as collateral under loan deal

Publicly owned buildings could be used as collateral for a $150 million loan that would help finance capital projects throughout The City. Mayor Gavin Newsom has introduced a resolution that would authorize The City to issue what is known as commercial paper using city assets to secure the borrowing. The proposal comes as the nation is undergoing an economic crisis and The City faces a $460 million budget deficit for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The Office of Public Finance has identified 11 city properties that could be used to secure loans, including the Alemany Market, valued at $29.8 million, the Police Academy, valued at $29 million, and the Northern Police Station, valued at $6....

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Newsom negotiates deal with union to save city money

Mayor Gavin Newsom is starting to have success in convincing city workers to give up wage hikes to help close a massive budget deficit. Newsom announced Friday afternoon that The City’s negotiating team and the Teamsters Local 856 reached a tentative agreement for giving back more than $900,000 in wage increases that are guaranteed under the existing labor contract with 126 nursing supervisor and directors. For the wage giveback to become official, union members must vote to ratify it and then it must be approved by the Board of Supervisors. The City is facing a $460 million deficit for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Newsom has until June 1 to submit a balanced city budget to the...

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Bay to Breakers jumps on wagon

The wild partying that has become synonymous with the annual ING Bay to Breakers will be toned down this year with a ban on pushing wheeled objects, nudity and drinking. Last year, the San Francisco race — which attracts as many as 60,000 participants, who are a mix of serious athletes, novices and costumed partiers — drew the ire of residents along the 7.46-mile course. Although complaints about litter, drunkenness and public urination accompany the event, which is held the third Sunday of May and is a mix between a marathon and Madri Gras, last year’s race saw an explosion of complaints. “Last year’s Bay to Breakers was one of the worst events I’ve...

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Political feuding continues despite call for cooperation

All that talk of the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Gavin Newsom working together has not stopped the mayor’s most vocal opponent on the board from going against the tide. Supervisor Chris Daly on Tuesday asked the city attorney to determine if “there is a conflict with Michael Yarne in the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development coordinating certain planning and land issues on behalf of the [Newsom] administration, while also serving on the board of directors of the Friends of City Planning.” If there is no conflict, Daly said he intends to introduce legislation “to help ameliorate this issue of working with contributors and this nonprofit...

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Veto of June election quickly reversed

A veto by Mayor Gavin Newsom against a June special election approved by the Board of Supervisors was shot down Tuesday by city legislators, while those who support generating more revenue for The City attempt to forge broad support for bringing tax measures before voters. The Board of Supervisors voted 8-2 on Tuesday to override Newsom’s veto of legislation waiving certain deadlines to hold a June 2 election. On Feb. 3, the board approved the legislation and also voted for the election. The election, however, is not certain. Board of Supervisors President David Chiu introduced legislation Tuesday that would allow the board to repeal the June election and call for one later in...

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San Francisco special election could be delayed

A special June election to ask voters to approve tax hikes could be pushed back at least a month. Mayor Gavin Newsom and businesses leaders oppose a June election, but union leaders and members of the Board of Supervisors favor it. They hope voters will help soften the blow of a projected $500 million deficit. The board on Feb. 3 called for a June election, but has yet to vote on specific measures to put on the ballot. Board of Supervisors President David Chiu on Monday said that to reach a consensus among the diverse stakeholders he would introduce a measure today to allow the board to call a special election later in summer. The announcement came after Chiu, several other supervisors...

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Dave McLean knows good beer

More than 100 San Francisco breweries and pubs will come together for SF Beer Week, Friday through Feb. 15, which showcases the Bay Area’s brewing history. Dave McLean, owner and brewer at Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery and Alembic bar, helped organize the event. What is SF Beer Week? We have put together over 100 events at this point all over the Bay Area. Some are at the logical places — beer bars and breweries — others are at fine-dining places. Some are tastings, some are beer dinners with food pairings working with chefs, some are more educational events. What is unique about the San Francisco brewery scene? The birth of the modern craft-beer movement really passed...

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Two vetoes by Mayor escape override vote by supervisors

Mayor Gavin Newsom gained two political victories Tuesday, but they came with sharp barbs from his chief rival on the Board of Supervisors — including an accusation the mayor perpetrated “pay-to-play” politics. The 11-member Board of Supervisors came up short Tuesday in overriding two mayoral vetoes, which takes a supermajority of eight votes. Newsom vetoed legislation that would have killed funding for his proposal to open a new type of court in the Tenderloin. He also blocked legislation that would have lowered the height limit at the site of the New Mission Theater from 85 to 65 feet, which would have corrected a clerical error that raised it in the first...

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June election approved

A special June election that could ultimately result in city residents and visitors shelling out more in sales tax was approved Tuesday. There does not appear to be a broad coalition of support outside the Board of Supervisors for a June election, but city legislators voted 8-3 to bring residents to the ballot box later this year. Additionally, some supervisors introduced proposed ballot measures Tuesday, including one that would create a gross-receipts tax on large businesses and another that would increase The City’s sales tax from 8.5 to 9 percent. San Francisco currently faces a $460 million budget deficit for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Supporters of a June election...

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Property owners feeling pinched by S.F.

Thousands of property owners have asked The City to recalculate their taxes, which is a staggering indication of the decline in the local real estate market. Nearly 2,100 appeals have been filed with the Assessment Appeals Board since the start of the fiscal year, July 1, challenging San Francisco’s stated value of property. Property assessments are used to determine how much a property owner must pay in taxes, which is The City’s single largest revenue stream. About 20 percent of San Francisco’s $6.5 billion budget for the current fiscal year is revenue from property taxes. The volume of appeals “tells you the real estate market is in serious decline,”...

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Cost-cutters eye city

As The City looks for ways to slash nearly $500 million from its budget to close a gaping deficit, highly paid managers are feeling the heat. The number of managers employed by The City has increased by 168 between fiscal year 2004 and the current fiscal year, bringing the total to 1,075, according to a new city controller’s report. The report examined the growth of members of the San Francisco Municipal Executives’ Association, the union that represents many city government managers, who generally earn six-figure salaries. Members of SEIU 1021, who represent about 15,000 rank-and-file city workers, have expressed outrage over the increase of managers since their union...

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New taxes still on the table after ballot deadline extended

The option of holding a June election to decide whether or not to increase or impose new taxes remains alive after time restrictions to put measures on the ballot were waived Tuesday. The Board of Supervisors is considering calling for a special June 2 election to put before voters several tax measures to generate new revenue to help The City balance its budget. San Francsico faces one of its largest deficits in history, projected at $460 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Layoffs and service cuts are inevitable. Supporters of a June special election, including SEIU Local 1021, which represents many of The City’s rank-and-file work force, say San Francisco must increase...

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New taxes could be in store for The City

Raising the sales tax in The City from 8.5 percent to 9 percent would raise more than $55 million a year, according to a new report from the Office of the Controller. The report examines 16 possible tax increases or new taxes — including an expanded hotel room tax, an expanded payroll tax and a new residential property tax — and what they could generate for city coffers. As The City faces one of the largest budget deficits in history, several elected officials say asking voters at a June special election to approve several tax hikes is the best way to help balance the budget and soften the blow of the budget slashing. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote today on...

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Haight head-shop ban faces scrutiny

Haight-Ashbury and head shops are practically synonymous. But city officials may decide there are more than enough of those businesses along colorful Haight Street and ban new ones from opening up there. In October, the Board of Supervisors adopted legislation requiring head shops, which sell smoking paraphernalia, to obtain a special permit — which includes a public hearing and notice to nearby residents — to open anywhere in The City. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose district includes the Haight, has introduced legislation that would ban any new head shops along a portion of Haight Street. Mirkarimi has said there are enough of them already and the area needs a better...

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Police-fee increase deals blow to filmmakers

Attracting filmmakers to San Francisco is hard enough as it is, but now they will be socked with a fee imposed by the Police Department, which is going to start charging extra for officers to provide security during shoots. The new fee exacerbates The City’s already-challenging task of attracting film productions in a competitive market. Other cities, states and foreign governments lure big-budget productions by offering huge cost savings and incentives not offered in San Francisco. In addition to paying police officers an hourly overtime rate — which ranges from $92 per hour during the day to $98 at night — filmmakers will also have to pay $6.25 per hour for an...

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Chiu looks to establish congeniality at City Hall

The new president of the Board of Supervisors, David Chiu, is seeking to change the tone of politics at City Hall, including ending the bickering between the board and mayor. Chiu told the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday that he has scheduled weekly meetings with Mayor Gavin Newsom. The practice is a new one, as the mayor and former board President Aaron Peskin had a contentious relationship. Chiu also said the change in tone will extend to the business community. The District 3 supervisor said among his legislative interests were examining offering financial incentives for certain types of businesses to open up in neighborhoods. Chiu said The City has failed “to...

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City threatens over sidewalk gum

Business owners along a block of Clement Street are furious after receiving city notices informing they have seven days to remove gum along the sidewalk or face a fine of up to $300. The Department of Public Works, which allocates extra resources to merchant corridors, issued the warning notices on Jan. 13, but the long-time business owners say they have never received such notices before, are concerned they will have to pay steep fines during such a bad economic time, and are angry The City would go after them in such a manner. Among those upset is Seong Tan owner of Singapore Malaysian Restaurant, a small business along the 800 block of Clement. “[The City] is going overboard...

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Newsom's veteoes keep justice center, height of buildings

Mayor Gavin Newsom issued vetoes Friday on two pieces of legislation, one to overturn a bill that killed funding for his plan to operate a new kind of court in the Tenderloin neighborhood and another that decreased how tall a building could be on two landmarked theater sites. Newsom is expected to prevail with his vetoes since both pieces of legislation were approved by the Board of Supervisors in 7-4 votes and it takes eight votes by the board to overturn a mayoral veto. Supervisors Bevan Dufty, Sean Elsbernd, Michela Alioto-Pier and Carmen Chu voted along the lines of Newsom on the two pieces of legislation and they are not expected to change their stance. The Board of Supervisors...

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Newsom proposes new rules on pot dispensaries

Medical pot club operators would have to hand over financial records and keep membership information under a proposal from Mayor Gavin Newsom intended to tighten up San Francisco’s regulations on the drug dispensaries. Newsom’s proposal comes in the wake of state Attorney General Jerry Brown’s recent issuance of medical marijuana guidelines and as the tensions between medical pot club operators and federal authorities remain strained. The use and distribution of medical marijuana is legal under state and city law, but illegal under federal law. Medicinal marijuana clinics in several Bay Area cities have been raided and shut down by federal authorities; Newsom’s...

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New board chief wastes no time in first meeting

Rookie Supervisor David Chiu wielded the gavel Tuesday, convening his first Board of Supervisors meeting as president and casting votes in line with the progressive bloc that has traditionally been at odds with moderate Mayor Gavin Newsom. Chiu voted along with progressives to overturn a mayoral veto and limit parking spaces for a development. Chiu, 38, was elected board president Thursday, and took the gavel from political supporter Aaron Peskin, who was termed out of office. Chiu, who represents the North Beach and Chinatown neighborhoods, operated the meeting with no gaffes, and the legislative process appeared to run as smoothly as during any other board meeting. Chiu voted along...

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Overtime pay outstrips budget despite caps

San Francisco is on pace to blow through its budgeted overtime dollars this fiscal year and spend an additional $43 million, according to a biannual report released Monday by the City Controller’s Office. Significant sums of overtime dollars amassed by city workers have long raised concerns, and most recently prompted Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Board of Supervisors to approve a new law that cracks down on the extra pay by capping overtime hours a full-time worker can receive annually at 624. The law allows for exemptions in certain cases. Thirty-eight city workers exceeded the cap between July, the start of the current fiscal year, and December, the report said. Only nine of the...

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Newest budget cut target: Highly paid city managers

Hundreds of highly paid managers on The City’s payroll could be shown the door as part of a proposal to cut spending amid a fiscal crisis. Supervisor Chris Daly has requested the City Controller’s Office crunch the numbers on how many managers were hired since fiscal year 2004 and their salaries, estimated to be in the millions of dollars. Daly introduced legislation Tuesday that would eliminate funding for these positions and sock the money away in a newly created fund to spend on other needs. The City faces a projected deficit of about $500 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Laying off line workers and making cuts to basic services, such as health care, are...

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Cameras don’t stop violent crime, says new report

Although an evaluation of San Francisco's surveillance cameras found that they have no impact on deterring violent crime in The City, Mayor Gavin Newsom said he supports keeping them in place since community members say they want them. San Francisco installed its first cameras in 2005 after Newsom visited Chicago and was told by officials there that the surveillance technology helped reduce crime. That year, there were 96 homicides in The City; two years later San Francisco reached a decade high of 99 murders, which was nearly matched by last year's 98 killings. "We find no evidence of an impact of the Community Safety Cameras on violent crime," noted a report by researchers...

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Fresh face snags coveted top board post

Freshman Supervisor David Chiu was elected Thursday to the most powerful position on the Board of Supervisors, and he takes the reins during one the most challenging economic times in city history. It took seven rounds of voting, but newcomer Chiu, elected in November 2008 to represent District 3, was elected president of the board in a 6-5 vote. The vote came after Chiu and three other new supervisors were sworn in to their seats, replacing those who were termed out of office. Board presidency is one of the most influential posts in San Francisco politics. As board president, Chiu is responsible for assigning supervisors to committees and overseeing the decorum of meetings. He faces...

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Sunshine-law advocates cast wary eye at Newsom shindig

When it comes to the private bash Mayor Gavin Newsom plans to host Friday evening for members of the Board of Supervisors, there may be a lot of talk about the weather. Newsom has invited the 11 members of the Board of Supervisors to a Friday evening “reception welcoming new members” of the board at his Russian Hill home. The four new members of the Board of Supervisors were scheduled to be sworn in today. But advocates of government transparency are a little wary about the affair. Open-meeting laws prevent a majority of the members of an elected body from gathering and discussing city business unless the event is open to the public and public notice is given. The law,...

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City Hall watch: Taxi-fare hike takes back seat

The price of riding a taxi in San Francisco will remain the same after a scheduled inflation hike was overturned Tuesday. The unanimous vote to maintain existing meter rates came during the final meeting for Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and Supervisor Jake McGoldrick. Both supervisors are termed out of office. Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Gerardo Sandoval left their seats late last year to take other elected positions. Peskin, who introduced legislation to freeze the fares, had previously said that given the decline in gas costs and the economic downturn, it would serve everyone’s best interests if fares remained at their current rate. Had the Board of Supervisors...

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San Francisco wineries lead way in ‘urban environment movement’

John Tarabini, the president of the new San Francisco Wine Association is promoting the consortium of 16 boutique wineries that produce high-end wines in San Francisco by crushing, bottling, blending and barreling in the SoMa area. Are San Francisco wineries a growing trend? San Francisco is finally leading the way in this urban-winery movement. Until now, honestly these small, boutique, independent wineries have largely gone unnoticed. But they are making outstanding wines, using some of the finest grapes and some of the best winemakers in the industry. What is a boutique wine producer? They are small, independent, typically family-owned boutique winemakers that are making wines in...

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New taxes may come up for vote due to budget shortfall

Voters may be asked to vote in June to increase several existing taxes and impose new ones to help close The City’s budget deficit. Advocates of tax hikes say they are necessary during the economic crisis to prevent thousands of layoffs and ensure San Francisco can continue to provide basic services, from fire to health care. The City projects a deficit of about $500 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Termed-out Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin introduced legislation Tuesday that, if ultimately approved by the board, would authorize The City to hold a special election June 2 and place up to nine different tax hikes on the ballot. Options include increases to...

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Battle for the board chief to be decided Thursday

The suspense and politicking about who will assume the influential role as leader of the Board of Supervisors comes to an end in two days. Four new recently elected members will be sworn into office at noon Thursday. Shortly thereafter, the new lineup of the 11-member board will vote for one supervisor to become president for a two-year term. The president’s power includes setting the tone at meetings and deciding which supervisors sit on the seven board committees. Termed-out supervisor Aaron Peskin was president the past four years. With two days out, members say no one has yet to secure the six necessary votes to take the post. Supervisor Chris Daly has thrown his support...

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City spreads around wealth

As officials face one of the largest deficits in San Francisco history, about 30 percent of city employees took home more than $100,000 in pay in 2008, with hundreds earning large amounts in overtime, according to payroll data obtained by The Examiner. The number of The City’s largest bread winners — those earning more than $150,000 in regular pay alone — is increasing, from 596 in 2007 to 683 last year, figures provided by the City Controller’s Office show. With The City in the throes of a financial crisis, the impact of deep cuts to basic services could land these high-wage and top-overtime earners in the cross hairs of those seeking to soften the blow of...

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Out with the old, in with new

The notorious members of the 2000 class of the Board of Supervisors, who have colorfully clashed with Mayor Gavin Newsom through the years, are out the door. In their place comes a new batch who will be immediately faced with a huge challenge: The City’s financial crisis. The new board could follow their predecessors and wage similar politically charged, contentious battles with Newsom, or strike a more collaborative tone, which the newly elected and Newsom have signaled is the intent. The new board members will be sworn into office Jan. 8, and soon after, as the legislative process kicks into gear, it will become clear whether collaboration will become a staple of city...

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City seeks payment from survivor of tiger attack

The City is asking for more than $75,000 from a survivor of 2007’s tiger attack at the zoo to pay for the cost of treating injuries inflicted by the escaped animal, according to a document filed today in federal court by the Treasurer-Tax Collector Department. The City’s legal filing comes after tiger attack survivors Kulbir and Paul Dhaliwal filed a lawsuit Nov. 12 against San Francisco, seeking an unspecified amount in damages. The legal filing said Kulbir Dhaliwal received emergency hospital care or other city services on Christmas Day 2007 and incurred $75,193.50 in charges, which he has yet to pay. The filing seeks that amount be taken out of any cash award or settlement...

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City deficit may wash out rainy-day fund

Millions of dollars in a special city fund that can bail out San Francisco’s public schools could end up being used to offset The City’s own deficit, as part of a larger revenue package envisioned to help government weather the economic crisis. Voters approved a ballot measure in 2003 that required The City sock away money in a so-called rainy-day reserve during healthy economic times. There are strict guidelines for how that money could be spent — either on city needs if revenue growth is down or on public schools if they face severe state-funding cuts. Supervisor Chris Daly has introduced a charter amendment that, if approved by voters, would change the rules to...

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Cab fare increase expected to be overturned

With the decrease in gasoline prices and a downward moving economy, the scheduled increase in the cost to ride a cab in San Francisco is expected to be overturned. Taxicab fares in San Francisco should increase to keep up with inflation, a required report on The City’s taxi industry issued every even-year by the City Controller’s Office, said. The “flag drop” — the initial cost of getting into a cab — should increase from $3.10 to $3.35, the report said, and the cost per mile should also increase from $2.25 to $2.50 while the price per minute of waiting time will rise from 45 cents to 50 cents. But while the controller’s recommendations...

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Newsom’s preservation panel picks go to board

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s appointees to sit on a new voter-approved city commission to determine what structures are preserved as landmarks in San Francisco will undergo their first confirmation hearing Tuesday before a Board of Supervisors committee. The voter-approved Historic Preservation Commission — which replaces the existing landmarks advisory board — remains in planning stages, as city officials hash out and perhaps battle over the extent of its power and who should sit on it. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who authored the ballot measure, has introduced legislation that would bestow broad powers on the commission. Newsom, on the other hand, has...

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Laid off workers still cost City

Laying off city workers to solve a budget deficit will save funds, but it will also put The City on the hook for paying laid-off workers’ health benefits for up to five years. City officials are now examining the labor provision that puts laid-off city employees on holdover, or recall lists, where they can sit for up to five years waiting for a new city job to open. While on the list, many of the workers are eligible to receive the same health benefits as when they were employed. Department of Human Resources Director Micki Callahan said The City is not aware of another public agency that provides health benefits to those on a holdover list except Alameda, which offers its laid-off...

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Illegal billboard fight tipping toward city’s favor

The City is forging ahead and cracking down on illegal billboards, which can be lucrative for building owners, despite battling legal challenges about an advertising sign law. In 2006, The City adopted legislation to increase monitoring of billboards and ramp up enforcement against illegal ones. The effort followed the passage of Proposition G, approved by 78 percent of voters, which prohibits an increase in general advertising signs in San Francisco. As of November, the Planning Department has examined 679 of the known 1,509 billboards citywide and deemed 55 percent legal. Others were considered illegal and have been removed or are incurring hefty daily fines, reaching as high as...

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Board strips justice center of $1 million

Nearly $1 million in funding was taken away from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s planned new court for the crime-plagued Tenderloin neighborhood, although the vote by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday was not strong enough to sustain an expected veto from the mayor. For more than one year, the plan to open the Community Justice Center — which would focus on such offenses as prostitution, selling drugs and aggressive panhandling — has been caught up in political wrangling. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisor voted 6-4 to reverse $1 million in funding they previously approved to pay for the court’s operations. Newsom is expected to veto the legislation, however, and the...

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Peskin’s plan denied hearing

A proposal to take away $35 million in scheduled wage increases from city employees was shot down Tuesday. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who is termed out Jan. 8, had put together a legislative package of budget cuts in an effort to soften the blow of cuts made by Mayor Gavin Newsom to health and other services and set the stage for additional cuts expected in coming months. Newsom’s cuts — to address the projected current fiscal year deficit of as much as $120 million — will result in the laying off of 409 workers by April 2009. The City is also projecting a $460 million budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year. The Board of Supervisors Government...

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Public health, human services hard hit by layoffs

The budget ax has fallen in The City, and 409 workers will be out of a job by April. Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Dec. 9 that laying off workers and eliminating positions were part of his plan to solve the current year’s shortfall of as much as $118 million. On Monday, he released a list of layoffs by department. Department heads began issuing layoff notices to employees Friday. On Feb. 6, 280 layoffs go into effect and another 128 city workers will be jobless April 1. The Department of Public Health was the hardest hit by the layoffs, sending out notices to 285 workers, losing 121 certified nursing assistants, 28 registered nurses, 16 vocational nurses and three clinical...

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Pay raises targeted to help city balance budget

Nearly $35 million in raises slated for San Francisco employees could be taken away as officials work to soften the blow dealt to city services by deep budget cuts amid a fiscal crisis. While Mayor Gavin Newsom has made a round of cuts to eliminate The City’s $120 million deficit for the current fiscal year, a political budget tug-of-war has ensued with counter proposals from members of the Board of Supervisors seeking to offset the cuts to basic services, such as health and human services. The City is projecting a massive $460 million budget deficit for next fiscal year, which begins July 1, making additional cuts inevitable in the coming months. Board of Supervisors Peskin...

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Local biz leader seeks free medical clinics

San Francisco could soon have a group of medical volunteers providing free clinical care to about 7,000 working uninsured. The local effort to establish a free health clinic, operating with volunteers and paid for through donations and grants, is part of a nonprofit nationwide program known as Volunteers in Medicine, which has opened 70 clinics nationwide. Scott Hauge is leading the effort to locate a clinic in San Francisco in either the underserved Outer Mission or Excelsior neighborhoods. Hauge, who serves as vice chair of Volunteers in Medicine, said he is seeking donations and expects to begin serving those in need by summer 2010. The annual operation of the clinic is expected to...

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Layoff notices go out at City Hall

San Francisco began laying off nearly 400 workers Friday. City department heads started notifying hundreds of employees they are terminated effective February. Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday he was cutting 712 city jobs, resulting in the laying off of about 399 city workers. Newsom’s budget cuts were necessary to eliminate the projected $120 million budget deficit for the current fiscal year. He has indicated additional cuts are necessary and he has ordered department heads to come up with proposed cuts totaling 25 percent of their budgets. The City faces a projected budget deficit of $460 million next fiscal year. Newsom spokesman Joe Arellano confirmed department heads...

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Advertising ban expansion vetoed

Mayor Gavin Newsom has vetoed legislation adopted by the Board of Supervisors that would prohibit additional advertising on items such as benches and bus shelters and city-owned buildings. Newsom said in his veto letter to the board that the law wrongly “binds” future elected officials from considering additional advertising to “generate much needed funding for city services.” Supervisor Jake McGoldrick introduced the legislation after voters adopted a policy statement in November 2007 opposing an increase to the amount of advertising on city property. McGoldrick’s bill makes the voter-approved policy statement a law. The Board of Supervisors will vote...

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Small business resource center may have funding axed

Funding for a center created to help small businesses is in the crosshairs, as officials look for ways to help The City save money during the economic downturn. The Small Business Assistance Center officially opened last May to help small-business owners navigate the complicated permit system and connect with resources. It has an annual operating budget of about $800,000. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin has introduced legislation that would eliminate the positions in the assistance center. Small-business advocates and city officials assisting business owners say eliminating the center is the wrong approach to solving the budget deficit, especially when those being laid off...

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Ferry leases by-pass supervisor scrutiny

The cash-strapped Port of San Francisco, which struggles to meet its capital improvement needs, has come under criticism for having more than half of its leases on a month-to-month basis -- which one supervisor says gives the appearance of "sweet-heart deals." The Port oversees the seven and half miles of waterfront along the Bay, which includes such attractions as the Ferry Building and the AT&T ballpark. The Port is responsible for the development, marketing and leasing on the property. On Wednesday, Supervisor Jake McGolrick held a hearing before the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on a Budget Analyst report that raises concerns about the number of...

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Mayor’s unprecedented visit underscores severity of crisis

In an unprecedented move that underscores the severity of The City’s budget problems, Mayor Gavin Newsom personally addressed the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, saying the fiscal crisis necessitates a closer working relationship to help weather the economic storm. It was the first time Newsom has appeared before the board and taken questions since taking office in 2004. He said the appearance signals his desire to work more collaboratively with the 11-member body, which has often been at odds with his political agenda. Newsom told supervisors he stood before them “to ask you for your support and help and counsel, for your advice, for your hand in helping solve this problem....

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Union Street eateries idea comes to a boil

New restaurants may soon take up shop along the trendy Union Street, but they won’t be serving any hard alcohol. A ban on new eateries was enacted in the 1980s along the eight-block Cow Hollow strip — from Van Ness Avenue to Steiner Street — to protect the surrounding upscale neighborhood from loud partiers. Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier has introduced legislation to allow for five new restaurants. She had initially sought 10, but that number was lowered to five to address concerns from some residents about the eateries attracting drunken revelers. On Monday, Alioto-Pier also amended the legislation to allow restaurants to only apply for permits to serve beer and...

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Supervisors’ races attract big money

At least $4.3 million was spent on high-stakes battles for seven seats on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, with spending reaching nearly $60 per ballot cast in one of the most hotly contested races. The Nov. 4 election held fierce contests in which moderates — whose political agenda is more aligned with Mayor Gavin Newsom — attempted to gain a stronger voice on the board. It has operated as a progressive majority since 2000. The amount of money being spent in local elections raises concerns, according to Steven Hill, a director with the New American Foundation, a San Francisco-based public-policy organization. “You have to start wondering who they are getting...

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Mayor expected to announce cuts and layoffs next week

Mayor Gavin Newsom postponed an expected Friday announcement about his planned cuts to The City’s budget and is now expected to reveal the cuts early next week. The City is projecting coming up short as much as $125 million in revenues this fiscal year while also facing a projected deficit of up to $500 million next fiscal year. City officials say the deficit will require layoffs and service cuts. While Newsom had indicated he would announce the cuts on Friday, Newsom’s spokesman Nathan Ballard said new deficit projections that came out this week contributed to the postponement. “The budget team and the mayor are working long days to balance the budget,”...

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Alcohol ads may be banned from city property

Alcohol advertising on kiosks, newsstands and restrooms owned by The City could soon vanish. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi’s legislation to ban alcohol ads on city property was supported Thursday by the Board of Supervisors Government Audit and Neighborhood Services Committee. Mirkarimi and other supporters of the ban say it would help reduce underage drinking and health costs associated with alcohol abuse. Supervisor Sean Elsbernd expressed doubts about whether the ban would have any positive impact. “It’s a miniscule step forward in this effort,” Elsbernd said. “Let’s talk about much bigger efforts.” Elsbernd suggested The City look at...

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Popular street closures to move to other neighborhoods

San Francisco residents could soon be dancing, biking, walking or doing yoga in the middle of their neighborhood streets without the fear of being run over by cars. Mayor Gavin Newsom partially closed down to cars a 6-mile stretch of roadway — including a portion of The Embarcadero — connecting the Bayview district and Chinatown for residents and visitors to have outdoor, healthy fun on two Sundays in August and September. Thousands came out to take advantage of the closures, called Sunday Streets. Newsom’s staff members are now in talks with such groups as Walk San Francisco and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, among others, about holding six Sunday events...

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City looks for ways to grow green jobs

A failing tax-incentive program to attract clean-tech businesses to San Francisco may undergo changes intended to attract more firms to The City. The clean-tech tax break provides an exemption from paying The City’s payroll tax of 1.5 percent of employee pay for companies focused on innovations to conserve energy and resources, environment protection or elimination of harmful waste. The proposed changes to the program for businesses in the growing industry would encourage emerging businesses in San Francisco to hire more employees and also lure others to open up in The City, officials say. Supervisor Jake McGoldrick has introduced legislation that makes changes to The...

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$2 billion funding plan approved for Bayview Hunters Point redevelopment project

A plan that outlines the financial terms for how the $2 billion redevelopment of Candlestick Point and the Hunters Point Naval Shipyyard will be funded was embraced Tuesday by city leaders and touted as an important step to prevent the 49ers from leaving San Francisco. The endorsement of the draft financial plan by the Board of Supervisors provides support to Mayor Gavin Newsom and his staff to move forward with negotiations to reach a final agreement on the project with Lennar Corp., the lead developer. The project is scheduled to include 8,500 to 10,000 homes, 300 acres of parkland and open space, 700,000 square feet of retail space and more than 2 million square feet of office and...

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Taxi industry gets new overseers

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees Muni, will soon start regulating the troubled taxicab industry. The Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted legislation Tuesday authorizing the merger between the transit agency and the Taxi Commission. The merger becomes effective March 1. Supervisor Jake McGoldrick said he saw drawbacks with a merger. McGoldrick said he is “not sure how they [the transit agency] are going to deal with what is a very difficult industry to deal with.” He said a benefit would be if the transit agency can dedicate more resources than currently allocated. “The taxi industry in this city is in shambles,”...

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The City’s film industry nosedives

Producers of the two biggest movies shot in San Francisco this year were shortchanged thousands of dollars in film rebates initially offered under a city program intended to revitalize the fizzled industry, according to The City’s top film official. For a city hoping to attract filmmakers amid an increasingly competitive market, a lesser-than-expected rebate likely will not help woo more producers. “Naturally, it creates disappointment,” said Stefanie Coyote, executive director of the Film Commission. “This can send a bad message to prospective producers.” The loss of film-industry jobs and millions of dollars in spending related to moviemaking prompted...

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Harvey Milk’s message still reverberates

San Francisco politician Harvey Milk was assassinated amid his tireless efforts to stand up for gay rights. Thirty years after Milk was shot dead in City Hall, as his story will be flashed onto the big screen in a new movie, there are parallels being drawn between what he fought for then and the gay-rights battles that are being fought now. Milk was the first openly gay man in California to be elected to public office when he won his campaign in 1977 — after other failed attempts at elected seats — for a seat on the Board of Supervisors. Milk’s election was “monumental,” and marked “a shift in the lesbian and gay movement,” said Anne...

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Alioto-Pier: Fisher museum welcome anywhere

Locating Gap founder Don Fisher’s museum in the historic Presidio has generated heaps of criticism, but one San Francisco supervisor wants to send a strong message that if the park location does not work out it is welcome elsewhere in The City. Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, whose district includes the Presidio, introduced a resolution Tuesday that supports “the location of the proposed (Fisher) Contemporary Art Museum in The City.” The resolution seemingly counters one previously introduced by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin that opposes the museum in the historic Presidio. Alioto-Pier said Peskin’s resolution is misguided and focuses on...

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Ex-supervisor admits he lied about residence

Former Supervisor Ed Jew admitted he lied about where he lived when running for office in 2006, and pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony perjury. It is the latest in a number of legal proceedings against the disgraced District 4 supervisor. Last month, he pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud, bribery and extortion charges, after federal agencies nabbed him for trying to shake down non-English speaking Chinese immigrant owners of Quickly tapioca drink franchises. Jew had promised the owners business and planning permit approval in exchange for $80,000 in bribes. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided Jew’s City Hall office, Chinatown flower shop and other properties May 18,...

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Filthy air clogs lungs, forces action

Deadly particles are in the air near San Francisco roadways, but people who buy new homes may soon be breathing a little easier. City health officials say residents breathing air in the areas of The City’s busiest streets and near freeways are exposed to unhealthy levels of pollutants, which impair their lung functions, make them more susceptible to asthma and create other respiratory problems. A proposal, however, would force developers of multiunit buildings along city streets with the heaviest clouds of pollution to make sure the air inside those facilities is clean, under legislation scheduled for a vote today by the Board of Supervisors. “The legislation will prevent...

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S.F. Board of Supervisors intrudes on Presidio fight

Gap founder Don Fisher’s vision of building a museum in the historic Presidio to house his private art collection could fall apart under opposing political pressure that’s on the verge of becoming amplified. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on a resolution making it city policy to oppose the project. The legislation, introduced by board President Aaron Peskin, says the project would ruin the historic integrity of the Presidio and violate demolition restrictions. The City has no jurisdiction on Presidio decision-making, but the resolution would indicate its feelings on the proposal and may apply enough pressure to ensure the Presidio Trust does not...

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Progressives holding on in board races

The progressives held their own in the Board of Supervisors race after moderates attempted to gain a more powerful presence, according to preliminary results released late Thursday. The next step: electing a board president. As a result of the Nov. 4 election, the board’s number of progressive seats and moderate seats will remain as they were, preserving the existing progressive stronghold — which has been at odds with Mayor Gavin Newsom. Progressives David Chiu, John Avalos, David Campos and Eric Mar will fill the seats of termed out supervisors Aaron Peskin, Gerardo Sandoval, Tom Ammiano and Jake McGoldrick, respectively. Mar faced the closest contest, against moderate...

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City eyes profits of nonprofit CEOs

The City is considering capping the amount of taxpayer money used to pay the salaries of nonprofit executive directors. San Francisco spends millions every year on contracts with tax-exempt agencies to provide services and arts and culture programs for residents. Last fiscal year, The City doled out $483 million in federal, state and local taxpayer dollars to nonprofits while facing a budget deficit. During Wednesday’s Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee meeting, Supervisor Jake McGoldrick amended legislation to limit the amount of public dollars used to pay the salaries of nonprofit executive directors based on what the agencies’ lowest-paid workers earn. As...

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Tiger-mauling victims file suit

The two brothers that survived the fatal 2007 Christmas Day tiger mauling have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the San Francisco Zoo and city officials of negligence in the attack and of violating their civil rights during the investigation. The suit also accuses a hired zoo public-relations official of libel, saying he engaged in a “smear campaign” by saying they had taunted the tiger and had been drinking prior to the attack. The brothers, then 19 and 23, were seriously injured when the 250-pound Siberian tiger, Tatiana, escaped her grotto and attacked them and their friend, 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr., who was killed. The suit says Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal, both of...

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Refuse to sort refuse and you lose

San Franciscans would be forced to sort their garbage into three bins or face fines under proposed legislation. Mayor Gavin Newsom first announced the plan to ding those who do not properly sort compostable material and recyclable material from regular refuse earlier this year, which raised a number of concerns among business and property owners. Despite the criticism, Newsom quietly introduced legislation to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that would implement the mandatory recycling and composting program, beginning in January. The law is intended to move The City toward its goal of zero waste, with the milestone of having 75 percent of the trash diverted from landfills by 2010....

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Newsom’s goal of veto power blocked by strong showing from progressives

The hope of moderates to gain a stronger voice on the Board of Supervisors appears to be dashed. Moderates aggressively sought to strangle the progressive stronghold on the Board of Supervisors, in place since 2000, by filling seats vacated by termed out progressive supervisors with moderate ones more aligned with the political agenda of Mayor Gavin Newsom. Over the years, moderates could generally count on just three, sometimes four, of the 11 board votes. The battle over the political future of the Board of Supervisors was concentrated in the District 1, 3 and 11 races — seven seats on the 11-member board are up for grabs and three of those seats have incumbents running. The...

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Voters allow city employees to serve on boards

Voters rejected Proposition C, a charter amendment prohibiting city employees from serving on most city boards and commissions. Measure supporters said it would have helped ensure those on boards and commissions are free of any conflict of interest. Voters also did not pass Proposition P, which would have changed the San Francisco County Transportation Authority Board, which currently consists of the 11 members of the Board of Supervisors. The measure would have reduced the board membership to the mayor, the president of the Board of Supervisors, the treasurer, a city official selected by the mayor, and a city official selected by the president of the Board of...

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Recalls reformed; no even-year-only voting

Voters decided to make it more difficult to get rid of a city legislator. Proposition E increases the number of signatures necessary to recall a member of the Board of Supervisors. Measure supporters said it would do away with frivolous recall efforts. Voters rejected Proposition F, which would have eliminated odd-year elections, when voter turnout is lowest. Proponents said holding all local elections during even years — along with elections for the governor and for the president — would ensure more of The City's voters weigh in on issues and choose San Francisco leaders. Opponents said the large mix of elections would decrease attention to local races. jsabatini@sfexaminer....

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City sends out noise patrol

The City is going on noise patrol. After mostly leaving the noise ordinance untouched since the 1970s, the Board of Supervisors approved a new law Tuesday allowing departments to better measure sound and more aggressively go after those emitting loud noises. The law comes as city health officials say San Francisco is simply too noisy for the good of its residents. “San Francisco noise levels are unhealthy,” said Dr. Rajiv Bhatia of the Department of Public Health. “Many places have noise levels much higher than World Health Organization’s standards. That is resulting in problems like hypertension and sleep disturbance.” Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who...

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City ID cards more secure than driver’s license, supervisor says

Issuing municipal identification cards to illegal immigrants and others living in San Francisco has raised security concerns, but advocates of the plan say the IDs will be even more secure than California driver’s licenses. The City’s plan to offer the ID cards is meant to ensure access to city services, financial institutions and increase crime reporting to local police. The program has suffered delays over legal and security concerns. On Monday, the Board of Supervisors government audit committee supported amendments meant to address lingering security concerns. The amendments change the types of documents needed to prove residency and identity to obtain a...

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City works overtime to cut costs

As The City faces a catastrophic deficit, the top five departments that log hundreds of thousands of employee-overtime hours each month have had little success in cutting the costly budget line. Overall, the combined overtime usage by the five departments — MTA, fire, police, public health and sheriff — increased from 198,701 overtime hours worked in July to 203,515 overtime hours worked in September. However, the percentage of overtime versus regular hours decreased by more than 6 percent. Earlier this year, legislation was passed to crack down on OT usage by capping allowable overtime hours worked per employee and requiring monthly reporting. The legislation came as city...

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New restrictions proposed for S.F. ID

In response to concerns that The City’s new municipal identification cards for illegal immigrants and other residents could be fraudulently used, requirements for obtaining one may be tightened. The changes were introduced Tuesday by the city legislator who initially proposed the card, Supervisor Tom Ammiano. While the program was approved by the Board of Supervisors and signed into law by Mayor Gavin Newsom in November, it has been delayed, according to the Mayor’s Office, to address outstanding legal and security questions. The program would provide all residents with an ID card to open bank accounts, access city services and report crimes to local police, who would be...

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Cash aplenty in San Francisco District 3 Supervisor race

Buckets of cash are raining down on the race to represent North Beach and Chinatown, which could determine whether the Board of Supervisors remains progressive or goes more moderate. Big names, highstakes and a strong pool of candidates have contributed to the large war chests of candidates running for the District 3 seat in Tuesday’s election, vacated by termed-out board President Aaron Peskin. Of the seven seats up for grabs, District 3 is one of three races where a more moderate candidate could fill a seat long held by progressives. The board has enjoyed a progressive rule during the last eight years, and moderates are looking to gain ground to shift the board toward a moderate...

