Results tagged “boardofsupervisors”

As SF Appeal is reporting, the San Francisco Zoo has no plans to build (and cannot afford to build) any new sanctuary that would humanely house elephants, following on a 2005 decision by the city not to house elephants there after all the zoo's elephants croaked. This revelation comes on the heels of reports of a certain Rec and Park commissioner who wishes they'd get some elephants again because his grandchildren like them.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the Board of Supervisors, and other top-level officials will take a 2.45 percent pay cut this fiscal year. Which is more "symbolic" than anything, because they are and forever will be richer than most of you, creating the Green League of Justice out in Hunter's Point, having inane cake sales during workdays to get face time on the webs, mistaking themselves as wildly interesting in that special way that people who can buy property and have no credit card debt can. But we're not bitter. Anyway. According to goes on to report, Newsom made $252,885, which is "the most of any elected official". When asked if Gavin would lose his shit over the cut, San Francisco spokesman Nathan Ballard said it was all good. "What's fair is fair," Ballard said, probably going on to say, "In fact, he wipes his bottom with pre-moistened $100 bills that are in a convenient resealable pack next to his toilet."

The man who has spent his local political career championing the rights of the Tenderloin poor, the SRO-dwelling, and the owners of property more likely to be made of cardboard than of concrete, Supervisor Chris Daly is facing further scrutiny by the SF Appeal and Chron yet being defended by the Weekly this week -- all relating to the recent revelation of the purchase of not one but two homes in Fairfield, far afield of the district Daly represents. This of course follows on much e-ink already spilt and spread around in the past week on this subject, which is obvious fodder for Daly's detractors and brings forth a flood of eager defenders.

East Coast transplant and D6 Supervisor Chris Daly might soon be headed for safer, more affordable pastures. Daly, it seems, has bought a home in Fairfield, the East Bay (North Bay?) city where his wife and two kids moved in May. “I continue to eat, sleep, and bathe in my home on Stevenson Street” right here in SF, Daly wrote. "I bicycle to City Hall and to district meetings from my home and intend to continue to do so until the end of my Supervisor term and probably for longer." Now, before you all scream 'hypocrisy!' and grab a pitchfork, his family's new house is located two doors down from his in-laws, so that kind of move makes sense, family-wise. Presumably, Daly also plans to remain co-editor at Fog City Journal when he finally calls Fairfield his home.

by Chris Jones

New laws proposed and authored by City Supervisors Eric Mar and Chris Daly last fall and receiving their final votes yesterday would make it illegal for landlords to a) impose banked rent increases, in which allowable percent increases are saved up and imposed all at once; b) evict families with children under existing owner move-in provisions; c) increase a tenant's rent to more than 1/3 of their income; d) increase rents for tenants who have lost their jobs, whose income has fallen 20%, or whose sole income is from government assistance. Though we are not property owners and wonder about the constitutionality of all this, it all sounds relatively reasonable to us -- especially since landlords shouldn't be raising rents in a shitty economy anyway. But certainly this all would make it extra-impossible for any landlord ever to get rid of any tenant for any reason. Supes Mirkarimi, Chiu, Avalos and Campos joined in supporting the proposals, most of which are expected to be vetoed by Mayor Newsom.

They seem rather upset. Why? Because because the city budget is bad for them, and the cuts will hurt them. So, they want to BOS to cut other services. Or something. Anyway, here they (and their supporters) are chanting "let us in" outside today's Board of Supervisors Meeting. For more comprehensive info, Chris Roberts is live blogging the entire thing.

First, the good news: Mayor Gavin Newsom picked a new police chief, one that will follow Heather Fong, who announced her retirement last December.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors yesterday enacted the toughest law in the nation with regard to mandatory recycling and composting, and within two years business owners and landlords could have pay fines of up to $500 for failing to follow guidelines.

According to Peter Jamison at , the SF Board of Supervisors plan to serve up a controversial (and, ultimately, benign) resolution that would ask for charges to be dropped against the San Francisco Eight, "a group of allegedly violent former radicals who police say are responsible for the murder of San Francisco Police Sgt. John V. Young in 1971." While it's too soon to figure out exactly which supervisors and how many will stick their name on the thing, supes Eric Mar and Sophie Maxwell are apparently both sponsoring the legislation, with Mar taking the lead. Jamison goes on to report, "The move is sure to stoke anger among police officers, whose union, the San Francisco Police Officers Association, has actively sought prosecution in the case, which had seen little movement for decades before charges were brought against the men two years ago." Please standby for very, very angry declarations from SFPD officers.

