Civic Center Plaza has been shut down to host large-scale events for extended periods during the past two months, prompting a San Francisco supervisor to complain about the Recreation and Park Department’s stewardship of the space. Since last week, the plaza between City Hall and the Main Library has been closed down for preparations leading up to the Dew Tour, a skateboarding, bicycle and freestyle motocross event that will begin today. Supervisor John Avalos called the event “troubling” since it closes down the park for what he called an “inordinate” amount of time. Read More

Mayor Ed Lee defended the rules governing his monthly question time sessions with the Board of Supervisors, while also chiding the board Tuesday for a degeneration of behavior during last week’s vote to reinstate Ross Mirkarimi as sheriff. Despite criticism that question time seldom yields meaningful interaction, Lee said a rules change could potentially turn the sessions into “a gotcha game” and “would erode the respectful dialogue that I have worked hard to develop with all of the Board of Supervisors.” Read More

After more than a decade of conversation, San Francisco voters will finally have the opportunity this November to replace The City’s tax on employee payrolls with a tax on the revenues that businesses bring in. The 1.5 percent tax on business payrolls in excess of $250,000 has long been maligned as a “job killer” and a disincentive for companies to do business in San Francisco, the only city in California with such a tax. Read More

As required by a voter mandate, the San Francisco Public Library is now re-examining its library hours. In November 2007, voters approved Proposition D, which extended for 15 years the Library Preservation Fund, which requires that a portion of property taxes go toward library operations. Read More

Third-party contributions opposing Supervisor Eric Mar or supporting challenger David Lee have flooded into San Francisco’s District 1 supervisorial race with less than 30 days until the election. The huge infusion of cash has transformed a previously close fundraising contest into a lopsided spending battle in which Lee and his supporters maintain an almost five-to-two advantage over Mar. Total fundraising on behalf of Lee was $473,557, while Mar had raised just $192,969 as of Sept. 30. Read More

Mayor Ed Lee’s answer to the pressing need for more housing in San Francisco is November’s Proposition C, which would establish a housing trust fund. If approved by voters, $1.5 billion would be invested in low- and moderate-income housing construction and related programs during the next 30 years. The bulk of the funding would be used to help develop up to 30,000 units of housing affordable to households earning up to 120 percent of the area’s median income. The City’s existing affordable housing requirements also would be relaxed to encourage more construction. Read More

Supervisor John Avalos is going straight to the people in an effort to inject excitement into the monthly question time sessions with Mayor Ed Lee. “I’ve been a bit underwhelmed with QT so I thought I’d mix it up and troll for QT from my FB friends,” Avalos wrote on his Facebook page. “Please submit QT questions — serious ones or not — for my staff and me to choose from.” Read More