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The City likely to halt pension investing

A plan to invest $100 million from The City’s pension fund into real estate assets has been reconsidered due to the nation’s economic downturn. A new report by the Townsend Group, which invests funds for the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System, noted that while the original plan for this fiscal year called for directing $200 million into real estate, the financial downturn has made that a less desirable investment option. About $100 million has already been invested, the report states. “It would not be prudent given the slowdown in property markets and given the credit/financial crunch to invest another $100 million,” according to the Oct. 14 report....

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Newsom: Department heads must cut spending

In response to a $75 million revenue shortfall this fiscal year, Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered city department heads Wednesday to cut spending by laying off workers, eliminating services, freezing one-time spending or imposing other reductions. Department heads were informed in a memo from Newsom budget Director Nani Coloretti, obtained by The Examiner, that they must submit proposed spending cuts to the Mayor’s Office by Nov. 7. “We will need 60 days to implement any layoffs, and would like to implement such reductions as early in the year as possible,” Coloretti said in the memo. San Francisco is projected to come up short by at least $75 million in revenues...

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Dead woman’s family files suit against printer

The family of a pregnant woman killed while operating a printing press in Potrero Hill earliler this year filed a wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday against the company, claiming the machine lacked proper safeguards. On Jan. 29, 26-year old Oakland resident Margarita Mojica, who was four-months pregnant, started operating a press at Digital Pre-Press International. Five minutes later, she “became entangled and crushed in the power press,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in San Francisco Superior Court. The lawsuit, which also names the machine supplier and manufacturer, alleges the machine lacked the proper “safeguarding devices intended either to keep a...

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Blight will cost property owners in San Francisco

The City plans to penalize owners of dilapidated properties, or even do their work and charge them for it. The Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted legislation Tuesday empowering the Department of Public Works to ramp up enforcement against owners of blighted properties. Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval said he introduced the legislation “in response to a growing number of blighted and dilapidated properties in my district, but also across The City.” Sandoval said there is even a two-block stretch of blighted properties in the Ocean View and Ingleside neighborhoods. The properties have become “an attractive nuisance for various illegal crimes.” The law empowers...

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Haight head shops may burn out

San Francisco’s Haight Street has a worldwide reputation as a haven for counterculture hippies and marijuana smokers. But that image could soon change. The City’s counterculture gave birth to head shops — businesses that sell smoking paraphernalia — and through the years San Francisco’s pot-friendly attitude has helped those businesses flourish. But now city officials are saying there are too many. The shops sell items such as hookahs and hand and water pipes. Selling drug paraphernalia is against the law, but the pipes are considered legal because they are said to be used for tobacco smoking. Last week, the Board of Supervisors adopted a law requiring any...

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Hotel fees would promote The City

Look out, San Diego and Los Angeles: San Francisco may start charging an extra hotel-room fee to pay for marketing campaigns to attract visitors here instead of competing cities. The City’s 349 hotels are expected to begin tacking on an extra 1 percent or 1.5 percent charge as soon as January to generate $856 million in the next 15 years for marketing purposes. The Convention and Visitors Bureau, which would receive the millions to beef up advertisements, is working with officials and hoteliers to form a Tourism Improvement District to protect The City’s top industry. Some of those destinations, such as San Diego and Los Angeles, are taking away a significant market share...

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Small businesses offer big ideas

Free public transit on Sundays, fee relief for business owners and requiring drivers to pay metered parking on Sundays are among new ideas being floated to help The City’s small businesses stay afloat amid the national economic crisis. San Francisco’s small businesses make up about 40 percent of The City’s work force and are key contributors to fees and tax revenue. But the national economic crisis and uncertain forecast has small businesses worried about the future. Adding to the troubled economic times, the cost of doing business in San Francisco will increase. The City’s minimum wage is scheduled to rise Jan. 1; city business fees are scheduled to increase;...

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District 11 plays up fight for control of Board of Supervisors

The Excelsior may have felt neglected by City Hall for years, but the race for the District 11 seat on the Board of Supervisors has shined an intense political spotlight on the predominately working-class neighborhood. Seven seats on the board are up for grabs Nov. 4, and the outcome of those races could shift it more in line with the moderate political agenda of Mayor Gavin Newsom. The board has enjoyed a progressive stronghold during the last eight years. The overall battle this November between progressives and moderates hoping to sway future political leanings is perhaps best captured in the race for the District 11 seat, which is being vacated by termed-out Supervisor Gerardo...

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Propositions could cost The City over two decades

Four months after The City made numerous budget cuts to erase a $338 million shortfall, voters will head to the polls in November to decide the outcome of several measures with sizeable cost. The 22 measures on the ballot address an array of issues: spending money on affordable housing; issuing a bond to pay for rebuilding San Francisco General Hospital; moving The City toward public power; and effectively legalizing prostitution. One of the largest costs facing The City is the Affordable Housing Fund. If Proposition B is approved, San Francisco would be required to set aside and spend money on affordable-housing needs during the next 15 years — 2.5 percent of every dollar in...

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City moves to silence noise complaints

Those who make excessive noise in The City could find themselves slapped with a ticket and a fine that could run up to $300, under a proposed law modeled after ordinances in Palo Alto and New York City. The proposed noise ordinance, introduced by Supervisor Tom Ammiano, is embraced by city health officials who say San Francisco’s background noise alone exceeds standards for good health. “The background level of noise is already causing problems like heart disease, impairments of children learning, of hypertension,” Dr. Rajiv Bhatia of the Department of Public Health said Thursday during a board committee hearing on the proposal. The City’s sound codes have not...

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Report: Police department needs big shakeup

The San Francisco Police Department must undergo a dramatic shakeup to more effectively combat violence in The City, according to a report scheduled for release today that was obtained by The Examiner. Imposing top-to-bottom changes in Chief Heather Fong’s Police Department would ensure the law enforcement agency functions “more effectively and efficiently to reduce crime and enhance the quality of life in The City’s neighborhoods,” says the report conducted by Washington, D.C.-based Police Executive Research Forum, a group of national law-enforcement experts. The firm was hired by The City last year to provide the first comprehensive review of the department in...

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City may freeze business fees

The City’s small businesses could catch a break from higher fees as elected officials attempt to stimulate the local economy amid the nation’s economic crisis. Freezing business fees or reducing them could keep small businesses above water during these tough economic times, when any amount of extra cash can make the difference, business advocates say. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin introduced a resolution Tuesday requesting the Controller’s Office and other related departments to figure out the number and amount of fees small businesses pay and the impacts of freezing or reducing those fees for one year. That study could come out in two weeks. Small...

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Muni may pay for safety lessons

After years of shelling out tens of millions of dollars in claims, the agency overseeing Muni is seeking outside help to improve safety for employees, pedestrians and passengers. This year, Muni collisions have already killed four people — the most recent coming last month when a cable car struck an 80-year-old woman. In 2007, there were seven Muni-related fatalities and 62 Muni-pedestrian accidents. Pedestrian and bicycle advocates have long asked the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to ramp up efforts to improve safety on The City’s roadways. “I’m glad they are finally doing this,” said Manish Champsee of WalkSF, a citizen advisory group...

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Muni waiting for culture vultures

Those new bright-yellow Muni buses stopping at San Francisco’s hottest cultural spots are catching people’s eyes, but not picking up the anticipated number of riders. Put into service Sept. 20, the 74X express bus transports riders between SoMa’s museum district, Union Square and the museum concourse in Golden Gate Park. The bus has a catchy name, Culture Bus, and its own Web site. It drops sightseers off at The City’s most prized institutions: the Asian Art Museum, California Academy of Sciences and the SFMOMA. The line — supported by Mayor Gavin Newsom, the Visitors and Convention Bureau and the cultural institutions it links — attempts to build...

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Doctors, families of dead to blame for abuse of disability placards?

Doctors writing phony notes and the mailing of disability placards to dead people contribute to the rampant abuse of the parking privilege in The City, officials said Thursday. The illegal use of disability placards takes away from revenue for Muni, occupies high-demand parking spots for those who truly need it and cuts down on parking turnover, hurting local businesses. The placards are issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles after a doctor confirms a disability. “It’s the doctors,” Joyce Whitley, manager of The City’s DMV office, said during Thursday’s Board of Supervisors’ City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee meeting. “We...

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ID card program OK'd, but launch is TBD

Although a judge tossed out a lawsuit Tuesday against San Francisco’s plan to begin issuing identification cards to illegal immigrants, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office said it would not commit to a date to start the program. In November, the Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 to adopt a program to issue municipal ID cards to illegal immigrants and anyone else who has been residing in The City for at least 15 days. Immigrant-rights advocates say The City will see a number of benefits by offering the cards, including an increase of crimes reported by illegal immigrants who currently are reluctant to do so for fear local police will punish them for not having a valid ID. Newsom, who...

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MTA eyes high-tech transit relief

Riding a Muni bus or paying a parking citation can ruin one’s day by eating up more time than expected. But a set of new and unique ideas could bring relief to parking and transit aggravation in San Francisco. The Bay Area’s busiest transit agency is proposing a number of high-tech measures that go above and beyond the usual customer services. Among the proposals is allowing a driver to type a code into a wheel clamp or boot to release it from the vehicle as well as doing away with residential parking stickers by creating electronic parking permits. The new proposals are part of a proposed five-year, $53 million contract between the San Francisco Municipal Transportation...

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Jew plans to name names during sentencing

Pleading guilty to federal public corruption charges, former Supervisor Ed Jew blamed his behavior on his “inexperience and naivete and lessons taught by other politicians.” Who those politicians are, neither Jew nor Jew’s attorney Stuart Hanlon would say Friday. But Jew does plan on naming names during his sentencing hearing, when U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston holds a sentencing hearing Feb. 13 to decide how much jail time Jew deserves for shaking down local business owners in the Sunset district, which he represented. “[Jew] is going to name the people he learned this from,” Hanlon said after Friday’s court appearance. Since accused of...

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Ed Jew pleads guilty to federal charges

Former Supervisor Ed Jew, who resigned from office amid public corruption charges, pleaded guilty in federal court Friday morning to charges of mail fraud, bribery and extortion in connection with a shakedown of business owners in the Sunset district. The guilty plea — which came 30 days before his trial was scheduled to begin — is a surprising turnabout for the former Sunset district representative, who had adamantly maintained his innocence since a year and a half ago, when his daunting legal troubles began. Jew made an open plea in federal court Friday morning, meaning the prosecution and defense did not agree on a punishment, leaving that up to the discretion of U.S....

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Pot clubs could start taking names

The City may soon force medical marijuana dispensaries to have on file a list of the names and addresses of those who purchase the drug as state officials crack down on pot clubs. Medical marijuana advocates are alarmed over the proposed requirement and are working to squash the provision quietly introduced by Mayor Gavin Newsom. They fear it jeopardizes the confidentiality of patients and puts them at risk for legal persecution. “Medical cannabis dispensaries shall maintain a current record of their members, including each member’s name and address,” a provision in Newsom’s proposed bill says. The legislation introduced Sept. 16 amends The City’s existing...

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Bailout bill may boost bike riding

Commuting to work on a bicycle could soon come with a cash incentive to help pay for bike-related costs. A federal program currently exists that allows workers to devote pretax wages to pay for the cost of public transportation to and from work. A provision in the $700 billion bailout bill — signed into law Friday by President Bush — expands the federal program to include an incentive of up to $20 per month for anyone who bikes to work. The incentive, which goes into effect Jan. 1, could be used by employees to pay for bike-related costs, from tune-ups to paying for parking. Now, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi is working to add the bicycle incentive into The City’s own...

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Supes OK ban on new bars, restaurants in North Beach

No more restaurants or bars will be allowed in North Beach, along with ATMs, after a new law was adopted Tuesday. In recent years, North Beach has lost neighborhood-serving businesses such as hardware stores and seen an increasing number of bars and restaurants open. The increase has brought along violence attributed to those partying at night in the area, creating a challenging problem for the Police Department. Recent attempts to cut down on the rowdiness include banning the sale of pizza in the wee hours and assessing property owners a tax to pay for ramped up enforcement. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin’s legislation was adopted Tuesday by the Board of...

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District 3 race bringing in campaign dollars

With the future direction of San Francisco politics on the line, money is rapidly filling up war chests for supervisorial candidates vying for District 3 — which includes North Beach and Chinatown — while less furious fundraising is happening in other districts where candidates appear to be relying on cash provided by The City's public-financing program. This November, seven seats on the Board of Supervisors are up for grabs with more moderate interests — those often aligned with Mayor Gavin Newsom — seeking to upset the progressive majority that has ruled the board for the last eight years. In four of seven races — districts 1, 3 and 11 — no...

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Lobbyists may be required to report City Hall contacts

The public could gain more insight into the activities of political consultants seeking to influence city officials under a new law forcing lobbyists to report who they try to sway. Political consultants are currently not required to report lobbying contacts if they do not engage in full-time lobbying activity, defined by The City as earning more than $3,200 in a three-month period, or making 25 contacts within two months. But political consultants with high-profile clients arguably exert significant influence over decision-makers without engaging in the level of lobbying activity defined by The City. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin introduced legislation that would require...

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Presidio Museum better off downtown, group says

Gap founder Don Fisher’s proposed contemporary art museum for the Presidio would be better placed downtown, not on federal parkland, neighborhood groups told city legislators Thursday. The Presidio is a former military base that was designated a national park in 1994. As a condition of its preservation, the federal government is requiring that the 1,491-acre park become financially self-sufficient by 2013. It is governed by a seven-member board called the Presidio Trust. Last year, Fisher announced an offer to fund the building of a contemporary art museum to house his personal art collection at the Presidio’s Main Post, an area comprised of historic buildings and a large...

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Need a cab? Carry more cash

Come November, you may be diving into your pockets for an additional 50 cents to pay for the initial cost of hopping into a taxi, according to a new report. Taxicab fares will automatically go up Nov. 1 with the “flag drop” — the initial cost of getting into a cab — increasing from $3.10 to $3.35, barring any action by the Board of Supervisors. The cost per mile will also increase from $2.25 to $2.50 while the price per minute of waiting time will rise from 45 cents to 50 cents, according to the required City Controller’s Office report on the taxi industry issued every two years. The report additionally proposes that the Board of Supervisors adopt an...

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Supes seek to limit bar, dining space in North Beach

A ban on new restaurants and bars in North Beach is intended to create balance in a neighborhood plagued with nightlife crime, according to its author, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, but critics of the proposal say it will lead to vacant storefronts. Although the North Beach neighborhood is known for its restaurants and nightlife, in recent years the area has attracted groups of rowdy partygoers set on drinking to excess and igniting trouble in the streets. Peskin’s legislation prohibits new bars and restaurants, only allowing new ones to replace old ones, which would help ensure the survival of businesses in the area that serve local residents. President of the North Beach Merchants...

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Drugstore sales go up in smoke

If you are looking to purchase a pack of smokes today, forget about Walgreens. The City’s ban on drug stores selling tobacco products, proposed by Mayor Gavin Newsom, goes into effect today despite two separate legal challenges filed by Walgreens, the nation’s largest drug-store chain, and Philip Morris USA, the nation’s largest cigarette maker, seeking to block the prohibition. The legal victory was one of two for Mayor Gavin Newsom and The City: Earlier on Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled that San Francisco’s universal health care program dubbed Healthy SF can continue to operate, after finding that the plan does not violate federal law. Both Healthy SF...

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Could 19th Avenue be scarier?

One of the most dangerous roadways in The City could see an influx of traffic and pedestrians with thousands of new residential units proposed for the area. The prospect of 7,200 additional residential units and thousands of square feet of retail space near the southern 19th Avenue corridor prompted Supervisor Sean Elsbernd to ask to halt any new development and for The City to examine the combined impacts of all proposed projects. Among the concerns is how the density and population increase would affect the already dangerous 19th Avenue. Between 2000 and 2005, there were 786 accidents on 19th Avenue. The accidents resulted in 1,205 injuries and 12 deaths. Most of the deaths were...

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Music festival may be first of many

Despite widespread rave reviews, not everyone was pleased with last month’s three-day music and arts festival in Golden Gate Park. The Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution Tuesday “celebrating the success of the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival,” setting the tone for approval of similar events to come. However, Supervisor Carmen Chu — who represents the Sunset, one of two district’s most impacted by the event — opposed the legislation. The three-day event was the largest of its kind — with 65 musical acts on six stages in the park — and the first to obtain approval by the Recreation and Park Commission to play music into the night....

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Influence peddlers flexing financial muscle in San Francisco races

Money is starting to flow to help persuade voters in the Board of Supervisors’ races in November. A labor union group and a pro-development group are among the first of the private interest groups funneling money into local supervisorial races by paying for political advertisements that have started to fill up mailboxes and hang on entryway door knobs. “First and foremost, it’s name recognition,” political analyst David Latterman said of the mailers. “People don’t vote for people they haven’t heard of. That’s rule No. 1.” Latterman, who is involved in several of the races, said given their contentious nature, many more mailers are...

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SFPD charged with disorder

A top-to-bottom overhaul of the Police Department is required to make the agency more efficient in halting murders and cracking down on low-level offenses such as car thefts and pickpockets, according to a draft report obtained by The Examiner. As The City struggles to reduce the number of killings and low-level offenses plaguing neighborhoods, the report says the Police Department should undergo a “substantial organization change” that would put more officers in the field, improve district stations’ response to neighborhood crime and help the investigations bureau solve more homicides. The draft report was conducted by Washington, D.C.-based Police Executive Research...

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Police use of chokeholds is a ‘liability’

Stop choking and start using Tasers, a city-hired consultant tells the police, warning that officers are exposing The City to “unnecessary liability” using a technique that was banned by several major police departments as early as the 1990s. The use of force policy says San Francisco officers can use, in descending order, “verbal persuasion, physical control, liquid chemical agent, carotid restraint, department-issued baton and firearms.” Carotid restraint is a chokehold in which an officer squeezes someone’s neck between the officer’s forearm and bicep. The hold cuts off blood circulation and causes the person to become unconscious. In the 1990s,...

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Chain-store bills move to new areas

Chain stores came under fire anew by members of the Board of Supervisors who introduced two separate resolutions this week: one that would ban formula retail stores in Chinatown and another that would expand the neighborhoods where chain stores would have a tough time setting up shop. In recent years, San Francisco has increasingly rolled up the welcome mat for chain stores. In 2004, The City’s first ban on chain stores — described as businesses with more than 10 locations nationwide — was enacted in Hayes Valley by the Board of Supervisors. The board subsequently adopted a chain-store ban in North Beach in 2005. The next year, San Francisco voters approved a measure...

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Pet-friendly S.F. may ban rentals

Renting dogs is akin to renting kids: You just don’t do it, says an animal-welfare commission that is proposing a ban in San Francisco on all animal rentals. The proposed ban is in response to the dog-rental company Flexpetz’s announcement of opening a location in The City. The Animal Control and Welfare Commission said it has serious concerns about the concept of pet-renting and is drafting a resolution urging the Board of Supervisors to adopt a new city law banning the rentals. “One of the commissioners likened this to renting a kid from an orphanage for a day, and you wouldn’t consider doing that,” commission Chair Sally Stephens said. San...

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S.F. students plan violence protest at City Hall

Students in the Mission district are planning to march on City Hall during school hours Friday to demand Mayor Gavin Newsom and other officials respond to the outbreak of violence that has left a classmate and a school graduate dead. The scheduled march comes as violence in the Mission has erupted and city officials and law enforcement attempt to hash out a strategy to prevent more shootings and killings. In the past three weeks, there have been seven homicides in the area. The San Francisco Unified School District’s June Jordan School for Equity, with an enrollment of about 280 students, has put together the march and rally to “demand that the recent rash of violence that...

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Walgreens fights city over tobacco sale ban

Walgreens heads to San Francisco Superior Court Tuesday in an effort to stop The City from prohibiting the sale of tobacco products at drug stores. In July, the Board of Supervisors adopted a law proposed by Mayor Gavin Newsom that made San Francisco the first city in the nation to ban the sale of tobacco products in drug stores like Walgreens and Rite-Aid. The ban does not impact grocery stores or big-box stores that also have pharmacies, such as Safeway or Costco. The ban is slated to go into effect Oct. 1. Walgreens argues that the ban is discriminatory since in only applies to drug stores. “I’m really disappointed with [Walgreens],” said Mitch Katz, director of...

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Cleaning changes irk residents

The cancellation of street cleaning on a weekly basis in residential areas is sparking criticism from those living in the Marina and Pacific Heights neighborhoods, where the service reduction begins first. In a cost-saving measure, the Department of Public Works plans to curtail street sweeping in many neighborhoods. The change will affect about 8,500 city blocks, according to the department. Postcards notifying residents of the change have begun arriving in mailboxes, prompting many to contact the office of Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, who represents the two neighborhoods objecting to the reduction of street sweeping from once every week to once every other week. They say their...

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San Francisco's job market losing steam

San Francisco’s job market is weakening, being buoyed by ongoing strength in the tourism industry, according to The City’s monthly economic barometer. The report, released Thursday by The City’s Office of the Controller, also said the ailing economy has begun to cool off in San Francisco after several years of strong growth. San Francisco may be receiving unemployed migrants from more hard-hit parts of the state who are looking for work, according to the report. “San Francisco’s labor force [employed plus unemployed] has grown at twice the state rate over the past year, and the unemployed make up nearly half of that growth,” according to the report....

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New soapbox race may roll through park

San Francisco is known for its quirky events, from big-wheel races to road races with costumed participants. This October, a new one is expected to join the club — the Red Bull Soapbox Race at Mission Dolores Park. The commercial event, which will take place in The City on Oct. 18, is expected to draw 40,000 attendees. The first race of its kind in the United States was held in St. Louis in 2006. In 2007, it was held in Seattle and Providence, R.I. Red Bull, the energy-drink company, said it has produced more than 35 such races worldwide. This year, San Francisco would join Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Denver as host cities of the event. “More than 30 teams of gear heads...

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Callers crabby about cabbies contacting 311

A bystander at a Muni bus station watched a taxi driver pull up to the stop, exit the vehicle, dispose of a beer can, saunter into a convenience store and walk out with another beer. But instead of calling the police about the late July incident, the observer immediately called The City’s 311 call center. Shortly afterward, a Taxi Detail police officer tracked down the driver and administered a breath test. The cabbie blew a 0.05, above the legal limit of 0.01 blood-alcohol content for cabdrivers. The driver’s driving privileges were suspended. While the 311 center is mostly used to find out when the Muni bus will arrive or to request information on city services, it has...

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Funds fodder for mudslinging

While funding for Muni and road resurfacing, comes up short, members of the San Francisco agency that approves funding for transportation-related projects is spending thousands of dollars on furniture, cell phones, computers and other office supplies. The 11 elected members of the Board of Supervisors also sit on the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. The agency allocates the voter-approved half-cent sales tax to transportation projects. including the purchase of Muni buses, road resurfacing, bike lanes and road safety projects. Each authority board member is authorized to spend as much as $2,000 annually for office needs, can elect to receive a monthly $45 commuter check,...

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3-Minute Interview: Edward Reiskin

The director of the Department of Public Works has more than 17 years of experience in the private, academic, nonprofit and public sectors. Any successes that the department has achieved recently? I think we’ve improved the way in which we choose the streets to resurface and how we are actually executing the projects to resurface the streets. What is the DPW doing this fiscal year that residents will be happy about? I think we are continuing to improve our response to requests for service that go into 311. So whether it’s to get graffiti removed or get a pothole filled, I think we are working to improve how we do that. We are continuing our efforts in the major commercial...

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Supe seeks to heighten the hush

The rattling roar of a car without a muffler, the booming bass from a nightclub or construction workers who begin too early are all sounds residents in The City may know — and hate. The City, however, is looking to bring relief to residents’ eardrums by cracking down on noise polluters. Proposed legislation would make it easier for The City to penalize those who exceed the noise limits and impose stricter noise controls. Under the proposal, The City could charge someone with an infraction of $100 for a first offense and up to $300 for three or more offenses in a year. The noise-control ordinance was introduced Tuesday by Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who said the legislation...

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Placard cheaters run ‘rampant’

One out of five disability placard users is likely taking advantage of the parking privilege illegally, despite a call by elected politicians two years ago to fix the “rampant” abuse, according to city officials. The illegal use of disability placards continues to plague San Francisco, with the most widespread abuse in Chinatown, downtown and Laurel Heights, city officials said. The illegal use is costing The City a great deal of money and taking up sought-after parking spots, officials said. “I’m convinced there is rampant abuse,” said Susan Mizner, deputy director of the Mayor’s Office on Disability. She said about “one out of five placard...

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Fare boxes require costly repairs

Nearly $2 million each year is lost as a result of Muni’s aging fare-collection boxes, according to a city report. But $19 million in state funding will pay for a major fare-box refurbishment that will ultimately ensure “100 percent working fare boxes in all our fleets,” said Kenneth McDonald, chief operating officer for SFMTA, which oversees Muni. Muni’s 17-year-old fare boxes come with a life expectancy of 10 years, and are now costing the agency about $750,000 per year to repair and up to $2 million in lost fares, according to a Budget Analyst report. “MTA estimates that approximately 20 percent, or 40 fare boxes, are so defective that they cannot be...

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City Hall Watch: Board votes to rein in overtime hours

San Francisco is cracking down on city workers’ overtime by restricting the number of extra hours logged. Under a new law adopted unanimously Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors, the number of overtime hours, which are paid at 150 percent of normal hourly rate, will come under the scrutiny of a board committee. The bill was introduced by Supervisor Jake McGoldrick and Mayor Gavin Newsom. The law also caps the amount of overtime a city employee can work. Employees can no longer work overtime in excess of 30 percent of their normally scheduled hours. A full-time employee who works 2,080 hours in a year could only work up to 624 hours in overtime. The law permits overtime usage to...

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Transit law has support

The City will legally require San Francisco businesses with 20 or more employees to offer workers one of three transit benefits by the end of the year. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the business mandate Tuesday, but unlike previous measures — including forcing businesses to provide workers such benefits as health care and sick leave that drew the ire of the business community — this one came with the backing of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. Supervisors also promised that the mandate would cost business owners no additional money and even save them money. The law, introduced by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, requires businesses to offer one of three...

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Cabdriver’s history of DUIs costs him permit to operate

A veteran San Francisco cabdriver who was found to have four charges of driving under the influence had his permit to operate a cab in The City revoked Wednesday.Robert Friedman has drunken driving convictions from 1999 and 2001 in Plumas County, a 2001 conviction in Contra Costa County and a 2006 arrest in Alameda County that hasn’t resulted in a conviction.The convictions came to light after San Francisco police sent a letter to the Taxicab Commission nearly one year ago, San Francisco Taxicab Commission Executive Director Jordanna Thigpen said.After an......

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Supervisor ‘dusts off’ old idea for new proposal

Supervisor Chris Daly asked the City Attorney on Tuesday to draft legislation prohibiting cars from traveling on Market Street 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from Octavia Boulevard to Justin Herman Plaza, across from the Ferry Building.His proposal follows Mayor Gavin Newsom’s announcement of plans to close 6 miles of roadway — including the northern lanes of one of the city’s main roadways, The Embarcadero — on Aug. 31 and Sept. 14.Newsom’s plan to connect Chinatown with the Bayview and provide open space for bicycling, jogging and dancing......

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City Hall Watch: Budget, funding for court OK’d

The City’s proposed $6.5 billion budget was approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors, along with nearly $500,000 in funding for Mayor Gavin Newsom’s ambitious new court designed to bring help to those arrested in the crime-plagued Tenderloin.Newsom submitted his proposed budget for Board of Supervisors review after closing a $338 million projected deficit in June. The board’s budget committee made a number of changes to the budget by the time it arrived before the full board for a vote Tuesday.No major budget changes were made by the board Tuesday.......

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Political sects duke it out

A behind-the-scenes battle for control of an influential political committee comes to a head Wednesday with the election of its chairman, and the winner is poised to have significant sway over November’s race for seven seats on the Board of Supervisors. An unusual amount of political wrangling has taken place around the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee — commonly referred to as the D-triple-C — an influential group for the power of its endorsements, one of......

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Mayor touts Sunday closure

While Fisherman’s Wharf merchants worry proposed closures of The Embarcadero for bicycling, jogging and dancing will hurt business, the Mayor’s Office said it is "supremely confident" they will have a positive impact on the economy.The Board of Supervisors will vote today on legislation calling for The City’s Controller’s Office to conduct an economic analysis of the closure. Mayor Gavin Newsom is moving to ban cars along part of a six-mile route from......

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Housing measure may be removed from ballot

A controversial charter amendment that would require San Francisco to spend nearly $3 billion to boost The City’s affordable housing stock could be knocked off the November ballot.The affordable-housing measure was placed on the ballot in January by Supervisor Chris Daly with a super majority of support on the 11-member Board of Supervisors. The three city legislators who voted against it are considered more moderate members and allies of Continued...

 

Lights Out is for the birds

Turning off lights at night in San Francisco’s multi-storied office buildings won’t just save energy, it will also help save The City’s feathered friends, according to one bird advocacy group.Having too many lights on at night creates a "collision hazard for migratory birds," according to an American Bird Conservancy report, which has been submitted to The City’s Environment Commission.Today, the commission’s......

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Proposal to widen nonsmoking spaces may affect dense areas

A business advocacy group says a proposal that would significantly broaden nonsmoking areas in San Francisco will prohibit smoking in all of downtown San Francisco.The proposal, introduced by Supervisor Chris Daly in April, includes a provision that would make smoking illegal within 20 feet of operable windows, exits and entryways of private nonresidential buildings as well as 20 feet from ticketing, boarding and waiting areas of public transit systems."Particularly troubling is the 20-foot radius," said Rob Black, public policy director for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. "In areas downtown......

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Mayor’s street soirée under attack

Not everyone is jumping for joy about Mayor Gavin Newsom’s planned party along a main roadway in San Francisco.Proposed legislation has surfaced that could empower elected officials to cancel or postpone the mayor’s plan. Newsom has secured the permits and is moving forward to ban cars along the northern lanes of the Embarcadero, part of a six-mile route from Bayview to Chinatown. The closure will take place on two Sundays: Aug. 31......

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City Hall Watch: Supe proposes ban on tobacco promotions

The City is going after the tobacco industry for distributing free products, discount coupons for cigarettes, T-shirts and other promotional gimmicks."The tobacco industry is very savvy at aiming its free poison on the unsuspecting and vulnerable young people," said Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, who introduced legislation Tuesday banning the free distribution of tobacco products and tobacco-promotion items in public places. The proposal imposes up to $500 in penalties for repeat offenses. Maxwell’s bill comes as The City is considering two other restrictions on tobacco."We are the only city in the Bay......

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City aims to cut smokers’ havens

Smokers in San Francisco said a cigarette sales ban at drugstores would raise the already high price for a pack of cigarettes,while business owners said a proposal to increase the number of nonsmoking public places is going too far."Pretty soon, its going to be you can’t smoke in your own house," said San Francisco resident and smoker Mark Hanoum. "[It’s] getting kind of ridiculous. I sit out front here and have a cigarette and a cup of coffee, and I am not bothering anyone’s rights."Two separate proposals intended to reduce......

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With Newsom's eyes on the Capitol, who's next?

While Mayor Gavin Newsom pursues his ambitions for higher office, a number of San Francisco’s best-known political figures are eyeing the seat he will vacate.It may seem too soon to think about 2011, when Newsom will be termed out of office, but already there is talk about who might run to replace him.Newsom’s own political future came into clearer focus last week, when he filed papers to form an exploratory committee for......

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City’s set-asides a ballot target

San Francisco voters have approved a number of requirements for how The City must spend money, but they could end up voting in November to eliminate all of them.Last fiscal year, The City was required by law to spend $860 million dollars on a number of needs, including $200.9 million for a mandated staffing level at the Police Department, $137.4 million for children services, $75.5 million for public libraries and $1.6 million for the Continued...

 

Ailing roofs may pose health risks

Poorly maintained restrooms, indoor pools, recreation centers and other park facilities in The City are health and safety hazards, according to a lead foreman in the Recreation and Park Department.At least 50 structures require re-roofing and a staffing shortage has the department completing less than 60 percent of monthly requested work orders for roof maintenance, Rob Rowland, a chief roofer with the department’s structural maintenance division, said in a letter to the Board of Supervisors.The letter was sent to the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee last month as......

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Use of public finance dollars raises concerns

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s plan to balance the city budget by dipping into a $5 million fund set aside to finance political campaigns could leave nothing for candidates, critics said Wednesday.However both Phil Ginsburg, Newsom’s chief of staff, and Supervisor Jake McGoldrick said Wednesday there will be more than enough money in the fund for those running this November and in 2011.McGoldrick, in cooperation......

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City Hall Watch: Resistance to privatization could cost city millions

The City could lose up to $5 million this fiscal year if a plan to contract out for private security guards at San Francisco General Hospital and other medical clinics is shot down amid pressure by an influential labor union. Mayor Gavin Newsom’s proposed $6.5 billion budget closed a $338 million projected deficit and included a proposal to contract out services to replace security guards at San Francisco General Hospital,......

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Taxi fees could get even higher

Taxi riders in The City may be facing a $1 per passenger fee to offset rising fuel costs. San Francisco cabs are already among the most expensive in the nation and it’s been less than two years since the last price hike. Taxi riders currently pay $3.10 just to enter the cab, the second-highest "flag drop" rate in the nation, trailing only Las Vegas. Additionally, the price per mile — $2.25 —......

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Many employees spared city’s chopping block

Although Mayor Gavin Newsom proposed layoffs for nearly 500 workers when he unveiled his $6.5 million budget last month, hundreds of positions have since been restored, leaving the number of city employees expected to wind up jobless at less than 200.Newsom’s budget for this fiscal year, which started July 1, closed a projected $338 million budget deficit, in part by cutting funding for hundreds of unfilled positions within the city government, as well as the proposed layoffs.More than 300 of the jobs will be spared by shuffling those employees to......

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Commuter checks could be mandated in S.F.

Matthew Quach is one of many San Francisco residents who said business owners should be forced to provide pretax deductions for employee commuting expenses."I would drive less and save the environment," he said Thursday.Under afederal law, employers can provide employees the benefit of deducting up to $115 of pretaxed wages for a commuter check, which an employee can then use to purchase monthly transit passes. But San Francisco officials, in an aim to become a transit-first city, are pushing legislation that would force employers in The City to offer the......

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Money spotted for ShotSpotter technology

Funding for a high-tech gun detection system was restored Friday morning and police academy classes were spared cancellation in a proposed city budget that is headed to the full Board of Supervisors for adoption.After making a slew of cuts to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s proposed $6.5 billion budget Thursday, the Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance Committee took a recess and made final funding decisions starting at 3 a.m. Friday. Prior to recess, the committee voted 3-2 to kill $60,000 in funding......

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Former supervisor to stand trial in November

Former Supervisor Ed Jew is slated to stand trial in November on federal public corruption charges, after settlement talks failed to negotiate a deal.Jew, who continues to maintain his innocence, is accused of extorting money from local business owners. On Friday, a trial date was set for Nov. 10. The trial is expected to last three weeks.Last year, the FBI conducted a sting operation on the District 4 supervisor after receiving a tip that Jew was asking for cash......

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Crime cameras out of the picture?

Funding for controversial crime cameras, touted as part of a solution to The City’s increased violent crime rate, was killed Thursday as San Francisco looks for cuts to balance its budget.In 2005, The City began installing surveillance cameras. Now, there are more than 70 cameras monitoring 25 crime-plagued intersections in The City.On Thursday, the Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance Committee, which was finalizing deliberations Thursday on Mayor Gavin Newsom’s proposed $6.5......

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Proposal for 'culture coupons' chided

Despite having to close a projected $338 million shortfall by imposing service cuts and layoffs, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget includes a new $375,000 initiative to give $75 vouchers to sixth-graders for cultural learning. Newsom, however, is having a challenging time convincing members of the Board of Supervisors to approve the program and a $1.4 million so-called Baby Savings Bond program. Last week, the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee unanimously voted to shoot down the funding for the baby......

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City Hall Watch: Plastic bag ban may apply to newspapers

After banning plastic bags from large grocery stores and drug stores, The City is now proposing to force the newspaper industry to stop using plastic covers protecting publications from the elements.Newspapers would have to come in compostable or recyclable bags under a law introduced Tuesday by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, which builds on his groundbreaking legislation.Prior to the ban, city officials estimated that 180 million plastic bags are used annually, and blamed them for littering the streets, clogging storm drains, harming wildlife......

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State help sought for plant closure

A state agency may be asked to allow the shutdown of the polluting Mirant Potrero Power Plant without having to replace its energy-producing capacity. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday adopted a resolution asking the Public Utilities Commission to submit a proposal to the state for the shutdown. The action comes before the board’s July 15 vote on a project to build a less-polluting power plant. City officials have said that the Continued...

 

City must negotiate a rough road for repairs

After years of neglect, some of The City’s cracked and pothole-riddled streets will finally be repaved.The City is expected to spend a record $38 million to upgrade 11 major roadways as well as smaller neighborhood roads deemed in poor or fair condition this budget year, which begins July 1.However, after years of failing to spend money for improvements to streets, The City will make only a small dent in the decades of backlogged repairs.The big-ticket projects include $3.9 million for the resurfacing of Seventh Avenue, from Lincoln Way to Laguna......

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Management hires outpacing others

During the past decade, city government has added a greater percentage of new managers than frontline services workers, such as gardeners, meter collectors and 911 operators, according to a Controller’s Office report."We have fattened up the highest levels," Supervisor Chris Daly said during Monday’s Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance Committee meeting. "We have a responsibility to start changing this back in the other direction."The budget committee of the Board of Supervisors is currently reviewing the $6.5 billion financial plan for......

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Pay for nonprofit executives scrutinized by city controller

A number of top executives at nonprofits receiving significant funding from The City are earning more than the average of their Bay Area counterparts, according to a new city controller report obtained by The Examiner.The report comes as members of the Board of Supervisors deliberate over Mayor Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget for next fiscal year, which closes a projected $338 million deficit through job eliminations and service reductions. Additionally, the mayor asked labor unions to make cuts to help balance the budget.Nonprofits — which provide a variety of services and......

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Tenderloin community court may go before voters

Voters in November may decide what City Hall politicians could only fight about: whether to spend millions of dollars annually on a new kind of court designed to bring much-needed help to those arrested in the crime-plagued Tenderloin.Mayor Gavin Newsom introduced a ballot measure Tuesday that, if approved, would allocate nearly $1.8 million in city funds for start-up, lease and first-year costs for the so-called Community Justice Center, a courthouse that......

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Ballot measure would give small business a tax break

Thousands of small businesses would see a payroll tax break under a measure submitted Tuesday for the November ballot by Mayor Gavin Newsom. The business community often complains that City Hall keeps increasing the costs of doing business, from laws requiring paid sick leave to San Francisco’s relatively higher minimum wage. Currently, 17,000 businesses do not pay San Francisco’s 1.5 percent payroll tax under The City’s existing exemption for businesses that have......

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Supervisor looks to raise bar for recall efforts

Voters could decide this November whether they want to make it more difficult to recall a member of the Board of Supervisors. City law requires residents to gather signatures from 10 percent of the registered voters in a district to put a recall measure on the ballot. A charter amendment by Supervisor Jake McGoldrick would raise that percentage to 20 percent. Last year a recall effort against McGoldrick, the Distrct 1 supervisor, failed to gather enough valid signatures — about 3,500......

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Pot clinic to become a legitimate business

Michael Welch will soon have the distinct honor of acquiring the very first permit to legally operate a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco.His store, Sanctuary, at 600 O’Farrell St., is across the street from an electronics repair shop and near a Subaru auto shop and a hair salon. The medical marijuana clinic has been in operation for three and half years......

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Act aims for animal-abuse artists

Artists and those who display works showing animal cruelty could wind up behind bars under a proposed law being heard today by a city commission.The Humanitarian Art Ordinance would allow the district attorney to bring charges against any artist who creates images of animal cruelty as well as the person putting the work on display, according to Christine Garcia, author of the law and a member of The City’s Animal Control and Continued...