Mayor Gavin Newsom unveiled his proposed budget for fiscal year 2009-10 which would take affect July 1st, and in it he proposes eliminating 1,600 city jobs (including 900 currently vacant positions and 685 layoffs, some of which have already occurred) and cutting funding to several social service programs, including $23M in services to the mentally ill, addicted and people with HIV/AIDS.

Back in March, SF Supervisor Bevan Dufty (who, if casual rumors come to fruition, might be your next candidate fr mayor) was up in arms, and rightfully so. Why? Because he demanded to see an account of how money was spent on Muni. See, SF cops are supposed to ride Muni buses at least once per shift. But: he hadn't seen an officer on a bus in ages. “I have not had a single Muni rider tell me that they have seen an officer on a vehicle,” Dufty says. “I just think it’s unacceptable.”

San Francisco nightclub owners are lobbying for a law that would make it illegal for "troublemakers" to spend more than three minutes hanging out within ten feet of a nightclub. The owners went before the Board of Supervisors' City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee today to argue their case, saying they want more police presence to remove hooligans from their sidewalks.

Forcing us to switch the channel from Sandra Lee to Channel 26, we're watching the Board of Supervisor President election live. (Go here to watch it.)

Ripe with cigar smoke-filled rooms of tension and drama -- because all the board members hate each other, etc. -- the Board of Supervisors will soon vote for their new president. The drama this time around is that Daly sorta, kinda wants it, but no one will vote for him. Or so we assume. So Daly's trying to get John Avalos to take the lead. Which isn't a bad idea at all.

Goodness gracious, how time flies! Today, for those of you who don't care, is Aaron Peskin's final day as Board of Supervisors President. (Also, it's Jake McGoldrick's last day too.) Sniff. Peskin was also a champion of SFist -- at least back in the day he was -- so it will be sad to see him go on to bigger and better things. You can watch his final super supe meeting here or here. But the question remains, who's next? The shenanigans over who's going to get to be the new BOS president should be entertaining.

Our favorite 'no' judge in San Francisco, Peter Busch, brought the hammer down on beloved Walgreens today. See, after SF banned the sale of cigarettes at all Walgreens, the company, in turn, brought a lawsuit against the city, claiming they had every right to go against the wishes of the Board of Supervisors. Walgreens goes on to say that the BOS' "violated its right to equal protection under the state and federal constitutions."

Josh B. snapped up this scene from inside a toilet stall in the bathroom outside the Board of Supervisors chambers. Which leads us to ask: Who did it?

After yesterday's rare appearance before the Board of Supervisors, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced his team's $118 million in proposed "mid-year solutions." Part of said solution will be to eliminate 400 city jobs. While workers will be notified on Friday, they will still be employed by through February 2009. (Hopefully, this will be the start of a budding relationship between the mayor and the Board of Supervisors. Chortle.)

Timecapsule: October 31, 1963

Plug 1 from WhatImSeeing (he seems to be everywhere all at once!) sent us this image today after he picked up a pack of cool, smooth, refreshing Parliament Lights. It seems Walgreens, a chain that can do no wrong in our eyes, is handing out these flyers when you buy cigs today. Check it:

The entertaining/controversial Chris Daly, who seems a bit quiet as of late, has a new target now: wafts of cigarette smoke. We're told that his latest push of legislation "calls for a smoking ban outside of restaurants, in waiting areas, within 20 feet of nonresidential buildings," and in common areas of apartment buildings. That is to say, you might have to look elsewhere to spark up that Capri or Virgina Slim while eating out. The Board of Supervisors will vote on the measure come Thursday.

Much to our surprise, the motion that almost allowed our fair Mayor Gavin Newsom to eschew his monthly cameos Board of Supervisor meeting was tabled. That is to say, it was killed. Dead. According to Sweet Melissa recounts today's nail-biting Board of Supes meeting thusly:

You know how Mayor Gavin Newsom is supposed to make a special guest appearance at the Board of Supervisors meeting? At least once a month? To listen to their complaints, demonstrate that he's taking an active interest in neighborhood politics, powder the Supes' tender bottoms, and such? Well, it looks like he might not have to anymore, even though you, the voter, said you wanted him there. Over at Sweet Melissa, we came across the following news:

The battle over Gavin's new staffing plans went up a notch in lieu of a report by Board of Supervisors Budget Analyst Harvey Rose that will be released today saying that Gavin is spending $959,903 in raises and taking that money out of departmental funds. The report was done at the behest of Jake McGoldrick after the first initial reports came out about Gavin going around City Hall and making it rain.

The Chron got all investigative reporting today and discovered that after getting raises in 2002, the Board now meets less than when they did before the raise. Let's see...more money...less work hours...how do we get that job?