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Examiner Connect

Op Eds

Making San Francisco housing more affordable by design: Efficiency units

By: Scott Wiener 07/08/12 4:00 AM
It’s no secret that housing is expensive in San Francisco. Only 11 percent of San Franciscans can afford to purchase the average-priced home. Rents, always high, are even higher these days. It seems like we are perpetually at risk of pricing out our young people, working people, seniors, families and our middle class generally. To address this crisis, we need to think broadly and creatively and make our housing policies more flexible. Read More

Keep city focused on jobs, the economy

By: Steve Falk 07/04/12 2:00 PM
Halfway through 2012, things are still looking bright for San Francisco. Key economic indicators, such as employment and commercial real estate, continue on an upward trend. According to a recent survey, Bay Area business executives remain relatively optimistic about the regional economy, and 31 percent of local CEOs say they plan to hire. Even The City’s elected leaders are doing their part to keep the focus on jobs and the economy. Read More

Bill would improve egg-laying hens’ lives

By: Examiner readers 06/28/12 6:36 PM
Your editorial (“Bill’s defeat a win for animal welfare,” June 25) misrepresents my efforts to establish a national standard for the humane treatment of egg-laying hens. In 2008, California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 2. This initiative required egg producers to increase cage size so birds could stand up and extend their wings. Read More

Innovation is key to city’s transparency

By: Ed Lee 06/28/12 11:39 AM
We are not going to kid ourselves: these are challenging times. The news out of Sacramento and Washington, D.C., every day reinforces the reality that local governments and cities will have to continue to do more with less. Today, more than ever, San Francisco is uniquely poised to innovate and take a different approach to solving our challenges. Read More

Caltrans: New Bay Bridge is safe, well-tested

By: Malcolm Dougherty 06/22/12 2:29 PM
A recent Sacramento Bee story omitted important facts and context in a way that misleads the public about the safety of the new Bay Bridge. Read More

Lee’s business tax reform proposal would help to boost S.F.’s revenues

By: Steve Falk 06/21/12 9:44 PM
San Francisco is closer than ever to reforming its business tax code to better encourage job growth. Today’s system, which levies a 1.5 percent payroll tax on all businesses with a total payroll in excess of $250,000, has been scrutinized, studied and challenged for a decade, yet no alternative has come close to becoming a reality — until now. Read More

S.F. Homes for Heroes campaign to help house 50 veterans in 100 days

By: Ed Lee 06/14/12 4:00 AM
I can’t think of a more patriotic thing to do than to find a homeless veteran a home. I’ll be the first to say that despite all our successes — our economy is growing, unemployment is down — housing is expensive. In order to house our homeless veterans, we need the partnership and support of our landlords and property owners. Read More

Secrecy has no place in state’s budget dealings

By: Dan Walters 06/12/12 8:12 PM
As California’s Legislature churns toward Friday’s deadline for a new state budget, the macro-issues are well known, such as whether health, welfare and child care services should be slashed by billions of dollars to close the deficit. However, other aspects of the budget wrangle go largely unnoticed, such as the march into secrecy — or, more accurately, sneakiness. Read More

State’s famed highways crumbling into disrepair

By: Dan Walters 06/11/12 8:24 PM
Gov. Jerry Brown wants to fast-track an initial section of a bullet train system, perhaps by partially exempting it from environmental impact laws, even though there’s no financing on the horizon to complete the project and even though a new poll shows that most Californians don’t want to build it. Read More

Mar ignored nonprofit’s overtures to museum workers in contract dispute

By: Michele Gutierrez-Canepa 06/07/12 10:28 PM
Last week, Supervisor Eric Mar took the curious step of publicly standing with union members who are locked in protracted contract negotiations with what he acknowledged in an opinion piece are two of The City’s “crowning jewels” — the de Young and Legion of Honor museums. Read More
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