 

Tenderloin court plan hits wall

Startup funding for a new court in the Tenderloin that would deal with the quality-of-life crimes that concentrate in San Francisco’s downtown — a plan championed by Mayor Gavin Newsom — was shot down by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.Newsom’s political opponents on the Board of Supervisors were critical of a $500,000 spending request for court since funding for other long-standing community services is being cut in the mayor’s proposed $6.5......

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Daly drops bill for housing on Treasure Island

Supervisor Chris Daly tabled legislation Tuesday that he had proposed to increase to 50 percent the amount of below-market-rate housing offered in the planned major redevelopment of Treasure Island.His decision to drop the item comes a week after another housing measure he backed at the polls suffered a decisive defeat. That measure, Proposition F, would have required the redevelopment of Bayview-Hunters Point to offer 50 percent of the housing at below......

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Anti-loitering ordinance for nightclubs is watered down

Proposed legislation to prohibit loitering outside of San Francisco clubs for more than three minutes was amended Thursday to make the crime a ticket infraction, not a misdemeanor that could have carried a fine of between $50 and $500.Police and entertainment officials say the anti-loitering law, sponsored by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, would help reduce the violence outside of clubs......

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Supervisors start dissecting mayor's budget proposal

Two days after Mayor Gavin Newsom unveiled his proposed $6.5 billion budget, which includes 450 layoffs, supervisors held their first public meeting to pick apart the financial details of the fiscal plan.The layoffs and other cost-cutting measures were needed to erase a $338 million projected budget deficit, Newsom said.His cuts include reducing use of beds at the county jail to save $6.8 million, $29 million in one-time cost savings identified by a number of department heads and $28.8 million in cuts......

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City Hall Watch: Solar-panel plan would give green

Property owners and businesses that install solar panels could soon receive thousands of dollars apiece under a program approved Tuesday.The legislation, approved by the Board of Supervisors in a 7-4 vote, authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to hand out money to help defray the cost of installing solar systems. Between $2 million and $5 million would be doled out annually.Supervisor Bevan Dufty, sponsor of the legislation, said the program would "accelerate solar in Continued...

 

Municipal ID launch is pushed back

Plans to marry same-sex couples this summer will likely delay the launch of a program to give city identification cards to illegal immigrants, according to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office.The Mayor has included $730,000 for the program in the budget he will unveil today, according to his spokeswoman Giselle Barry."These municipal ID cards will help improve public safety, and enable all of San Francisco’s residents to access city services consistently and safely," Barry said. "The cards will be a mechanism for inclusion, allowing our government tobetter serve all of our city’s......

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Nonprofits’ salary decisions questioned

Nonprofits operating in San Francisco that receive significant funding from The City have employees on the payroll taking home six-figure salaries, according to an Examiner review of tax forms and city data.Nearly 60 of the more than 100 nonprofits that are each slated to receive at least $1 million in city funding this year have paid top executives more than $100,000 per year in salary, and 12 have paid high-ranking employees more than $200,000.In total, San Francisco has doled out more than......

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Incumbent state senator boasts largest war chest

With less than two weeks before voters go to the polls, the state Senate candidates fighting to represent residents from northeastern San Francisco to Sonoma County still have money to burn.Since last year, incumbent Carole Migden, who is seeking her second term in office, has raised nearly $1.2 million, according to campaign-finance statements released Thursday. Since a judge ruled in April that she could transfer $640,000 from an old campaign account, she......

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Developer is the main financier for Hunters Point proposition

In the last month, the developer in line to rebuild Candlestick Point and the former Hunters Point Shipyard has spent about $800,000 to generate support for a measure going before voters next month that would signal approval for the major redevelopment project, bringing its total spending to $3 million, according to campaign-finance statements filed Thursday. Proposition G asks voters to "encourage the timely development" of the new mixed-use project and authorizes a park land-swap needed to go forward with the redevelopment plan. Continued...

 

Sidewalk art permits’ cost may increase

Street artists selling their artwork in San Francisco are worried a recommended fee hike will hurt their estimated $4 million industry.Under The City’s street-artist program, artists must pay an annual fee to obtain a city permit to set up shop at various sidewalk locations and sell artwork, which is required to be made by the seller.The Arts Commission has recommended that the 390 permit holders, who have paid $419.20 a year, start paying $532.28 a year.That is not sitting right with......

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City Hall Watch: Supervisor grants new court an appeal

Although a committee of city legislators refused to approve $500,000 in funding for a new Tenderloin court proposed by Mayor Gavin Newsom that would be used to tackle drug use and other quality-of-life crimes, one supervisor has launched a new effort to save the plan.Supervisor Bevan Dufty introduced legislation Tuesday that would move the matter out of committee and allow the full 11-member board to weigh in on the proposal. Dufty says he's one vote shy of the six needed for approval.City officials say the so-called Community Justice Center would......

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Developer sets sights on Daly

A complaint filed with the Ethics Commission attempts to draw a closer connection between a controversial supervisor and a committee supporting a June ballot measure and alleges violations of campaign-finance laws less than three weeks before voters head to the polls.Lawyers for Lennar Corp., the developer tapped for efforts to redevelop the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, filed the 82-page complaint. It alleges a series of violations involving Supervisor Chris Daly — an outspoken......

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Navy man to run Bay to Breakers in Afghanistan

A Bay Area Navy man was not about to let his deployment in war-torn northern Afghanistan stop him from getting in on the fun of Sunday’s famed Bay to Breakers race.U.S. Navy Lt. Francis Montojo is putting on his own version of the festive footrace.The annual ING Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco, an event that has been described as cross between a footrace and Mardi Gras, draws serious athletes as well as the novices, many who run or walk the 7.5-mile route dressed in costume.Bay to Breakers organizers......

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Sandoval drives proposal to tow illegal limousines

Limousine drivers illegally stealing fares from taxi cabs in The City, a problem that authorities say is rampant, could have their wheels swept from under them.Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval said he plans on introducing legislation in the coming weeks that would allow law enforcement to tow any limo illegally operating in The City. For years, cab drivers have complained that limousines have been dipping into their livelihood by stealing fares illegally. And with the recent increase in cab fees, gas prices and......

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Decision is unlikely to sway other states

"As goes California, so goes the nation," Mayor Gavin Newsom said to hundreds inside City Hall celebrating after the state’s highest court overturned the ban on gay marriage.While California is often a trendsetter, Thursday’s ruling has little legal authority in other states.George Washington University constitutional law professor JonathanTurley said that although the......

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Tenderloin court funding locked up

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s plan to put a new kind of court in the crime- and drug-plagued Tenderloin neighborhood is in jeopardy after a Board of Supervisors committee Wednesday refused to approve a $500,000 allocation for the project.The so-called Community Justice Center would be used for people in the Civic Center, Tenderloin and South of Market areas charged with misdemeanors and such nonviolent felonies as drug use and theft.The new center would......

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Power, police may go to voters

This November, San Francisco voters will be asked to make decisions on a wide range of changes — from whether to grant more authority to city legislators over redevelopment projects to making a move towards more city-owned power. A total of 17 proposed amendments to the city charter were submitted by members of the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Gavin Newsom by Tuesday, the final day to do so.Continued...

 

CitiApartments’ conduct comes under fire — again

One of San Francisco’s largest landlords and apartment-management companies continues to purchase property and garner complaints from tenants despite a lawsuit filed by The City two years ago charging that it uses strong-arm tactics to force residents out of rent-controlled apartments. The management tactics of CitiApartments and its parent company — Skyline Realty Inc., which owns hundreds of San Francisco buildings — have become the focus of the Board of Supervisors,......

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Plastic bags on their way out of The City

Love them or hate them, plastic bags are nearing extinction in San Francisco.In November, San Francisco became the first major city in the country to ban grocery stores from using plastic bags. The ban will extend to The City’s chain drug stores, such as Walgreens and Rite Aid, on May 20.Rite Aid has already made the switch from plastic to paper. "It was......

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Community funds to bridge economic gaps in SoMa

As high-rises fill the sky of the South of Market neighborhood, so do the coffers of a community fund that will put $34 million up for grabs in the next four years for neighborhood and nonprofit groups.Fears that high-priced development would force longtime residents out of the downtown neighborhood were behind a controversial demand by Supervisor Chris Daly that developers pay unprecedented amounts of "impact" fees to help prevent gentrification of the area.In 2005, developers agreed to pay an unprecedented $25......

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Tiger-mauling survivors poised to sue San Francisco

The two brothers who were attacked by a tiger at the San Francisco Zoo — which also fatally mauled a friend — plan to file a lawsuit against The City, according to their attorney.In March, San Jose brothers Paul Dhaliwal, 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 23, filed claims against The City, seeking an unspecified......

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Muni bus hits pedestrian; service rerouted

A pedestrian was struck by a Mission Street Muni bus Thursday afternoon, the 20th such accident involving San Francisco’s public transit agency this year. The accident, which involved a 14L-Mission bus driving near Seventh Street, prompted Muni to reroute its Mission Street service to bypass five blocks along that roadway. The rerouting stopped at 5:07 p.m. and service subsequently returned to normal. Muni spokesman Judson True declined to discuss the accident......

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Activists on prowl for artists showing animal cruelty

Anyone who displays artwork that shows animal cruelty could wind up behind bars as the result of a proposed law that comes in the wake of a controversial exhibit that was shut down because of public outrage.The so-called Humanitarian Art Ordinance would allow the district attorney to bring charges against the artist who created the images of animal cruelty and the person putting the work on display, according to Christine Garcia, author of the law and an Animal Control and Welfare......

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City Hall Watch: Medical marijuana dispensaries receive waiver

Although The City’s medical marijuana dispensaries were initially told to obtain permits nearly two years ago, the Board of Supervisors voted to grant another extension Tuesday.City legislators adopted rules governing the marijuana dispensaries in November 2005 in response to resident complaints that there were too many pot sellers, and that the businesses were often clustered together in neighborhoods, in some cases near schools, attracting drug dealing and crime.The law required clubs to obtain city permits by June 2006 or be forced to close down.On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted......

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Funding for 911 could disappear

In San Francisco, phone bills include a monthly fee to pay for 911 emergency communications that this fiscal year generated $43 million.That funding source, however, is now in legal jeopardy since a state appeals court struck down a similar fee in nearby Union City.Today, the Board of Supervisorsis scheduled to meet in closed session with the city attorney to discuss the legal ruling, as The City could face a lawsuit about......

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Four days off could save millions

San Francisco could shave as much as $26.5 million from the projected $338 million budget deficit if 12,562 employees were required to take four unpaid days off from work next fiscal year.The labor unions that represent these employees — who are paid from The City’s general fund and provide basic services such as police, fire, gardening, street cleaning and health services — would have to accept the mandatory furlough.Facing a projected $338 million deficit for the next fiscal year, Mayor Gavin Newsom sent a letter to labor unions representing city......

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Mayor aims to kick drug stores’ habit

San Francisco would become the first city in the nation to ban the sale of tobacco in pharmacies if legislation that was quietly introduced by Mayor Gavin Newsom is approved.If the Board of Supervisors adopts the legislation, hundreds of pharmacies in The City would have to stop selling tobacco products — including cigarettes, cigars, pipes and chewing tobacco — as soon as October."This is a sensible measure to deal with health problems......

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City HallWatch: Board backs big settlement in lawsuit

The City is slated to dole out a record $5.1 million as a result of a medical malpractice lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court regarding care provided by San Francisco General Hospital.Although the details of the lawsuit and the settlement were not released publicly by The City Attorney’s Office, citing issues of confidentiality, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to accept the terms of the settlement."This proposed settlement would be the largest in recent memory involving malpractice," City Attorney’s Office spokesman Matt Dorsey said.The medical malpractice lawsuit was......

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Neighborhood parks are making the grade

While a higher percentage of San Francisco playgrounds is getting top marks, according to a study done by local park advocates, one in five is in poor condition and could pose safety risks to the children playing there.The nonprofit Neighborhood Parks Council sent volunteers to survey 118 playgrounds and, based on the findings, gave D or F marks to 25 of the children’s play areas. Some playgrounds received the same failing......

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Property leases costing millions

The City is paying landlords nearly $40 million annually in rent for parking, office space and other government uses while it faces a $338 million budget deficit.City departments — such as the Municipal Transportation Authority, which oversees Muni, police, Department of Public Health and the Sheriff’s Department — are paying landlords a combined $3 million per month to house such things as health clinics, training areas and storage units, according to Office of Real Estate records of active leases with......

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City may lock up settlement

After years of litigation with the construction company contracted to build a new jail in San Bruno, The City stands to settle for $23.3 million.The proposed settlement agreement with AMEC, a London-based construction company, was submitted to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday for approval.AMEC sued The City for $46 million, what it thought it was owed for the work after walking away from the......

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Green goal for city fleet is fizzling

Despite numerous efforts to green San Francisco’s vehicle fleet — which this year is expected to guzzle more than $20 million in fuel — less than 30 percent used by city departments are running on alternative fuels, according to City Administrator’s Office data.The City’s various cars, trucks, SUVs and other vehicles used by city employees total 4,669, including Muni buses and trains, according to the data.The list includes, but is not limited to, police and Sheriff’s Department cars and vans; Recreation and Park Department pickuptrucks; and cars and SUVs operated......

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Developer funds may build up city coffers

Developers could be asked to pay more than $200 million in fees in the coming decades for child care sites, parks and fire services to keep up with the number of new residents projected by 2025.A new city report reviews the fees San Francisco charges, looks at population and employment growth forecasts, and reviews fees charged in other areas.Currently, The City requires developers to contribute to San Francisco’s below-market-rate housing stock and has wastewater impact fees for residential developments. Additionally, members......

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Ed Jew started property transfers as charges loomed

As former Supervisor Ed Jew’s legal troubles mounted, he began transferring ownership on the deeds for his properties; now, he is asking the federal court for $45,000 to help defray his legal costs.The first sign of Jew’s legal trouble came on May 18, 2007, when federal agents raided his City Hall office, his Chinatown flower shop on Waverly Place, and his house in Burlingame.He was later indicted by a federal grand jury for an alleged bribery scheme involving local tapioca shop franchise......

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Newsom seeking flexibility in budget

In the past, San Francisco voters have shaped The City’s budget priorities by approving "set-asides" for everything from children’s services to minimum firehouse funding.On Tuesday, Mayor Gavin Newsom proposed a nonbinding resolution to the Board of Supervisors that would make it "official city policy" that no new mandatory spending requirements be added to city law unless "it identifies or provides a specific, adequate new source of funds."San Francisco is facing a projected......

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City looks to detour party-bus problems from its streets

The party buses rolling through San Francisco carry more than good times.The growing industry is also wheeling in headaches for neighbors and police, according to San Francisco Entertainment Commission President Audrey Joseph, who wants the city attorney to examine how the party-bus business could be regulated.The for-hire buses carry groups of revelers from club to club, boosting business for clubs, while also keeping drinkers from driving.Joseph and other city officials said the party buses bring people mostly to clubs in North......

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Residents displaced decades ago may receive reprieve

In an effort to make good on a city promise to thousands displaced by redevelopment projects decades ago, Mayor Gavin Newsom introduced legislation Tuesday that would provide those ousted with a first crack at affordable-housing units built citywide.In the 1960s and ’70s, redevelopment projects led by the Redevelopment Agency displaced thousands in Hunters Point and the Western Addition, tearing apart the predominantly black communities.State law required that those displaced be given a so-called certificate of preference, which promises they would......

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High-ranking face slashing under new Peskin legislation

Dozens of attorneys employed by San Francisco and several top members of the Police Department’s command staff could be among those pink-slipped under proposed legislation that would cut $13.8 million in city salaries.The resolution, authored by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, is aimed at helping The City close a $338 million deficit projected for next fiscal year.In March, Peskin said he was looking to ax city workers who earn......

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Board’s attempt to save clinic likely moot

The Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 Tuesday to override a veto by Mayor Gavin Newsom in order to allocate $246,000 for a city-operated wokers’ compensation clinic that the Department of Public Health had approved for closure.The clinic closure at S.F. General Hospital comes as The City faces a projected $338 million deficit next fiscal year.Without the facility, city employees will go to privately run clinics for treatment of......

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Famous names sprinkled among torchbearer list

Former Mayor Willie Brown, a Daly City marine biologist, a Palo Alto pediatric surgeon and a star San Francisco basketball player whose father was recently gunned down are among the 41 people chosen to carry the Olympic torch during its only North American stop Wednesday in San Francisco.The group was......

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Power plant debate sparks to life

The smoldering issue of building a power plant bordering the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood to replace an older and more polluting one is expected to heat up again after the company selected to construct it walked away from the deal.A new agreement with Cleveland-based Industrial Construction Corp. to build the project is expected to be introduced to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, said Continued...

 

Smile, city government, you’re on webcast camera

San Francisco government could have a lot more eyes and ears on its business — in real time on the Internet.The City provides live audio and video broadcast on its Web site for 14 boards, committees and commissions that hold public meetings at City Hall. Archives of the meetings — which include the Board of Supervisors and its six committees along with the Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees Muni — are also provided on the site for up to one......

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City reaches out to illegal immigrants

San Francisco has launched an $83,000 advertisement campaign to inform The City’s estimated 40,000 immigrants who are not here legally that they can use city services without fear of punishment. Mayor Gavin Newsom, along with Supervisor Tom Ammiano, held a news conference Wednesday to announce the public outreach effort, which is being funded with dollars from The City’s Public Health and Human Services Departments. The campaign message, which promises "safe access to public services," will be disseminated in brochures, print and radio ads, on bus shelters, billboards and in public-service......

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Supes approve tough greeting

When San Francisco officials receive the Olympic torch next week, they should do so with "alarm and protest" over China’s human-rights record, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday.The resolution, authored by Supervisor Chris Daly, is a policy statement, and does not legally force The City representative to do or say anything. It was approved 8-3, with Continued...

 

Lighting up in taverns under fire

Although smoking in bars was banned by the state in 1998, some drinking establishments, including a handful in San Francisco, have escaped the prohibition by taking advantage of a labor code loophole that one city supervisor said he hopes to close.The state labor code prohibits exposing employees’ to secondhand smoke. However, if a bar is owner-operated, does not have other employees and has successfully applied with the Department of Public Health to allow smoking, it is legal, according to the......

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Sick leave costing city millions

City government workers cost San Francisco $160 million last year in paid sick and injured leave time — the equivalent of losing 1,800 full-time employees, according to a report.Although The City has seen an overall reduction in lost work hours compared with recent years, San Francisco "continues to experience high costs for lost work hours" when it comes to employees using sick leave, disability leave and workers’ compensation, according to a report issued by Budget Continued...

 

Smoking ban expected to balloon

San Francisco snuffed out smoking in bars, restaurants and transit stops, but now a whole new set of locations — from ATMs to concert lines — could join The City’s no-smoking zones.A law expected to be introduced Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors does, however, stop short of stricter bans that have been enacted in other Bay Area cities. The legislation would make secondhand smoke a "public health nuisance" and grant residents living above or adjacent to a business the right to go to small-claims court if bothered by secondhand......

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City: Torch route not secret, nor will access be restricted

The route that the Olympic torch will take through The City is not completely in the dark anymore.Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office said Wednesday that San Francisco is not keeping the route secret and protesters will not be restricted. The announcement was in response to a public records request filed March 13 by the American Civil Liberties Union. The......

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City’s pruning may begin at the top

City employees earning more than $150,000 a year could be jobless by July under a proposal aimed at trimming The City’s projected $338 million budget deficit. There are 596 city employees earning more than $150,000, according to the City Controller’s Office, spread out in various city departments, including the City Attorney, District Attorney, Public Defender, Muni, Police and Department of Public Health.Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said Tuesday......

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City Hall Watch: Supes approve fine for paving over front yard

Maybe it’s not paving over paradise to put up a parking lot, but it could cost property owners up to $500.The City could start issuing citations to property owners who pave over their front yards or violate any other planning code.The Board of Supervisors gave initial approval to a legislation introduced by District 11 Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, who proposed it as a way to address a problem in his district: residents getting rid of gardens and front lawns by paving them over with concrete. The motivation is usually to gain......

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‘Alarm and protest’ resolution for Olympic torch rekindled

The same day that the Olympic torch was lit in Greece to start its trip around the world, a controversial resolution that would call on The City to welcome the Beijing Olympic torch with "alarm and protest" was rekindled after suffering a defeat last week.Supervisor Chris Daly is expected to reintroduce a resolution that would "urge" The City’s representative who will officially receive the torch "to make publicly known that the 2008 Summer Olympics Games torch is received with alarm and protest" over the "ongoing human rights abuses in China......

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2008 is becoming a very deadly year for black men in The City

As San Francisco looks to decrease the number of homicides in The City from last year’s decade-high tally, a newly released statistic — that 70 percent of the homicide victims so far this year have been black — is raising concerns from city officials. Supervisor Sophie Maxwell called on the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice on Monday......

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Art Institute stands behind violent exhibit

A San Francisco Art Institute exhibit that shows video clips of animals being killed by hammer blows has provoked controversy.The art school, which dates back to 1871, opened the "Don’t Trust Me" exhibit on Wednesday at the Walter and McBean Galleries on Chestnut Street. The exhibit, by Paris-based artist Adel Abdessemed, consists of video screens that show six animals......

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Ed Jew’s federal trial set for July

Former Supervisor Ed Jew is to stand trial July 7 on five felony counts connected to an alleged scheme to extort money from local business owners when in office, a federal judge ruled Friday.Jew appeared in U.S. District Court, periodically laughing or smiling as he waited for his turn before Judge Susan Illston.Illston denied a motion by Jew’s attorney Continued...

 

Olympic torch China-protest resolution reduced to ashes

The Olympic torch for the Summer Games in Beijing is set to go on a "journey of harmony" around the world, but its scheduled stop in San Francisco is flaming discord.Ongoing protests in San Francisco are expected to continue leading up to the April 9 torch ceremony in The City as those critical of China’s human rights record and its recent crackdown......

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Chinese Consulate attacked, damaged by fire

An attack on the Chinese Consulate early Thursday involved as many as four people that were possibly captured on camera, according to police. A resident alerted authorities at around 4 a.m. after seeing two people near the Chinese Consulate facing Geary Street, then moments later, a burst of flame. The witness also reported seeing two people running after the incident. By the time police arrived, the fire was out and what remained was a large charred mark......

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Budget proposal ramps up debate among committee

The City’s budget process is promising to yield heated political battles. During the Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance Committee meeting Wednesday, Supervisor Chris Daly attempted to take funding from a wheelchair ramp project to offset health service cuts announced earlier this year. During the hearing, Daly criticized Mayor Gavin Newsom for not consulting with board members about $18 million in midyear cuts, which took dollars away from items board members funded during last year’s budget process."We have an administration that is running roughshod over board priorities," Daly said. The......

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City Hall Watch: Alioto-Pier argues about a third term

A question of appointment versus election may force a supervisor to not seek re-election.District 2 Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier is caught up in a feud with the city attorney about a legal opinion that says she cannot run again for re-election. Alioto-Pier told The Examiner on Tuesday that she should be legally entitled to serve another four-year term. Alioto-Pier was initially appointed to the Board of Supervisors by Mayor Gavin Newsom......

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City slaps derelict property owners with $675,000 in fines

A week after the city agency that enforces building codes was criticized for not referring cases to the City Attorney’s Office to have charges brought against owners of derelict properties, the legal office announced the outcomes of two lawsuits filed in 2006.One Mission district residential hotel will have to install a security gate and cameras to stomp out drug activity while another building owner must fix code violations and cease renting out the illegal "tiny" units, judges have ordered.City Attorney......

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Menu law to show what’s for dinner

Diners in San Francisco will soon have a much clearer picture of what is in their meals.More than 200 chain restaurants throughout San Francisco — from Starbucks to Pasta Pomodoro — will have to list the fat content of their foods and drinks on menus and menu boards, under a law unanimously adopted Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors. San Francisco follows in the footsteps of Continued...

 

‘Question time’ still on board’s schedule

Although voters defeated a measure that would have required San Francisco’s mayor to come before the Board of Supervisors for a monthly "question time," the legislative leaders decided Tuesday to keep the standing appointment on the agenda.The idea for "question time" with the Mayor had become one of the most divisive issues at City Hall in recent years. It was the focus of two ballot measures and was adopted bythe Board of Supervisors as a rule in January 2007. Continued...

 

Supervisor proposes standards for shelters

Published: Mar 11, 2008

In response to complaints about the conditions of San Francisco’s homeless shelters — from lack of toilet paper to verbal abuse — city officials are expected to adopt standards and approve funding to improve the quality of the temporary bed sites.The City’s 19 homeless shelters are on the front lines of one of San Francisco’s most vexing problems, homelessness, and critics of the shelters’ conditions say the facilities should serve as sanctuaries.Supervisor Tom Ammiano authored the legislation to establish standards for the shelters, which serve about 1,800 homeless people daily.......

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Outgoing supervisors vie for sway

Published: Mar 08, 2008

With a battle for seats on the Board of Supervisors in November already heating up, The City’s progressive legislators are making what political analysts are calling a power grab by running to sit on an influential party committee in order to affect the outcome of that fall election. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and Supervisors Chris Daly and Jake McGoldrick......

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3-Minute Interview: Tiina Booth

Published: Mar 08, 2008

The English teacher from Massachusetts has been an ultimate Frisbee player and coach for more than 25 years. Along with fellow coach Michael Baccarini, she is the coauthor of a new book titled "Essential Ultimate," aguide to everything a would-be participant needs to know to play the game. She also is the founder of the Amherst Invitational, the oldest high school ultimate tournament in the United States. Bay Area fans of the sport can catch the college-level Stanford Invite, which will host 32 ultimate Frisbee teams in Palo Alto today.......

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Mayor’s spurned appointee returns

Published: Mar 07, 2008

A city commissioner chosen by Mayor Gavin Newsom who was recently turned down by the Board of Supervisors for reappointment to the board that oversees The City’s water and electricity utilities is now facing another possible rejection by the board, after the mayor put him on another city commission.Newsom appointed Ryan Brooks, an executive with CBS Outdoor Inc., an......

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Board rejects call for $1M wheelchair ramp

Published: Mar 05, 2008

A more than $1 million wheelchair ramp project proposed for the Board of Supervisors meeting room was shot down Tuesday and a proposal to use the money instead to offset health service cuts surfaced.Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, who uses a wheelchair, said the Board of Supervisors vote was a "slap in the face of the disabled community," and that she intended to file a lawsuit against The City to force the project’s completion."This isn’t for me," Alioto-Pier said. "This is about......

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Businesses targeted for ‘litter’ fee

Published: Mar 04, 2008

Those San Francisco businesses oft-blamed for the litter in the streets — the food wrappers, drink cups, bags and napkins — could be forced by The City topay an annual fee to help fund cleanup efforts. Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval told The Examiner on Monday that he will introduce legislation today that would impose a fee on fast-food businesses, convenience markets and gasoline-station markets. The money would go into a city......

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Should lobbyists receive a label?

Published: Mar 03, 2008

Lobbyists looking to influence City Hall decision-making could wind up sticking out in the crowd under a proposal by one city legislator that would require special-interest representatives to wear identification badges when making contact with elected and city officials — even at events outside the building. Supervisor Chris Daly, who introduced the legislation, told The Examiner on Friday that it would add "transparency" to government and called it "very San Francisco." The badge would serve as a reminder to "decision-makers" that the lobbyist is representing a client "who has interests,"......

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City premieres extra incentive for films

Published: Feb 29, 2008

The City is looking for some more lights and cameras to create action in the local economy.By lifting a cap in The City’s film rebate program, San Francisco could create more than 100 jobs in its ailing industry and sink an additional $24 million into the economy by next year, a city report says.The report was commissioned after Supervisor Michele Alioto-Pier introduced legislation to lift the cap off the rebate......

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City to publicize its status as sanctuary for illegal immigrants

Published: Feb 28, 2008

San Francisco’s "sanctuary" policy for illegal immigrants, which has drawn sharp criticism from conservatives, will be promoted in an advertisement campaign complete with multilanguage brochures and radio and TV public service announcements. The city-funded outreach campaign is expected to roll out this spring and build on San Francisco’s response to last year’s federal immigration raids, which city officials said scared undocumented immigrants into not accessing city services, reporting crimes or sending children to school. City officials Wednesday were not able......

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The City to publicize its status as sanctuary for illegal immigrants

Published: Feb 28, 2008

San Francisco’s "sanctuary" policy for illegal immigrants, which has drawn sharp criticism from conservatives, will be promoted in an advertisement campaign complete with multilanguage brochures and radio and TV public service announcements.The city-funded outreach campaign is expected to roll out this spring and build on San Francisco’s response to last year’s federal immigration raids, which city officials said scared undocumented immigrants into not accessing city services, reporting crimes or sending children to school. City officials Wednesday were not able to......

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Academy withdraws Flower Mart bid

Published: Feb 27, 2008

San Francisco’s decades-old Flower Mart escaped a proposed land deal that threatened to put it out of business after city leaders pressured the buyer, the Academy of Art University, to back out. On Tuesday, Academy of Art University announced that it withdrew its offer to purchase the South of Market Flower Mart. "We are extremely disappointed that we could not make this work," university President Elise Stephens said in a statement. He cited "a lack of support among top city officials" for the decision to give up its plans. The......

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City Hall Watch: Change in retiree benefits will be up to voters in June

Published: Feb 27, 2008

With unanimous support from the Board of Supervisors, a measure was approved for placement on the June ballot Tuesday to reduce The City’s projected $4 billion retiree health care costs during the next 30 years. The measure, which was co-authored by Mayor Gavin Newsom, includes provisions that establish an interest-earning retiree health care fund with contributions from new city employees — 2 percent of their paycheck — with another 1 percent from The City. The charter amendment would also require newcity employees to work for 20 years to obtain full......

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Lake needs cleanup, warnings, supe says

Published: Feb 26, 2008

The reportedly slow response to cleaning up one of San Francisco’s last remaining natural lakes in the idyllic Presidio is drawing criticism by a supervisor who now wants signs installed alerting passers-by to the dangers.A 2000 study by students on pollen levels in the area led to the discovery of "high concentrations of lead" and pesticides in Mountain Lake, according to Doug Kern, who sits on the Continued...

 

Supervisor looks to limit liquor licenses

Published: Feb 22, 2008

A proposed measure would prohibit liquor stores from being on "every corner" in San Francisco, according to the supervisor that wants it on the June ballot, but critics say the restrictions could have unintended consequences. Proposed by Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, the measure would prohibit new liquor stores from opening up within about two blocks (500 feet) of other liquor stores, schools and children’s recreation centers. There are nearly 900 businesses......

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Prices to buy, rent in city climb

Published: Feb 21, 2008

Since 2002, more than 10,000 new housing units were created in San Francisco, but the added supply has not reduced the price; the cost to buy a home, aswell as rent, is reaching levels experienced during The City’s dot-com days, according to a city report."This report is the smoking gun that explains why housing costs so much in San Francisco," said Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of San Francisco Planning and......

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Lawyer says Ed Jew victim of conspiracy

Published: Feb 20, 2008

Former Supervisor Ed Jew "appears to have been" the victim of a calculated attack by political enemies who promptedan FBI investigation that ultimately led to the charges of public corruption he is now fighting, his lawyer said in a motion filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday. Jew’s attorney Stuart Hanlon requests in his motion that U.S. District Judge Susan Illston grant a hearing to look into whether wrong-doing was committed by Jew’s former attorney Steven Gruel. Gruel alerted the FBI to allegations that the District 4 supervisor was extorting......

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Chain store ban faces ire of commissioners

Published: Feb 19, 2008

A proposed ban on chain stores along major commercialcorridors in the Mission and Bernal Heights neighborhoods is being blasted by planning commissioners who indicated at a recent meeting they would recommend its rejection.The Board of Supervisors passed legislation banning new chain stores — defined by The City as those businesses with 11 or more locations nationwide — in Hayes Valley in 2004 and in North Beach in 2005.Additionally, city voters passed Proposition G in 2006, which requires chain stores that......

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Modicum of moderation on the way?

Published: Feb 18, 2008

The candidate field is growing in tough races for Board of Supervisors seats as moderates fight to shift the political power away from the board’s current progressive majority.Seven of the 11 seats on the Board of Supervisors are up for grabs this November. Three districts involve incumbents, who traditionally have a political advantage, setting up heated contests for four other seats to be vacated by left-leaning leaders being termed out of office: Jake McGoldrick in District 1, Aaron Peskin in District 3, Tom Ammiano in District 9 and Gerardo Sandoval......

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Ballot measure aims to make The City’s housing affordable

Published: Feb 15, 2008

A ballot initiative that a city legislator said will make San Francisco more affordable ignited a heated debate Thursday.Supervisor Bevan Dufty has authored a June ballot measure that would give developers who agree to build below-market-rate family-size units the ability to build more units per project site than current planning rules allow. On Thursday,at a Board of Supervisors committee meeting, members of the Continued...

 

City’s budget cuts igniting criticism

Published: Feb 14, 2008

With The City facing a $233 million budget deficit next year, criticism over mid-year funding cuts and a hiring freeze mandated by Mayor Gavin Newsom are surfacing from the Board of Supervisors.On Wednesday, members of the public and the legislative leaders focused attention on eight recreation director positions that are being left vacant as a result of the belt tightening.Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said he wants to......

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City Hall Watch: Newsom sees mixed reaction to his PUC appointees

Published: Feb 13, 2008

Caught up in disputes over public power and Mayor Gavin Newsom’s move to fire San Francisco Public Utilities Commission chief Susan Leal, one mayoral appointee to the agency was shot down Tuesday while another narrowly passed through. "If it’s the mayor’s intent that we turn a page, we will turn a page," Supervisor Bevan Dufty said, casting a vote to reject Newsom’s reappointment of Ryan Brooks to the Public Utilities Commission. Brooks is an executive with CBS Outdoor Inc., an advertising company. It takes eight votes to reject a PUC......

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Supervisor Daly wants half of proposed Treasure Island housing to be affordable

Published: Feb 12, 2008

The redeveloped Treasure Island would provide 30 percent of the new housing at a below-market rate, according to city officials, but the city legislator that represents the area says half of the units should be affordably priced.Supervisor Chris Daly’s resolution calls for 50 percent of the 6,000 proposed housing units on Treasure Island to be offered to moderate- and low-income families. At a Board of Supervisors committee meeting Monday,......

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Newsom salary spat may spawn tighter restrictions on city funds

Published: Feb 12, 2008

In response to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s admission that he used nearly $1 million from four different city departments to pay for some of his staff members, one supervisor said he is considering legislation to increase oversight of such spending decisions.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick also blasted the administration for releasing a draft copy of a city audit investigating the spending that he requested. Last Friday, Newsom’s office held a sit-down meeting with......

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MTA board picks closer to approval

Published: Feb 08, 2008

Although members of the Board of Supervisors have held up Mayor Gavin Newsom’s appointments to The City’s public transportation board for weeks, on Thursday the candidates were forwarded out of committee and are now headed for confirmation.When the three appointees first came up before a board committee on Jan. 17, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said he wanted a presentation on the mayor’s "vision" for the transportation agency before making any appointment decisions. Several days later, the legislative leader raised questions about recent revelations that Newsom used $749,232 dollars......

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Schools eye rainy day funds to cover budget cuts

Published: Feb 08, 2008

San Francisco’s cash-strapped schools, which stand to suffer a financial blow at the hands of state funding cuts, could find relief in millions of dollars socked away in The City’s rainy day account.Supervisor Tom Ammiano brought the funding source to light at a hearing of the Board of Supervisors City and School District Committee on Thursday.The Controller’s Office said that the school......

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S.F. eateries may start counting calories

Published: Feb 07, 2008

Following the lead of New York City and Seattle, San Francisco is on the verge of requiring restaurant chains to prominently display calorie counts and other health information for its menu items. Today, a Board of Supervisors committee will weigh in on legislation authored by Supervisor Tom Ammiano that would require restaurants with 15 or more locations throughout the state to list on its menus, for each food item offered, the number of calories, and the amount of saturated fat, carbohydrates and sodium — in letter size as prominent as......

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Green taxi ordinance on its way to full board

Published: Feb 06, 2008

By 2012, San Francisco's 1,500 taxicabs would be running greener — if The City approves a law allowing cab companies to charge its drivers more per shift.The Clean Taxi Ordinance, scheduled to come before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday for a vote, would increase the gate fee — the charge drivers must pay cab companies per 10-hour shift — from $91.50 to $96.50, and an additional $7.50 charge if the cab is a green cab. With a low estimate......

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Deal aims to diffuse ‘fiscal time bomb’

Published: Feb 06, 2008

Faced with ballooning retiree health care costs — an estimated $4 billion during the next 30 years — an agreement brokered with The City’s labor groups would restructure benefits and provide financial security, its backers say.Supervisor Sean Elsbernd has spent weeks in negotiations to strike a deal that would solve what he has likened to a "fiscal time bomb." The proposed charter amendment is expected to come before voters for adoption in June.In 2000, The City spent approximately $17 million......

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Daly’s measure could ‘kill’ Bayview development

Published: Feb 05, 2008

A plan for as many as 10,000 new homes in Bayview-Hunters Point — and a possible new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers — would be "killed" if voters this June demanded that 50 percent of the housing be sold below market rates, a top city official said. Supervisor Chris Daly has championed a ballot initiative to require that at least half of all housing built in the planned Hunters Point-Candlestick Point development be affordable to San Franciscans with household incomes between 30 percent and 80 percent of the county’s......

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Remodels for public housing are closer to becoming reality

Published: Feb 05, 2008

The plan to rebuild San Francisco’s most troubled and decrepit public housing sites is moving forward with nine developers applying to rebuild the sites. The idea of creating a local version of the federal Hope IV program — which provides funds to local housing authorities to rebuild dilapidated housing projects was planted during the tenure of former Mayor Willie Brown. Continued...

 

Candidate coffers offer first peek at supervisor race

Published: Feb 02, 2008

In November, San Franciscans will not only go to the polls to pick a president, but also to cast a vote for the future of The City — with seven of 11 seats on the Board of Supervisors up for grabs. With some termed-out seats expected to be hotly contested, thousands of dollars are already starting to pile up in the war chests of several candidates. Significant political power is at stake, including a chance for Mayor Gavin Newsom to......

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Proposals put forward to cut emissions from cabs

Published: Jan 29, 2008

It may take some green for all of the cabs in The City to go green. Two proposals have been put forward to increase the fee cabdrivers pay companies per 10-hour shift by at least $12.50. Both are aimed at reducing carbon emissions from cabs by 20 percent by 2011. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin introduced a proposal Monday at the Board of Supervisors Government Audit and Oversight Committee that would increase the gate fee across the board by $5 — from $91.50 to $96.50 — and then allow......

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Payroll system part of city’s $229M deficit

Published: Jan 28, 2008

News of The City’s projected $229 million deficit has made headlines, but less attention has been paid to a plan by city officials to spend $41 million for a new high-tech payroll system.Although the cost will be spread out over several years, next fiscal year $15 million of the project’s total cost is slated to come out of the general fund."This is $15 million that I could use to keep critical units at San Francisco General Hospital open and a whole host of other things," said Board of Supervisors President......

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Zoo to sink $1 million into grottoes

Published: Jan 26, 2008

The price tag for new security measures at San Francisco Zoo’s big-cat grottoes, where a tiger escaped on Christmas Day, killing one teenager and injuring two of his friends, is at least $1 million, according to a memo from the city official who oversees the zoo.The work, being handled by two companies, includes the "extension of the concrete wall at all three big-cat grottoes to meet current AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) minimum guidelines," wrote Recreation and Park Department General Manager Yomi Agunbiade.Two days after the fatal attack, it......

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Jew's attorney alleges 'conflict of interest' in case

Published: Jan 26, 2008

Former District 4 Supervisor Ed Jew was in federal court Friday on public corruption charges where his legal counsel was granted time to file a motion arguing for a dismissal. In court, Jew’s attorney, Stuart Hanlon, alleged that Jew’s former attorney had a "conflict of interest" that could have "affected [Jew’s] right to a fair trial." "I’m not sure what you’re talking about," replied U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, adding......

