from JAMIE WHITAKER
The poor City of San Francisco refused to accept a speck of green space for the 6,000+ and growing population of residents in high-rise towers in Rincon Hill because Phil Ginsburg claims they can’t come up with the $24,000 per year to cut the lawn and hose down the benches a few times. Continue reading
Filed under community services, open space, quality of life, social justice
OPPOSE: Supervisor Wiener’s CEQA Legislation, which curtails public participation and the ability of public officials to make well-informed decisions.
SUPPORT: bringing Supervisor Kim’s alternative CEQA Legislation to completion—before any legislative action is taken.
TESTIFY: Land-Use Committee, Monday, April 8, 1:30 PM, City Hall Room 263
Agenda: http://sfbos.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=44999
EMAIL: Scott.Wiener@sfgov.org, Jane.Kim@sfgov.org, David.Chiu@sfgov.org
ADD: Your Organization’s Name: Along with the Sierra Club and others, add your organization’s name in opposing the Wiener CEQA Legislation—by emailing brookse32@earthlink.net . Continue reading
Filed under planning, politics, quality of life, social justice
By JAMIE WHITAKER
www.rinconhillsf.org
“Recreation and Parks refuses to take the donation of a new park at 333 Harrison Street from Oz Erickson’s Emerald Fund because they refuse to maintain it at $30,000 or so per year. Did I mention that Rincon Hill’s existing buildings contribute about 20 times that amount just to the 2.5 cents per $100 of assessed value Open Space Special Revenue Fund set aside? Instead, SoMa neighborhoods like Rincon Hill are told that we have to form our own non-profits called Community Benefit Districts (CBDs) and tax ourselves a parcel tax in addition to our ad valorem property taxes to take care of any parks in our neighborhoods. When did San Francisco become a supporter of such blatant inequality between geographic regions of the City?” Read more →
Filed under community services, economics, politics, quality of life, social justice
Dear family and friends,
I see that Minnesotans will be voting, again … on my family, my rights, the value of my life. Imagine if your relationships were periodically subjected to these politically-motivated orgies of hate. Continue reading
Filed under social justice
By David Talbot
San Francisco Magazine
“… ever since his Twitter awakening, [Mayor Ed] Lee has been moving quickly to align his administration with the booming technology industry, shrugging off complaints from the city’s powerful progressives that he’s gotten too cozy with tech moguls, such as investor Ron Conway. The mayor’s proposal to shift business taxes from a payroll-based plan to one based on gross receipts will be on the November ballot, with wide backing from the Board of Supervisors, labor unions, and, of course, Conway. Progressive gadfly Aaron Peskin tapped a deep well of distrust on the left last month when he told the San Francisco Chronicle, ‘The Koch brothers are trying to buy the president of the United States, and Ron Conway has bought himself a mayor.’” Read more →
Filed under art, community services, economics, planning, politics, social justice
The term “SRO” freaks people out. They associate it with rundown hotels in the Tenderloin and the tawdry housing found along the Sixth Street corridor. A few years ago, when developers were trying to build projects that at the time were called “market-rate SRO housing,” they were fighting an uphill battle against public perceptions. They’ve found a new champion in Supervisor Scott Wiener and he has come up with new terminology that makes these tiny studio apartments seem less threatening. Continue reading
Filed under community services, open space, planning, politics, quality of life, social justice
This parking lot at 1036 Mission Street will sit empty for another few years, following TNDC’s decision to abandon a 100-unit project that was approved in 2009. The Mayor’s Office of Housing considers SoMa real estate too valuable for low income housing.
Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation’s 1400 Mission Street affordable housing development might very well be the last non-profit housing we’ll see here in South of Market for a very long time. The Mayor’s Office of Housing has put out the word that SoMa real estate is too valuable for any more of these low income projects. Continue reading
Filed under planning, politics, social justice, Uncategorized
201 Folsom Street had an affordability problem. The city told Tishman Speyer they had an obligation to provide a certain amount of below market rate housing and they did not want to include it among the 671 units of luxury housing they’re building across the street from the Infinity. Instead, they chose to put it off-site in a project being built by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation almost a mile and a half away at 10th and Mission Streets. Continue reading
Filed under meetings, planning, politics, social justice
Draft "Community Unity" map
As the April 15 deadline nears for completion of the redistricting process, which will define the political boundaries of San Francisco for the next ten years, progressives worry that all of the city’s liberal bastions might be concentrated into District 6 (South of Market/Tenderloin), District 9 (the Mission/Bernal) and District 5 (Haight/Western Addition). This could result in a permanent 8-3 fix for downtown and business interests. Continue reading
Filed under meetings, politics, social justice
By RYAN JACOBS
The Bay Citizen
February 10, 2012 – 1:43 p.m. PST
The San Francisco Police Department debuted a video Friday reassuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth that they are not alone in their struggles for acceptance.
The video is part of the national It Gets Better Project, which, according to its website, “was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach — if they can just get through their teen years.” Continue reading
Filed under social justice
