Jim Lazarus

Read the fine print on CleanPowerSF

By: Jim Lazarus 02/10/13 10:38 PM

San Francisco’s public-power plans appear to be going from bad to worse. Originally promising to provide competitively priced, green-energy alternatives for residents, the program has ballooned into a $19.5 million city contract with Houston-based Shell Energy that is poised to double residential utility bills and put jobs at risk — all without any guarantee of a greener future. Read More

Despite concerns of implementation, Sunday meter enforcement moving forward

By: Will Reisman 12/04/12 5:00 AM

Despite lingering concerns from business and church groups, a plan to enforce parking meters on Sundays is set to make its debut next month. Starting Jan. 6, The City’s 29,233 parking meters will be operational from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays, providing $1.9 million annually for the perennially cash-strapped San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Read More

Flier traffic surging at SFO

By: Will Reisman 08/29/12 6:48 PM

Culminating a decade of growth, passenger traffic at San Francisco International Airport reached an all-time high last fiscal year, finally eclipsing the marks set during the first dot-com boom. Some 21.4 million passengers boarded flights at SFO during the year that ended in June, besting the previous high of 20.2 million set in 2000. “This is a very significant moment for the airport,” SFO spokesman Michael McCarron said. Read More

Prop A fails; city won’t junk garbage system

By: Dan Schreiber 06/05/12 10:31 PM

Voters appear to be content with the state of garbage collection in San Francisco with the clear defeat of Proposition A, which would have opened The City’s lucrative trash contract to competitive bidding for Recology — the company that has consolidated all of the permits to provide refuse service in The City. Read More

Holiday parking tickets in San Francisco add up to major revenue

By: Will Reisman 10/12/11 9:14 PM

San Francisco motorists are paying the price for The City’s decision to start charging for street parking on four holidays.They’ve been shelling out an extra $75,776 a day in parking meter citations.City parking control officers issued 72 percent more parking citations than normal during its last fiscal year on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day and Veterans Day — four formerly free holidays. Read More

George Gascón has less cash than competitors in San Francisco district attorney race

By: Ari Burack 08/01/11 10:47 PM

San Francisco district attorney candidates

The three major candidates for district attorney submitted their early 2011 fundraising numbers Monday, and while all raised significant amounts, expenditures left incumbent George Gascón with far less available cash than his competitors. Factoring in campaign debts and challenger David Onek’s earlier fundraising, he and fellow candidate Sharmin Bock each now have slightly more than $150,000 on hand, compared to about $77,000 for Gascón. Read More

SFMTA gets creative with ideas to close budget deficit

By: Will Reisman 02/16/11 5:00 AM

The SFMTA is considering five revenue proposals

Facing mammoth budget deficits for 20 years to come, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency may ask city voters to increase vehicle registration fees, raise parcel and sales taxes, hike off-street parking rates or create a new “transportation utility fee.” Read More

Washington listened, learned, acted on rail money

By: Staff report 02/05/10 2:00 AM

In November 2008, a broad-based coalition of business, labor, environmental, sustainable transit and youth groups joined to urge voters to invest in California’s future. Even in a difficult economic climate, the voters responded by securing almost $10 billion as a down payment to develop and build California high-speed rail. Read More