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Newsom siphons Muni money for staff

Published: Jan 25, 2008

Mayor Gavin Newsom is coming under fire for dipping into Muni cash to pay for his own staffers, while The City’s public transportation agency struggles with a triple-digit structural budget deficit and falls below on-time performance goals. At least seven positions in the Mayor’s Office ranging from a press deputy director who was hired two weeks ago to Newsom’s newly created position of Director of Climate Protection Initiatives, have all or part of their salaries funded with money from the budget of Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees Muni, according to......

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Marin leaders set to reject toll on Doyle

Published: Jan 24, 2008

Marin County officials are poised today to send a strong message against a planned toll along Doyle Drive, part of a proposal to raise money to rebuild the seismically unsafe San Francisco-side approach to the Golden Gate Bridge.The plan to add a toll on the southern approach to the iconic span — that would be in addition to that already required to cross the bridge — has provoked the ire of those in the North Bay, who are the majority of bridge users during peak times.The proposal calls for a......

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Supervisor’s measure could please opposing sides on parking issues

Published: Jan 23, 2008

San Francisco could see a couple changes to parking regulations that would make condos slightly cheaper for the buyer and remove parking requirements for certain housing projects.Parking has long been one of the most divisive political issues in The City, with the battle lines generally drawn between business advocacy groups and transit-first advocates. While one group feels there is a need for additional parking, the other group views parking as a threat to transit-first policies and efforts to protect the......

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Flower Mart deal possibly blooming

Published: Jan 19, 2008

A compromise may be in the works that could prevent a complete closure of San Francisco’s beloved and decades-old Flower Mart, according to an attorney for the Academy of Art, which has plans to buy the site for new sculpture studios.On Friday, city and state leaders flexed their political muscle at a Friday afternoon rally to protest the deal, which has already led to eviction notices being sent to 30 small business owners. "It’s about a way of life that has gone on for almost a hundred years with people......

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Mayor’s appointees held up by supervisors

Published: Jan 18, 2008

Just weeks into 2008 and politics are already heating up City Hall, with members of the Board of Supervisors holding up three of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s appointees to The City’s transportation board.As part of Newsom’s promised shake-up at City Hall, he replaced three members on the seven-member Municipal Transportation Agency board of directors, which oversees all things Muni, long criticized for being slow and unreliable. Among those Newsom disposed of was Leah Shahum, who is also executive director of the politically influential San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.MTA board members are all......

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Newsom’s appointees held up by supervisors

Published: Jan 18, 2008

Just weeks into 2008 and politics are already heating up City Hall, with members of the Board of Supervisors holding up three of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s appointees to The City’s transportation board.As part of Newsom’s promised shake-up at City Hall, he replaced three members on the seven-member Municipal Transportation Agency board of directors, which oversees all things Muni, long criticized for being slow and unreliable. Among those Newsom disposed of was Continued...

 

Newsom spends big amid $229M deficit

Published: Jan 17, 2008

Mayor Gavin Newsom is bolstering his internal staff while asking other city departments to reduce spending. Newsom recently made sweeping changes in his inner circle and increased the salaries of several positions. Additionally, Newsom is funding one position with money from the cash-strapped Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees Muni. Newsom announced in November a projected $229 million deficit for next fiscal year and subsequently instituted a hiring freeze. He directed departments to reduce spending and also told department heads to submit budgets for the next fiscal year identifying cuts of......

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Affordable homes, solar panel incentive could be put to vote on June ballot

Published: Jan 16, 2008

An incentive to build family housing, a tightening up of campaign finance rules and giving cash to those who install solar panels are three proposals that city officials would like to put before voters this June.A measure can end up on the ballot with the support of four members of the Board of Supervisors; the mayor also has the singular power to submit a measure for the ballot. This practice has been criticized for not allowing enough public scrutiny of the measures. However, voters did approve of more open discussion......

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Measure aimed at shortage of police officers

Published: Jan 14, 2008

Next month voters will be asked to approve a ballot measure that would give San Francisco police officers both a salary and a pension if they stayed on past retirement.The San Francisco Police Officers Association gathered the 41,672 signatures required to place a city charter amendment on the Feb. 5 ballot to create a "deferred retirement option program," or DROP.An officer, who is at least 50 years......

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Chu now officially fills Ed Jew’s shoes

Published: Jan 14, 2008

Mayor Gavin Newsom quietly swore in Carmen Chu as District 4 supervisor Friday evening, hours after embattled Supervisor Ed Jew’s resignation took effect.Newsom had appointed Chu as interim supervisor on Sept. 25, after suspending Jew from office for official misconduct as criminal and civil cases were being lodged against him for perjury, extortion and misrepresenting where he resided.Chu, 29, previously worked in Newsom’s budget office, and was serving as interim supervisor with no prior political experience.It appears as if Chu......

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Bridge board rebuffs Doyle Drive toll proposal

Published: Jan 14, 2008

After a heated exchange between San Francisco and Marin County politicians Friday, the agency that oversees the Golden Gate Bridge held off on taking a position on a proposed toll on Doyle Drive, the southern approach to the famous span.A toll is being proposed as a revenue source to help fund the seismic upgrade of Doyle Drive.The idea of......

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Embattled supervisor resigns post

Published: Jan 11, 2008

Under a settlement agreement with the city attorney, the resignation of suspended Supervisor Ed Jew goes into effect today at noon, closing a chapter in San Francisco politics described by his legislative colleagues as both disgraceful and bizarre. Just months after being elected, Jew wound up in legal hot water, indicted by a federal grand jury for extorting cash bribes from local business owners and accused of not living in the district he represents. Continued...

 

Healthy S.F. can move forward

Published: Jan 10, 2008

The City can move forward with a groundbreaking program that provides sliding-scale health services for San Francisco’s uninsured residents, as well as impose the legally contested requirement that has some businesses paying up to $1.76 per employee hour worked, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.Healthy San Francisco was created through an ordinance adopted in 2006 to provide sliding-scale health care for the city’s 73,000 uninsured. The $200 million program was to be funded through state, federal and city dollars along with revenue from an employer spending requirement, slated to go......

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Affordable-housing measure headed to November ballot

Published: Jan 09, 2008

A measure that would put millions of taxpayer dollars into building affordable housing was approved by the Board of Supervisors for the November ballot Tuesday, with the support of The City’s state representatives. Advocates of the charter amendment say the measure is necessary as San Francisco’s soaring housing prices have families and the working class fleeing The City, destroying its diversity. "This is and remains the most pressing issue facing San Franciscans," said Continued...

 

Storm handicaps Bay Area commuters

Published: Jan 05, 2008

San Francisco was rocked Friday by the powerful punch of the biggest winter storm in two years with high winds and heavy rains disrupting transit service, causing widespread power outages and road and bridge closures. The winds were so powerful, blowing 40 mph to 50 mph with gusts reaching up to 70 mph, that a skylight was ripped off of Washington High School and scaffolding blew off a building......

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Newsom keeps Fong on as police chief

Published: Jan 05, 2008

Police Chief Heather Fong remains at her post despite months of speculation that she would be forced out as part of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s request of resignation letters from department heads. On the day Newsom announced who is out and who is in, Fong jointly announced promotions to the department’s command staff. City officials and the Police Officers Association......

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Three storms to wallop San Francisco

Published: Jan 04, 2008

The second of three back-to-back storms from the Pacific Northwest is expected to pound San Francisco today, bringing heavy winds and about one-fifth of the rain The City saw during last year’s rainy season. By the end of today, The City is expected to get up to four inches of rain, followed by another storm bringing lighter rain, which is not expected to break until Wednesday, according to the......

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Could gang injunction list be fast track for city services?

Published: Jan 03, 2008

Gang members targeted by The City would have priority over other people to receive The City’s educational, housing and other social service programs, under legislation being drafted by Public Defender Jeff Adachi. Adachi’s proposal is the latest move in a public feud with City Attorney Dennis Herrera over civil gang injunctions. A gang injunction is a legal court order that prevents suspected gang members from participating in certain activities —......

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Newsom pitches idea of an open office

Published: Dec 29, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom is literally restructuring his office, with plans to throw city staffers into one room on the second floor of City Hall, the latest confirmedchange being made for his upcoming second term in office. An open office, otherwise known as a bullpen, will be created in Room 201, across the hall from Newsom’s office, around the time he is sworn in for his second term on Jan. 8, Newsom’s spokesman Continued...

 

Ed Jew FBI raid unsealed

Published: Dec 21, 2007

Computers, $10,000 in cash, and financial statements were among items seized at properties owned by suspended San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew, according to documents unsealed this week by a federal judge. Three bags of hollow-point bullets and $20,000 in cash were also found at the home of Robert Chan, an alleged co-conspirator of Jew, according to FBI documents, who is now battling federal extortion charges. The latest details surrounding the much-followed legal wrangling of the rookie supervisor come from a federal application and affidavit for a search warrant, in addition......

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City ‘shortchanging’ road fixes

Published: Dec 20, 2007

Drivers, bikers, walkers beware — the decrepit conditions of San Francisco’s roads are not deserving of good grades. In a report issued Wednesday by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a regional transportation planning and funding agency, San Francisco’s 2,060 miles of roadway were determined to be only "fair." This is not the first year that The City’s roads received little more than a passing grade. San Francisco’s roads were rated 65 out of 100 between 2003 and 2005 and 64 in 2006. The Bay Area’s roadwaysfared about the same overall. Roads......

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Unfilled jobs slashed, OT cuts requested

Published: Dec 18, 2007

Nearly three weeks after sounding the alarm bells about a $229 million budget shortfall next fiscal year, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Monday that he was eliminating more than 1,600 unfilled city jobs and ordered departments to reduce overtime costs.By way of an executive directive, Newsom canceled 1,679 unfilled city positions, saying it would "mitigate the effects of the looming $229 million deficit.Newsom also issued a directive ordering the reduction of overtime. "Overtime costs for the current fiscal year are on......

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Hospitals' ability to handle crisis is deteriorating

Published: Dec 18, 2007

Half of The City’s hospitals are considered overcrowded and in less than 25 years will suffer a shortage of hundreds of acute-care beds, according to a report that will be discussed today by the Health Commission."There will be a significant shortage of acute hospital beds in San Francisco by 2030," according to a newly released report conducted for the Controller’s Office by Continued...

 

Chu says homeless in Sunset

Published: Dec 13, 2007

In her most aggressive political move since being appointed in September, interim Supervisor Carmen Chu publicly demanded that several city departments come up with a specific plan to address her west side district’s homeless problem.The District 4 supervisor is holding a community meeting Monday to address increasing complaints from her constituents that The City’s recent efforts to clear Golden Gate Park of homeless people has increased their numbers in......

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Four charter amendments proposed for June ballot

Published: Dec 12, 2007

On the last day to submit possible charter amendments for the June 2008 ballot came measures to address the city’s ballooning retiree health care costs and one to increase the Board of Supervisors influence on The City’s Public Utilities Commission. In total, four charter amendments for the summer ballot were introduced Tuesday at the Board of Supervisors, joining four that were previously submitted. Charter amendments proposed bythe Board of Supervisors require a vote of support from at......

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Voting machines approved in time for next election

Published: Dec 12, 2007

Postponed vote tallies and aging voting machines are not in store for the February election as The City approved a four-year $12.6 million contract with a new voting-machine vendor Tuesday, despite concerns from critics about the accuracy of machine tallies.Official results for this November’s election were not available for weeks due to problems with The City’s aging voting machines, which resulted in the California secretary of state approving them only for conditional use and requiring a portion of ballots to be......

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Doyle Drive plan may hit brakes

Published: Dec 10, 2007

A $158 million federal grant for fighting Bay Area gridlock could be lost if the state Legislature does not meet a spring deadline to give a city agency the authority to impose a toll on the heavily trafficked and aging Doyle Drive.The Bay Area received the funds through the federal Urban Partnership Program. Grantees were required to include some form of congestion pricing — which penalizes drivers for using key thoroughfares during peak driving hours — in order to qualify for the funds.Of the $158 million awarded to the Bay......

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Retiree health care revamp eyed

Published: Dec 07, 2007

Faced with burgeoning costs for retiree health care benefits, The City could look to voters this June to approve benefit changes for new public employees.In 2000, The City shelled out $17 million in retiree health care costs; during this fiscal year those costs have skyrocketed to $115 million. During the next 30 years, The City is looking at $4 billion in unfunded retiree health care costs, according to the City Controller’s Office.Supervisor Sean Elsbernd said he will introduce a charter amendment Tuesday that would make significant changes to The City’s......

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Ammiano: Gas prices would drop if refiners sold stations

Published: Dec 06, 2007

Drivers could potentially save a little money at the pumps if The City forces oil refiners to sell off company-owned gas stations within San Francisco, according to one city supervisor.Under legislation introduced by Supervisor Tom Ammiano, oil refiners would be required to sell off their company-owned gas stations within two years. Doing so, according to Ammiano, would increase competition, affecting the fuel prices at San Francisco’s 107 gas stations, which......

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Supes near voting machine contract

Published: Dec 06, 2007

Nine months after refusing to enter into a $12 million contract for new voting machines, the Board of Supervisors appears ready to approve the deal in the wake of November’s election, which resulted in litigation, hand counting of ballots and yet-to-be certified results.In February, Elections Director John Arntz advised the Board of Supervisors to approve a four-year contract with a new vendor, Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. The board’s Budget and Finance Committee, then chaired by Supervisor Chris Daly, instead sided with voting-advocacy groups that said the contract should not be......

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Affordable housing gains ground

Published: Dec 05, 2007

A few months after falling out of the political grace of his colleagues, Supervisor Chris Daly is now gaining support from some board members for a charter amendment that would set aside millions of dollarsfrom the San Francisco’s general fund for below-market-rate housing.Daly found himself estranged from the Board of Supervisors earlier this year during budget talks when he publicly feuded with Mayor Gavin Newsom over the mayor’s funding priorities. Daly ultimately threatened to hack into Newsom’s proposed budget — he targeted dollars for street repairs and police staffing —......

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Report shows no love for Muni

Published: Dec 04, 2007

Muni’s on-time performance is failing to live up to the service level San Francisco voters said they wanted eight years ago and some buses have barely shown up on schedule half of the time during the last six years.Passengers who travel on the 81X-Caltrain Express — which runs in the morning hours from Townsend and Fourth streets to Beale and Howard streets crossing Market Street twice — have the distinction of boarding the worst on-time performing bus in the Muni system. This bus has shown up on schedule only an......

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Ed Jew’s lawyer given time to review case

Published: Dec 01, 2007

Having to review hours of FBI taped conversations and nearly 2,000 pages of evidence, suspended Supervisor Ed Jew’s attorney was granted more time to prepare for the criminal trial that has Jew fighting public corruption charges. Without objection from prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Friday morning granted a postponement of the hearing to set a trial start date and told both parties to show up in federal court Jan. 18. It was Jew’s first federal court appearance since pleading not guilty to five......

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Mayor warns of $229M shortfall

Published: Nov 29, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that The City is facing a projected $229 million budget shortfall next fiscal year and ordered department heads to cease hiring new employees and start looking at ways to trim their budgets by as much as 13 percent.Despite revenue growth and a strong local economy, Newsom, in a 10 a.m. meeting with department heads "called for some serious belt tightening," Newsom’s spokesman Nathan Ballard said.The mayor requested an immediate hiring freeze and told department heads that by Feb. 1, budgets should be submitted for the......

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Commission agrees to 69 more taxicabs

Published: Nov 28, 2007

Sixty-nine more taxicabs will begin cruising for fares along San Francisco streets in the coming months after approval by the Taxicab Commission on Tuesday.The addition of taxicabs on city streets is meant to improve service, reducing the time it takes for a cab to arrive after calling for one or making it easier to hail one on the fly. The unavailability of cabs has become a regular complaint received by the commission.In February, the commission increased the number of cabs by 50. At that time, commission staff had recommended 100......

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Ed Jew’s attorney certain he can win

Published: Nov 27, 2007

The lawyer defending Ed Jew against state charges that the suspended supervisor lied about his residency said Monday that, while he needed more time to work on the case before going to trial, he and his client remained "confident."One of four legal battles facing the embattled legislator, the state’s criminal trial, could begin in April.Appearing in San Francisco Superior Court on Monday, Jew’s attorney Stuart Hanlon was granted a request to postpone until Feb. 5 the hearing to set the start date of the criminal trial. Hanlon, who took over......

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Harvey Milk film could mark industry turnaround in San Francisco

Published: Nov 27, 2007

San Francisco’s lackluster film industry received its first bit of good news in a while — production of a biopic on Harvey Milk will be filmed in The City for eight weeks beginning in January.While shooting the film in San Francisco, where the story takes place, may seem like the obvious choice, productions with story lines based in San Francisco no longer tend to film here. Instead, according to city officials, they run through San Francisco for a few days shooting exterior shots and film the production elsewhere where it......

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Report: Foot patrols stomping out crime

Published: Nov 24, 2007

One of last year’s most heated political debates — San Francisco’s move to increase the number of police officers walking the streets — is part of a nationwide trend that is reducing crime in cities and making people feel safer, according to a consultant’s report. Cities that take a "modern approach" to foot patrols, deploying them based on crime data and results, "appear to be making significant differences in crime rates and the enhanced perceptions of safety," said a report issued by Public Safety Strategies Group. The City has hired......

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Commission poised to add even more cabs

Published: Nov 23, 2007

San Francisco’s streets could see an additional 69 taxicabs — for a total of 1,500 — as proponents of an increase say the boost will bring relief to those frustrated with how long it takes to catch a cab. The Taxicab Commission meets Tuesday, when it will decide whether to add more taxis, reviving the hotly debated issue months after having voted in February to increase the number of cabs by 50. Previously, the number of cabs had been frozen at 1,381 for more than six years. The approved 50......

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Chain stores targeted again

Published: Nov 23, 2007

San Francisco continues to roll up the welcome mat for chain stores as the Mission and Bernal Heights could become the next two neighborhoods to enact bans on such stores. In 2004, the Board of Supervisors adopted its first-ever ban on chain stores — those businesses more than 10 locations nationwide — in Hayes Valley, followed by a ban on chain stores in North Beach. In 2006, 58 percent of San Francisco voters, or 125,728, passed Proposition G, which required all chain stores that want to open up in The......

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Restrictions sought to prevent opening of discount outlets

Published: Nov 23, 2007

Discount "dollar stores" popping up throughout The City have rankled one supervisor who says they need to be stopped. Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval requested on Tuesday that the city attorney draft legislation that would require dollar stores to undergo a cumbersome process to obtain a city permit to open up for business. Similar to what voters approved last year for chain stores, all so-called dollar stores would need to obtain a conditional use permit to open. These permits require a hearing before the Planning Commission, public notification and allow someone to......

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Supervisor Daly’s conduct measure suffers solid defeat

Published: Nov 21, 2007

A proposal to ban sexual or romantic relationships between city bosses and employees was soundly defeated at the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday after critics called it unnecessary. Introduced in August by Supervisor Chris Daly, the legislation was seen as a veiled reference to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s acknowledgment earlier this year that he had a sexual affair with his former appointment secretary. The Board of Supervisors defeated the bill in a 10-1 vote Tuesday, with Daly casting the only "yes" vote. Daly never referred to the affair during the meeting......

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Cabbies decry proposal to boost daily fee — but not fares

Published: Nov 20, 2007

Some cabdrivers are fuming over a proposal to enact a 20 percent increase on the charge they must pay to taxicab companies to drive a cab — while at the same time not raising the fares they are allowed to charge. Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier has introduced legislation that would increasethe gate fee cabdrivers pay The City’s three largest cab companies — Luxor Cab Co., Yellow Cab Cooperative and De Soto Cab Co. — to drive a cab for a 10-hour shift from $91.50 to $110, and allow for automatic inflation-indexed......

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Cabbies decry proposal to boost daily fee — but not fares

Published: Nov 20, 2007

Some cabdrivers are fuming over a proposal to enact a 20 percent increase on the charge they must pay to taxicab companies to drive a cab — while at the same time not raising the fares they are allowed to charge. Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier has introduced legislation that would increase the gate fee cabdrivers pay The City’s three largest cab companies — Luxor Cab Co., Yellow Cab Cooperative and De Soto Cab Co. — to drive a cab for a 10-hour shift from $91.50 to $110, and allow for automatic......

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ShotSpotter's sights set on S.F. districts

Published: Nov 15, 2007

Within 90 days, San Francisco will have in place a high–tech network that detects in seconds when a gun is fired and where the shooter is located.The technology known as ShotSpotter, created by Mountain View-based ShotSpotter Inc., will be installed in the Bayview district and the Western Addition for a one-year pilot program.The program comes as San Francisco’s homicide count is approaching the decade-high 96 slayings of two years ago. Of last year’s 85 homicides, the majority were committed with a gun. The Police Department receives 2,300 to 2,400 calls......

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Green light for park road closure

Published: Nov 14, 2007

A compromise to close down a stretch of roadway to cars in Golden Gate Park on Saturdays — similar to a road closure on Sundays — was adopted Tuesday but not without criticism. The decades-old debate about a Saturday road closure in the park was seemingly over after Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office brokered a compromise in April between those for and against the road closure.The closure had been the subject of two defeated ballot measures as well as legislation that was vetoed by Newsom. Opponents had argued that the Saturday......

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S.F. no longer blowing smoke about ban

Published: Nov 13, 2007

The City has just issued the first-ever $100 fine for violating a ban on smoking in San Francisco’s parks even though the law is more than two years old and people continue to smoke in parks. The first citation was issued last week to a patron of Chinatown’s Portsmouth Square, which has received attention recently from several city departments after Mayor Gavin Newsom visited the park in March and was angered by its condition.The City Administrator’s Office — in conjunction with other departments including the Police Department and Public Works......

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Targeting gunfire would cost $400K

Published: Nov 12, 2007

Struggling to bring down the homicide rate and gun violence, The City is turning to a high-tech gadget that will immediately alert law enforcement when a gun is fired and figure out the location of the shooter within seconds — as thousands of shots are fired in San Francisco every year.San Francisco would follow other cities, such as Oakland and Redwood City, which have implemented ShotSpotter technology, which uses acoustic sensors to detect shots fired and the location. The City wants to roll out the technology as a pilot program......

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Supe aims to shield hotel rooms from condo conversions

Published: Nov 09, 2007

A prohibition on San Francisco’s large hotels converting rooms into high-end condominiums is being proposed, city officials said, to protect the tourism industry, jobs and the hundreds of millions of dollars The City receives annually in hotel room tax revenue.The proposal is not a new idea, but builds on an interim prohibition approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2005.Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin had introduced a ban at that time as several hotels — including Nob Hill’s Fairmont Hotel, located in Peskin’s district — were considering converting hundreds......

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Ed Jew's attorney: 'He didn’t do it'

Published: Nov 08, 2007

After pleading not guilty Wednesday to five felony charges for mail fraud, bribery and extortion, suspended Supervisor Ed Jew was outside of federal court smiling even as he faces three other legal battles waged against him for allegedly lying about where he lived to hold office.A federal grand jury indicted Jew on Tuesday on two counts of mail fraud, two counts of bribery and one count of extortion for allegedly soliciting cash bribes totaling $84,000 from local businesses in exchange for permit help. On his way into federal court Wednesday......

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Grand jury indicts Ed Jew

Published: Nov 07, 2007

In the latest twist in the political scandal involving suspended freshman Supervisor Ed Jew, a federal grand jury indicted the politician Tuesday on five felony charges of mail fraud, extortion and bribery in connection with an alleged scheme to solicit cash bribes from local businesses.Jew is expected to be arraigned this morning in federal court on two counts of mail fraud, two counts of bribery and one count of extortion.The latest documents allege that Jew involved himself in a lease dispute between two rival businesses and then used his political......

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No-car Saturdays plan steps on gas

Published: Nov 06, 2007

A Saturday closure of a stretch of roadway in Golden Gate Park to cars is expected to go into place for at least another four years after the warring parties on both sides of the debate have agreed to lay down their arms.In April, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Office brokered a compromise between those for and against a Saturday road closure in Golden Gate Park to allow for recreational uses, similar to a Sunday road closure that has been in place for 40 years.Opponents had argued that the Saturday closure would......

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Filing deadline for February ballot quietly passes by

Published: Nov 05, 2007

The deadline for initiatives to be placed on the February 2008 ballot came and went with no submissions, a clear break from what has occurred in the past when there have been a number of last-minute measures submitted. While there was speculation of possible ballot measures, when it came down to Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline for Mayor Gavin Newsom or at least four members of the Board of Supervisors to submit them to the Elections Department, all was quiet.What this means is that the biggest local issue facing voters at......

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Another day, another lawsuit

Published: Nov 02, 2007

Suspended Supervisor Ed Jew is now embroiled in three lawsuits after City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a civil lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court on Thursday afternoon to oust him from office on the grounds that he violated The City’s residency requirements for an elected official.The lawsuit contends Jew did not reside at the 2450 28th Ave. home in the Sunset district as he claimed — or any other house in the district — between July 2006 and May 2007, which he was required to do under the City Charter.......

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Supe wants spending cap boosted

Published: Nov 02, 2007

When at least six seats are up for grabs in the next Board of Supervisors election, candidates receiving public financing could have a lot more spending power under legislation expected to be voted on Tuesday.Supervisor Chris Daly has introduced legislation that would increase the voluntary spending cap candidates must adhere to in order to receive public financing. The bill would also increase the amount of public financing a candidate could receive. The proposal comes as six board seats are up for grabs in the November 2008 election, with four races......

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Proposal seeks to revive workforce plan

Published: Nov 01, 2007

Following a scathing audit of The City’s workforce program, a proposal to centralize job placement efforts and establish accountability measures is being widely embraced.An August audit conducted by Budget Analyst Harvey Rose found the city’s multimillion dollar program was failing to place desperate workers in jobs and was riddled with inefficiencies.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi has introduced legislation to centralize the city’s workforce efforts under the direction of Rhonda Simmons, who Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed last year as the director of Workforce Development — a new position created to oversee the improvement......

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Quake shakes Bay Area, hits 5.6

Published: Oct 31, 2007

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake that shook the Bay Area on Tuesday evening was centered in the San Jose area along the Calaveras fault, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.The epicenter of the 8:04 p.m. quake was near Alum Rock, in the Diablo Range foothills east of San Jose — not far from the home of San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. Pictures fell off the walls of Reed’s house, but the mayor said there was no major damage there. "It wasa pretty strong ride here," Reed said.The quake occurred about 5.7......

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Mayor's Office reaches power-plant deal

Published: Oct 31, 2007

Potrero Hill’s aging and polluting power plant would shut down and be replaced by a new and cleaner one under a proposal backed by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday as the Mayor’s Office struck a deal with the plant’s owner, assuring its closure in exchange for being able to redevelop the site.Opponents of the proposal to build a $230 million combustion turbine power plant said renewable energy sources and not another a fuel-burning plant should be pursued. Supporters said a new plant is the only way to satisfy state requirements......

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‘Healthy Saturdays’ may gain longer life

Published: Oct 30, 2007

The hotly debated closure of a stretch of roadway in Golden Gate Park to traffic on Saturdays would go into place for at least five years under legislation to be introduced today.Earlier this year, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office helped broker a deal between those historically opposed and those in favor of a Saturday closure, which supporters say would be similar to a closure on Sundays.As part of the deal, a trial closure was implemented this year for four months, between May and September, with the understanding that trailing legislation would......

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Clean energy up in smoke?

Published: Oct 30, 2007

A plan to build a cleaner Potrero Hill power plant in hopes of shutting down anexisting and more polluting one in the neighborhood was supported Monday by some members of the Board of Supervisors amid criticism that The City should only pursue renewable energy sources.A resolution supporting the plan — a $230 million combustion turbine power plant to generate 150 megawatts of electricity within The City — was approved by the Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee on Monday and will be up for a vote by the full board......

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Sweatshop stance too harsh?

Published: Oct 26, 2007

San Francisco’s landmark anti-sweatshop ordinance has turned out to be too tough and needs to be relaxed, city officials said.The ordinance, which was unanimously passed by the Board of Supervisors in 2005 and supported by Mayor Gavin Newsom, placed restrictions on city contracts to ensure garment-related products are manufactured in fair and humane working conditions. However, since its adoption, no company has met the requirements and several contracts have been signed after a waiver was granted. Supervisor Tom Ammiano has introduced amendments to the law to give The City flexibility......

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Supes call relationship bill redundant

Published: Oct 26, 2007

A sexual relationship between a City Hall manager and an employee is at risk of being outlawed under proposed legislation that is seen as a veiled reference to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s acknowledgment earlier this year that he had a sexual affair with his former appointment secretary.Supervisor Chris Daly, who introduced the legislation, has denied that it’s a "swipe" at Newsom, and said he is calling it a "pro-worker piece of legislation."Supervisor Sean Elsbernd questioned the need for it, given the current laws on the books, while Supervisor Tom Ammiano made......

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Appointee proposal doesn’t make cut

Published: Oct 25, 2007

A charter amendment that would ensure those convicted of felonies or recently involved in political campaigns are not appointed to several key city commissions was kept off the ballot — again.Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, who introduced the charter amendment, was unable to secure the six votes from the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to place it on the February 2008 ballot. Alioto-Pier had introduced a similar version in 2005. She has not given up and has reintroduced the charter amendment, hoping now to get it on the June 2008 ballot.The charter......

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Panel: City IDs are in the cards

Published: Oct 25, 2007

Those living in San Francisco — regardless of their immigration status — could soon be able to obtain a city identification card that could open the door to city services, be used to open bank accounts and be honored by local police.By next fall, those who can supply the required documentation to prove their identity and residency in San Francisco would be able to obtain a city ID card from the county clerk at City Hall. A $15 fee would be levied for an adult, $5 if the applicant is......

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Supe intensifies call for events office

Published: Oct 24, 2007

The City moved closer Tuesday to creating a special events office after failing to set up an alternative Halloween event meant to keep throngs of people from attending an unofficial Halloween party in the Castro neighborhood.On Tuesday, Supervisor Bevan Dufty, whose district includes the Castro, asked the city attorney to draft legislation that would create a special events office within the Mayor’s Office. The special events office would serve as a one-stop shop for event promoters and work toward setting up and attracting special events citywide. Dufty said he made......

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Supe looks to expand ban on alcohol sales

Published: Oct 24, 2007

The crackdown on allowing new liquor stores to open up for business in San Francisco’s most troubled neighborhoods continues with a proposal to prohibit new alcohol permits along upper Mission Street.Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval introduced legislation Tuesday that would enact a five-year moratorium on new permits for liquor stores along Mission Street from Silver Avenue to the Daly City border. In just a 10-block area along Mission Street between Silver and Rolph streets, there are eight existing liquor stores. The legislation would create the sixth area in San Francisco that prohibits......

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SF film industry flickering out

Published: Oct 23, 2007

San Francisco’s declining film industry has resulted in hefty losses over the last six years — more than $123 million in local spending, more than $8 million in local and state tax dollars and nearly 2,000 jobs, according to a report released by the San Francisco Film Commission. City officials have blamed San Francisco’s decline of the film industry — which peaked in 1999 — mainly on the enormous financial incentives other states and foreign cities have created to lure film productions. Industry insiders continuously point to the increasing costs......

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Lawsuit to oust Ed Jew can move forward

Published: Oct 19, 2007

City Attorney Dennis Herrera was given the green light Thursday by the state attorney general to file a lawsuit against suspended Supervisor Ed Jew to permanently oust him from office.Herrera said he will decide in "short order" if he would move ahead with a civil lawsuit against Jew for allegedly lying about where he lived in order to run for office. The lawsuit would become Jew’s third court battle; he is also facing a misconduct hearing before the Ethics Commission. Jew continues to maintain his innocence on all charges.Herrera requested......

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Daly tries another housing measure

Published: Oct 18, 2007

A supervisor wants voters to decide whether The City should be required to spend nearly $100 million annually on below-market-rate housing and other residential needs.Supervisor Chris Daly reached out to his colleagues Tuesday, handing them a letter that asked for support of a charter amendment to legally require The City to put money toward housing. Daly wants it on the November 2008 ballot, which would require the approval of at least six members of the 11-member board.While Daly’s effort has begun early in the game, he said that when he......

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Coming soon: New marquees?

Published: Oct 17, 2007

Those old-style, eye-catching movie theater marquees and projecting signs could remain a distinguishing feature of neighborhoods for years to come under legislation introduced Tuesday.Most of San Francisco’s historic movie theaters are in neighborhoods with zoning restrictions that prohibit the reconstruction, rehabilitation or restoration of marquees and projecting signs.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi introduced legislation Tuesday that would remove those prohibitions to allow theaters to replace such signage, which would be necessary as they age or in cases where they had been removed years ago. "Marquees and projecting signs often serve as important......

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Supe aims to close sex-offender loophole

Published: Oct 16, 2007

A supervisor is condemning the application of a new state sex-offender law that is allowing those on parole to register as homeless, making it more difficult for law enforcement to monitor them.Jessica’s Law was approved by California voters on Nov. 8, 2006, creating tougher penalties for sex offenders and tougher restrictions for released sex offenders, including prohibiting them from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park where children gather. The new residency requirement severely limits possible locations where a sex offender can take up residency in San Francisco.......

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New cabs haven’t materialized

Published: Oct 15, 2007

Nearly eight months ago, The City decided to allow 50 more taxicabs to pick up fares in an effort to cut down on long waits. But with the holiday season approaching and the convention business in full swing, those cabs have yet to hit the streets.The Taxicab Commission approved on Feb. 27 the issuance of 50 more medallions, or permits to drive cabs, with the expectation that those cabs would begin cruising for fares by September, bringing relief to those frustrated over the unavailability of cabs. Half of the people......

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Partiers’ ‘peak’ needs may be met

Published: Oct 09, 2007

Allowing more taxis on the streets only during the busiest times could be the solution to those long waits for a cab, especially on weekends.The Taxicab Commissionis holding a hearing today to discuss the concept of "peak-time" permits to drive a cab only when the cabs are in the highest demand, such as Friday and Saturday nights. Allowing more cabs to serve The City is always a controversial subject because cabdrivers worry that more cabs means less business, especially during the slow times when cabs can ride around for hours......

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Handsome pay on the way out

Published: Oct 09, 2007

Longtime city employees are collecting big cash payouts when they leave their jobs — in some cases more than $200,000 — from unused sick hours, vacation hours and comp time, according to information from the Controller’s Office.During last fiscal year, the largest cash payout went to Melinda Pengel, who served in the Police Department for 31 years and finished up her service as the deputy chief of police in the Airport Bureau. Pengel received $214,831 on top of her $114,173 salary, according to the Controller’s Office. She received a payment......

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Ed Jew's attorney moves to quit defense

Published: Oct 04, 2007

One of suspended Supervisor Ed Jew’s attorneys is quitting the high-profile criminal case that has the rookie politician fighting nine felony counts brought against him by the district attorney for allegedly lying about where he lived in order to run for office.Jew’s attorney Bill Fazio filed a motion Wednesday morning with the San Francisco Superior Court requesting permission to quit. A superior court judge will hold a hearing on the request Friday morning. Fazio’s checking out could result in a postponement of the trial’s Oct. 26 start date.Fazio declined to......

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City Hall computers found vulnerable

Published: Oct 04, 2007

City Hall is apparently dysfunctional when it comes to computer technology.The City lacks adequate security, puts important public information at risk, fails to upgrade software appropriately and does not have a good plan for purchasing new technology, according to a city audit released Wednesday by the Budget Analyst’s Office. The IT challenges exist despite the fact that in the last fiscal year alone The City sank $173 million into information technology systems — including personnel, hardware and software, according to the audit. Even when The City attempts to improve its......

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Daly blasts Newsom's SoMa homeless plan

Published: Oct 03, 2007

The Mayor’s Office is about to start targeting homeless people in the South of Market Area using tactics similar to those employed when sweeping homeless people at Golden Gate Park. The pilot program, dubbed "downtown outreach plan," will have three separate teams of police officers and social service staff working in a 15-block area, from Third Street to Fifth Street and Market to Harrison streets, according to a Sept. 28 memo from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s deputy chief of staff, Julian Potter, to Newsom’s chief of staff, Phil Ginsburg."Any person committing......

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Ed Jew puts commission in new waters

Published: Oct 02, 2007

A special meeting by the Ethics Commission to determine how it will proceed with a misconduct hearing on suspended supervisor Ed Jew will not happen this week but possibly next week, according to the commission’s executive director, John St. Croix.The commission is making political history by holding its first ever misconduct hearing for an elected official after Mayor Gavin Newsom suspended Jew from office on Sept. 25 and charged him with official misconduct for allegedly not living in the district he represents, as is required.Under the City Charter, the Ethics......

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Defiant S.F. housing chief resigns

Published: Sep 28, 2007

Public-housing chief Gregg Fortner resigned Thursday night amid strained relations with Mayor Gavin Newsom over conditions at the Housing Authority’s crime-plagued sites.Fortner, whose resignation takes effect Jan. 4, 2008, has served for seven years as director of the federally funded housing agency, which operates about 6,360 apartments for low-income tenants in various San Francisco locations."Over the last two weeks, City Hall staff has expressed to me the mayor’s feeling that it is time to make a change in the leadership at the San Francisco Housing Authority. I agree," Fortner said......

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Holding facility to open at SFO

Published: Sep 27, 2007

The Human Rights Commission is expected to formally announce today the creation of a new holding facility at the San Francisco International Airport where noncriminals denied entry can wait for a return flight home instead of having to spend time at the Santa Clara County Jail.The new holding facility was created in the aftermath of the August 2006 detention of about 30 Iranian graduates of a prestigious engineering school. While some of the students were able to arrange for return flights in a timely manner, 16 who could not wound......

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Newsom suspends supervisor Ed Jew

Published: Sep 26, 2007

Slapped with misconduct charges and suspended from office by Mayor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, Ed Jew has yet to file legal action to block his removal after his attorney had threatened to do so days earlier.The name "Ed Jew" on the District 4 supervisor’s City Hall office door was scratched off Tuesday morning as Newsom announced that he suspended the Sunset supervisor from office and filed charges against him that could result in his removal and named his interim replacement. "I don’t think that the supervisor can govern in an......

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Newsom aide donates to rival

Published: Sep 25, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s senior adviser has "egg on his face" after sinking $95 into the war chest of one of the mayor’s election opponents who goes by the name of Chicken John.A senior adviser to Newsom, Michael Farrah, who was part of Newsom’s wedding party — and, for that matter, Newsom was part of Farrah’s wedding party — made the political contribution last month. The donation was noted on election papers filed by Chicken John, aka John Rinaldi, with the Ethics Commission to qualify for public campaign financing for the......

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Feds accuse Ed Jew of fraud

Published: Sep 21, 2007

Supervisor Ed Jew had a meeting in his City Hall office on March 14 with the owner of a tapioca-drink store in his district and demanded $20,000 to make city permit troubles disappear. He then threatened that the price would increase to $50,000 if the cash wasn’t coughed up soon, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Thursday. Jew allegedly later told the owner of the Irving Street Quickly store to round up other owners of the 12-store chain for the same shakedown. On May 4 — under the surveillance of......

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Ed Jew’s attorney wins motion to delay start of trial

Published: Sep 20, 2007

After embattled Supervisor Ed Jew’s attorney criticized the district attorney for not proceeding immediately to a criminal trial in order to save time, he won a motion Wednesday to delay the trial’s start date.Jew’s attorney Bill Fazio claimed that prosecutors have been "piling the evidence on me like I’ve never seen before in 30 years of practice." He said he has to comb through "9,000 pages of discovery" and review a recently received list of 86 potential witnesses."There was no wayI was going to be ready by next Friday," Fazio......

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S.F. mayoral candidate ‘Grasshopper’ arrested

Published: Sep 19, 2007

The mayoral candidate known as Grasshopper showed up at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting and wound up leaving in handcuffs, his latest run-in with the law since launching his own investigation into Supervisor Ed Jew’s claim about living in the district he represents.Alec Kaplan, or Grasshopper, is under a restraining order preventing him from coming too close to Jew, the controversy-plagued District 4 supervisor. Kaplan is allowed to attend Board of Supervisors meetings if he sits in the back. On Tuesday, Kaplan sat in the back of the board chambers,......

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Are municipal IDs in the cards for S.F.?

