After almost nine hours of discussion and testimony, members of the Board of Supervisors finally prepared to vote on whether Ross Mirkarimi should be removed as sheriff at 9:00 last night. Under current Board rules, Supervisor Jane Kim casts the first vote.
Concluding that “I think it wasn’t shown that when the sheriff grabbed his wife that he used the power of his office to commit violence against her,” Kim voted against removal. Continue reading
Filed under politics
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 week, the Western SoMa Task Force will hear the latest on the Archstone development, which includes 420 units of housing at 8th and Harrison Streets, and hopefully we’ll get some answers from Planning Department staff about what they’re up to (and why) in the area they call the Central Corridor. The meeting is on Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. in Room 421, City Hall.
The SFMTA will propose a three lane configuration for a two-way Folsom Street to be considered in the upcoming environmental review. Click on the image above to see a high resolution PDF of the entire schematic.
If anything good can be said about the Central Corridor Plan, it might be that it gives us an opportunity to attach the final draft of the Folsom Street realignment into an environmental review study. Once the EIR is adopted, funding and implementation of the future Folsom Street Neighborhood Commercial District can begin.
Erin Miller, project manager for the Eastern Neighborhoods Transportation Implementation Planning Study (ENTRIPS), and other SFMTA staff will discuss the preferred and alternative proposals they have developed at next week’s meeting of the SoMa Leadership Council at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 15. These monthly meetings are held in the community room of the Folsom/Dore Apartments at 1346 Folsom Street. Continue reading
Filed under community services, economics, events, meetings, planning, transportation
from Rincon Hill SF, a san francisco neighborhood blog:
The SFMTA and other Bay Area transit agencies have been busily working out the plans for getting people to Marina Green and other viewing locations for the August 21 – August 26 and October 2 – October 7 America’s Cup 34 World Series Races. Residents along the waterfront will have the opportunity to ride the long-talked about E-Embarcadero line from 4th and King Street (Caltrain) all the way up to Pier 39 along The Embarcadero on the weekend of August 25th and 26th. Continue reading →
Filed under community services, transportation
Entertainment Commissioner Glendon “Anna Conda” Hyde
During Public Comment before the Planning Commission recently, Entertainment Commissioner Glendon “Anna Conda” Hyde inappropriately introduced himself as having the authority to speak on behalf of the Entertainment Commission and presented a series of personal opinions as being the official position of the Commission.
Hyde was speaking on the adequacy of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Western SoMa Community Plan at a special hearing on Thursday, July 26, 2012. Continue reading
Filed under entertainment, planning
As part of the comment process for the Environmental Impact Report on the Western SoMa Community Plan, a public hearing has been scheduled by the Planning Commission for July 26, 2012, in Room 400, City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, beginning at noon or later.
Comments are supposed to be confined to the environmental impacts of the Plan on cultural resources, transportation and circulation, air quality, and shadow as well as cumulative noise impacts. “Cultural resources” refers to “historic‐period resources of the built environment, historic‐period and prehistoric archeological resources, paleontological resources, and human remains.”
This brief video offers some useful guidance if you’d like to comment on the EIR.
Public comments will be accepted from until 5:00 p.m. on August 6, 2012. Written comments should be addressed to Bill Wycko, Environmental Review Officer, San Francisco Planning Department, 1650 Mission Street, Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94103.
Jim Meko, chair
SoMa Leadership Council
Filed under planning
SOMArts Cultural Center and SF Camerawork present a unique opportunity to get to know the hidden history of South of Market. In conjunction with local muralist Susan Greene’s “Bending over Backward” installation (appearing in the exhibition Performing Community, July 6–28 at SOMArts Cultural Center), Chris Carlsson of Shaping San Francisco will lead a free walking tour to help you discover lost layers of history. Continue reading
Filed under art
Central Corridor Draft Higher Height Limit Alternative
The focus of the Central Corridor Plan is on high tech. The focus of the revival of Mid-Market is on high tech. The focus of the Bayview/Hunters Point redevelopment is going to be on high tech and now planners would like the focus of the Western SoMa Plan to be on high tech too.
I think high tech is cool but this is getting ridiculous. It’s not the only source of jobs in this city. Continue reading
soma leadership council 