Two weeks after receiving scathing criticism from the Board of Supervisors for not being assertive or visible enough, police Chief Heather Fong has engaged in two publicized merchant walks in predominantly Asian-American communities where she has the strongest base of support.Fong was the object of criticism by board members as well as the Police Officers Association around the time the Board of Supervisors overrode Mayor Gavin Newsom’s veto of legislation requiring regular foot patrols around eight of The City’s 10 police district stations.
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A man driving a work truck Tuesday afternoon struck a car, rear-ended a Muni bus and then smashed into another car in the intersection of Fourth and Howard streets, sending two people to the hospital and causing three bus lines to be rerouted for more than an hour, police say.Driving along Fourth Street near Minna Street, the man in the truck rear-ended a car, stopped for a moment, then continued driving, only to strike the rear-end of a stationary Muni bus at 12:50 p.m., according to police Officer Jason Hui.
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San Francisco residents apparently are prepared to pay an extra few bucks a month to bury underground electrical wiring that still clutters half of The City’s streetscapes, according to the results of a recent survey.The City has run out of money to pay for undergrounding utility poles and wires that remain on 470 miles of San Francisco’s 900 miles of roadways.
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A Muni fare discount for young people is well-deserved and smart policy even if it might cost up to $15.5 million a year, advocates of the proposed discount say.Supervisor Jake McGoldrick has drafted a resolution urging Muni to implement discounted fares for those between the ages of 18 and 24.
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The St. Francis Yacht Club will enjoy its prime city-owned spot by the Bay for another 47 years despite criticism that the lease approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors couldleave the public high and dry.The lease increases the St. Francis Yacht Club’s rent by 137.7 percent, bringing the annual rent to $200,134. On top of the rent increase, the club will pay $1.2 million for harbor repairs.
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The City will begin boosting salaries of veteran cops as an incentive for them to stay on the force while the Police Department struggles to recruit new officers and continues to operate with a staff shortfall of nearly 300 officers.Mayor Gavin Newsom pushed for an amendment to the police contract that would grant a 4 percent pay increase for 30-year veterans of the force. The incentive is seen as a way to slow down the pace of retiring officers.
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The highly controversial fee that will be imposed on The City’s businesses to help pay for health insurance for all of San Francisco’s uninsured adults, is no longer set in stone, according to the plan’s author.When the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Health Access ordinance this summer, the business community strongly opposed the plan since it would force them to pay a per-employee fee — that would cost businesses as much as $33 million annually — to help offset of the health program’s $200 million price tag.
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Four days after San Francisco voters cast their ballots, community activist Ed Jew has emerged as the winner of the Board of Supervisors District 4 race to replace Fiona Ma, according to unofficial results released by the Department of Elections on Friday.Also, Supervisor Chris Daly has prevailed in the District 6 race over his main challenger, Rob Black, whose anti-Daly campaign was largely funded by Daly’s opponents in the business community. Mayor Gavin Newsom also endorsed Black in an attempt to unseat Daly, his political adversary.
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The undone dream of a new 49ers stadium in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood has dashed the hopes of hosting the 2016 Olympic Games and stalled the revitalization of this neighborhood long plagued by an aging infrastructure, vacant industrial space and a high crime rate.
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A group of restaurant owners filed a lawsuit Wednesday that could jeopardize funding for The City’s ambitious plan to provide health care for more than 82,000 uninsured residents.Pushed by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Tom Ammiano, the recently adopted health care ordinance was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors, but largely opposed by the business community, which will have to pay a portion of the program’s estimated $200 million price tag. The program is expected to begin this July.
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The race that will decide who will replace Fiona Ma in the District 4 seat on the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night is now a tossup among four candidates.At the outset, the race for the District 4 seat — which represents the Sunset and Parkside neighborhoods — was a free for all with handful of strong candidates for the seat Ma vacated to run for Assembly District 12.There is still no official winner since none of the District 4 candidates have received more than 50 percent of the first-choice votes.
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San Francisco has become the first-ever city to require that businesses offer paid sick days to employees.Proposition F forces businesses to provide paid sick days by February 2007. Businesses with fewer than 10 workers must offer five paid sick days a year per worker and those with 10 or more workers must provide nine paid sick days, according to the measure. Workers, who must accrue the sick days, would be allowed to also take a sick day to take care of an ill family member.
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A 1,900-rental apartment development slated for Market and Eighth streets has met with resistance at the Board of Supervisors.
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The latest piece of public art on San Francisco Port land will likely stand 7 feet high and span 30 feet, honoring the Bay Area Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.The San Francisco Port Commission is expected to vote Nov. 14 on whether to allow the artwork’s installation near the east wall of the Vaillancourt Fountain at Justin Herman Plaza. It would be only the third monument to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the United States.
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Transit officials, consultants work on strategic plan to get people out of cars, on boardAs operating deficits continue to plague Muni, the public transit agency wants to implement better technology and make it culturally hipper to board buses instead of drive a car.As a study on Muni, dubbed the Transit Effectiveness Project, is under way to overhaul the transit system, the Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees Muni, is working with a consultant team to come up with its own strategy for shaping citywide transportation.
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