Published: Sep 19, 2007

San Francisco could become the first large city in the nation to issue illegal immigrants as well as other residents a municipal identification card that establishes their residency and opens up the door to a number of city services.Supervisor Tom Ammiano introduced the so-called Municipal Identification Card legislation Tuesday and has gained the support of six other colleagues on the board, making its adoption likely. Mayor Gavin Newsom has also signaled his support of a city-issued ID card.San Francisco would begin issuing such ID cards nine months from adoption of......

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Huge shortfall for library renovations in S.F.

Published: Sep 18, 2007

Lack of oversight, staff vacancies and construction delays have contributed to a $50 million shortfall in The City’s ambitious project to overhaul its branch libraries, according to a report released Monday by the Office of the Controller.In 2000, San Francisco voters approved a $106 million bond to help fund the so-called Branch Library Improvement Program, which included four construction projects and the renovation of 19 library branches. The program is now short by as much as $50 million, and voters are being asked this November to approve another bond measure......

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S.F.’s busiest streets may charge toll

Published: Sep 17, 2007

San Francisco’s congestion wastes hours of drivers’ time while costing them hundreds of millions of dollars in gas annually and forces Muni buses to creep along at speeds less than eight miles an hour, according to a report by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.On Tuesday, the authority will present its report on the city’s congestion woes to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees Muni. It will also update the MTA on its study of congestion pricing, which the authority believes could reduce car trips and boost Muni......

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S.F. Supervisor Ed Jew turns down plea deal

Published: Sep 12, 2007

Supervisor Ed Jew will not accept a plea bargain that would have required him to resign and plead guilty to one or more of nine felony counts against him, his attorney Bill Fazio said Tuesday.During a pretrial conference Monday in Superior Court, District Attorney’s Office prosecutors offered Jew a plea bargain, giving him until today at 5 p.m. to accept the terms. Fazio and prosecutors declined to comment on the details of the offer at the time. On Tuesday, Fazio said the offer would have required Jew to resign from......

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S.F. supes shoot down Starbucks proposal

Published: Sep 12, 2007

Starbucks has become the first big chain store that the Board of Supervisors blocked from opening up for business under a new city law approved by voters last year to protect small local businesses and preserve neighborhood character.The Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 Tuesday to prohibit Starbucks from moving into the Richmond district at 4041 Geary Blvd., near Fifth Avenue. The Starbucks would have occupied a 750-square-foot space within a new Toyota service center under construction.The Planning Commission had approved a permit June 14 to allow Starbucks to open up......

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DA offers plea deal to Ed Jew

Published: Sep 11, 2007

Prosecutors offered a plea agreement Monday to Supervisor Ed Jew, who is scheduled to go on trial later this month on nine felony counts based on allegations that he lied about where he lived in order to run for office.Jew and his attorney Bill Fazio were in Superior Court on Monday for a pretrial conference when prosecutors offered Jew the plea deal, giving him until Wednesday by 5 p.m. to make a decision.Fazio and prosecutors declined to comment on the offer’s details. Superior Court Judge Philip Moscone, who presided over......

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S.F. funding fails to lure Newsom challengers

Published: Sep 10, 2007

For the first time in a mayoral election hundreds of thousands of dollars of public money could have gone into the war chests of qualifying candidates. But despite the promise of this financial sweetener, no serious threat to incumbent Mayor Gavin Newsom emerged. Only two mayoral candidates met last Tuesday’s deadline to submit papers to qualify to receive public financing. One of the two candidates, Tony Hall, a former supervisor, called it quits last Friday, leaving only John Rinaldi, better known as Chicken John, as a possible recipient of public......

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Supervisor McGoldrick: Bridge not a billboard

Published: Sep 10, 2007

Allowing corporate advertisers to make money off of the Golden Gate Bridge by displaying logos near the world famous icon would be a degradation of public space, according to a resolution that will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick is hoping to use San Francisco’s political clout to squash a plan to allow companies to display corporate logos on way-finding signage, kiosks and other displays on Golden Gate Bridge property in order to raise about $4 million a year for bridge preservation projects. There would......

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S.F. cabbies criticize transit measure

Published: Aug 27, 2007

A November ballot measure that could give the city’s transportation agency authority to regulate the taxicab industry has riled a group of cabdrivers and the maker of a 30-year- old law that cracked down on the use of cabdriver permits.Proposition A, introduced by Board of Supervisor President Aaron Peskin, is billed as a measure to fix Muni and would sink millions into the transit system, which is overseen by the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency. When it was put on the ballot by the board in July, there was little......

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Big money at stake for S.F. Muni, small-biz center

Published: Aug 27, 2007

When voters head to the polls in November, a sizeable chunk of money will be in play, with measures that would sink at least $26 million a year into Muni or create a small-business assistance center that could cost about $917,000 a year.Every ballot season, City Controller Ed Harrington, one of The City’s top financial gurus, conducts an economic analysis of each measure. If Proposition A, a Muni reform measure, passes, about $26 million, or 40 percent of the revenue generated by the city’s parking tax, would go into the......

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Are the days of ‘Dirty Harry’ in S.F. over?

Published: Aug 27, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s three-year-old promise for more lights, camera, action in San Francisco is apparently falling flat as The City struggles to compete against states offering film producers hefty subsidies.San Francisco’s film industry boomed in the 1990s, but began to decline in 1999 and reached an all-time low in 2003 and the first half of 2004, when no major motion picture was filmed in The City.In 2004, Newsom, promising to revitalize San Francisco’s film industry, overhauled The City’s film office, sunk more money into the Film Commission and appointed Stefanie......

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Gov. Schwarzenegger urged to spare rail-design funding

Published: Aug 24, 2007

Millions of state dollars that would fund the design of a high-speed rail system are at stake today as a project that would taketrain passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in just two and a half hours reaches a crucial crossroads.San Francisco Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, Mayor Gavin Newsom and former Supervisor Quentin Kopp turned out Thursday at the Transbay Terminal, the proposed high-speed rail terminal in The City, to publicly send a message to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: Don’t cut the $15.5 million in the state budget for high-speed rail......

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Halloween in the Castro? S.F. says: Don’t go there

Published: Aug 22, 2007

To prevent throngs from showing up for Halloween festivities in the Castro this year, The City will try a simple approach: Tell people the violence-marred event has been canceled and to go elsewhere.But those warnings may not be enough to keep visitors away from the neighborhood that has annually hosted a major street party. To prepare for that, The City plans to have at the site more than the 500 police officers who were on hand last year, as well as contingency plans to divert traffic, barricades at the ready......

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Ed Jew hopes for speedy jury trial

Published: Aug 21, 2007

Accused of lying about where he lived in order to run for office, embattled Supervisor Ed Jew pleaded not guilty to felony charges Monday morning in San Francisco Superior Court and later said he wants a speedy trial in order to "get this thing over with."The court scheduled a Sept. 28 jury trial for Jew on charges filed by District Attorney Kamala Harris — nine felony counts including voter fraud and perjury. The charges are based on the allegation that Jew lied about living at 2450 28th Ave. in the......

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S.F. commission collars dog walkers with rules

Published: Aug 20, 2007

A city commission has approved new regulations to crackdown on the dog walking industry following reports of abuse ranging from poor supervision to using poorly ventilated or unsafe cars.San Francisco’s growing dog walking industry has gone unchecked for years, but new rules approved by the Animal Control and Welfare Commission would require permits, vehicle inspections and proof of insurance and set a limit on the number of dogs walked at atime.Advocates of the regulations say they will weed out the bad and inexperienced dog walkers to the benefit of the......

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Jew pleads not guilty to nine felony charges

Published: Aug 20, 2007

Embattled Supervisor Ed Jew pled not guilty to nine felony charges this morning in San Francisco Superior Court and will face a jury trial beginning on Sept. 28. District Attorney Kamala Harris has charged Jew with nine felony counts ranging from voter fraud to perjury based on the allegation that he lied about living in the Sunset neighborhood in order to run for office. A conviction on any of the charges would result in Jew’s removal from his District 4 seat on the Board of Supervisors. The City Attorney has......

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Politics make odd couple of Savage & Ed Jew

Published: Aug 17, 2007

Embattled Supervisor Ed Jew angered some of his colleagues by casting the lone dissenting vote killing a resolution that would have condemned comments made by a talk radio personality about immigration advocates and then further strained relations by appearing on the conservative radio show a day later.Jew appeared Wednesday on Michael Savage’s radio show to discuss why he voted against a resolution during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting slamming Savage for recent comments. The other members of the board had supported the resolution "condemning defamatory language used by Savage against......

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S.F. supe introduces his own code of conduct

Published: Aug 17, 2007

Sex, drugs and attendance at City Hall: Supervisor Chris Daly has introduced legislation to crack down on all of these issues in a move that could be seen as taking a swipe at Mayor Gavin Newsom and the supervisor’s colleagues.Daly said the three ordinances he introduced Tuesday were not "swipes" but rather a matter of "good public policy," crafted in response to behavior he alleges has occurred."I think that when San Francisco leaders are making decisions, they should be making the decisions with clear minds and shouldn’t be affected by......

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Proposed rules for S.F. libraries real page turners

Published: Aug 16, 2007

Sex, indecent exposure and drug use in San Francisco public libraries are about to be against the rules. The list of prohibitions is expected to be added today to The City’s guidelines for library use. Though the amendments are not prompted by any particular incident, they are part of a continued effort to ensure libraries are safe, City Librarian Luis Herrera said. Today, the Library Commission will vote onadopting nine amendments to the existing Guidelines for Library Use, rules last approved by the commission in August 2001. Among the proposed......

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Ed Jew puts end to Savage debate in S.F.

Published: Aug 15, 2007

A lone vote from Supervisor Ed Jew killed a resolution Tuesday that would have condemned comments made by a radio personality about immigrants.The other 10 members of the Board of Supervisors voted in favor of the resolution "condemning defamatory language used by radio personality Michael Savage against the immigrant community." The resolution referred to Savage’s July 5 broadcast in which he said that a group of students fasting for immigration policy changes should "fast until they starve to death."The beseiged supervisor, nick-named "Supervisor No" by City Hall insiders and facing......

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Bad light, cameras — no action in S.F.

Published: Aug 14, 2007

More than 170 surveillance cameras that monitor San Francisco’s crime-plagued public housing sites are having little effect, with no footage leading to the arrest of homicide suspects.About a year ago, Mayor Gavin Newsom stood with San Francisco Public Housing Authority officials at the Plaza East housing projects in the Western Addition to announce that federal dollars would pay for at least 50 more cameras at public housing sites to help deter and combat crime.To date, however, the cameras have only assisted the police in two cases — neither of which......

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Vote is up to ground Blue Angels in S.F.

Published: Aug 13, 2007

The annual flyover of the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels sinks millions into the local economy and draws a million spectators, but one supervisor wants to stop these fighter planes from ever soaring through the skies over San Francisco again.The Blue Angels, a team of Navy fighter pilots, fly over San Francisco during Fleet Week, which this year is scheduled for Oct. 4 through Oct. 9. For four of the six days, the flashy blue planes soar through the skies at speeds reaching 700 miles per hour, and perform maneuvers such......

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Compromise brings an end to S.F. parking fight

Published: Aug 10, 2007

The heated battle brewing over parking issues has come to an end after an agreement was formally reached Thursday, with a compromise measure that was placed on the February 2008 ballot.The Sensible Parking Initiative, which was put on the February 2008 ballot Thursday, is the result of a compromise struck between Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, downtown business interests and transit advocates.In exchange for filing the measure, the campaign for November’s Parking for Neighborhoods Initiative, backed by Gap founder Don Fisher and neighborhood merchant groups, is over."We are going......

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Trash can enforcement is garbage, S.F. supe says

Published: Aug 10, 2007

Homeowners, beware: Trash cans left on the street 24 hours after garbage collection will result in penalties as high as $300.A city law passed last year requires trash cans to be kept out of public view, but some residents say the city department in charge of enforcing the law has been slow to do so. Only nine citations have been issued in the last 90 days.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, who introduced the legislation, said that a year later there remains a blight from the "tens of thousands" of trash cans still......

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S.F. supes extend helping hand to immigrants

Published: Aug 09, 2007

As immigrants face skyrocketing application fees from the federal government, a new proposal by Supervisor Chris Daly could give financial assistance to those applying for citizenship.Under a new fee structure the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services implemented last week, an immigrant applying for a green card would pay $930, an increase of $605. Other fees that increased were citizenship applications, which went from $330 to $595.Daly requested on Tuesday that the city attorney draft legislation to create a plan to provide city subsidies to immigrants applying for citizenship, green......

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S.F. board signals antenna oversight

Published: Aug 08, 2007

The City is cracking down on the installation of so-called microcell antennas after residents complained that they have popped up around The City with no public review.On Monday, the Board of Supervisors Land Use and Economic Development Committee sent to the full board two pieces of legislation that would provide residents as well as The City with more say about where and how these microcell antennas are installed.The legislation was criticized by telecommunications companies who said the controls could result in poor cell phone service or higher rates for cell......

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Lights Out S.F. wants to occasionally darken city

Published: Aug 08, 2007

An event is gathering steam in San Francisco that could mean lights out in The City, acoustic music in the clubs and romantic candlelit dinners — at least for one hour.Former Google employee and founder of Lights Out San Francisco Nat Tyler has a vision that on Oct. 20 between 7 and 8 p.m. The City, businesses and restaurants will say: Lights out.He dreamt up the event after visiting Sydney, Australia, where he said he was dining one evening and all of a sudden the lights went out — including......

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S.F. parking debate in overdrive

Published: Aug 08, 2007

Revising city standards that will allow for the creation of new parking spaces has City Hall working overtime, as the issue now includes one city ordinance, two November ballot initiatives and a possible February 2008 ballot initiative.Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin introduced a parking ordinance Tuesday that is part of a compromise between downtown business-interest groups and transit advocates. The ordinance increases parking in some city neighborhoods and is part of a compromise meant to ensure that there is little financial and political support for the Parking for Neighborhoods......

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Voters won’t decide on S.F. board’s conduct

Published: Aug 03, 2007

A proposed code of conduct intended to rein in the behavior of members of the Board of Supervisors will not be voted on by board members until at least the fall.Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, who proposed the code of conduct after Supervisor Chris Daly made controversial remarks involving Mayor Gavin Newsom, had threatened to ask the mayor to put the code on the November ballot if her colleagues would not support it.Alioto-Pier, however, said on Thursday that she is giving her colleagues an opportunity to comment on her proposal and would......

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S.F. jobs program proclaimed a failure

Published: Aug 03, 2007

A multimillion-dollar city employment development program was slammed for wasting taxpayer dollars Thursday because it is riddled with inefficiencies and fails to place desperate workers in jobs.Last fiscal year, 11 city departments received at least $29.1 million to help fund work-force development programs, according to Budget Analyst Harvey Rose, who conducted an audit of the funds.The millions are producing few jobs because the system "is fragmented, with inconsistent planning and coordination of resources and inadequate monitoring of programs" according to the audit."It’s scandalous. It looks like there’s a lot of......

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McGoldrick’s ethics in question

Published: Aug 02, 2007

One supervisor’s deciding vote in favor of a controversial development is being called into question after opponents of the project have learned a campaign fundraiser by the developer’s consultant firm was held for the elected official just one day prior to the vote.Nick Pagoulatos, a coordinator for the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition, said political contributions to help Supervisor Jake McGoldrick fight a recall campaign may have caused him to vote Tuesday against an appeal of the 60-unit condominium project at 3400 Cesar Chavez St.McGoldrick vehemently denied the allegation on Wednesday. "My......

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S.F. judge: Ed Jew must stand trial

Published: Aug 02, 2007

Supervisor Ed Jew was ordered Wednesday by a San Francisco court judge to stand trial on nine felony charges for allegedly lying about living in the Sunset neighborhood in order to run for office.Reacting to the decision, Jew said he would continue to perform his duties as the District 4 representative on the Board of Supervisors while having to defend himself in criminal court.Jew is charged with nine felony counts, including voter fraud and perjury, based on the allegation he never resided at the 2450 28th Ave. house in the......

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Voters to decide if parking funds go to Muni

Published: Aug 01, 2007

Voters will have a chance this November to decide whether to funnel more money into Muni and bestow more management powers to the agency that oversees the ailing transit system.In a vote of 7-4 on Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors put on the Nov. 6 ballot the so-called Emissions Reduction and Transit Reform Act of 2007, which was introduced by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin.Under the proposal, Muni would receive an additional 40 percent of the parking revenue each year, for a total of 80 percent, which is expected......

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Supes nix Hunters Point asbestos dust claims

Published: Aug 01, 2007

Residents who claimed a major redevelopment project in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood is sending asbestos-laden dust into the air and causing health complications failed to garner the support of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday for bringing the project to a halt.In response to the health concerns, Supervisor Chris Daly introduced a resolution calling for an immediate halt to the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard construction project in order to conduct an independent study on possible health impacts. For more than a year, Lennar Corp. has been preparing one parcel of......

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Ed Jew's mail points to Burlingame home

Published: Jul 31, 2007

Although the majority of the mail addressed to embattled Supervisor Ed Jew went to his house in Burlingame and a car insurance policy lists that home’s address as his residence, Jew’s attorney maintains the supervisor broke no election laws when claiming to live in the Sunset district he represents.In day two of Jew’s preliminary hearing in San Francisco Superior Court, Assistant District Attorney Evan Ackiron continued to build the case against Jew, who is accused of nine felonies — including voter fraud and perjury — for allegedly lying about where......

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Medicinal pot club permit deadline extended

Published: Jul 27, 2007

Having just a doctor’s note could soon allow San Francisco’s medicinal pot clubs to roll out the welcome mats for your patronage.Two years ago, the Board of Supervisors adopted groundbreaking legislation that established the first-ever regulations on medicinal marijuana dispensaries. Under state law, medicinal marijuana is legal, but it remains illegal under federal law.The regulations came as an increasing number of pot clubs set up shop in San Francisco, causing residents to complain that the clubs were operating too close to one another and attracting drug dealing and other criminal......

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EarthLink mum on Wi-Fi changes in S.F.

Published: Jul 26, 2007

The promise of making San Francisco one of the most wired cities in the Bay Area is causing a lot of crossed wires. Mayor Gavin Newsom’s high-profile agreement with EarthLink to blanket The City with free wireless Internet access via the Wi-Fi protocol has been bogged down in bureaucracy since it was introduced in January to the Board of Supervisors for approval.On Wednesday, EarthLink failed to respond to proposed changes to the agreement made by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin. Peskin said these changes would likely ensure the......

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S.F. supe questions new Muni bill

Published: Jul 25, 2007

After Mayor Gavin Newsom threw his support behind a charter amendment to overhaul Muni on Monday, a different version of the bill submitted to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday included a major change that would negate a controversial bid backed by businesses for more parking spaces in The City.Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin spent weeks collaborating with the Mayor’s Office in labor union negotiations to win the union’s support of the charter amendment he has introduced for the November ballot.On Monday, Newsom, who is running for re-election in......

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S.F. parking: Full coffers, no empty spots

Published: Jul 24, 2007

San Francisco has not built a new parking garage in five years, despite having a multimillion-dollar fund to help create parking in a city that hosts 750,000 cars during peak times.Although a fund to create parking totaled more than $27 million last year, the last city-built parking garage was opened in 2002 in North Beach, and was only the second to open since the parking fund was created. As the debate boils as to whether San Francisco should relax its restrictive policies on adding parking spaces, Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier is......

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Hearing, initiative drive seek answers in S.F.

Published: Jul 23, 2007

San Francisco is in need of more parking, according to one supervisor.In a city where transit-first serves as a governing theme, the idea of adding more parking spaces seems unlikely. But Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier said The City needs to take a hard look at its policies and consider allowing more parking spaces citywide.Alioto-Pier will hold a hearing today at the Board of Supervisors Government Audit and Oversight Committee meeting to discuss the need for parking, looking at everything from how the amount of parking impacts businesses and neighborhoods to adding......

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Crime cameras remain a dicey issue in S.F.

Published: Jul 20, 2007

While The City has set aside money in this year’s budget to add more surveillance cameras in high crime areas, the balancing question between the cameras’ effectiveness and the concerns of people’s civil liberties remains.The question of whether the 64 existing surveillance cameras monitoring 22 intersections are effective in deterring crime or catching suspectswill be left unanswered until at least the fall. Installation of the cameras began last year as a pilot program to help deter crime. Communities plagued by violence have generally supported the devices, while critics say they......

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Board OKs Newsom's budget

Published: Jul 18, 2007

The Board of Supervisors approved Mayor Gavin Newsom’s $6.1 billion city budget Tuesday — but not without controversy. One supervisor accused colleagues of caving in to political pressure at the expense of San Francisco’s most vulnerable residents and urged them to stand up to the mayor’s "bullies."Newsom submitted his city budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year in June, calling it a "back to basics" budget as it includes millions of dollars in new funding for more police, homeless workers, Muni operators and street improvements. Every year, the board has to......

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S.F. supes send ‘question time’ to ballot again

Published: Jul 18, 2007

Voters will decide this November whether to force the mayor to show up monthly at Board of Supervisors meetings to answer questions.Last November, 56 percent of voters approved the nonbinding Proposition I, a policy statement saying Mayor Gavin Newsom should attend monthly Board of Supervisors meetings for so-called "question time." To date, however, Newsom has declined to show up for question time, opting instead to hold monthly town-hall-style meetings in locations throughout The City. That decision angered some board members, who suggested Newsom was defying the will of the voters.......

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Ed Jew refuses to back down

Published: Jul 17, 2007

Wearing an American-flag necktie, Supervisor Ed Jew headed up the steps of the San Francisco courthouse Monday morning, shaking hands and hugging a number of the roughly 100 supporters, mostly Asian-Americans, gathered for the embattled supervisor who is fighting allegations that he lied about where he lived in order to run for a seat on the Board of Supervisors. Minutes later, inside the courtroom, Jew entered a plea of not guilty to nine felony counts."He’s not walking into court falling down on his hands and knees and begging forgiveness," Jew’s......

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‘Disappointed’ supe trashes garbage-can removal plan

Published: Jul 13, 2007

Put the public garbage cans back — that was the message one supervisor sent Thursday to the Department of Public Works, which surprised many city residents by removing hundreds of the cans as part of a new program to reduce litter.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick held a Board of Supervisors City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee hearing Thursday on the program, after fielding a number of calls from residents and business owners in his district critical of what began as a mysterious disappearance of trash cans.Mayor Gavin Newsom on June 21 announced......

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Group: S.F.’s tree-maintenance effort isn’t taking

Published: Jul 13, 2007

The lack of city spending on tree planting and maintenance continues to pose a threat to San Francisco’s green look, more than a year after a report found that The City’s 668,000 trees are dying at a faster rate than they are being replanted, Urban Forestry Council members said. Tree planting has been a priority for Mayor Gavin Newsom. Last March, on Arbor Day, Newsom announced that since coming into office, The City has planted 16,304 trees, meeting his goal of planting 5,000 trees every year.However, UrbanForestry Council member Terry......

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Supes seek tweak of S.F.’s Wi-Fi deal

Published: Jul 12, 2007

The high-tech company that proposes to blanket San Francisco in a free wireless Internet network is being asked to agree to a numberof changes, ranging from a shorter contract term to faster free service.The five-member Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee postponed on Wednesday its vote on the proposed agreement with EarthLink to give the company more time to respond to the requested changes. EarthLink says it will respond by early next week.Supervisor Aaron Peskin proposed the changes to EarthLink last week. Some members of the board have criticized......

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S.F. Board aims for new gun laws

Published: Jul 10, 2007

Faced with a rising rate of homicides and firearm violence, The City moved closer Monday to adopting a number of gun-control measures.The Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee on Monday sent three gun-control measures to the full board for a likely vote July 17, while it held up one of the more controversial measures that would establish a registry for gun offenders.The measures would prohibit handguns from being kept in residences unless they are in locked containers or disabled with a trigger lock, prohibit the possession or sale of firearms......

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Ammiano spins rooftop wind turbine idea in S.F.

Published: Jul 09, 2007

A San Francisco supervisor wants to give residents of Bernal Heights the opportunity to harness wind for energy by allowing wind turbines on rooftops to rise beyond existing area height limits. The relatively new and untried practice of erecting wind turbines on rooftops to generate electricity may be catching on in San Francisco. The Bernal Heights neighborhood has strict zoning controls, meant to preserve the area’s character, and limits heights to 30 feet. Supervisor Tom Ammiano has introduced legislation that would allow wind turbines to exceed the height limit, enabling......

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Free Wi-Fi may come to a vote this week

Published: Jul 09, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s high-profile agreement with Google and EarthLink to set up a free citywide wireless network is positioned this week to clear key hurdles that could finally land it before the full Board of Supervisors for a vote. The agreement, which Newsom submitted to the Board of Supervisors for approval in January, has met with criticism by some members of the board and faces opposition from the San Francisco Neighborhood Antenna Free Union, or SNAFU, which has requested an environmental review of the impact of the more than 2,000......

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S.F. Attorney: Ed Jew getting ‘desperate’

Published: Jul 06, 2007

City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Thursday denied suggestions that race played a role in his investigation of whether Supervisor Ed Jew violated city residency laws and that he withheld evidence in his legal filing with the state Attorney General’s Office.After a four-week investigation, Herrera announced on June 18 that he had "overwhelming evidence" that Jew failed to live in the district he represents, as required under the City Charter, and asked state Attorney General Jerry Brown to grant permission to sue Jew to oust him from his seat on the......

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Attorneys: Ed Jew used S.F. house ‘for sleeping’

Published: Jul 04, 2007

Supervisor Ed Jew’s attorneys say the embattled legislator has broken no residency laws and uses his Sunset district home "primarily for sleeping," refuting claims that low water usage and a lack of utility bills prove he didn’t live there, according to a legal filing with the state Attorney General’s Office.Jew had until Tuesday to respond to City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s filing with the attorney general in which Herrera requested permission to sue Jew to oust him from his seat on the Board of Supervisors, based on allegations he violated the......

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Board to vote on privatizing S.F. golf courses

Published: Jun 29, 2007

The City is on course to erase an ongoing deficit in operating public golf courses that could also land San Francisco residents with acres of public open space.As part of its review of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s proposed $6.1 billion city budget, the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on Thursday sent to the full board for a vote a proposal to privatize three of the city’s ailing public golf courses, including The City’s premier course, PGA-approved Harding Park, as well as the Fleming and Lincoln courses.The plan comes as......

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Harris begs supes for $40.7M to fight crime in S.F.

Published: Jun 28, 2007

District Attorney Kamala Harris said Wednesday that her office is struggling to keep up with the high number of misdemeanor cases — such as illegal gun possession, graffiti and prostitution — as she pleaded for money to hire more prosecutors. Harris came before the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee to discuss her office’s proposed $40.7 million budget for fiscal year 2007-08 and spoke of the needto hire a total of five misdemeanor attorneys, despite a recommendation by Budget Analyst Harvey Rose not to approve two of the attorney......

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Supes slash funds for S.F.small biz center

Published: Jun 28, 2007

Plans for a one-stop shop that would help small businesses open in San Francisco were put on hold Wednesday after funding for the project was slashed by nearly $500,000.In May, Mayor Gavin Newsom, along with City Treasurer Jose Cisneros, announced plans for the creation of a so-called Small Business Assistance Center to help prospective merchants navigate The City’s complex permitting process as well as receive business assistance.The $630,000 in Newsom’s proposed budget to create the center at City Hall was part of the Treasurer and Tax Collector’s Office budget for......

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Alioto-Pier to supes: Stop the 'bully pulpit'

Published: Jun 27, 2007

A supervisor on Tuesday introduced an enforceable code of conduct for the 11-member Board of Supervisors, while some supervisors say it’s time to get back to business following recent fireworks among elected officials.Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, the code’s sponsor, said that the board needs to be able to maintain decorum inside board chambers, following Supervisor Chris Daly’s controversial comments last week in which Alioto-Pier said Daly "defamed" Mayor Gavin Newsom by using "innuendo" to say Newsom broke the law.During a Board of Supervisors meeting last week, Daly accused Newsom of hypocritically......

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Anti-violence plan nets hefty pay hike for S.F. cops

Published: Jun 27, 2007

Amid concerns over San Francisco’s high crime and homicide rate, a contract withthe Police Department granting a 24 percent pay raise during a four-year period was approved Tuesday.The contract approval, in a 10-1 vote by the Board of Supervisors, came as the Mayor’s Office announced a plan to combat summer violence.Mayor Gavin Newsom signed on Monday an executive directive that calls on the Police Department to "enhance all available law enforcement resources to summer ‘hotspots,’" which includes locations in the Bayview, Mission, Tenderloin and Western Addition neighborhoods. The directive also......

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Peskin promises ‘no-drama budget’ process

Published: Jun 26, 2007

In the aftermath of a political firestorm around Mayor Gavin Newsom’s proposed city budget, the president of the Board of Supervisors attempted on Monday to keep the flames extinguished."Welcome to day one of the no-drama budget," Supervisor Aaron Peskin said as he kicked off the board’s Budget and Finance Committee hearing Monday — the first day members of the committee began taking action on Newsom’s proposed $6.1 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning Sunday.Peskin was apparently attempting to send the message that the lively public feud Supervisor Chris Daly......

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S.F. supe calls for code of conduct

Published: Jun 22, 2007

Following "offensive" comments by her colleague Supervisor Chris Daly, Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier said she plans to introduce rules of conduct — along with penalties for violation of the terms — for the 11 members of the Board of Supervisors.The Board of Supervisors has no recourse to reprimand members for so-called inappropriate behavior other than to issue public statements of admonishment or to approve a motion to censure, which carries no penalties, but represents a strong public rebuke.On Wednesday, Mayor Gavin Newsom sent a letter to members of the board asking......

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Newsom to Daly: 'Cheapest of cheap shots'

Published: Jun 21, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that he never used cocaine and called Supervisor Chris Daly’s accusation that he has dodged questions into allegations about his use of the drug "the cheapest of cheap shots."During a passionate speech Tuesday inside the Board of Supervisors chambers, Daly criticized Newsom for proposed funding cuts to substance abuse programs, while Newsom himself is seeking alcohol treatment and while he "artfully dodges every question about allegations in his own cocaine use."The Mayor’s Office quickly reacted by calling for a censure of Daly. When Newsom was......

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Daly persists with move to ground Blue Angels

Published: Jun 20, 2007

Supervisor Chris Daly introduced a resolution Tuesday that would put an end to the popular U.S. Navy Blue Angels aerial show in San Francisco.Daly's proposal requests that The City’s federal representatives use their authority to halt the flyovers during San Francisco’s FleetWeek, a tradition dating back to 1981 that pumps millions of dollars into the local economy. This year’s Fleet Week is scheduled for Oct. 4 through Oct. 9.Daly said he wants the Board of Supervisors to support a halt to "the unnecessary flyovers" due to safety concerns, noting there have......

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Newsom to Ed Jew: 'Just prove it, it's simple'

Published: Jun 20, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom put pressure on embattled Supervisor Ed Jew to explain himself, after two investigations unearthed "overwhelming" evidence that he allegedly lied about where he lived in order to serve on the Board of Supervisors.As pressure mounts from some board members for the District 4 supervisor to resign, Newsom is exploring the possibility of suspending Jew and initiating misconduct proceedings. On Tuesday, he gave his most direct comments yet on the budding City Hall scandal."I’m going to encourage Ed Jew to respond very soon to the latest accusations that......

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Board calls Daly attack on Newsom 'sleazy politics'

Published: Jun 20, 2007

In the latest public clash between Supervisor Chris Daly and Mayor Gavin Newsom, Daly blasted Newsom for proposing cuts to health services while accusing the mayor of dodging questions about his own substance abuse problems.Daly’s comments quickly drew admonishment from the Mayor’s Office and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who last Friday sought to quiet the battle between Newsom and Daly by removing Daly from the board’s Budget and Finance Committee."Where does Gavin Christopher Newsom get his substance abuse services and how much do they cost the city and......

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City attorney seeks lawsuit to oust Ed Jew

Published: Jun 19, 2007

During the time District 4 Supervisor Ed Jew was supposed to be living in a home in the district he represents, neighbors peeking in the windows saw no furniture, the house had no phone or garbage service and water use at the property during the last year was less than one-fifth what the average person uses, according to documents released Monday by the City Attorney’s Office.After a four-week investigation into Jew’s residency, City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced Monday that he is seeking permission from the state attorney general to sue......

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A contrite Ed Jew returns to work

Published: Jun 15, 2007

Supervisor Ed Jew said Thursday that he was "happy" to be an elected official and that his City Hall office is "open for business," after returningthere for the first time since being charged with nine felony counts and posting bail.Ignoring the suggestions of some board colleagues to resign, the embattled District 4 supervisor arrived at City Hall early Thursday morning. He remained in his office until moments before he was to attend the afternoon meeting of the Board of Supervisors City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee, on which he sits.Jew......

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Jew to keep working as Peskin pushes to oust him

Published: Jun 14, 2007

Supervisor Ed Jew is expected to continue on with city business today despite being out on bail and charged with nine felony counts for allegedly lying about where he lived to run for office.The District 4 supervisor was nowhere to be seen at City Hall on Wednesday after he surrendered to Burlingame police late Tuesday and posted $135,000 bail on an arrest warrant issued earlier that day by District Attorney Kamala Harris. Harris charged Jew with nine felony counts ranging from perjury to voter fraud for allegedly lying about where......

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Ed Jew surrenders for felony arrest, out on bail

Published: Jun 13, 2007

Facing an arrest warrant and nine felony charges ranging from perjury to voter fraud, Supervisor Ed Jew surrendered himself Tuesday night to the Burlingame Police Department.Ironically, Jew surrendered in the same city that has gained attention in a probe regarding his residency that led to charges.Jew turned himself in at about 7:15 p.m., posted the $135,000 bail and was free to go by 8 p.m., according to Jew’s attorney Bill Fazio. A court date was set for July 16 in San Francisco.District Attorney Kamala Harris issued a warrant for Jew’s......

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Jew's lawyer rips local probe as 'politically driven'

Published: Jun 13, 2007

As felony charges against Supervisor Ed Jew were being announced Tuesday by the district attorney, one of his lawyers called another investigation of the supervisor by the City Attorney’s Office "politically driven" and claimed it was intended to build public opinion against Jew.Attorney Steven Gruel had choice words Tuesday for the City Attorney’s Office, which is conducting an investigation into whether Jew violated the City Charter by failing to live in the district he represents. The investigation by the City Attorney’s Office was in tandem with criminal investigations being conducted......

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City on alert for another summer of violent crime

Published: Jun 12, 2007

San Francisco experiences a "small but consistent increase" in violent crimes during the summer months, according to police statistics. As The City heads into another summer, city officials are expressing concern over what public safety officials are doing to ensure San Francisco does not experience another uptick in crime. The concern comes as The City continues to struggle to bring down the homicide rate, with 43 murders to date in 2007. Last year, there were 85 homicides total and 42 between January 2006 and June 2006.The increase in violent crimes......

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City attorney says Jew failed to prove residency

Published: Jun 12, 2007

Supervisor Ed Jew has failed to prove he lives in the district he represents, the City Attorney’s Office said Monday, as the office repeated requests to the embattled supervisor for documentation of his residency.The District 4 supervisor, who was elected in an upset in November, is simultaneously being investigated by City Attorney Dennis Herrera for violating residency requirements required of supervisors and by the FBI on alleged corruption charges.Questions of Jew’s residency surfaced following a raid last month by the FBI of his City Hall office and other properties as......

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City on feds short list for traffic funds

Published: Jun 11, 2007

San Francisco is among nine cities competing for $1.1 billion in federal funding to help the most congested areas combat traffic woes.The U.S. Department of Transportation had asked cities to make their best case for the funding and on Friday announced that nine cities made it into the semifinals. San Francisco is now competing against Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Miami, New York City, San Diego and Seattle. Up to five cities stand to receive a portion of the money when the department announces the winners in mid-August.The San Francisco......

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Bill to halt Blue Angels flyovers will have to wait

Published: Jun 08, 2007

A resolution that would call for a permanent halt to the Blue Angels annual Fleet Week flyovers won’t be introduced to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, according to its potential sponsor.Supervisor Chris Daly, when asked about the progress of his resolution, told The Examiner on Thursday, "Because of you, I haven’t gotten any work done today, and because of you, I am not going to introduce it on Tuesday." Daly was apparently flooded with media inquiries as well as phone calls from residents weighing in on the U.S. Navy......

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Effort brewing to recall Peskin

Published: Jun 08, 2007

San Francisco has apparently come down with a case of recall fever.As a contingent of District 1 business owners collects signatures to place a recall of Supervisor Jake McGoldrick on the November ballot, another move is under way in District 3 to place a recall of Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin on the February 2008 ballot.A main figure behind the push to recall Peskin is Rex Reginald, who says he is acting as a consultant for a group calling itself the Committee to Recall Peskin. Reginald, who moved into......

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Daly backs move to ground Blue Angels show

Published: Jun 07, 2007

The annual aerial show by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels — a San Francisco tradition dating back to 1981 that pumps millions into the local economy —is running into opposition from three local peace advocacy groups that are calling for a permanent halt to the popular Fleet Week flyover.CodePink, Global Exchange and Veterans for Peace, Chapter 69, are working with Supervisor Chris Daly on a Board of Supervisors resolution to address concerns over the Blue Angels.Daly acknowledged he is considering a call to halt the flyovers because, he said, "they seem dangerous......

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Daly threatens to hack into Newsom’s budget proposal

Published: Jun 06, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s chief rival on the Board of Supervisors wants to slash the mayor’s proposed city budget by $37 million and put the money toward housing and health services.Supervisor Chris Daly has feuded with Newsom over Daly’s previous proposal — which was approved by the full board — to use a portion of this fiscal year’s surplus money on affordable housing needs. Newsom returned the surplus spending proposal unsigned, saying he would not spend money The City does not have and did not include it in his budget.The budget......

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Newsom: Don't raise Harding fees, lease it out

Published: Jun 05, 2007

Raising fees at The City’s premier golf course to bail the fairways out of the red is not generating much applause, while leasing out the course appears to be gaining political support.The Recreation and Park Department has heard time and again that the running deficit from operating The City’s six public golf courses needs to come to an end. This fiscal year, the courses’ operations were bailed out with a $1.4 million subsidy from The City’s operating budget, which pays for such services as fire, police and street cleaning.The department......

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Jew: No intent to resign despite FBI probe

Published: Jun 05, 2007

The center of an FBI investigation and facing a city attorney’s investigation over whether he lives in the district he represents, Supervisor Ed Jew has said he will not resign from his seat on the board.Jew’s stance was published in the June 2007 issue of the Sunset Beacon, in which he wrote, "I have no intention of resigning my office."Midday Sunday, Jew returned to San Francisco after a vacation in China he left for on May 23, days after FBI agents raided his City Hall office, his Chinatown flower shop......

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Progressive race for mayor: No Daly, no candidate

Published: Jun 05, 2007

The field of potential progressive candidates to battle Mayor Gavin Newsom has grown even narrower after Supervisor Chris Daly said on Monday he would not make a run for the top office.Speculation and rumors over who would be the progressive candidate to square off against Newsom this November intensified leading up to Saturday’s Progressive Convention. However, during the convention no candidate emerged and the potential candidate list has since grown shorter.At the convention, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said he would not run. Then on Monday morning, Daly, Newsom’s No. 1 critic......

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Report: Fee hike may hurt golf course

Published: Jun 04, 2007

Boosting green fees at San Francisco’s premier golf course to bring its operation out of the red could help, but only if golfers tolerate the increase.The Recreation and Park Department is facing mounting pressure to turn around the operation of The City’s six public golf courses, which this fiscal year were bailed out with a $1.4 million subsidy from The City’s operating budget.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick has introduced legislation that would increase fees at Harding Park by 15 percent across the board, an increase expected to generate an additional $659,000 in......

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City hires private consultants to probe SFPD ops

Published: Jun 01, 2007

The San Francisco Police Department will be overhauled as three consultants are being paid $862,000 to examine operations — from deployment of foot patrols to crime fighting strategies and station redistricting.The move comes as the department struggles to decrease San Francisco’s homicide rate, which has reached historic highs in recent years. The department also faces criticism of improperly allocating resources while being pressured to put more officers on foot beats. Three consultants will each examine a specific aspect of the department: foot patrols, police station district boundaries and the overall......

