The head of San Francisco’s public housing was let go Tuesday and the moment was seized upon by city officials to promise a new day for the long-beleaguered agency that houses about 41,000 people.
The six-member Housing Authority Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to terminate Henry Alvarez’s contract ahead of its June 12 end date. Alvarez, who has a salary of $210,500, had been out on medical leave since February.
Alvarez has become the latest Housing Authority director to leave the post amid political controversy and allegations of poor leadership.
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Supervisor Scott Wiener’s effort to change how The City handles an environmental appeals process was slowed down Monday as a competing measure is being introduced today.
The proposed changes to the appeals process related to the California Environmental Quality Act, commonly called CEQA, have sparked tensions at City Hall, creating divisions among labor unions, community groups and housing advocates, and filling up supervisors’ inboxes with hundreds of emails from residents on both sides of the conflict.
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A plan to create a bike lane on Polk Street has led one city transit official to call parking supporters’ behavior “offensive.”
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The Police Department has since 2010 routinely required business owners to install surveillance cameras in order to receive permits to sell alcohol, but suddenly the Board of Supervisors has begun voting against the condition.
On Thursday, a board committee approved two liquor licenses, but not before shooting down the surveillance requirement at the urging of Supervisor Scott Wiener.
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Rent control could be part of a deal to allow the owners of thousands of housing units to convert them into condominiums by paying a fee.
A new report by the City Controller’s Office has suggested imposing such a mandate on the 2,269 units in 700 buildings that are involved in the proposal.
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When crime cameras for San Francisco’s streets were first installed in 2005, city officials hotly debated the privacy concerns. Now a debate has erupted over surveillance cameras in bars as more liquor licenses are being approved under the condition that bar owners film customers coming and going.
Supervisor Scott Wiener objected to the surveillance requirement added to two liquor license applications before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
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Owners of San Francisco buildings most likely to collapse during a major earthquake are now required to make seismic upgrades in coming years, but can pass all costs to tenants.
While tenant advocates had initially fought for a cost reduction for renters, they supported the proposal after city officials agreed to reform a tenant financial hardship program overseen by the Rent Board.
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Renting on Treasure Island could soon cost hundreds of dollars more a month under a proposal for future tenants of the community that is seen as an affordable alternative to San Francisco.
With rents steadily rising around the man-made island, the government agency overseeing Treasure Island and its private developer partner are considering an across-the-board increase of $245, according to a March 13 report on the rental market.
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After months of debate, the proposed ban on new bars along a popular stretch of Polk Street appears headed for approval.
In October, Board of Supervisors President David Chiu introduced legislation that would block additional bars along Polk Street between O’Farrell and California streets in order to combat rowdy behavior that spills out onto the street. There are currently about 45 alcohol permits for the six blocks.
Residents’ complaints about the nightlife scene have increased as the area has grown in popularity during the past three years.
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San Francisco has fallen behind in the open-data movement, but city officials say a new proposal will once again put it on the forefront.
Three years ago, The City adopted its first open-data ordinance to encourage departments to release their data sets — i.e., restaurant health scores or details on special events in The City. But the effort appears to have wilted, and cities such as New York, Philadelphia and Chicago have since created more aggressive initiatives than San Francisco.
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Those working to combat the spread of HIV in San Francisco say that if The City does not restore millions of dollars in federal cuts they would lose ground in the fight against the disease.
Since the HIV epidemic began in the 1980s, San Francisco has developed a system of care with the Department of Public Health and nonprofit groups. The system relies on federal funding to offer prevention services and ensure people are tested and properly treated.
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The City’s pension costs will increase by tens of millions of dollars next fiscal year to offset investment losses.
That doesn’t come as a surprise to Mayor Ed Lee, said spokesman Francis Tsang, adding that increased pension costs also are expected in the subsequent year.
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A decision over maximum rates for San Francisco’s CleanPowerSF program was postponed Monday amid a larger debate about the amount of renewable energy projects the effort would fund.
While the Board of Supervisors approved CleanPowerSF last year, other steps are needed to ensure the program offering 100 percent renewable energy begins automatically enrolling customers in October.
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A new survey shows which San Francisco neighborhoods are willing to pay more to power their lights, computers and other electrical devices with 100 percent renewable energy.
Those living in the Potrero Hill, Noe Valley, Mission and Bernal Heights neighborhoods are most willing to remain customers of CleanPowerSF after its pending rollout, according to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which would administer the program.
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After fighting to stave off reductions to federal tax breaks for public transit commuters, San Francisco is on the verge of strengthening enforcement of a 4-year-old law that requires larger businesses to offer employees commuter benefits.
The Environment Commission will vote Tuesday on new enforcement regulations, which would create a process for how complaints and investigations would be handled to ensure compliance with the 2009 law.
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