Double-parking motorists and sidewalk bicyclists are getting a reprieve — at least temporarily — from stiffer fines.Citations for both illegal offenses were set to increase Tuesday — from $50 to $100 for cyclists, and from $80 to $100 for motorists. However, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors, which governs all cyclists and motorists in The City, elected to delay a motion to approve to the penalty hikes.
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi failed on Tuesday to expand his plastic bag ban law and build on his legacy as a legislator.
Five years ago, Mirkarimi gained national attention for banning single-use plastic bags in grocery stores and pharmacies. San Francisco was the first city in the nation to do so, but other cities have since followed suit and gone much further.
The controversial decision by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to relocate its headquarters to San Francisco will be discussed in a special state Senate hearing at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday.
Nearly two years after a city parking contract with a small business owner was rejected by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, leading to a lawsuit against the SFMTA’s former executive director, the agency’s board of directors is set to approve the same contract with the same proprietor.
Mayor Ed Lee may have won the election, but his campaign has some unfinished business, in the form of $300,000 in debt owed to vendors, pollsters and consultants, campaign spokesman Tony Winnicker said.
“He was one of the last candidates to get in, and he had to run a citywide campaign in just a few short months,” Winnicker said, explaining that campaign staff decided Lee’s limited time would be better spent talking to voters than seeking out donors.
There should be a minimum payment for credit card transactions in San Francisco taxis, and drivers should be able to mute annoying backseat advertisements, according to a new independent analysis of the industry. For the last year, cabbies have complained consistently about three major industry trends — that processing fees for credit cards are too high, new electronic bill tracking systems are intrusive, and backseat monitors blaring advertisements are grating.
A plan to offer businesses a $10,000 tax break per ex-offender they hire during the next two years was sent out of the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee meeting Wednesday in a 2-1 vote.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors postponed a vote Tuesday on legislation that would impose a fee on any bags provided by San Francisco businesses.
The fee would cost consumers more than $10 million next year, according to the City Controller’s Office.
Muni overtime usage is coming under fire as the transit system is once again on pace to exceed its time-and-a-half budget set at the start of the fiscal year.