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Group takes issue with Wi-Fi

Published: May 31, 2007

San Francisco residents may have to wait at least another year for free citywide wireless Internet access, if an appeal by a group calling for more review is successful.On Wednesday, the San Francisco Neighborhood Antenna Free Union filed an appeal with the Board of Supervisors of the Planning Department’s April 20 decision to exempt from environmental review the installation of an estimated 2,200 wireless, or Wi-Fi, transmitters in various locations throughout The City. Mayor Gavin Newsom has struck an agreement with Google and EarthLink to blanket San Francisco within a......

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Newsom, board sessions may go back to ballot

Published: May 30, 2007

San Francisco voters could have a second opportunity this November to decide whether the mayor should attend monthly Board of Supervisors meetings — but this time the outcome would have the force of law.Last November, 56 percent of the voters approved the nonbinding Proposition I, a policy statement saying Mayor Gavin Newsom should attend monthly Board of Supervisor meetings for so-called question time.In the aftermath of the vote, members of the Board of Supervisors feuded with Newsom over how to implement Prop. I. The board, amid criticism from Newsom, said......

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SFPD officers to see pay increase

Published: May 30, 2007

San Francisco police officers are in line to receive a 23 percent salary hike during a four-year period, according to the terms of a recently negotiated contract.With the double-digit salary increase, The City’s police salary costs would increase next fiscal year alone by $9 million, from the $263 million spent on police compensation this year. On July 1, the beginning of the next fiscal year, wages for The City’s 2,237 police officers — from frontlines officers up to deputy chiefs — would increase by 4 percent on July 1. First-year......

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City identifies 20 homeless hot spots

Published: May 28, 2007

City agencies charged with relieving San Francisco’s homeless problem are zeroing in on 20 geographic locations with the highest concentrations of homeless persons, according to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s homeless czar, Trent Rohrer.Drawing from the results of a recent count of 6,377 homeless persons in San Francisco, Rohrer said a list of the so-called homeless hot spots was presented to relevant department heads during a March 30 meeting as part of an ongoing effort to tackle one of The City’s biggest quality-of-life issues.According to Rohrer, the list will direct resources such......

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Ed Jew supported special permit before raid

Published: May 25, 2007

Supervisor Ed Jew, who is under federal investigation for his involvement in helping business owners obtain permits, publicly threw his support behind the issuance of a special permit for a business owner less than a month before his City Hall office and home were raided by the FBI.On April 26, the Planning Commission awarded a conditional use permit to allow Wonderful Dessert & Cafe at 2035 Irving St. to legally stay open for business, after Jew had written two letters in support of the permit, including one handed to commissioners......

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Ed Jew flies to China amid controversy

Published: May 24, 2007

Five days after the FBI raided Supervisor Ed Jew’s City Hall office and a bevy of other properties he owns, he boarded a 1 a.m. airplane flight to China on Wednesday as legal pressures continued to mount.The City Attorney’s Office, in coordination with the District Attorney’s Office, is investigating issues of his legality to hold elected office, voter fraud and perjury, while a federal corruption probe continues.Jew, the District 4 supervisor, who has been on the job for just more than five months, is under federal investigation for allegedly accepting......

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Supes submit measures to be considered for ballot

Published: May 23, 2007

Ballot measures addressing everything from Muni service to affordable housing could wind up before voters this November. Members of the Board of Supervisors introduced several charter amendments on Tuesday, which was the deadline to get them on the ballot.Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin introduced a measure he said would fix the troubled Muni system and make it more environmentally friendly."This is a bold initiative to greatly curtail Muni’s carbon emissions and really set forth a radical plan for increasing the reliability of public transit," Peskin said.The measure includes a new......

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Ed Jew at City Hall: 'Business as usual'

Published: May 23, 2007

The center of an FBI investigation, Supervisor Ed Jew showed up Tuesday morning at City Hall and made every attempt to make it business as usual.The District 4 supervisor did not seem rattled by the group of media reporters and cameramen who stormed into his office as he attempted to head to Tuesday’s 2 p.m. Board of Supervisors meeting, and was chased by reporters as he left his office to go to the bathroom.Jew declined to comment on the FBI investigation and briefly addressed the media to say, "I want......

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After FBI raid, Jew retains former fed attorney

Published: May 22, 2007

Following an FBI raid of his home, business and City Hall office, Supervisor Ed Jew has hired as his attorney a former federal prosecutor who called the investigation "an apparent misunderstanding."On Monday, Jew released a statement saying he would no longer discuss the FBI investigation, leaving that up to his hired attorney, Steven Gruel. Gruel is a former federal prosecutor with 16 years of experience working with the FBI. "Ed Jew has not been charged, nor has he been accused — I caution everyone against drawing conclusions based on a......

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Stern Grove parking debate heats up

Published: May 21, 2007

Just a month before the famed annual Stern Grove Festival is scheduled to begin, a debate is heating up about where festivalgoers will park their cars.Some area residents want to banish autos from parking on the field next to the festival site, as has been the practice for the last decade. The field has recently been upgraded with a new irrigation system and reseeded with grass, as part of Pine Lake Meadow’s $22 million renovation project."It was the last refurbishing they’ve done for many, many years," said Shirley Selby of......

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Water-rate system criticized

Published: May 21, 2007

A coalition of neighborhood groups is calling a new tiered water-rate system a "family tax," while the city agency that adopted the rate structure defends the pricing as a conservation incentive and the best way to raise money to pay for capital improvements.Traditionally, The City’s Public Utilities Commission has charged a uniform rate per unit, or 748 gallons, of water used. In an effort to raise money to help pay for the aging water system’s seismic upgrade and water storage improvements, the commission approved new water rates May 8, including......

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SF fails to collect bulk of parking meter revenue

Published: May 18, 2007

San Francisco only collected $29.7 million from its 23,000 parking meters last fiscal year, even though it could conceivably collect $127.2 million from them, according to a report issued Thursday by the Office of the Controller. Even taking into account broken meters, construction zones, unoccupied meters and cars exempt from having to feed meters, TheCity could still expect to collect $54 million, nearly twice what it is currently collecting. The report "confirms the fact that we should be collecting more money at the meters," said Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, who requested......

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Coalition report slams city shelters

Published: May 17, 2007

The City’s shelters for the homeless are places of neglect, abuse and overcrowding, according to a report released Wednesday by an advocacy group for the homeless.A survey of 215 homeless people in and outside of The City’s shelters during a three month period found that more than half experienced some form of abuse — such as physical, verbal or harassment — nearly 25 percent said that shelter staff were rude and neglectful and 27 percent said they had no access to toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, soap or supplies in......

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Hunters Point plan given the go-ahead

Published: May 16, 2007

An ambitious plan to redevelop Candlestick Point, the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, and build a new San Francisco 49ers football stadium was embraced Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.In a 9-2 vote, the Board of Supervisors approved a resolution allowing The City to proceed with planning for the major project and authorizing an environmental study of it. The project includes 6,500 units of housing at Candlestick Point, 2,000 units of housing at the Hunters Point Shipyard site, retail and office space, parks and a new stadium for the San......

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Newsom, supes budget showdown intensifies

Published: May 16, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Board of Supervisors are in line to have a "showdown" this budget season, as the two face off over a board proposal to spend $28 million of this year’s surplus on affordable housing needs.During Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Chris Daly said that if Newsom’s city budget does not include the board-approved $28 million surplus spending proposal, he would fund it anyway by re-appropriating money in the budget. Newsom must submit a balanced city budget for review by the Board of Supervisors by June......

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Supes postpone Wi-Fi scrutiny

Published: May 15, 2007

Countering the wishes of Mayor Gavin Newsom, members of the Board of Supervisors have postponed until at least July a vote on his high-profile agreement with EarthLink and Google to blanket San Francisco in a free wireless Internet network.Back in January, Newsom finalized a deal with the two giant Internet companies that could make San Francisco the first American city of its size to provide free wireless, or Wi-Fi, service. The agreement, however, requires approval from the Board of Supervisors.Led by Supervisor Chris Daly, the Board of Supervisors Budget and......

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City’s Wi-Fi may save millions

Published: May 14, 2007

The total annual savings to existing Internet service customers in San Francisco could be as much as $18 million a year if Mayor Gavin Newsom’s high-profile agreement with EarthLink and Google to create a free citywide wireless Internet network is approved by the Board of Supervisors, according to a report released Friday.Many residents who pay for cable, digital subscriber line or the slower dial-up Internet service are likely to switch over to the two Internet services that would be offered under the EarthLink-Google agreement, according to the Controller’s Office report.......

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City may ban feeding of parrots

Published: May 11, 2007

Feeding the famed wild parrots of Telegraph Hill could become illegal, because bird advocates are worried that the handouts jeopardize the flock’s health and safety while making them susceptible to bird-nappers.During the last year and half, the popularity of feeding the colorful parrots at Ferry Park near the Embarcadero — where the birds roost in the trees — has increased. This surge in popularity worries Mark Bittner, who made the parrots world famous by writing "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" and co-starring in a documentary film of the same......

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Opposition to McGoldrick heats up

Published: May 10, 2007

A supervisor under threat of beingrecalled defended his record Wednesday and said the effort to usurp him is "terribly mean" and being led by a "fringe group."An effort to recall Supervisor Jake McGoldrick is moving forward, with proponents confident they have the support to place the initiative for his removal on the November ballot.A group calling itself the Citizens for Recall of Jake McGoldrick has taken issue with the District 1 supervisor over a wide array of issues, including his support of the Geary Corridor Bus Rapid Transit project and......

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Spending proposal dips into S.F. budget surplus

Published: May 10, 2007

The Board of Supervisors is expected to vote Tuesday on a controversial proposal to spend$17.6 million of this budget year’s surplus and empty a so-called rainy-day reserve fund amid criticism from the Mayor’s Office.The board recently approved spending $33 million of this year’s projected $126.6 million surplus on affordable housing needs. Mayor Gavin Newsom has criticized the proposal, given that The City faces a deficit next year and that he needs to submit a balanced budget to the board by June 1.Supervisor Chris Daly proposed during the Board of Supervisors......

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Health plan hinges on lawsuit

Published: May 09, 2007

The City could be forced to scale back its ambitious plan to provide health insurance for an estimated 82,000 uninsured adults if it loses a lawsuit over the legality of requiring employers to fund it, according to San Francisco’s public health chief. Authored by Supervisor Tom Ammiano and Mayor Gavin Newsom, the Health Access Program — recently renamed Healthy San Francisco — is designed to ensure every San Francisco resident has access to health coverage. It is expected to begin rolling out in July."We’re currently assuming that we would be......

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Supes OK surplus spending, deficit to increase

Published: May 09, 2007

Next year’s projected deficit has increased by nearly $30 million after the Board of Supervisors approved spending a portion of this budget year’s surplus, according to a city report.The surplus for the end of this budget year decreased from $126.6 million to $98.41 million and the projected deficit for next year grew from $25.4 million to $54.7 million, according to the Office of the Controller’s nine-month budget report released this month.The spending proposals have strained relations between Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Board of Supervisors. Newsom, who has to submit......

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Peskin: Politics push street repair timeline

Published: May 08, 2007

The City’s top supervisor accused the Department of Public Works of undermining the public’s trust in government by deciding to move a Sunset district repaving project ahead of schedule in response to political pressure from Mayor Gavin Newsom and another member of the Board of Supervisors.The department had scheduled a 13-block repaving project of Noriega Street between Sunset Boulevard and the Great Highway for fiscal year 2008-09, but decided instead to do the work in the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.Both Newsom and District 4 Supervisor Ed Jew,......

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Board relieves pet-surcharge advocates

Published: May 07, 2007

A city commission’s proposal to permit landlords to increase rent as an incentive to allow tenants to have pets has cost some their jobs.In March, The City’s Animal Control and Welfare Commission submitted a resolution to the Board of Supervisors urging adoption of legislation that would allow landlords to charge 5 percent of a tenant’s rent per pet as an incentive for landlords to roll out the welcome mat for animals.In doing so, the commission touched upon a politically charged issue and wound up pitting landlord advocates, who supported the......

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Newsom seeks new homeless funds

Published: May 03, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday lauded recent city efforts to relieve the homeless problem and revealed that his upcoming budget would include several million dollars to increase services for the homeless population, including job training, housing for inebriates and doubling the number of outreach workers.Newsom, who was elected in 2003 partly on a pledge to end chronic homelessness, said that San Francisco was once a "national disgrace" in dealing with the homeless, but that now The City has become a "national model."His comments came a day before the three-year anniversary......

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Harding to host elite golfers

Published: May 02, 2007

The City’s premier golf course will host five elite professional golf tournaments starting in 2009, under an agreement approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.The deal is expected to bring international attention to the Harding Park course, as the Recreation and Park Department continues to lose money on its operation following an $18 million course renovation. A Board of Supervisors vote on the agreement was postponed two weeks ago amid opposition from some board members who were worried The City would lose money on the deal with the Professional Golfers’......

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City still lacks emergency plan

Published: May 01, 2007

The City department in charge of responding to earthquakes and terrorist attacks has failed to draft a comprehensive strategic plan and develop performance measures almost a year after a scathing city audit recommended doing so.The City’s Department of Emergency Services has, however, improved in other areas since the May 2006 audit raised doubts that it was prepared for a disaster, according to an audit update released by the Board of Supervisors.Budget Analyst Harvey Rose, who completed both audits, said that since last year, "the efficiency, economy and effectiveness of DES......

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Ballot measures rules could go to voters

Published: Apr 27, 2007

In the last election, a slew of measures were placed on the ballot at the last minute by the Board of Supervisors, sparking criticism that the measures should undergo more scrutiny and input from the public before coming to voters.This November, San Francisco voters could have a chance to change the process by which the Board of Supervisors and the mayor can put measures on an election ballot.Currently, four members of the board can place a measure on the ballot, as well as the mayor, without a public hearing.Supervisor Sean......

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City seeks turnaround of troubled golf courses

Published: Apr 26, 2007

The City has sunk about $1.4 million this year into operation of the public golf courses to offset a deficit that will more than double over the next five years.City officials, however, are examining ways to turn around the Recreation and Park Department’s operation of the six public courses to ensure they no longer drain money from The City’s operating budget, which supports public safety, clean streets, parks and government services. Closure of some of the courses, privatizing operations and boosting the fees are some of the ideas being examined.......

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Parks need money to solve staffing shortage

Published: Apr 25, 2007

If you think The City’s parks are not up to snuff, recreation officials say you have good reason.The Recreation and Park Department says that it is short 227 gardeners, 37 custodians and at least 17 park patrol officers, according to the department’s budget request submitted to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Office.The department is requesting that Newsom allocate about $6.4 million for a number of additional staffers to help erase part of a workforce shortfall that officials say is preventing the department from living up to the expectations of residents. In November......

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Newsom, supes clash over surplus spending

Published: Apr 25, 2007

The City is expected to sink $28 million of this year’s budget surplus into affordable housing needs under a controversial funding request that has created a rift between the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Gavin Newsom.Last week, Newsom — who must submit a balanced city budget by June 1 — accused the Board of Supervisors of playing politics with The City’s financial health by requesting to spend a portion of this year’s projected $126.6 million surplus, which is left over from this year’s budget due to higher than projected revenues.......

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S.F. gunshot injuries doubled since 2003

Published: Apr 24, 2007

The number of gunshot wound victims treated at San Francisco General Hospital more than doubled from 2003 to 2006 to nearly 230, despite a slight decrease last year in The City’s historically high homicide rate.At the end of last year, city leaders credited crime-fighting strategies for the decrease in the number of homicides, from 96 in 2005 to 85 last year. Those wounded by stabbings and gunshots increased, however, according to statistics from the San Francisco General Hospital Trauma Center."Some have said that there is an epidemic of violent crime......

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S.F. deluged with pot club permit requests

Published: Apr 23, 2007

A deadline extension for medical pot clubs to obtain a permit to comply with a new city law is being considered as city departments struggle to process the permit requests, according to Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier.Under new legislation passed by the Board of Supervisors that went into effect January 2006, all of The City’s medicinal cannabis dispensaries have until the end of June to obtain a permit to legally operate under city law.With about two months remaining, however, the Planning Commission has approved five permits, and those remain in a so-called......

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Nonprofit loses track of neighborhood watch groups

Published: Apr 20, 2007

The nonprofit organization contracted by the San Francisco Police Department to set up neighborhood watch groups as The City struggles to combat crime has no idea how many of these groups remain active and, in many cases, what they are doing, according to a city report.During the last seven years, 333 neighborhood watch groups were officially started by the nonprofit San Francisco SAFE, which was paid $590,000 for its services this year under its contract with the Police Department, according to a report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.As a high......

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Supes approve moving SFO cops to City streets

Published: Apr 18, 2007

Some police officers stationed at the San Francisco International Airport could wind up helping to patrol violence-plagued neighborhood streets under legislation approved on Tuesday.Looking to boost the number of officers out patrolling city streets as San Francisco tries to combat the high rate of violent crimes and homicides, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi drafted legislation requiring police Chief Heather Fong and airport director John Martin to figure out by July 1 whether any of the police officers stationed at the airport could be redeployed.Under the legislation, Fong and Martin must work with......

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Deal on Saturday park road closures applauded

Published: Apr 17, 2007

Years of debate over extending closures of a main roadway in Golden Gate Park to Saturday appears over as an agreement brokered by Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Office was widely praised Monday.The negotiated deal allows for the Saturday road closure for about half of the 1.5-mile stretch of JFK Drive that is normally closed on Sundays. The closure will only take place for six months of the year, between April and September, not for the entire year.The agreement also includes a plan to improve the park’s Middle Drive West, from Metson......

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Officials defend Laguna Honda

Published: Apr 17, 2007

Following a patient’s death at Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center that resulted in a $100,000 state fine, hospital officials on Monday defended the quality of care at Laguna Honda and said the fine is being appealed.After questions were raised over the October 2006 death of an 82-year-old patient, who suffered severe dementia and is believed to have fallen from a third story window to her death, Supervisor Ed Jew called for a hearing Monday at City Hall to address patient care at the hospital. Laguna Honda was issued the......

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How to get through SFO security in 30 seconds

Published: Apr 12, 2007

As soon as October, passengers flying out of the San Francisco International Airport could pass through security lines within seconds if they pay an annual fee and offer up very personal information.Five airports in the nation have implemented the so-called Registered Traveler program designed to provide frequent fliers with relief from the long waits in post-Sept. 11 security lines.SFO will become the sixth airport in the nation to implement the program, which Mayor Gavin Newsom said would "get us further along the lines of being the most effective, efficient and......

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Supe proposes plan to clean graffiti, parks

Published: Apr 11, 2007

The city agencies responsible for cleaning up streets and graffiti and caring for city parks could see a workforce boost under a proposal submitted Tuesday by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin.Peskin said that years of budget cuts have led to "dirtier streets and less well-kept parks" and San Francisco is "sorely lacking city services that we need."Peskin submitted a request to use a portion of this budget year’s surplus to pay for one month’s worth of salaries for 20 new city workers in the Department of Public Works for......

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City banks on new golfing fees

Published: Apr 07, 2007

The City’s golf course operation will be moving out of the red with a tinkering of the green — increasing the costs for city resident rates and implementing the first-ever discounted rates during times with the least golfer demand. The Recreation and Park Commission approved an increase for the Resident Golf Card, which allows golfers to pay discounted residential rates, from the current rate of $42 to $45. There will also be new penalties: a $15 charge for a replacement card and a $5 charge assessed if card renewal forms......

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Newsom sets up board to stop SFPD racial profiling

Published: Apr 04, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday plans to set up an advisory board to better ensure that San Francisco Police Department officers are not conducting racial profiling.Following revelations that San Francisco has a higher rate of felony arrests of African-Americans compared with other cities, city officials said the data needed to be examined to determine if it was the result of biased policing.After a $15,000 three-month study, city officials have a report that brings them no closer to answering the question whether the disparity of arrests is the result of......

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Ad hoc garden irks Inner Richmond landowner

Published: Apr 03, 2007

A group of neighborhood residents are fighting to save their new garden that has transformed what they call a long-standing eyesore in the Inner Richmond district. Three months ago, friends and neighbors of a vacant, privately owned parcel of land at Fulton and Stanyan streets joined forces and began transforming the spot into a garden with vegetable plants and flowers.A problem, however, has arisen since the group planted the garden on private property without permission from the owner or the company that manages the parcel, who are now asking the......

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Supe to argue for Muni youth pass discount

Published: Apr 02, 2007

A discount for 18- to 21-year-olds to ride Muni that would cost about $3.1 million a year could get the brakes put on it Tuesday when the proposal comes before the board that oversees the transit agency.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick is expected to make his case Tuesday for a $15 Fast Pass discount for those between the ages of 18 and 21 before the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board of directors, which oversees Muni. McGoldrick will attempt to convince MTA board members to support implementing the discount on Jan. 1,......

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Strike could shut down conventions, trade shows

Published: Mar 30, 2007

San Francisco’s No. 1 industry — tourism — could suffer a blow as a result of another labor dispute, less than seven months after a hotel workers’ union ended a lengthy campaign to have conventions and visitors boycott area hotels. The union work force that is employed by 53 companies to set up and take down trade shows throughout the Bay Area, including the Moscone Center, San Francisco’s premiere convention arena, is threatening to strike if a contract is not agreed upon today.The Sign, Display & Allied Crafts Local 510......

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Supes may raise fares to fund cabbies’ health care

Published: Mar 29, 2007

The price to enter a cab would decrease and the per-mile fare would increase, if a proposal put forth by the body that oversees The City’s cabs is approved.To help fund health care for San Francisco’s currently uninsured drivers, the Taxicab Commission is recommending the Board of Supervisors to approve an increase of the $5.35 charge for a one-mile ride to $5.40, the current $9.85 charge for a three-mile ride be hiked to $10.20 and the current $14.35 charge for a five-mile ride increase to $15.Just six months ago, the......

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No more ‘paper or plastic?’

Published: Mar 28, 2007

San Francisco continued to ride the "green wave" Tuesday by becoming the first city in the nation to ban plastic checkout bags from large grocery and pharmacy chains.Opposed by grocers, legislation banning the plastic bags was widely supported by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, blaming the petroleum-based bags for littering city streets, harming wildlife, gumming up recycling machines and eating up fossil fuels.The City’s estimated 54 large grocery chains will have to switch to recyclable paper, compostable plastic bags or durable reusable bags within about six months and large......

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Daly: Spend $28M from surplus on housing

Published: Mar 28, 2007

Less than three months before Mayor Gavin Newsom will introduce his proposed budget for The City, Supervisor Chris Daly introduced an ordinance Tuesday that would authorize a $28 million budget supplement to fund what he is calling a "housing package.""This is an item that is appropriate at this time for this board to consider," Daly said. "Yes, it is a large dollar amount on the face of it, but it is not significant compared to the struggles that working families face."Continued...

 

Trinity Plaza plan moves ahead

Published: Mar 27, 2007

The massive 1,900-rental unit development proposed for a Market Street corner lot cleared a key hurdle Monday, as a Board of Supervisors committee sent the project on for a full board vote.The so-called Trinity Plaza development proposal stalled at the committee level as the project neared the finish line. Members of the Board of Supervisors had put up resistance attempting to fine-tune a negotiated deal between developer Angelo Sangiacomo and Supervisor Chris Daly, whose district includes the proposed development site at Market and Eighth streets. Under the initial proposal, the......

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Violent crimes up in S.F. last year

Published: Mar 27, 2007

While the number of homicides dropped in 2006 compared to 2005, other violent crimes increased, according to statistics released Monday by the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice.As 2006 drew to a close, Mayor Gavin Newsom and police Chief Heather Fong highlighted the fact that San Francisco had made progress in reducing the homicide rate — with 85 homicides last year and 96 in 2005 — as cities nationwide experienced spikes in homicides.Some violent crimes decreased last year with a 4 percent decrease in rapes, a 1 percent fall-off in burglaries......

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Surcharge could make S.F. housing pet-friendly

Published: Mar 26, 2007

Try searching for an apartment that allows pets in San Francisco and in all likelihood you will strike out time and again. With only a small percentage of apartments allowing cats and dogs, prospective renters sometimes wind up parting ways with their animal companions and tenants are less able to adopt pets from shelters. To transform The City’s rental market into a pet-friendly market, The City’s Animal Control and Welfare Commission is urging the Board of Supervisors to adopt legislation allowing landlords to charge 5 percent of a tenant’s rent......

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Pier at Aquatic Park deteriorating

Published: Mar 26, 2007

More than a thousand people crowd San Francisco’s popular pier at Aquatic Park to watch the Blue Angels roar overhead during Fleet Week, or ooh and ah over the Fourth of July fireworks. But the pier has deteriorated so much that it will now be off-limits during these big events, according to the National Park Service.The so-called Municipal Pier is in such poor shape, with corroded and damaged pilings, that large crowds could cause sections of it to collapse, according to a report issued March 14 by San Francisco-based engineering......

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Plastic bag ban just part of S.F. green wave

Published: Mar 24, 2007

San Francisco could become the nation’s first city to ban the use of plastic checkout bags by large grocery stores and chain stores with pharmacies, in the latest of several recent City Hall moves aimed at protecting the environment.The proposed legislation that would ban plastic checkout bags comes among a host of other initiatives, including an easier permitting process to install solar panels, a proposed ban on toxic children’s toys, and a ban on Styrofoam and other polystyrene foam. The plastic bag ban, which saw some amendments finalized by the......

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S.F. on drive to host PGA events

Published: Mar 22, 2007

Golf fans, get ready — six major professional golf events are expected to hit the San Francisco links in the coming years.Starting in 2009, San Francisco is in line to see the nation’s premier golfers swinging clubs at the city-run Harding Park Golf Course along Lake Merced, according to a proposed agreement between The City and the Professional Golfers’ Association."The southwest corner of San Francisco will be home to a major golf tournament every year form 2009 to at least 2014, assuming the Board of Supervisors approves this agreement," said......

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Newsom to city officials: Take the bus

Published: Mar 21, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom wants to yank free parking privileges from city commissioners and instead give them all Fast Passes to ride Muni.People who serve on The City’s commissions have long had the right to park for free at the Civic Center Garage, within walking distance of City Hall, as a perk for serving while receiving no salary or, in some cases, small stipends of about $50 or $100 p meeting.As the Municipal Transportation Agency board of directors was meeting Tuesday to discuss The City’s free parking policy, a mayoral aide......

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Businesses given extension to meet health care rules

Published: Mar 21, 2007

Large businesses on Tuesday were granted a six-month extension to comply with spending requirements for worker health care as part of The City’s groundbreaking program to provide health care access for San Francisco’s estimated 82,000 uninsured adults.The City is expected to implement the so-called Healthcare Security Ordinance on July 1 when it launches the new Health Access Program. The ordinance was authored by Supervisor Tom Ammiano and Mayor Gavin Newsom.When the ordinance was approved last year, large businesses were going to have to comply with the ordinance’s minimum spending requirements......

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Trinity Plaza plans hit snag again

Published: Mar 20, 2007

Plans to create a massive rental-unit development on Market Street — a vision shared by a pro-tenant supervisor and a major landlord — continue to find resistance at City Hall.After a proposal to transform the so-called Trinity Plaza site at Eighth and Market streets into a 1,900-unit rental development was met with opposition nearly two years ago, Supervisor Chris Daly, whose district includes the Trinity Plaza site, was able to broker a deal with developer Angelo Sangiacomo. The agreement ensured that 360 units of the new development would fall under......

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Report: Muni is late, misses stops, too full

Published: Mar 19, 2007

Muni consistently shows up late, misses scheduled stops and runs overly jampacked buses and trains, according to a voter-mandated review of the struggling transit system that showed it has failed to meet performance goals during the last several years.A recently released report detailing the findings of the review highlights Muni’s poor performance over the years, one that has put the Municipal Transportation Agency under tough scrutiny by city officials and the public. San Francisco voters passed Proposition E in November 1999, requiring a report every two years on whether Muni......

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City’s new probation chief asks for more manpower

Published: Mar 15, 2007

The City’s Adult Probation Department has gotten even worse since a blistering audit nearly seven years ago, with high-risk probationers continuing to go unmonitored, according to its new chief.The department, which monitors adult criminal offenders placed on probation and assists in their rehabilitation, remains plagued by a poorly maintained computer system, lack of management and failure to keep an accurate tally on how many probationers are living in San Francisco, according to Jeanne Woodford, who has served as the head of adult probation for the last four months. Woodford was......

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Supes to Congress: Get out of Iraq

Published: Mar 14, 2007

San Francisco continues to live up to the liberal, anti-war image that has often drawn fire from national right-wing media outlets. Just before Monday’s fourth anniversary of the Iraq War, the Board of Supervisors approved a resolution Tuesday that urges the U.S. Congress to secure immediate and safe withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. It comes as Congress is considering President Bush’s proposal to spend billions of more dollars on the Iraq war, and as local anti-war residents look to San Francisco Democrat and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to end......

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Western Addition top S.F. murder spot in 2007

Published: Mar 13, 2007

The City has seen a geographical shift in homicides this year, as nearly one-fourth of all killings have occurred in the Western Addition, after years when the Bayview was known as the bloodiest neighborhood in San Francisco.With 21 homicides to date in 2007, San Francisco is on pace for another record-setting year. Data supplied by the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice show that more homicides have occurred in the Western Addition than in the Bayview, with three daylight shootings. "In 2006, the vast majority [of homicides] were in Bayview, Western......

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S.F. cab fares could rise again

Published: Mar 10, 2007

For the second time in a year, the price of just stepping into a taxicab could increase.Five months ago, San Francisco increased the cost of the so-called flag drop, the charge at which drivers start the meter, by 25 cents — riders were hit with a $3.10 charge just for stepping into a cab. It became the second highest flag drop in the nation, only 10 cents behind the flag drop of Las Vegas cabs. At the time, the Board of Supervisors approved the flag drop increase with the agreement......

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Plastic bag ban may ensnare pharmacies

Published: Mar 09, 2007

A proposed ban on the use of plastic bags in San Francisco’s large chain grocery stores could end up applying to smaller retail stores with a pharmacy license.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi introduced legislation that would ban the use of plastic bags in the estimated 54 large grocery stores in San Francisco. He and other city officials are accusing a number of large grocery stores of failing to live up to an agreement with The City to reduce plastic bag usage in exchange for The City not moving forward with a 17-cent......

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Main break makes S.F. go dry

Published: Mar 09, 2007

Thousands of San Francisco businesses and residents were greeted with a surprise Thursday morning when they turned on their faucets: no water.An unforeseen combination of events led to a water outage Thursday that affected mostly the northern and eastern parts of San Francisco — from Fisherman’s Wharf to the Bayview district, including the downtown, Civic Center and South of Market areas — leaving customers with no water for about one hour.As water flow was being restricted at The City’s second largest reservoir, the University Mound Reservoir in the Excelsior district,......

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Public housing residents: Crime is a way of life

Published: Mar 08, 2007

Public housing residents say security has gotten so bad that drug selling and robberies have become a way of life just outside their apartment doors.Security had to be cut back at a number of public housing sites because the San Francisco Housing Authority’s operating budget has been underfunded by the federal government in recent years, according to the Housing Authority’s executive director, Greg Fortner. This year, the amount of the shortfall was $5.1 million, Fortner said.'They’re just robbing people at their doors'The impacts of the reductions were made clear as......

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Newsom to explore fare-free Muni

Published: Mar 07, 2007

Muni’s fare evaders have been costing the transit agency millions of dollars a year. Now, Mayor Gavin Newsom is considering free rides for all.Newsom has asked the Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees Muni, to examine a fare-free Muni system. The request comes as the agency struggles to boost ridership and improve reliability while at the same time faces multimillion-dollar budget deficits each year.Newsom said the costs of collecting the revenue, which includes the necessary equipment and proper staffing to stopfare evaders, "is such that one can make an argument that......

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City saves trees for parrots of Telegraph Hill

Published: Mar 06, 2007

After 18 months of negotiations, The City struck a unique deal with a private property owner to take care of two trees for the famous and colorful wild parrots of Telegraph Hill.San Francisco will take over the responsibility and liability for two aging Monterey cypress trees on private property along Greenwich Street where the world famous cherry-headed conures spend a lot of their time, much to the enjoyment of residents and visitors from afar.For Greenwich Street property owner John Cowen, the old trees were a liability he no longer wanted to worry......

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S.F. looks at new laws for dogwalkers

Published: Mar 05, 2007

Pet-friendly San Francisco apparently has some unfriendly dog walkers. Reports of dogs lost, verbally abused, left in poorly ventilated cars and found roaming city parks without a watchful eye are just some of the complaints The City’s Commission of Animal Control and Welfare has been increasingly receiving about professional dog walkers. In response, the commission will vote Thursday on a new set of regulations requiring a special business license and setting limits on the number of dogs pet care providers can walk at one time.The growing industry has long operated......

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Reclamation of Ocean Beach scrapped

Published: Mar 05, 2007

A city commission has abandoned the idea of reclaiming sections of Ocean Beach that were handed over to the National Park Service more than 30 years ago even as off-leash dog advocates worry the federal agency will end up forcing them to leash their dogs.Many off-leash dog advocates had hoped that The City’s Commission of Animal Control and Welfare would stand up for their fight to reclaim Ocean Beach, which is now under the control of the National Park Service’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area.Tempers flared when......

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Rockslide spurs mayor to declare emergency

Published: Mar 03, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom declared a local emergency on Friday, three days after a rockslide in North Beach has left more than 100 residents without homes and area property owners with hefty cleanup costs.By declaring a local emergency, The City and those affected by Tuesday morning’s rockslide may be eligible for state and federal assistance."Conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property have arisen within The City," the declaration read. The City is asking the governor’s office to proclaim a state of emergency, after which a federal declaration......

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Library renovations put on hold

Published: Mar 02, 2007

An ambitious program to overhaul The City’s public library buildings has hit a snag with construction cost overruns and delays that have now forced the postponement of five branch renovation projects. The postponement is unlikely to draw criticism as plans for the branches have also been altered to bring much grander than originally conceived improvements, in some cases newly constructed larger buildings.At the polls in 2000, San Francisco voters approved a $106 million bond to help fund the so-called Branch Library Improvement Program, which included the renovation of 19 library......

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Park road closure fight comes to a head

Published: Feb 28, 2007

The controversial issue of extending Golden Gate Park’s Sunday road closure to Saturdays has re-emerged and battle lines are being redrawn.Citing the popularity of Sunday’s road closure in The City’s beloved and largest park, advocates for extending the closure to Saturday are hoping the latest proposal will finally become a reality after several failed attempts.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick introduced legislation Tuesday that would enact a six-month trial of a closure of about a 1.5-mile stretch of roadway — mostly along John F. Kennedy Drive — on Saturdays from May 5 until......

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City spends $80K to audit street cleaning

Published: Feb 27, 2007

The city agency in charge of keeping streets clean is paying a consultant $80,000 to examine its own street-sweeping program, following a report last month criticizing the department for being inefficient and nonresponsive to complaints.The Department of Public Works, which is responsible for San Francisco’s cleanliness, tree canopy and sidewalk conditions, is failing to respond to requests to remove graffiti and clean up streets in a timely manner, is not pruning overgrown trees often enough and is lacking measures that can show its work is performed cost-effectively, according......

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Developers may be forced to subsidize home purchases

Published: Feb 24, 2007

The City’s requirement that new housing developments add to the stock of below-market-rate units may end up applying to the smallest projects as well.So-called inclusionary housing requirements placed on larger building projects have long been intended to ensure housing remains affordable to the lower-income segments of San Francisco by forcing developers to subsidize some of the costs. Supervisor Jake McGoldrick said it’s now time for smaller developments — those of two, three or four units — to start paying their share. Others, however, worry the smaller developments will not be......

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Minor earthquake shakes Bay Area

Published: Feb 24, 2007

A 3.4-magnitude earthquake about two miles east of Berkeley briefly shook the Bay Area late Friday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.The earthquake, which rumbled at 3:46 p.m., apparently caused no damage in The City but was felt there. Both the San Francisco Fire and Police departments said no emergency calls came in following the quake.BART followed usual protocol and stopped trains for five minutes to make sure there was no damage, which there wasn’t, and then resumed service.The quake originated from the active Hayward Fault, which was responsible......

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Carriers set roof antennas without residents' OK

Published: Feb 23, 2007

Residents are demanding a say in where and how cell phone carriers are installing so-called microcell antennas that are popping up all over The City without public review. There are six cell phone providers in San Francisco; firms typically use the microcell antennas to fill in pockets of areas that have sketchy service, according to city senior planner Jonas Ionin. These antennas range in height from 18 to 30 inches and often blend into the architecture of the buildings, he added.Residents are complaining that they only find out about the......

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Software fight delays use of high-tech ballots

Published: Feb 22, 2007

San Franciscans may vote using costlier and older machines this November as voter rights advocates staunchly oppose a proposed contract between The City and an electronic voting machine company until it agrees to reveal its software secrets. Electronic voting machines throughout the nation have come under fire by voter rights advocates who say keeping private how the software counts the votes could lead to voter fraud and provides no assurance that every vote is, in fact, counted.The City’s election director, John Arntz, is trying to convince the Board of Supervisors......

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Retiree health care costs balloon

Published: Feb 21, 2007

San Francisco’s cost of providing health care benefits for retired workers has skyrocketed from just $17 million in 2000 to $115 million next year.As the cost of health coverage continues to rise throughout the nation, city officials are trying to come up with a solution as they are faced with a projected $5 billion cost of retiree health benefits alone over the next 30 years.Next year, San Francisco is going to pay out a total of $401 million in health benefit costs for city workers and retirees, who are entitled......

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City planners may get huge pay raise for meetings

Published: Feb 21, 2007

Planning commissioners stand to receive 300 percent pay raises if they arrive at the start of meetings and stay to the end. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin has drafted an amendment to a city ordinance that would make members of the Planning Commission the highest paid sitting members of a city commission at $200 per meeting, up from $50 per meeting. Peskin said he has been meaning to bring forward the proposal for the last few years, saying the raise is "long overdue." "It’s probably the most time-consuming commission......

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Dufty may propose term-limits extension

Published: Feb 19, 2007

A proposal is being developed to change The City’s term limits law for the Board of Supervisors that could keep four supervisors who would otherwise be termed out in less than two years in office longer.The Board of Supervisors has gone head-to-head with Mayor Gavin Newsom on a number of issues and has drawn criticism from the business community for leaning too heavily on it as a revenue source. Supervisor Bevan Dufty, a Newsom ally, said he is fleshing out and shopping around the idea of a charter amendment for......

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Niche markets replace groceries

Published: Feb 17, 2007

Although Cala and Alberstons food stores have closed down recently in San Francisco, there is a new crop of grocers moving in.As five neighborhood stores shut their doors in the past year, residents in the communities of these stores and their city representatives were nervous that they would lose a vital resource. While one of the sites was transformed into an auto dealership and two others remain dormant, Whole Foods is possibly moving into a former Alberstons on Clement Street and has plans for the former Cala Foods site in......

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City attorney probes Mayor's office payouts

Published: Feb 16, 2007

Questions raised over the amount of money paid out to a former city staffer who had an affair with Mayor Gavin Newsom has prompted an investigation by the city attorney.The investigation is focusing on the amount of compensation The City doled out in paid leave to Ruby Rippey-Tourk, Newsom’s former appointments secretary, with whom Newsom has admitted to having an affair about a year and a half ago. The affair became public when Rippey-Tourk’s husband, Alex Tourk, resigned last month from his position as Newsom’s re-election campaign manager after his......

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City: No e-voting deal without software details

Published: Feb 15, 2007

San Francisco could become one of the first cities to require an electronic voting company to disclose the details of its software in an effort to ensure all votes are counted.Electronic voting machines have stirred controversy as voter-rights activists say the machines cannot be trusted, especially since the software used to tally votes is kept secret.More than 20 voter-rights advocates turned out at a Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee hearing Wednesday to oppose the proposed $12.6 million four-year contract with Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. Under the contract, The......

