The stage is set for a “he said, he said” battle between Ed Lee and Ross Mirkarimi over just what transpired in a tense conversation between the two a day before the mayor began the process of removing the suspended sheriff from office.The mayor replaced Mirkarimi last month after the latter pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment to avoid other criminal charges in a domestic violence dispute involving his wife. Read More

In some way, they will always be the San Francisco 49ers. But the team will only play two more seasons in its namesake city, if all goes as planned for a new $1.2 billion stadium in Santa Clara.In what he acknowledged as a bittersweet moment for The City, team CEO Jed York and Santa Clara city leaders officially broke ground at what will become the 50-yard line of the new site — hailed as the first NFL stadium to be built in California in a half-century. Read More

Suspended San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi has for the first time detailed his version of the events that led to the high-profile domestic violence incident involving his wife — including how she sustained a sizable bruise on her arm. Read More

A tax break for small businesses was proposed Tuesday.Supervisor Mark Farrell wants companies with total salaries below $500,000 a year to be exempt from The City’s 1.5 percent payroll tax. Currently, the tax kicks in when companies expand their payrolls beyond $250,000.If adopted, the legislation would amount to a $3,750 annual tax break for such businesses. Farrell said the tax reduction would stimulate hiring. Read More

Socially responsible companies will be given preferential treatment when doing business with San Francisco after the unanimous approval of new legislation by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.Such so-called benefit corporations, or B Corps, will now have a leg up in The City’s contract bidding processes by having their final ratings given a 4 percent cost leeway compared to other applicants. The proposal, put forth by Supervisor David Chiu, originally involved an 8 percent adjustment. Read More

Mayor Ed Lee recently took the San Francisco Unified School District to task for failing to sell or lease its surplus property. But a new report suggests The City has idle hands of its own when it comes to extracting revenue from surplus property.The report, from Budget Analyst Harvey Rose’s office, says San Francisco has failed to do anything with 13 of 15 properties that were listed as surplus property in 2004. It describes San Francisco’s general property management policies as dysfunctional, incomplete and inaccurate, with “numerous errors and misclassifications.” Read More

Employees of the now-defunct San Francisco Redevelopment Agency received answers this week about their jobs, after the elimination of the revitalization program.Tiffany Bohee, the agency’s executive director, told a Board of Supervisors committee Tuesday that 56 full-time employees of the agency will be retained by The City in other departments and 40 will be let go. Read More