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Supes delay resolution on mayor’s Wi-Fi deal

Published: Feb 14, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s agreement with two high-tech giants to blanket The City in a free wireless Internet network is coming under attack as city supervisors focus on another option — a city-owned network.The Board of Supervisors will ultimately have to decide whether to approve the agreement with Earthlink and Google to setup a wireless, or Wi-Fi, Internet network in San Francisco at no cost to The City, but there clearly is opposition mounting among city supervisors.The Board of Supervisors was slated to vote Tuesday on a nonbinding resolution authored by......

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Mirkarimi puts Fong on notice

Published: Feb 14, 2007

Amid concerns over violent crime on city streets, the idea of redeploying police officers at San Francisco International Airport to serve crime-plagued neighborhoods has re-emerged after it gained little support last year.The Police Department is operating about 300 officers below the 1,971 mandated staffing level set by voters in 1994. The City is also struggling to recruit new officers, due to San Francisco’s high cost of living is high and the fact that other cities offering more attractive incentives.During Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose district recently......

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City failed to resettle displaced Fillmore residents

Published: Feb 13, 2007

A 40-year-old city program designed to land residents in homes after being displaced due to redevelopment has been successful for barely 20 percent of participants, with The City having lost touch with thousands of them.A largely criticized redevelopment of the Western Addition’s Fillmore area in the 1960s ended up forcing thousands of residents and business owners out of their community, tearing apart a predominately African-American neighborhood.At the time, the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, which led the redevelopment, offered displaced families and business owners a certificate of preference — a document......

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Citywide wireless deal hits snag

Published: Feb 08, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s high-profile agreement with Earthlink and Google to blanket San Francisco in a free wireless Internet network could be held up until a fully fleshed-out study on a city-owned network is completed.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick has emerged as a champion of a city-owned wireless, or Wi-Fi, network and authored a resolution that requests a detailed study of the prospect before the Board of Supervisors vote on the Wi-Fi agreement. If approved by the full board in two weeks, the resolution would hold up the vote on the Earthlink and......

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Newsom emphatic about staying on the job

Published: Feb 07, 2007

"Absolutely not." That is the response from the Mayor’s Office regarding a call for resignation after Gavin Newsom’s public confessions of abusing alcohol and having an affair with a staffer, who was also the wife of his campaign manager.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick had a private one-on-one meeting with Newsom on Tuesday afternoon and asked him to step down following his admission last week that he had an affair with Ruby Rippey-Tourk, a former appointments secretary and the wife of Alex Tourk.Newsom admitted to the sexual relationship Thursday after media reports surfaced......

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Supe proposes new campaign finance, ethics rules

Published: Feb 07, 2007

Four months after a bruising race for a seat on the Board of Supervisors, the winner of the contest wants to overhaul campaign rules "to help clean up San Francisco elections."District 6 Supervisor Chris Daly, who successfully ran against a candidate who had the backing of Mayor Gavin Newsom and a powerful business group, has asked the city attorney to draft legislation that could limit the amount of money independent groups spend in local supervisorial elections and require tougher restrictions for mailers and pollsters. Daly wants to limit independent expenditures,......

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The City’s skyline is set to change drastically

Published: Feb 02, 2007

As The City ponders allowing taller buildings in the South of Market area to generate cash for the new Transbay Terminal rebuild, developers are quickly coming up with proposals for taller high-rises. The $3.4 billion plan to transform the blighted Transbay Terminal into a major transportation hub, akin to New York City’s Grand Central Station, is driving city planners to consider allowing higher height limits for buildings. The new terminal would put all bus services under one roof and include a Caltrains extension. It would also include the high-speed rail.......

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Alcohol controls sought for Lower Haight area

Published: Feb 01, 2007

Following a rash of gun violence in the Lower Haight neighborhood, a prohibition of any new liquor-selling stores is being considered as one tactic to curb the ongoing crime.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose district includes the Lower Haight, has drafted legislation that would prohibit any store that would sell alcohol for off-site consumption from opening up along Haight Street between Scott and Webster streets.Mirkarimi said a shooting Tuesday morning and another one on Sunday highlights the need for such a measure.The legislation was approved Wednesday by the Board of Supervisors......

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Supe to offer grace period bill for paid sick leave

Published: Jan 30, 2007

Employers may have more time to make sense of a new city law requiring paid sick leave for workers.The first of its kind in the nation, San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance goes into effect Monday as business owners and the agency charged with enforcing it scramble to figure out how to implement it.Supervisor Sean Elsbernd is expected to introduce legislation today that would still have the law go into effect on Monday, but delay any sick day payouts and bar any penalties until after June 5. This......

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S.F. climate plan calls for fewer cars, more trees

Published: Jan 29, 2007

The chief agency acting as steward of San Francisco’s environment has laid out an ambitious plan to make The City greener and its air cleaner.The Department of the Environment will spend the next three years attempting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, entice more people to ride public transit, walk, bicycle and find funding to pay for planting more trees, according to the department’s draft 2007-09 strategic plan.Among the chief objectives is to reduce greenhouse gases. As part Mayor Gavin Newsom’s "Climate Action Plan," which was rolled out in 2004,......

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New bid to close ‘digital divide’

Published: Jan 27, 2007

San Francisco is on pace to offer a free wireless Internet network in two years but a faster and superior technology may come on its heels that could better close the so-called digital divide.Supervisor Tom Ammiano has emerged as a strong proponent of a citywide "fiber network" that would allow people access to the Internet at speeds tens or even hundreds of times faster than existing digital subscriber line, or DSL, cable modem speeds and wireless, or Wi-Fi, Internet speeds.A report, initiated by Ammiano, says The City could connect every......

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Amendment propels Trinity Plaza project

Published: Jan 26, 2007

After expressing frustration over how the proposed 1,900-unit Trinity Plaza development came to fruition, the Planning Commission on Thursday approved for the second time a zoning amendment that puts the project back before the Board of Supervisors for a vote.The commission’s second vote on the amendment came after the Board of Supervisors refused to adopt it in November 2006, as the project became bogged down over competing visions for how much affordable housing should be included. In the coming weeks, the Board of Supervisors Land Use and Economic Development Committee......

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Low meter revenue stumps S.F. officials

Published: Jan 25, 2007

City officials are baffled by the low amount of revenue coming in from San Francisco’s more than 20,000 parking meters when an empty parking spot is nearly impossible.The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is collecting no more than three hours worth of parking meter revenue per meter per day, according to a budget analyst report. MTA is taking heat for this low collection rate. Last year, it raised fares to help close a $60 million budget shortfall and now the agency may consider parking meter and citation increases this year......

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Supes back enforcement plan for broken sidewalk repairs

Published: Jan 24, 2007

The City is going to start coming after property owners who have let their sidewalks fall into disrepair.The Board of Supervisors approved on Tuesday a $1.3 million funding request for the Department of Public Works to launch a proactive enforcement program of sidewalk conditions. In the past, enforcement of sidewalk conditions was only complaint-driven.Plans for the beefed-up enforcement were put in place following Mayor Gavin Newsom’s October State of The City address, in which he called for the improvement of a number of quality-of-life issues, including better sidewalks.Property owners are......

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Bill introduced to punish grocers for bags

Published: Jan 24, 2007

After failing to adhere to a voluntary agreement to reduce plastic bag usage, large grocery stores in San Francisco may soon be required by law to use only environmentally friendly check-out bags.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi introduced legislation Tuesday that would hit large grocery stores with steep penalties if they do not adhere to the proposed mandatory use of recyclable, compostable or reusable check-out bags.If ultimately approved by the Board of Supervisors, the legislation would go into effect July 1. The proposed law is the latest move by city officials to figure......

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City parks may host farmers markets

Published: Jan 23, 2007

Farmers markets may soon start cropping up in San Francisco’s prized parks.A Board of Supervisors committee supported on Monday legislation that establishes a formal processfor organizers of farmers markets to apply with The City’s Recreation and Park Department to periodically set up a market on land overseen by the department.To date, The City has issued nine permits for farmers markets to open for business, including at the Ferry Building and the United Nations Plaza.Some community groups have had difficulty in trying to open a farmers market in their neighborhood. For......

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City considers putting more cabs on the street

Published: Jan 22, 2007

San Francisco may have an answer to the long waits for taxicabs or the frustration of trying to hail a cab during rush hour: more cabs on the streets.The last time The City boosted the number of taxis permitted to drive around San Francisco was in 2001, bringing the total cabs in circulation to 1,381. In 1997, there were 821 cabs.At the time, the increase was justified by a thriving economy and a high demand for cabs, but soon thereafter came the dot-com bust and the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy,......

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Report: DPTissuing fewer citations

Published: Jan 20, 2007

Plagued by staffing shortages, the Department of Parking and Traffic is issuing fewer parking tickets than in previous years, a deficiency that has come under criticism as The City’s transportation agency once again considers a slew of parking citation and meter increases to close a projected budget shortfall.Parking fines were hiked two years ago, with increases ranging from $15 for some violations and as much as $65 for others. However, parking fines are expected to drop by $4 million as the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which runs Muni and......

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Supe charms business groups

Published: Jan 18, 2007

The business community has found a champion of its interests in the newest member of the Board of Supervisors.The politics of the recently elected District 4 Supervisor Ed Jew are welcomed by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and other business groups who have feuded with the Board of Supervisors over a number of issues recently, from the employer-mandated fee to help fund The City’s universal health care access program to the requirement of paid sick leave. Jew, who was sworn in to his post on Jan. 8, has made......

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Fee may be added to delinquent parking tickets

Published: Jan 17, 2007

Car owners who continually fail to pay those pesky parking tickets on time may be hit with yet another fee.The agency that oversees parking tickets and meters — the Municipal Transportation Agency — is considering assessing a $25 fee on top of other delinquency charges to all parking tickets that reach the so-called "hard-to-collect" status.Once a parking ticket is issued the offender has 21 days to pay it or face a $25 fine increase. If the offender does not pay the ticket within 50 days, then a $35 fee is......

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MTA still facing shortfall, looking for revenue

Published: Jan 17, 2007

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s budget is healthier than it was last year, but agency officials are still in the position where they will have to consider revenue generators — such as an increase to parking citations — in an effort to close a projected budget shortfall.The good news for Muni riders, however, is that the MTA officials say they are not considering service reductions or fare increases to close the agency’s projected shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year, which is estimated to be $15.1 million. Last year at......

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S.F. officials say lawsuit won’t stop health plan

Published: Jan 13, 2007

A lawsuit threatening to kill key funding of The City’s ambitious plan to provide health coverage for the uninsured will not deter officials from their plans to implement the health ordinance later this year as they weigh other options should they not prevail, including putting the ordinance on the ballot.The Golden Gate Restaurant Association, a nonprofit group representing the interests of restaurant owners, sued The City in November 2006, alleging that The City’s universal health access plan’s employer spending mandate was pre-empted by federal law.The health care ordinance, which was......

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City-owned Wi-Fi costly, but gives S.F. control, report finds

Published: Jan 12, 2007

A city report suggests there may be an alternative to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s high-profile agreement to provide free wireless Internet access throughout San Francisco and questions its promise of closing the "digital divide."Last Friday, Newsom announced that an agreement was reached with Earthlink and Google to blanket The City’s 49 square miles in a free wireless Internet, or Wi-Fi, network, at no cost to The City.The report says San Francisco could spend between $6 million and $10 million to build its own network and pay $2 million a year to......

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Business interests ask for delay in new sick leave law

Published: Jan 12, 2007

The Chamber of Commerce has asked for a delay in implementing a new law that requires businesses to offer paid sick leave — the first of its kind in the nation — as merchants and The City race to make sense of the law.The ordinance, which becomes effective Feb. 5, was passed by 61 percent of voters in November. It requires employers with fewer than 10 workers to offer as many as five paid sick days per year per employee and larger employers to offer up to nine days per......

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Rebuking mayor, supervisors reject salary for SFO official

Published: Jan 11, 2007

The man appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom at the airport to attract international tourism was denied a salary Wednesday by a Board of Supervisors committee, the latest rift in the strained relationship between the mayor and the board.The Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee refused to release $92,890 for the six-month salary of Bill Lee, who serves as the airport’s International Economic and Tourism Development director. In 2005, Newsom ended Bill Lee’s long stint as city administrator by picking Ed Lee to take that post, and then appointed Bill......

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Supes schedule ‘question time’

Published: Jan 10, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom, your attendance is requested.The Board of Supervisors passed a board rule Tuesday that will set aside a portion of every third board meeting of the month for "question time" with the mayor. Newsom, however, is not expected to ever show up. The board rule, approved Tuesday in a 10-1 vote, implements the voter-approved Proposition I ballot measure, a nonbinding policy statement, which said the mayor should appear monthly before the Board of Supervisors to discuss policy. The question time proposal was based on the rollicking British House......

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Re-elected board chief, Peskin sets ambitious agenda

Published: Jan 09, 2007

The man chosen to lead San Francisco’s most powerful political body, the Board of Supervisors, laid out an aggressive plan for the next year and questioned the leadership skills of the mayor as The City faces the loss of the 49ers and a continually high homicide rate.Supervisor Aaron Peskin was unanimously supported by his colleagues Monday as they voted him president of the legislative body for a second two-year term. The 11-member board flexed its political muscle against Mayor Gavin Newsom on a number of key political issues in 2006,......

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Plan for more crime cameras stirs debate

Published: Jan 08, 2007

More than 1,300 crimes were committed last year at the eight sites where an additional 25 surveillance cameras are proposed for placement.The City currently has 33 cameras, which carry a $450,000 price tag, watching 14 crime-plagued intersections. The City's Police Commission will vote Jan. 17 on eight additional cameras at intersections that last year saw a high volume of reported crimes, including drugs, stolen cars, homicides and robberies. The cameras have stirred controversy as some city officials and the American Civil Liberties Union say they are not proven effective and......

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The City completes deal for wireless Internet network

Published: Jan 06, 2007

After more than 10 months of negotiations, The City has reached an agreement with two Internet giants that would make San Francisco the first city of its size to have a free wireless Internet network.Once implemented, the system would make the entire city an Internet "hot spot," allowing access to the Web everywhere within city limits to anyone with a laptop computer without having to plug in. Mayor Gavin Newsom signed off on the contract Friday, and it will next come before the Board of Supervisors for a vote, which......

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Silence, disbelief after verdict

Published: Jan 05, 2007

Silence prevailed among the more than 30 uniformed officers lingering outside the packed courtroom Thursday afternoon after they learned the jury did not hand down a first-degree murder sentence for the man accused of gunning down an undercover cop."What? Oh, you’re kidding," an officer was overheard saying as some 30 officers walked away in silence, before learning that David Hill, 23, could spend the rest of his life behind bars for gunning down Officer Isaac Espinoza with an AK-47 assault rifle."I think some of the cops who walked out of......

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S.F. bigwigs to party for Pelosi

Published: Jan 04, 2007

San Francisco’s most influential figures are expected to storm the U.S. Capitol this week trumpeting The City’s core liberal values as they celebrate the swearing in of Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House.The 66-year-old San Francisco Democrat will become the first female speaker of the House today, and will provide San Francisco and the rest of the state with considerable influence over federal affairs. San Francisco’s power elite has made no secret that they are attending swearing-in events to not only celebrate with Pelosi,but also push for all things......

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Mayor: Homicide rewards not working

Published: Jan 04, 2007

Mayor Gavin Newsom has acknowledged that offering $100,000 rewards to help solve homicide cases has failed and represents an unsuccessful attempt in trying to reduce San Francisco’s high homicide rate. As San Francisco was experiencing its third consecutive year of a historic number of killings and community members were calling on city officials for relief, Newsom announced in September 2006 that he had put up $100,000 rewards in 15 unsolved homicide cases, 10 times the usual reward amount offered."I won’t say that this was one of the success stories of......

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Wi-Fi deal ‘seconds away,’ mayor says

Published: Jan 03, 2007

The deal that will blanket San Francisco’s 49 square miles with free wireless Internet service is "seconds way" from completion, Mayor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday.Contract negotiations between The City and two high-tech giants, Earthlink and Google, have been ongoing for more than 10 months.While Newsom said last month that a deal could be reached before the end of 2006, he was no less optimistic on Tuesday about the negotiations. Chris Vein, director of The City’s technology office, who has been negotiating daily with the Internet companies, met with Newsom on......

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MTA backs traffic-calming plan

Published: Jan 03, 2007

A slew of traffic-calming measures including speed humps, medians and improved crosswalks are expected to make San Francisco streets, where nearly 700 pedestrians were injured by cars and 14 were killed in 2005, a whole lot safer.Nine neighborhoods or locations were selected as part of the first traffic-calming projects to be funded by Proposition K, which voters approved in 2003. Prop. K reinstated a half-cent sales tax and dedicated $68 million over the next 30 years to traffic-calming projects. The Municipal Transportation Agency unanimously approved a multimillion-dollar plan Tuesday for......

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Despite incentives, official optimism, S.F. film industry takes tumble in ’06

Published: Jan 02, 2007

After three major movies were filmed in San Francisco in 2005, Mayor Gavin Newsom declared that "film in San Francisco is back." But he may have spoken too soon because, despite new incentives to filmmakers, it was "quiet on the set" in The City in 2006.A booming industry in the 1990s — with a production costs high of $461 million in 1996 — the industry began to decline in 1999, reaching an all-time low in 2003 and the first half of 2004, when no major picture was shot in San......

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Gale force winds spread disarray in S.F.

Published: Dec 28, 2006

San Francisco was thrashed by strong winds during the last two days as a winter storm made its way down the coast, causing road closures, power outages, transit delays and knocking down a number of trees, according to officials.By Wednesday afternoon the storm was heading to the Southern California coast, leaving the Bay Area with sunny skies, although the strong winds persisted. Today’s forecast calls for sunny skies and much lighter winds at 15 to 25 miles per hour.The storm was unusual in that it brought high winds for such......

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Golden Gate Park may host movies

Published: Dec 27, 2006

San Francisco moviegoers have embraced the idea of seeing films in local parks and may soon be able to soak in the magic of the silver screen at The City’s most beloved one, Golden Gate Park.Summer Entertainment Inc., an Australian-based entertainment company, has proposed showing films during an eight-week run beginning in August. The films would be shown in Peacock Meadow, which is located near the Conservatory of Flowers. If all goes well, it could become an annual affair.Summer Entertainment, which would charge people to view the films, "is looking......

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Citations against property owners weighed as tool

Published: Dec 22, 2006

A move to empower some city workers to issue on-the-spot citations for violations such as failing to maintain a landscaped front yard could be a new weapon in getting property owners to adhere to city planning codes.The Planning Department has no "effective means" to compel owners to correct violations, according to a legislative analyst report for the Board of Supervisors. Giving an enforcement team the power to issue citations, akin to how Muni inspectors issue tickets to fare evaders, could change all that.The idea of having code enforcement planners issue......

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Mayor’s data hint at upswing

Published: Dec 21, 2006

As the year draws to a close, San Francisco’s local economy has shown improvement for the second consecutive year, suggesting that The City is on an economic upswing after years of sluggishness, according to data compiled by the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.In 2005, San Francisco’s local economy showed improvement with its first net gain of jobs, a boost in the number of visitors and a decline in the office vacancy rate.The latest economic statistics for 2006 indicate San Francisco is moving further toward a healthier local economy.The......

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Inspector questions cab safety

Published: Dec 19, 2006

The City’s taxicabs are not as safe as they used to be, the head safety inspector of San Francisco cabs says, because of a new law that lets older taxi models stay on the streets longer.Dan Borg, the head mechanic of the San Francisco International Airport ground transportation unit, which annually inspects all cabs in service, delivered a powerful testimony to the Taxicab Commission last week, calling into question a newly adopted rule that allows taxis to remain in service for eight model years, whereas in the past cabs could......

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Report ranks S.F. as U.S. cultural magnet

Published: Dec 16, 2006

With no shortage of drum circles, frequent poetry readings and a wide array of artists’ jobs, San Francisco is one of the most cultural cities in the country, more cultural than even New York City, according to a new report.San Francisco bested New York City in all of the seven measures the Urban Institute used to rank 50 metro cities in a report titled "Cultural Vitality in Communities.""This is great news but it’s not that surprising," said Laurie Armstrong, spokeswoman for the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau. Among the......

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Board drops idea of ‘question time’ at mayor’s town hall

Published: Dec 15, 2006

The Board of Supervisors has abandoned the idea of holding a special off-site meeting at Mayor Gavin Newsom’s January town hall meeting, but the controversy over the board’s — and the voters’ — desire to have the mayor engage with supervisors in a question-and-answer forum is by no means over.Newsom has declined to follow the specific language of last November’s voter-approved ballot measure Proposition I, a nonbinding policy statement saying the mayor should appear monthly before the Board of Supervisors at a regularly scheduled meeting to discuss policy. The "question......

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Supes question giving contract to top lobbying firm

Published: Dec 14, 2006

An influential lobbying firm that also contributes money to candidates running for the Board of Supervisors was granted a three-year city contract for up to $175,000, drawing criticism from some supervisors who said they opposed it on principle. The San Francisco County Transportation Authority, made up of members of the Board of Supervisors, voted 6-3 Tuesday to approve a contract with Barbary Coast Consulting to perform public outreach when it comes to a slew of transit projects, including the Van Ness and Geary Boulevard bus rapid transit projects.Board of Supervisors......

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Supes to hear sidewalk rules

Published: Dec 14, 2006

Plans to ramp up enforcement of sidewalk maintenance, championed by Mayor Gavin Newsom during his State of The City address in October, continue to move forward despite lingering concerns.Property owners are responsible for the sidewalks adjacent to their property, according to state and city laws, and of the 5,298 city blocks of sidewalk, only 106 are The City’s responsibility, with the rest falling to property owners to pay out of pocket to maintain. Supervisor Sean Elsbernd first raised concerns last week that the Department of Public Works, the city agency......

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Development plan takes leap forward

Published: Dec 13, 2006

A $1.2 billion development plan to transform Treasure Island into a vibrant, transit-friendly community for 13,500 residents is on its way to becoming a reality after the Board of Supervisors endorsed it on Tuesday.The plan includes 6,000 housing units with 30 percent below market rate, 300 acres of parkland and 235,000 square feet of retail space.With the board’s support, the private development team leading the project will begin negotiations to acquire the island from the U.S. Navy, which used it during World War II as a base.If all goes according......

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Board wants in on town hall

Published: Dec 13, 2006

If Mayor Gavin Newsom wants to meet regularly with supervisors in the community instead of at City Hall, his office may end up paying for it.Newsom announced last week that on Jan. 13 he would hold the first-ever "policy town hall meeting" in the Richmond district in response to the passage of Proposition I, a nonbinding policy statement that says the mayor should appear once a month at a Board of Supervisors meeting. The measure, which proponents say is modeled on the British House of Commons "question time" with the......

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Hill murder trial focuses on motive

Published: Dec 12, 2006

Self-defense, or a deliberate choice to gun down police officers to avoid an arrest — those are the two very different scenarios a jury is faced with as it begins deliberations today in the trial of a self-acknowledged gang member who shot and killed a San Francisco police officer more than two years ago.David Hill, 23, is charged with killing Officer Isaac Espinoza on April 10, 2004, in the area of Newcomb Avenue and Newhall Street in the Bayview district after firing upon him with an AK-47 assault rifle. Espinoza,......

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Report: Lower shortfall expected for ’07

Published: Dec 09, 2006

As Mayor Gavin Newsom gets ready to present his budget for next year by June 1, he will have to close a $64 million projected shortfall in The City’s operating budget, significantly less than was anticipated earlier this year, according to a report released Friday by the Mayor’s Budget Office.The projection marks the second consecutive year that San Francisco has faced a sizably lower shortfall than originally forecast, a fact city officials attribute to an economic turnaround. The recent forecast comes as good news, since the Controller’s Office had projected......

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Mayor turns up heat on Prop. I

Published: Dec 08, 2006

As city supervisors deliberated Thursday on a voter-backed policy to have the mayor attend monthly board meetings, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that his counterproposal would be implemented Jan. 13, further straining relations between him and the board.The latest political spat between the Board of Supervisors and Newsom is centered around the implementation of Proposition I, a nonbinding policy statement — which was backed by 56 percent of the voters Nov. 7 — that said the mayor should appear once a month at a Board of Supervisors meeting.In a Tuesday letter......

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Supes hash out Treasure Island plan details

Published: Dec 07, 2006

A major proposal to transform Treasure Island into a unique, vibrant neighborhood using "green" materials, incorporating alternative energy and centered around public transit was praised in concept Wednesday by city officials as they attempted to hash out better protections for The City. Years in the making, the proposal by a private development team would level nearly all the existing structures on the 450-acre Treasure Island and make way for the neighborhood, which would include 6,000 homes, 235,000 square feet of retail and 13,500 new residents.The Board of Supervisors Land Use......

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Sidewalk-fixing plan riles supe

Published: Dec 06, 2006

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s attempt to beef up enforcement of sidewalk maintenance at the expense of property owners has come under fire by one city official.In the coming months, the Department of Public Works may force hundreds of property owners to pay for repairs to damaged sidewalks adjacent to their properties, as required by state and local laws. Repair costs range from hundreds to thousands of dollars.The sidewalk law "has been on the books forever and they have never really enforced it," Supervisor Sean Elsbernd said. "Now, subsequent to the mayor’s......

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Supes resume assault on Conroy

Published: Dec 05, 2006

The former head of The City’s emergency planning, who has consistently come under attack by the Board of Supervisors, was once again in its cross hairs Monday as they recommended to eliminate her latest position at the Office of Emergency Services and Homeland Security.Annemarie Conroy was appointed in 2004 by Mayor Gavin Newsom as director of OESHS, the city department charged with planning for major catastrophes. During her tenure as the leader of OESHS, she was often criticized for lack of qualifications and this spring, a scathing city audit of......

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North Beach piazza: For ‘people to come and rest their souls’

Published: Dec 04, 2006

By the end of next year, a piazza covering a section of Vallejo Street in North Beach could replace a city block and help transform the area into an international landmark, say project advocates.The piazza, which was dreamt up by famed poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who also owns City Lights Bookstore, is intended to create a public gathering space replete with benches, trees and a "starving poets podium."Seen as a way to revitalize North Beach by attracting more families and tourists to the former Beat haven, the proposed Piazza Saint Francis......

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Ryan White’s mom visits The City on World AIDS Day

Published: Dec 02, 2006

Facing a community that shunned him for having AIDs, Ryan White became a prominent advocate of those suffering from the deadly disease, educating the world and inspiring compassion."Because of the misunderstood disease called AIDS my life changed overnight," said Jeanne White-Ginder, White’s mother. She was in San Francisco to participate in World AIDS Day, a day to remember those who lost their lives to the disease and to re-energize efforts to halt its spread.White was born a hemophiliac and contracted AIDS in 1984 at the age of 13 from tainted......

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Hospital expansion on budget, so far, but a little behind

Published: Dec 01, 2006

Construction to accommodate 780 beds at the city-operated Laguna Honda hospital is under way and on budget, while the fate of a building for another 420 beds remains uncertain.Laguna Honda Hospital serves about 1,050 long-term patients, but the existing city-operated facility is in violation of state hospital codes, which prompted the need for the rebuild. The project originally called for the construction of four buildings totaling 1,200 beds, but escalation of construction costs resulted in the project being scaled back.The cost increase also sparked a debate about the kind of......

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Fong tours communities in wake of supes’ critique

Published: Nov 30, 2006

Two weeks after receiving scathing criticism from the Board of Supervisors for not being assertive or visible enough, police Chief Heather Fong has engaged in two publicized merchant walks in predominantly Asian-American communities where she has the strongest base of support.Fong was the object of criticism by board members as well as the Police Officers Association around the time the Board of Supervisors overrode Mayor Gavin Newsom’s veto of legislation requiring regular foot patrols around eight of The City’s 10 police district stations. Fong had sided with the mayor in......

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Truck sparks SoMa crashes

Published: Nov 29, 2006

A man driving a work truck Tuesday afternoon struck a car, rear-ended a Muni bus and then smashed into another car in the intersection of Fourth and Howard streets, sending two people to the hospital and causing three bus lines to be rerouted for more than an hour, police say.Driving along Fourth Street near Minna Street, the man in the truck rear-ended a car, stopped for a moment, then continued driving, only to strike the rear-end of a stationary Muni bus at 12:50 p.m., according to police Officer Jason Hui.The......

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Support mounts for Muni youth discount

Published: Nov 25, 2006

A Muni fare discount for young people is well-deserved and smart policy even if it might cost up to $15.5 million a year, advocates of the proposed discount say.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick has drafted a resolution urging Muni to implement discounted fares for those between the ages of 18 and 24. The possibility of a fare discount comes as Muni is facing a projected deficit as much as $17 million this fiscal year. The transit agency expects to generate $691 million by the year’s end, not enough to offset the projected......

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Survey: S.F. backs tax for burying wires

Published: Nov 25, 2006

San Francisco residents apparently are prepared to pay an extra few bucks a month to bury underground electrical wiring that still clutters half of The City’s streetscapes, according to the results of a recent survey.The City has run out of money to pay for undergrounding utility poles and wires that remain on 470 miles of San Francisco’s 900 miles of roadways.The City’s Utility Undergrounding Task Force plans on recommending to the Board of Supervisors next month that San Francisco implement a 5 percent tax on everyone’s electric charge on their......

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Supervisors approve pay hike for veteran S.F. police officers

Published: Nov 22, 2006

The City will begin boosting salaries of veteran cops as an incentive for them to stay on the force while the Police Department struggles to recruit new officers and continues to operate with a staff shortfall of nearly 300 officers.Mayor Gavin Newsom pushed for an amendment to the police contract that would grant a 4 percent pay increase for 30-year veterans of the force. The incentive is seen as a way to slow down the pace of retiring officers.The Board of Supervisors approved the contract amendment Tuesday in a 9-0......

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Yacht club receives new 47-year lease

Published: Nov 22, 2006

The St. Francis Yacht Club will enjoy its prime city-owned spot by the Bay for another 47 years despite criticism that the lease approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors couldleave the public high and dry.The lease increases the St. Francis Yacht Club’s rent by 137.7 percent, bringing the annual rent to $200,134. On top of the rent increase, the club will pay $1.2 million for harbor repairs.The Board of Supervisors approved the lease in a 6-4 vote, although Supervisor Jake McGoldrick blasted the deal and requested a delay to......

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Health insurance fee isn’t done deal, Ammiano says

Published: Nov 16, 2006

The highly controversial fee that will be imposed on The City’s businesses to help pay for health insurance for all of San Francisco’s uninsured adults, is no longer set in stone, according to the plan’s author.When the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Health Access ordinance this summer, the business community strongly opposed the plan since it would force them to pay a per-employee fee — that would cost businesses as much as $33 million annually — to help offset of the health program’s $200 million price tag.The health ordinance,......

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Board of Supervisors welcomes newest member in District 4

Published: Nov 11, 2006

Four days after San Francisco voters cast their ballots, community activist Ed Jew has emerged as the winner of the Board of Supervisors District 4 race to replace Fiona Ma, according to unofficial results released by the Department of Elections on Friday.Also, Supervisor Chris Daly has prevailed in the District 6 race over his main challenger, Rob Black, whose anti-Daly campaign was largely funded by Daly’s opponents in the business community. Mayor Gavin Newsom also endorsed Black in an attempt to unseat Daly, his political adversary. Both races were forced......

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Bayview dreams of stadium, renewal vanish with 49ers

Published: Nov 10, 2006

The undone dream of a new 49ers stadium in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood has dashed the hopes of hosting the 2016 Olympic Games and stalled the revitalization of this neighborhood long plagued by an aging infrastructure, vacant industrial space and a high crime rate.The new stadium in conjunction with San Francisco’s Olympic bid promised thousands of new housing units, park augmentation, improved infrastructure, a possible extension of the soon-to-open Third Street rail line to the stadium and the creation of a number of jobs to staff new retail space —......

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Restaurant owners sue S.F.

Published: Nov 09, 2006

A group of restaurant owners filed a lawsuit Wednesday that could jeopardize funding for The City’s ambitious plan to provide health care for more than 82,000 uninsured residents.Pushed by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Tom Ammiano, the recently adopted health care ordinance was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors, but largely opposed by the business community, which will have to pay a portion of the program’s estimated $200 million price tag. The program is expected to begin this July.The Golden Gate Restaurant Association, a nonprofit group representing the interests......

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Board rejects Trinity Plaza deal

Published: Nov 08, 2006

A 1,900-rental apartment development slated for Market and Eighth streets has met with resistance at the Board of Supervisors.Project developer Angelo Sangiacomo intends on demolishing the existing rent-controlled Trinity Plaza apartment building, which houses 360 tenants, to make way for the larger development. Earlier this year, Supervisor Chris Daly, whose district includes the four-acre site, helped broker a deal with the developer to place the 360 tenants in the new complex under The City’s rent control rules. At the time, the deal was expected to quell any opposition to one......

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Prop. F: Paid sick days OK’d

Published: Nov 08, 2006

San Francisco has become the first-ever city to require that businesses offer paid sick days to employees.Proposition F forces businesses to provide paid sick days by February 2007. Businesses with fewer than 10 workers must offer five paid sick days a year per worker and those with 10 or more workers must provide nine paid sick days, according to the measure. Workers, who must accrue the sick days, would be allowed to also take a sick day to take care of an ill family member.About 116,000 workers in San Francisco......

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District 4: Supervisor Fiona Ma’s seat remains a toss-up

Published: Nov 08, 2006

The race that will decide who will replace Fiona Ma in the District 4 seat on the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night is now a tossup among four candidates.At the outset, the race for the District 4 seat — which represents the Sunset and Parkside neighborhoods — was a free for all with handful of strong candidates for the seat Ma vacated to run for Assembly District 12.There is still no official winner since none of the District 4 candidates have received more than 50 percent of the first-choice......

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Spanish Civil War monument proposed

Published: Nov 06, 2006

The latest piece of public art on San Francisco Port land will likely stand 7 feet high and span 30 feet, honoring the Bay Area Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.The San Francisco Port Commission is expected to vote Nov. 14 on whether to allow the artwork’s installation near the east wall of the Vaillancourt Fountain at Justin Herman Plaza. It would be only the third monument to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the United States.The Abraham Lincoln Brigade was part of an international brigade of men and women who......

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Muni seeks to make riding its fleet ‘in’ thing

Published: Nov 04, 2006

Transit officials, consultants work on strategic plan to get people out of cars, on boardAs operating deficits continue to plague Muni, the public transit agency wants to implement better technology and make it culturally hipper to board buses instead of drive a car.As a study on Muni, dubbed the Transit Effectiveness Project, is under way to overhaul the transit system, the Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees Muni, is working with a consultant team to come up with its own strategy for shaping citywide transportation.During a four-hour meeting Friday, the MTA......

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Cabbies sue taxi firms, claim overcharging

Published: Nov 03, 2006

Lawsuit alleges three companies neglected to roll back gate fee during 26-month period, costing drivers $8MA group of taxi drivers filed a lawsuit Thursday against three of the largest cab companies in San Francisco for allegedly overcharging them to take cabs out for a day’s work.United Taxicab Workers, a group of about 500 cabdrivers, allege that Yellow Cab, Luxor Cab and Speck Cab Co. owe cabdrivers up to $8 million in total overcharges.The cabdrivers say that between September 2004 and November 2006 these companies had failed to roll back their......

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‘Rock star’ Clinton dominates stage at Civic Center rally

Published: Nov 02, 2006

Event in favor of Prop. 87 features former president, city politicians, musical actsFormer President Bill Clinton and local rockers turned a Wednesday evening political rally outside of City Hall into a party.For more than an hour, a star-studded lineup took to the stage to pump up Proposition 87, a ballot measure before voters this Tuesday that would tax oil production in California. Rock music poured out of large speakers hanging over the makeshift stage set up in Civic Center Plaza, inspiring the crowd to dance and shout as they waited......

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S.F., Giants settle tax dispute

Published: Nov 02, 2006

End of disagreement about stadium’s valuation means The City will save $3.9MA six-year battle over the value of the San Francisco Giants’ stadium — which jeopardized millions of tax dollars — has come to an end.City Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting announced Wednesday that a settlement over the stadium’s value was reached between The City and the Giants, which will protect $3.9 million in taxes for The City.Since 2001, the Giants have fought The City over the initial assessment of AT&T Park, which was built privately by the ballclub. In 2001, The......

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Recreation boosters rally around battle to save tennis club

Published: Nov 01, 2006

Members want to stop plan to replace SoMa courts with market-rate condos, retailMembers of a private tennis club in the South of Market area are fighting to prevent a developer from demolishing their courts and say recreational facilities throughout San Francisco are under siege by development.The Michigan-based Pulte Homes developer has plans to demolish the San Francisco Tennis Club at Fifth and Brannan streets to build 500 market-rate condominiums and nearly 14,000 square feet of retail on the 2.6-acre site. The development includes four six-story buildings 85 feet high.ClubCorp, a......

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Law requiring city contractors to disclose slavery links is passed

Published: Nov 01, 2006

Banks, clothing manufacturers and insurance companies will have to disclose any past connections to the slave trade if they want to do business with the city of San Francisco.The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a slavery era disclosure ordinance Tuesday that gives city contractors nine months to prove under oath that they searched for historical documents that would show ties to the slave trade and the results of that search."It’s important that this country and San Francisco apologize and are aware of the slavery. We cannot just let it go......

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Fight for Daly’s board seat moves to the Internet

Published: Oct 31, 2006

A battle on the streets for the District 6 supervisorial seat has moved into new territory — YouTube, a free online Web site where anyone can view and post video shorts.Supervisor Chris Daly, who is hitting the pavement in a fight against rival candidate Rob Black, posted on YouTube three commercial spots that are also appearing on local cable channels. The online site also contains a number of other pro-Daly shorts. Those who oppose Daly are no strangers to YouTube either. They have posted a handful of anti-Daly shorts. A......

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New housing may rise near Monster Park

Published: Oct 28, 2006

Executive Park site, once set aside for offices, could be site of 3,000 homesSeventy-one acres near the Monster Park stadium may soon become home to one of San Francisco’s newest neighborhoods — giving rise to 3,000 new housing units for an estimated 8,000 residents.Executive Park, once envisioned as an office park, is now being targeted for housing developments. It is considered a sub-area of the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, but is also closely associated with nearby Visitacion Valley. The Planning Department has begun drafting a comprehensive plan for the area to......

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City: Housing stock heads upward

Published: Oct 26, 2006

Officials pleased there are more units in S.F. but worry that prices threaten diversityWhile the number of new housing units built last year exceeded expectations, San Francisco still needs to boost the numbers to have any impact on rental prices and housing costs.The cost of housing in San Francisco is notoriously high, having skyrocketed during the dot-com era of 1998-2000 when the average price of a three-bedroom house rose by more than $180,000 and the rent of two-bedroom apartment rose by $750, according to the Planning Department.City officials worry housing......

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Anti-violence funds held up

Published: Oct 25, 2006

Siding with budget analyst, supes vote to reserve money that mayor had requestedMayor Gavin Newsom’s request for $2.3 million in anti-violence funding was put on hold Tuesday by a unanimous vote by the Board of Supervisors.The bulk of the funding was earmarked to pay for ramped-up police enforcement in high-crime areas, which began in mid-August.The supervisors sided with a budget analyst’s report that recommended putting the money on reserve until such a time that the relevant public safety departments have exceeded their budgets. Newsom’s request for additional money was considered......

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Sutro antenna decision upheld

Published: Oct 25, 2006

Supes reject residents’ beefs that tower affects health, safety, wireless connectionsTwin Peaks residents will not see the kind of extensive review they were hoping for when it comes to the addition of more antennas on Sutro Tower.The four television stations that own the 977-foot tower have requested permission to replace four existing antennas, add another one and place four new ones on a nearby control building’s rooftop. There are 200 antennas on the tower, which was constructed 35 years ago.Concerned residents had appealed the Planning Department’s ruling that the project......

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Mayor offers incentive to police

Published: Oct 24, 2006

Citing shortage of officers, Newsom seeks more pay for those who delay retirementMayor Gavin Newsom has proposed a salary boost for police officers willing to postpone their retirement — something that could cost The City as much as $800,000 next year alone.The proposal comes as the Police Department, which already considers itself understaffed, struggles to attract new recruits and is facing as many as 700 retirees in the next six years. This year alone, 135 police officers have retired. There are 1,694 active officers, according to the Police Department, which......

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All signs point to rosier S.F. hotel industry

Published: Oct 21, 2006

San Francisco’s hotel industry is by all accounts on the rebound, a fact highlighted by next week’s four-day Oracle OpenWorld Convention, which is expected to draw its largest attendance yet.Tourism is San Francisco’s No. 1 industry and every year The City collects 14 percent on all room charges. Last year, The City brought in $174 million in hotel taxes, with most going into the operating budget.A recent report by the PKF Consulting firm shows that the average rate of hotel rooms will steadily climb from $167 this year to $212......

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Bill: S.F. pays for funerals of police who die on duty

Published: Oct 20, 2006

Supervisor says awareness of need for measure came in wake of Officer Birco’s deathSan Francisco may begin paying for the funerals of police officers who die in the line of duty.Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin drafted legislation that allows The City’s director of human resources to authorize payments for some or all of the funeral costs of city employees who die while doing their job. It also authorizes the city controller to transfer money from "any legally available source" to cover the cost. The legislation was approved by the......

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City officials: Illegal billboards are still posted

Published: Oct 20, 2006

Planning Department says it is unable to meet task of enforcing Proposition GFour years ago, voters said no to anymore billboards in San Francisco, but these illegal advertisements are still popping up throughout The City, according to city officials.The lucrative business of general advertising has posed challenges for the Planning Department, which says it has been understaffed in recent years, unable to keep up with the number of billboards and other general advertising complaints.In March 2002, 79 percent of voters approved Proposition G, which made it illegal to put up......

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Key funding request may wait

Published: Oct 19, 2006

Budget and Finance decides $2.5M mayor asked for to combat violence not a priorityMayor Gavin Newsom’s request for $2.5 million in anti-violence funding will likely be put on hold after a Board of Supervisors committee said Wednesday that there is no urgency for the additional money.The board’s Budget and Finance Committee approved the request Wednesday with the stipulation that the money be put on reserve. The proposal comes before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.Newsom’s request for funding comes as The City is facing its third year of unprecedented homicide......

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Supes OK regular foot patrols for eight districts

Published: Oct 18, 2006

Sponsor of bill calls project ‘unorthodox’ but needed in face of rising violent crimeIn one of the most heated political fights of the year, the Board of Supervisors succeeded in getting more police officers to walk patrol beats in high-crime areas. In an 8-3 vote Tuesday, supervisors favored requiring regular foot patrols in the vicinity of eight of the 10 San Francisco police stations.Supervisors Aaron Peskin, Michela Alioto-Pier and Sean Elsbernd voted against the legislation."The Board of Supervisors is dictating to its police captains how to deploy its troops. I......

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Reaction is mixed to cab fare hike

Published: Oct 18, 2006

Supervisors’ vote to raise price takes effect Nov. 1Tourists and residents will have to fork over an additional 25 cents next month for just getting into a San Francisco cab — with fares already among the highest in the nation.Cindy Halfer, who was waiting for a Muni bus Tuesday, was not happy when she heard the news. Halfer, who uses a cab once in a while when "Muni is not the answer," said she will now have to think twice the next time she really needs a cab.On Tuesday, the......

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Newsom rebuffs Daly invite

Published: Oct 17, 2006

Spokesman: Request that mayor explain anti-violence funding is ‘publicity stunt’A San Francisco supervisor wants Mayor Gavin Newsom to attend a Wednesday budget committee meeting to explain his proposal for $2.5 million in anti-violence funding.Peter Ragone, Newsom’s spokesman, called the request for the mayor to appear before supervisors a "publicity stunt."Supervisor Chris Daly, who chairs the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee, has twice refused to hold a hearing on Newsom’s request for funding, saying he was not provided with enough details. Last week, Daly agreed to hold a hearing......

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Foot patrol delay cools Chief Fong’s opposition to idea

Published: Oct 17, 2006

SFPD head: Jan. 1 start ‘reduces the concern of robbing Peter to pay Paul’The police chief’s opposition to a controversial proposal to require regular foot patrols was diminished Monday after the implementation date was delayed until January 2007.The Board of Supervisors will vote today on whether to require regular foot patrols at eight of San Francisco’s 10 police stations. Increasing foot patrols is seen as one way to decrease San Francisco’s violent crimes. For three years, The City has experienced unprecedented homicide rates, with 73 homicides this year and a......

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Eastern area development standards under review

Published: Oct 16, 2006

The City’s Planning Department believes it’s on the right track in coming up with development plans for the eastern neighborhoods, but some city supervisors and now a public policy think tank are trying to raise the bar.Supervisor Sophie Maxwell drafted a resolution asking the Planning Department to meet some very high goals for development and zoning plans for San Francisco’s eastern neighborhoods — the Mission District, South of Market, Potrero Hill and the Central Waterfront. The resolution prompted the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, a public policy think......

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BART alcohol ads rile supes

Published: Oct 14, 2006

Agency stresses revenue but critics don’t like message; Ammiano drafts resolutionA recent decision by BART to allow alcohol advertising in its stations and cars has come under fire from the Board of Supervisors.Last month, the BART board of directors approved a new policy that lifted a long-time prohibition on alcohol advertising. The decision makes BART the only local transit agency that allows alcohol advertising. The new policy now allows one alcohol advertisement per BART car, and at each BART station 17 percent of the ads can be alcohol advertisements. For......

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Mayor backs foes of measure increasing eviction reimbursements

Published: Oct 13, 2006

A campaign to defeat a measure on the local Nov. 7 ballot that would more than quadruple the payment to some evicted tenants has picked up the endorsement of Mayor Gavin Newsom. Tenants of buildings who are issued what are commonly referred to as no-fault evictions are entitled to $1,000 in relocation costs.If passed by voters, Proposition H would require property owners to pay tenants $4,500 in relocation costs for those tenants issued no-fault evictions, which include evictions for owner or family move-ins or for capital improvement work.It would also......

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Committee OKs cab fare hike

Published: Oct 12, 2006

Mayor signals opposition to increase, which would up ‘flag drop’ by 25 cents Nov. 1The cost of simply entering a San Francisco taxicab could increase by 25 cents Nov. 1.Already among the highest in the nation, taxi riders pay an initial $2.85 upon entering the taxi. The fee, commonly referred to as a "flag drop," would increase to $3.10 if the Board of Supervisors approves the hike on Tuesday. The price will become the second highest in the nation, only 10 cents below the flag drop of Las Vegas taxicabs.The......

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Supe: Tougher plans, goals needed for eastern S.F.

Published: Oct 11, 2006

Requirements for development in San Francisco’s eastern neighborhoods may reach some very high standards.Supervisor Sophie Maxwell has drafted a resolution that would not only set a timeline for when the Planning Department must issue new development and zoning plans for the eastern neighborhoods — the Mission district, South of Market, Potrero Hill and the Central Waterfront — but also require the plans to include significant goals.For example, the resolution would require that 64 percent of all the housing units developed in these neighborhoods be below market-rate price. It also seeks......

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Mayor slams foes of energy proposition

Published: Oct 10, 2006

Newsom says ‘No on Prop. 87’ ads are ‘outrageous’ and misleadingMayor Gavin Newsom blasted oil giants Monday for a "misleading" ad campaign against a November state ballot measure that would tax oil producers to raise money for the development of alternative energies.Proposition 87 is being touted as a way to reduce petroleum consumption in California by 25 percent in the next decade. The proposed tax on oil produced in California would raise $400 million annually, which would finance the research and development of alternative energy sources.Just weeks before the Nov.......

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Foes of parking tax hike raise $130,000

Published: Oct 07, 2006

Groups say measure would reduce business downtownA committee has raised more than $130,000 to shoot down a measure on next month’s ballot that would increase San Francisco’s parking tax.Of the four committees either supporting or opposing November ballot measures that filed campaign finance statements with The City’s Ethics Commission, the No on Proposition E committee has raised by far the most.Prop. E, drafted by Supervisor Chris Daly, would increase The City’s parking tax from 25 percent to 35 percent. Last year, the parking tax generated $55.18 million for The City,......

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Supervisor candidates filling campaign war chests

Published: Oct 06, 2006

Thousands of dollars pouring in for hotly contested races in District 4, District 6Several candidates who are vying for the five seats on the Board of Supervisors up for grabs this November have raised tens of thousands of dollars in the past three months, with one District 4 candidate collecting more than $150,000, according to campaign finance documents filed Thursday.Political watchers have their eyes on the District 4 and District 6 races, the only races considered wide-open.Campaign finance documents, which every candidate had to file by Thursday, show the amount......

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Deal for 1,900 new rentals on Market meets resistance

Published: Oct 05, 2006

Supervisor wants developer to add more below-market-rate unitsThe proposed development of 1,900 rental apartments on Market Street was held up Wednesday by a Board of Supervisors committee, which raised a number of concerns about the project, including the need for more affordable units.The existing rent-controlled Trinity Plaza apartment building, which currently houses 360 tenants, would be demolished to make way for the larger development. Earlier this year, Supervisor Chris Daly, whose district includes the four-acre development site at Market and Eighth streets, helped broker a deal with project developer Angelo......

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Supes vote to protect St. Brigid

Published: Oct 04, 2006

Board’s designation of landmark status cheers committee of supportersSt. Brigid Church, which dates back to 1864, has found protection in a landmark designation granted Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.The designation came amid opposition from the church’s owner, the Academy of Art University, which purchased the building in 2005.The landmark designation ensures preservation of the church’s exterior, which includes stained-glass windows manufactured in Dublin, Ireland at the Harry Clarke Studios.When the Catholic archdiocese shut down the church, located at 2151 Van Ness Ave., in 1995, a group of parishioners formed......

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Four stations added to foot-patrol plan

Published: Oct 03, 2006

Supervisors vote to require walking beats despite SFPD’s concern of slowed responseEight of The City’s 10 police stations may soon have to implement regular foot patrols even though the police department says the plan would increase response time to 911 calls by as much as 33 percent.The Board of Supervisors Select Committee on Ending Gun and Gang Violence unanimously voted Monday that a proposed one-year pilot program requiring regular beat foot patrols include four more police stations, for a total of eight: Northern, Park, Tenderloin, Mission, Ingleside, Taraval, Bayview and......

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Supes keep up heat on SFPD foot patrols

Published: Sep 30, 2006

Proposal before board likely to expand beats; police chief still against legislationTwo city supervisors are seeking to expand a controversial proposal torequire foot patrol beats in certain sections of San Francisco, even as the Police Department and the Mayor’s Office continue to oppose the plan.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi had originally drafted legislation to require foot patrols for a one-year pilot program for the Park and Northern district police stations, which are the stations within the district he represents, District 5.Last week, when the legislation went before the Board of Supervisors, the......

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Group objects just before sweep of homeless in park

Published: Sep 29, 2006

Organization says S.F. isn’t providing enough shelter for Golden Gate Park dwellersAs The City begins the removal of hundreds of homeless people from Golden Gate Park today, a civil rights group is calling the action "discriminatory and bad public policy."Since Sept. 18, an outreach team made up employees from a number of city departments — including Police, Human Services, and Recreation and Park — have walked the 1,017-acre public park handing out notices, informing the homeless that they had until today to pack up their belongings and vacate the premises,......

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Cab-fare increase runs into roadblock

Published: Sep 28, 2006

S.F. Taxi Commission must devise health care plan for drivers first, supervisors sayTaxicab fares may not increase for at least another six months, after a Board of Supervisors committee refused to endorse on Wednesday a recommendation from The City’s Taxicab Commission to raise fares by 75 cents on Nov. 1.The commission had voted on Tuesday to raise the "flag drop," so instead of a cabdriver starting the meter at $2.85, the meter would start at $3.60.The commission also voted to raise the gate fee — the charge drivers must pay......

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Officials explore parolee-crime link

Published: Sep 28, 2006

Mayor: ‘The fact that recidivism rates are as high as they are suggests that we are not doing justice to the system’The lack of proper assistance for parolees is directly tied to San Francisco’s high homicide rate, Mayor Gavin Newsom said during an all-day summit Wednesday aimed at keeping people who are released from custody on the right side of the law."We’re never going to succeed in dealing with the crime and violence issue unless we succeed in giving people hope and rehabilitating them and giving them alternatives," Newsom said.Crime......

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Agency’s hierarchy clarified

Published: Sep 27, 2006

Supervisors pass proposal outlining chain of command for S.F. homeland securityFollowing six months of sharp criticism of The City’s emergency planning department, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation that clarifies the department’s chain of command and establishes qualifications for the top three emergency heads.The legislation is the latest move by city officials to rectify deficiencies revealed in a city audit of the Office of Emergency Services and Homeland Security, including the lack of a comprehensive emergency plan in the event of a major disaster and a lack......

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Summit focuses on recidivism

Published: Sep 27, 2006

Meeting of city officials seeks ways to keep parolees from committing new crimesIn a concerted effort to reduce the unprecedented violent crime rate in San Francisco, city officials gather today for an all-day summit to figure out ways to keep those released from jails from committing more crimes.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who both sit on the year-old Save Communities Reentry Council, have organized today’s summit, which is considered a milestone in that it will allow the sheriff, district attorney, public defender, Mayor Gavin Newsom and the......

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City-owned Wi-Fi pushed

Published: Sep 23, 2006

As The City continues closed-door negotiations with Google and Earthlink to blanket San Francisco with a wireless Internet network, an alternative notion of a city-owned Wi-Fi captured the imaginations of some supervisors.The City is expected to wrap up negotiations with the two Internet companies by the end of the year, and the contract will then come before the Board of Supervisors for approval.When voting on the agreement, supervisors will also have to decide if a city-owned wireless network is a better way to go. Supervisor Jake McGoldrick will request during......

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Minimum wage in The City to increase 3.6 percent in ‘07

Published: Sep 22, 2006

S.F.’s high cost of living cited as rationale for adjustmentBeginning Jan. 1, San Francisco’s lowest-paid workers will receive a 3.6 percent raise, bringing their hourly rate to $9.14.Since 2004, The City has required employers to pay workers a higher minimum wage than the rest of California, after city voters approved a minimum wage law at the polls in November 2003.Business groups had lobbied against the law, saying the financial burden would force some businesses to close down, especially restaurants and others in the service industry, which employs a majority of......

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Supervisorial committee vote gives lift to $450M school bond measure

Published: Sep 21, 2006

Full board to vote on plan allowing landlords to share cost of tax hike with tenantsIn a move that could quell opposition to the $450 million school facilities bond on the November ballot, a Board of Supervisors committee supported legislation Tuesday that would ensure all future bonds include a provision permitting building owners to pass on 50 percent of the costs to tenants.The legislation would make automatic the 50 percent cost share of the upcoming measure as well as future bond measures, which are funded through increases in property taxes......

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Supes focus on evictions of families with children

Published: Sep 21, 2006

The City should protect school-age children of families who are evicted because the traumatic upheaval often causes their grades to drop and mars their future, according to one city supervisor.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick has drafted legislation that would require The City’s Rent Board to collect data about how many school-age children are evicted and present the numbers in a report issued annually March 1. He also has authored a resolution urging the San Francisco Unified School District to track students who are forced to change schools due to an eviction.When students......

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Massage parlor rules delayed

Published: Sep 20, 2006

Postponement sought after supervisor pushes need for sex worker industry reviewProposed restrictions on massage parlors, which authorities say are often a front for prostitution, were delayed as one supervisor argued that a more comprehensive review of the sex worker industry in San Francisco was needed.Supervisor Fiona Ma drafted legislation that would require all new massage parlors to undergo a public hearing in order to obtain a permit to open for business. She postponed the vote on the legislation until Oct. 24, after Supervisor Jake McGoldrick voiced opposition to it.Afterward, Ma......

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Supervisors consider expanding scope of police foot patrols

Published: Sep 20, 2006

Board tentatively votes to add Tenderloin, Mission and Ingleside to pilot beatsDespite the police chief’s warning of increased costs and slower response times, city supervisors still want to require foot patrols — and now they want them in even more neighborhoods.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi has drafted legislation that would require the Police Department to have at least one officer out on the streets in his district, which includes the Western Addition, Inner Sunset and the Haight, an area policed by the Northern and Park police district stations.The Board of Supervisors voted......

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As feds cut funds, S.F.’s public housing is threatened

Published: Sep 19, 2006

San Francisco’s more than 6,000 public housing units are in jeopardy as the federal government has, for the fifth consecutive year, slashed their operating budget.City supervisors, Mayor Gavin Newsom and public housing advocates are lobbying the federal government to fully fund San Francisco’s Housing Authority.In June, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a 15 percent cut to the San Francisco Housing Authority’s operating budget. HUD also indicated that the Housing Authority would undergo a $4 million, or 22 percent, operating budget cut next year. The cuts will......

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Legislation calls for no-smoking areas, window screens

Published: Sep 18, 2006

Residential property owners may soon have to install screens in windows of their housing units, block up any cracks where rats could sneak through and prohibit smoking in common areas — or face hundreds of dollars in fines.The City’s Department of Public Health and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi have drafted legislation aimed at improving housing conditions for tenants in San Francisco."We are trying to make housing healthy and higher quality for everybody," said Rajiv Bhatia, director of Occupational and Environmental Health. The legislation would require building owners to install screens on......

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Relief on both sides of dispute

Published: Sep 14, 2006

With San Francisco’s busiest convention season on the horizon, 13 major hotels struck a deal with a labor union Tuesday that gives 4,200 workers an increase in benefits and wages and the right to organize at new hotels.For two years, Unite Here Local 2 has battled with the hotels — collectively known as the Multi-Employer Group — over terms of a labor agreement. The union has called for a boycott of the hotels, and in August workers authorized a strike. The labordispute has worried tourism officials due to its effect......

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Agreement between hotels, workers relieves S.F. tourism officials

Published: Sep 14, 2006

With San Francisco’s busiest convention season on the horizon, 13 major hotels struck a deal with a labor union Tuesday that gives 4,200 workers an increase in benefits and wages and the right to organize at new hotels.For two years, Unite Here Local 2 has battled with the hotels — collectively known as the Multi-Employer Group — over terms of a labor agreement. The union has called for a boycott of the hotels, and in August workers authorized a strike. The labor dispute has worried tourism officials due to its......

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Call for foot patrols in high-crime areas gains support

Published: Sep 13, 2006

Requiring San Francisco police officers to conduct regular foot patrols is gaining support among supervisors looking to cut down on the high crime rate plaguing their districts.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi has proposed legislation that would mandate for one year a police foot patrol program in his district, which includes one of The City’s highest-crime neighborhoods, the Western Addition.After postponing a Board of Supervisors vote on the legislation in August, Mirkarimi has heard from at least two other city supervisors, who said they wanted to expand the pilot program to include their......

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Call for foot patrols in high-crime areas gains support

Published: Sep 13, 2006

Requiring San Francisco police officers to conduct regular foot patrols is gaining support among supervisors looking to cut down on the high crime rate plaguing their districts.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi has proposed legislation that would mandate for one year a police foot patrol program in his district, which includes one of The City’s highest-crime neighborhoods, the Western Addition.After postponing a Board of Supervisors vote on the legislation in August, Mirkarimi has heard from at least two other city supervisors, who said they wanted to expand the pilot program to include their......

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Market benefit district sought

Published: Sep 13, 2006

Market Street property owners bordering the Tenderloin district hope to form a community benefit district in an effort to clean the area up and decrease crime, but critics say it will result in an unjust attack on the homeless.For more than two years, a group of tenants and property owners have worked to establish a community benefit district for the area along the south side of Market Street between Fifth and Ninth streets. They complain of incidents of aggravated assaults, the smell of urine and aggressive panhandling, which they blame......

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Supervisor: OESHS is refocused agency

Published: Sep 12, 2006

On the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 tragedy, a San Francisco supervisor said San Francisco’s embattled Office of Emergency Services and Homeland Security is back on track now that the department has "competent leadership."The office came under attack in May for being unprepared for a disaster, with The City’s Budget Analyst’s Office releasing an audit saying OESHS Director Annemarie Conroy lacked experience in managing disasters, emergency plans remained incomplete and millions in Homeland Security dollars were left unspent. The audit was followed days later by a grand jury report......

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Supervisor: OESHS is refocused agency

Published: Sep 12, 2006

On the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 tragedy, a San Francisco supervisor said San Francisco’s embattled Office of Emergency Services and Homeland Security is back on track now that the department has "competent leadership."The office came under attack in May for being unprepared for a disaster, with The City’s Budget Analyst’s Office releasing an audit saying OESHS Director Annemarie Conroy lacked experience in managing disasters, emergency plans remained incomplete and millions in Homeland Security dollars were left unspent. The audit was followed days later by a grand jury report......

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Tax may pay for undergrounding wires

Published: Sep 09, 2006

Officials solicit residents’ input on proposal after CPUC funds run outWith no money left to put telephone and other utility wires underground, The City is contemplating a tax to fund future undergrounding projects.Residents have until Friday to weigh in on whether San Francisco should implement a utilities bill tax ranging between 2 percent and 5 percent. Only businesses pay a utilities tax, which is 7.5 percent of their utility bill. The City's Utility Undergrounding Task Force has created an online survey to gauge residents’ sentiment, and the task force will......

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Mayor announces expansion of camera program

Published: Sep 09, 2006

About 70 more security cameras are expected to go up around San Francisco in the coming months, with the majority earmarked for crime-plagued public housing sites, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Friday.There are 33 security cameras monitoring 14 different city locations. In July, Newsom and the Board of Supervisors approved spending about $270,000 for the purchase of 22 additional cameras as part of this year’s budget. On Friday, Newsom announced that the San Francisco Housing Authority would use federal dollars to purchase 50 more security cameras for surveillance of 10 of......

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Panel cites pluses of organic food in schools, facilities

Published: Sep 08, 2006

Touting the benefits of organic foods, a City Hall committee is pondering ways to ensure that schools and city facilities go organic with their food service.While The City has adopted various policies advocating more organic or sustainable food supplies in its food service, implementation is still being hashed out. The Environmental Commission has endorsed the goal of having 20 percent of all city facilities, including schools, serve locally grown and organic foods within the next seven years. Any food service, from the cafeteria at City Hall to jails and hospitals,......

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City vows to fix translations

Published: Sep 08, 2006

After years of The City translating public information for its non-English-language speakers into "gibberish," Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Thursday a new plan for accurate translations. In the past, The City has relied on a computer software program to translate information on its Web site, resulting in garbled information, according to Newsom."To my astonishment and my dismay, I saw what we were translating on our Web sites — complete gobbledygook, complete nonsense, gibberish, an embarrassment if ever there was one," Newsom said. Last year, Newsom established the Cultural Competency Task Force......

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Mayor: City needs more security cameras

Published: Sep 08, 2006

Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to announce today that there is now more money available to purchase additional security cameras as The City struggles to curb violent crimes.Last year, The City installed its first security surveillance cameras and to date has 33 cameras monitoring 14 locations in some of San Francisco’s high-crime neighborhoods.Another 22 cameras are in the pipeline to be placed in yet-to-be-determined locations. This year’s budget allocated about $270,000 for these new cameras. Following a news conference Thursday, Newsom said he would announce today "an augmentation in our......

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Stolen puppy returned to family

Published: Sep 06, 2006

The stolen puppy of an 8-year-old cancer patient was returned three days after the theft, officials at UC San Francisco Children’s Hospital announced Tuesday.Kyle Jackson Wetle, who is battling a potentially fatal form of cancer known as lymphoblastic leukemia, received the black and tan Chihuahua-Doberman mix puppy from his parents on July 14 as one of his wishes. His parents have referred to the puppy — which Kyle named Chemo — as his "fighting buddy."UCSF police Capt. Torin Fischer said a man showed up Tuesday with the 15-week-old puppy at......

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Bay Area transit stands to gain billions from fall ballot measures

Published: Sep 05, 2006

Billions of dollars for Bay Area transit are on the line at the polls this November, when voters will decide the fate of three transportation-related ballot measures.Proposition 1A, known as Transportation Funding Protection, would close the loophole that allows state legislators to divert revenue from the gasoline sales tax to other state needs.In 2002, voters passed Proposition 42, which mandated that all taxes paid at the pump would go toward transportation improvements, but also included a "loophole clause" that allowed statelegislation to divert the funds for other state costs.The "loophole"......

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Cancer patient’s puppy stolen

Published: Sep 05, 2006

A puppy that was a gift for an 8-year-old cancer patient was stolen Saturday from the parking garage of a San Francisco children’s hospital.Kyle Jackson Wetle, who is battling a potentially fatal form of cancer known as lymphoblastic leukemia, received the black and tan Chihuahua-Doberman mix puppy from his parents on July 14 as one of his wishes.The 15-month-old puppy — named "Chemo" — was last seen Saturday in a dog carrier in the front seat of the Wetle family’s car, when Kyle’s parents brought it to the UC San......

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PG&E plugs campaign for hybrid electric cars

Published: Sep 05, 2006

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. wants its 5.1 million customers in California to pressure car manufacturers to mass-produce electric vehicles that can be plugged right into a standard home socket.Within the next three weeks, PG&E customers will receive in their September bills an insert asking them to sign an online petition at www.pluginpartners.org, a Web site designed by Plug-In Partners — a national group lobbying automakers to manufacture Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles."We want to be a green company," PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith said, adding that the company "promotes and champions......

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Freelance journalist intends to stand firm on videotape

Published: Sep 02, 2006

Wolf willing to return to prison in federal grand jury caseOn the day of his release from federal prison Friday, freelance journalist Josh Wolf reaffirmed his commitment to not turn over videotape to a federal grand jury even if it means returning to custody.Wolf, 24, videotaped a San Francisco protest last year in which anarchists were suspected of trying to light a police patrol car on fire. During the protest a San Francisco officer suffered a skull fracture.A federal grand jury is investigating the allegedvandalism of the patrol car, claiming......

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Activists: Ticketing of S.F. homeless is unjust, cruel, costly

Published: Sep 01, 2006

Issuing homeless people tickets for illegal camping or drinking in public is unjust, cruel and wasting millions of taxpayer dollars, a homeless advocacy group says.Between January 2004 and June 2006, the San Francisco Police Department issued 31,230 "quality-of-life" citations, according to Religious Witness with Homeless People, a group of religious leaders that has concerned itself with homelessness issues since 1993.Members of the group alleged on Thursday that city documents prove The City has spent $5.8 million enforcing quality-of-life ordinances during the 30-month period.Barbara Meskunas, executive director of the San Francisco......

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Alleged auto thief ends up jumping into the Bay

Published: Aug 31, 2006

A 36-year-old alleged thief tried to flee from police Wednesday night by jumping into the San Francisco Bay.San Francisco police responded to a call at 11:40 p.m. about a man having broken into a car parked along the 3700 block of Fillmore Street. When police arrived, they saw the thief inside a Chevy Tahoe, which he allegedly broke into."As the police were coming up, he sees them and he takes off running," Sgt. Neville Gittens said.The man then jumped into the harbor waters near the Golden Gate Yacht Club and......

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Foes try to kill Bayview plan

Published: Aug 30, 2006

A major redevelopment plan for the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood has hit a roadblock after opponents say they have gathered enough signatures to force a vote on the project.A campaign to block the formation of a redevelopment plan for the nearly 1,400-acre area began soon after the Board of Supervisors approved it in May.Opponents say the plan would result in seizures of property, the forcing out of longtime residents and a significant alteration of the neighborhood’s character.Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, whose district includes the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, said opponents are using fear......

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New anti-violence funding system draws anger

Published: Aug 28, 2006

A number of anti-violence community organizations are crying foul about how the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice has doled out $3.5 million in grant money.Allen Nance, head of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, acknowledged that there was a break from tradition when awarding money to organizations that serve at-risk children.Nance said funding this year was awarded primarily to those groups that serve children already in the legal system, a trend, he said, that is seen across the nation and one proven to work. Funding was also awarded this year......

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Report: Sick leave to cost $9.3M a year

Published: Aug 26, 2006

Controller’s study paints costs for city should voters pass mandated paid daysCity government costs will increase by as much as $9.3 million a year if voters approve a ballot measure in November that would mandate paid sick leave for all employees, according to a city report.A coalition of workers’ advocacy groups and union members managed to obtain four signatures from city supervisors in order to put on the Nov. 7 ballot Proposition F, which would require all employers in San Francisco to provide paid sick days for their workers. The......

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New office project latest boost for Mission Bay redevelopment

Published: Aug 26, 2006

The construction of a new six-story office building along Terry Francois Boulevard is the latest addition to the Mission Bay redevelopment plan that is dramatically transforming the former site of rail yards.Lowe Enterprises Investors, a Los Angeles-based real estate firm, announced Friday it has acquired for an undisclosed price the waterfront property next to the new Old Navy headquarters.The firm said it acquired the property to builda six-story, 300,000-square-foot office building, which is expected to open by early 2008. It will include about 9,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.The......

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First Bay Area West Nile virus fatality reported

Published: Aug 25, 2006

The Bay Area’s first death resulting from the West Nile virus is not alarming San Francisco health officials.An elderly woman, who lived in the central part of Contra Cost County, died "some days ago" as a result of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, Wendel Brunner, the county’s public health director, announced Thursday morning. The woman is the second to die of the virus this year in California. While this recent West Nile-related death occurred near San Francisco, there is no reason to believe people in The City are more at......

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Muni hopes study leads to improved service

Published: Aug 25, 2006

Muni riders, long plagued by the transit agency’s slow buses and unreliable stop times, may find some relief in just six months.A $2.4 million, 18-month study of the bus system, commissioned by Muni, is expected to yield results before its completion in December 2007. Facing budget woes and a decline in ridership, Muni officials look to changes in the coming months as the first steps toward a long-overdue overhaul of the transit system. Early findings show that Muni buses have slowed down to an average of 8 miles an hour......

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S.F. files lawsuit based on filming

Published: Aug 24, 2006

With the aid of newly installed surveillance cameras, the city attorney is cracking down on those who illegally dump garbage on sidewalks and in vacant lots.City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced Wednesday that he filed the first lawsuit based on footage from the cameras against Wilfredo Amaya, alleging 23 incidents of illegal dumping at a vacant lot in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood.A city-installed surveillance camera has monitored the neighborhood lot, at the corner of Thomas Avenue and Griffith Street since April, and it allegedly shows Amaya dumping carpeting at the site......

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Muni delays work on L-Taraval tracks

Published: Aug 23, 2006

The replacement of Muni tracks older than 30 years in front of the West Portal station scheduled for Labor Day weekend has been postponed, according Muni spokeswoman Maggie Lynch.The San Francisco Municipal Railway had intended to replace the tracks in front of West Portal over the three-day weekend because "ridership is lowest on the holiday weekends," Lynch said.The replacement of the tracks in front of West Portal Station is part of a $6.4 million Muni project that will replace the tracks of the L-Taraval line along Ulloa Street from......

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Fired municipal workers say S.F. hired cheap replacements

Published: Aug 22, 2006

Nobody likes being laid off, but 11 former city workers say they lost their jobs only so The City could rehire workers at half their pay, an allegation city officials deny. Eleven former Department of Public Works employees announced Monday morning that they are holding a weeklong hunger strike on the steps of City Hall demanding their jobs back, which they lost two years ago. In 2004, the Department of Public Works laid off 40 general laborers, those who perform such duties as street sweeping and litter pickup. The 11......

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Neighbors eye firm’s site

Published: Aug 19, 2006

Residents: City should get Ingersoll Rand to sell landVisitacion Valley residents are hopeful that city planners can pressure a big industrial manufacturing company to sell off a key piece of property to open the way for a major housing and retail development.Residents and city officials say New Jersey-based Ingersoll Rand Co. is dragging its feet when it comes to cleaning up the contaminated 12-acre site and unwilling to sell the property.The site was home to Schlage Lock, an Ingersoll company, which made keys and door locks. Over the years, the......

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Good Samaritan killed in Mission shooting

Published: Aug 19, 2006

A San Francisco resident who rescued another man from an assault in the Mission district on Thursday evening was fatally shot.Thirty-two year old Jesus Estrada and his 29-year-old friend successfully defended a young man under attack by a group of young men on the corner of Harrison and 25th streets.The group of young men retreated, but threatened to return. Ten minutes later they came back and shot the two men, according to San Francisco police Sgt. Steve Mannina. The shooting occurred at about 6:45 p.m. on the sidewalk near Garfield......

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Adult entertainers protest booth ban

Published: Aug 19, 2006

Dancers say private rooms provide them key revenueHundreds of adult entertainers converged on City Hall on Friday in an effort to prevent lawmakers from banning private rooms and booths in San Francisco’s adult entertainment clubs.The City Commission on the Status of Women is considering legislation to ban the private rooms after receiving reports that women are sexually exploited and abused in the secluded areas.But dancers say taking away the booths takes away their money. "Eighty percent of the money I make is through private rooms," said Gia, a dancer at......

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Multibillion-dollar shortfall plagues 19 area transit projects

Published: Aug 18, 2006

A $2.3 billion shortfall in building costs hangs over the heads of a number of the 19 major transportation projects in the pipeline for the Bay Area.The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a planning agency for nine counties including San Francisco, has placed 19 transportation projects on a priority list that will significantly change Bay Area transportation during the next 25 years.The fate of these projects ultimately depends on whether the financing is secured, according to James Corless, MTC senior planner.In 2001, the commission adopted what is known as Resolution 3434, a......

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Potrero Hill group leads charge against chain stores

Published: Aug 16, 2006

Potrero Hill residents have thrown up resistance to big chain stores looking to open in their growing community.The Potrero Hill Association of Merchants, a group of 105 neighborhood business owners, has spearheaded an effort to restrict, and possibly ban, formula retail businesses — those with 11 or more locations nationwide — from opening up in the neighborhood.Working with the association, Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, whose district includes the Potrero Hill neighborhood, submitted a resolution Tuesday that would force formula retailer businesses to obtain a conditional use permit before opening up for......

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Property owners see pluses of community benefit districts

Published: Aug 16, 2006

Community benefit districts are popping up all over The City as property owners see them as a way to revitalize and market their neighborhoods.Mayor Gavin Newsom has trumpeted the establishment of community benefit districts since coming into office, calling them a "proven, grass-roots economic development tool" that would clean up The City and make it safer.For years Union Square was The City’s only community benefit district. But last year, five new benefit districts were adopted.The City’s seventh community benefit district was approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors for the......

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Commission lifts spending caps in three supervisorial contests

Published: Aug 15, 2006

The $83,000 voluntary spending-limit in three city supervisor races was lifted for the Nov. 7 election.The City’s Ethics Commission, the agency that oversees campaign finance rules, lifted the spending limit for the races in districts 2, 4 and 10. The spending limit remains in place for the two other city supervisor races in districts 6 and 8.District 4 is considered the "dog-fight," as incumbent Fiona Ma bowed out to run for the state Assembly’s 12th District, leaving the field open for a newcomer.Most political insiders expect less of a contest......

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Catholic League sues supervisors for resolution

Published: Aug 15, 2006

The City’s stance against Catholic Church officials who oppose the adoption of children by same-sex couples is under attack by a powerful church group.The Catholic League, the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, has filed a lawsuit against the Board of Supervisors for adopting a resolution in March criticizing a high-ranking church official for directing Catholic leaders in San Francisco not to allow same-sex couples to adopt children.The Catholic League maintains that the resolution violates the First Amendment, which prohibits government from passing laws against religious groups.City Attorney Dennis Herrera......

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Lower Fillmore could become city community benefit district

Published: Aug 14, 2006

Lower Fillmore’s identity is in the running for a makeover.The Board of Supervisors will conduct a public hearing Tuesday on whether to establish a community benefit district for lower Fillmore Street —an area that gained notoriety in the 1940s and 1950s as a center for jazz music.Establishing a community benefit district for this area, now known as the Fillmore Jazz district, would enact an annual tax for five years on property owners within the proscribed area, which would then be spent on such things as maintenance, security and promotion. The......

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Guard troops arrive at airport

Published: Aug 12, 2006

A hundred armed National Guard troops at San Francisco International Airport are protecting a rental car facility and patrolling the airport perimeter, a service that Oakland International Airport can apparently do without, having refused the 50 troops they were offered.Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered 300 National Guardsmen to three of the state’s major airports: SFO, Los Angeles International and Oakland International. The nation’s threat level, set by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, remains the highest since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.Dan D’Innocente, acting SFO spokesman, said the National Guard......

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Measures finalized for November ballot

Published: Aug 10, 2006

A number of last-minute November ballot measures were submitted on deadline Tuesday, including a 10 percent increase inthe city’s parking tax and an increase in compensation for tenants evicted by landlords who invoke the power of a controversial state law.City supervisors had until 5 p.m. Wednesday to put ordinances on the November ballot, something that required four board member signatures. The local ballot measures require a simple majority to pass.Supervisor Chris Daly authored legislation that would enact a 10 percent increase to The City’s parking tax, currently set at 25......

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Renters may soon help pay for bond measures

Published: Aug 09, 2006

A loophole in a 2002 piece of legislation may soon be closed and renters may be splitting the cost of future bond measures with their landlords. Currently, if the cost of a bond is going to be split between tenants and a landlord, specific language stating that fact must appear on the ballot measure. A proposal submitted Tuesday by Supervisor Tom Ammiano would make the cost split of all bonds automatic.Proponents of Ammiano’s amendment say it simply fixes legislation hashed out in 2002 between city officials, tenant groups and landlord......

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Third Street rail on track for January run

Published: Aug 05, 2006

Expected to spur growth in neighborhoods it serves, line links Sunnydale, CastroMuni’s long-awaited Third Street light-rail line is scheduled to go live in January, and is expected to spark much-needed development in the neighborhoods it rolls through.Although delayed by more than a year and $120 million over budget, Muni officials say the project is well worth the wait and cost. The project is priced at $667 million."It’s a great achievement to finally get it going," said Shirley Black, who sits on Muni’s board of directors. "We’ve wanted this for a......

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Iranian community outraged by SFO detention policy

Published: Aug 04, 2006

At least 10 Iranian graduates of a prestigious engineering school were detained by immigration officials at the San Francisco International Airport on Thursday and refused entry into the United States, according to the school’s alumni association.The graduates, all carrying valid U.S. visas, were in route to Santa Clara for a three-day gathering of alumni of the Tehran-based Sharif University of Technology, according to Fredun Hojabri, founding president of the university’s alumni association and a retired University of California, San Diego, professor. About 150 Iranians had applied for visas from U.S.......

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Pot clubs in residential areas may get one more year

Published: Aug 03, 2006

Medical marijuana clubs in residential areas could stay open for another year as a result of a proposed change to a six-month-old city law.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who authored The City’s first-ever law regulating medical marijuana clubs, has drafted amendments that would enact a grace period for clubs in neighborhoods.The law, adopted by the Board of Supervisors last year, banned clubs in residentially zoned areas.Mirkarimi said that after speaking with community groups and city departments, he decided to amend the existing law. "We have some cleanup to do," he said.There are......

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Supes vote to outlaw big signs

Published: Aug 02, 2006

Large promotional or political signs have no place on San Francisco’s light and utility poles, according to the Board of Supervisors.The board on Tuesday unanimously approved a ban of signs higher than 11 inches and wider than the diameter of the pole.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick questioned the legality of the sign ban, but later voted in favor of it.The sign ban "does not run afoul of the freedom of expression or any amendments of the United States Constitution," said the author of the sign-ban law, Board of Supervisors President Aaron......

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Congress may toss S.F.’s minimum wage

Published: Aug 02, 2006

Bill would supersede local, state law, make $2.13 hourly the base for tipped workersWaiters, bellhops and other San Francisco workers who receive tips may soon see their wages drop by nearly $7 an hour. As early as this Friday, the U.S. Senate could vote on Republican-sponsored legislation that city officials say would pre-empt The City’s minimum wage law for tipped workers and set their salaries at a minimum wage of $2.13 an hour, a $6.69 reduction in pay. The House of Represent