Newest Homeless Center To Be Built Near San Francisco Tourist Sites

cbslocal – excerpt (video included)

Homeless-center-san-francisco-tourist-sites/

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — The newest navigation center for San Francisco homeless will be built just blocks from some of the city’s most-visited tourist sites, according to a San Francsico supervisor.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin told KPIX 5 the mayor’s office just approved a city-owned site near the intersection of Kearny and Bay, about three blocks from Pier 39. The location is within Peskin’s District 3, an area which includes North Beach, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Russian, Nob and Telegraph Hills.

“The site is between Fisherman’s Wharf and the Ferry Building on a former parking lot. So we’re not displacing anybody,” Peskin said. “There’s not a lot of residential there, not a lot of commercial. Today, I began the outreach to folks in the Fisherman’s Wharf business community to solicit their input and hopefully their support.”… (more)

 

Art Agnos sizes up SF politics over matzo ball soup

By David Talbot : sfchronicle – excerpt

There didn’t seem much to celebrate for a progressive warhorse like Agnos. A man who represents everything Agnos opposes now occupies the White House. Donald Trump’s victory, said Agnos, “bothered me more than my own defeat” for re-election as mayor in 1991. And he had just come from a memorial service across the street at City Hall for Aileen Clarke Hernandez, the legendary feminist, civil rights and labor activist whose death seemed like one more requiem for the heroic liberation movements of the past.

And yet Agnos, at 78, seems as energetic as ever, after successful heart surgery to fix an aortic aneurysm in November 2015. He continues to play an active role in city politics as a progressive power broker. His clout was felt in the successful 2013 ballot battle to block the ”wall on the waterfront” — the proposed luxury condominium high-rise building on the Embarcadero. The same leadership team — Agnos, former City Attorney Louise Renne, political organizer Jon Golinger, and Aaron Peskin (in between stints on the Board of Supervisors) — reassembled in 2014 to lead the landslide victory for Proposition B, the landmark San Francisco measure that gave voters the right to decide on big development proposals along the city’s precious waterfront.

The Prop. B victory represented a “revolutionary change” in San Francisco, said Agnos — the democratization of a planning process that has long been controlled by developers and their political allies. “Now, if you want to build something on the waterfront, you don’t go down to City Hall and make a contribution to a politician’s favorite charity. You have to go to the people for their support.” Agnos would like to see the Prop. B concept extended from the waterfront throughout the city…

Agnos finds the political establishment to be woefully behind the electorate when it comes to deciding the city’s future. He’s particularly critical of another former mayor, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who campaigned for 8 Washington and — as chairman of the State Lands Commission — is suing the city to overturn Prop. B. “This is supposedly Mr. ‘Citizenville,’” said Agnos, referring to Newsom’s book that touted the expansion of participatory democracy in the digital age. “And he’s suing the city he once led, saying the citizens shouldn’t decide.

“I call Gavin the greatest one-night stand in politics. He looks great, he talks great. But you wake up the next morning and you ask yourself, ‘What was that all about?’”… (more)

pdf from a reader

 

 

 

Competing housing measures in June

By Tim Redmond : 48 hills – excerpt

Sups. Jane Kim and Aaron Peskin did their show of good faith and tried to work with the mayor on competing housing measures for June, but the folks in Room 200 don’t seem to be budging. The mayor is still moving forward with his ballot measure, that would limit affordable housing requirements to what studies show is economically “feasible” – in other words, what the developers say they can afford to build and still make huge profits.

So Tuesday/1 we will see the showdown at the board over Kim’s charter amendment that would set affordable-housing levels at 25 percent, and allows the board to adjust them with a simple vote. I see six votes for this, no problem – although the mayor really, really doesn’t like it and wants to see it die.

It’s an election year. When Sup. Malia Cohen, who is representing the mayor on this one, tried to gut the Kim measure, she lost 7-4. I don’t see how Sup. London Breed, in what could be a tough race with tenant lawyer Dean Preston, can vote against more affordable housing… (more)

Peskin’s Rent Control Expansion: Will it Work?

by Randy Shaw : beyondchron – excerpt

After winning election pledging to address San Francisco’s affordable housing crisis, Supervisor Aaron Peskin is now promoting a novel strategy: expanding rent control to newly constructed buildings. While state law bars rent control on post-1979 buildings, Peskin correctly believes that San Francisco can require rent control and potentially even vacancy control as a condition of approving housing developments that have received special city benefits.

Will Peskin’s measure make a difference? Here’s our take.

Why It’s Legal

Let’s start by explaining how Peskin’s plan gets around state law.

The city cannot impose rent controls on existing post-1979 buildings or those in the pipeline that are consistent with local zoning (so called “as of right” structures). I had previously thought Peskin was trying to cover such structures, but he is not.

Instead, Peskin’s plan impacts projects like the recent 5M development that are asking the city for a significant upzoning. In exchange for receiving that type of major economic benefit, developers would have to agree to rent control.

I was involved in getting rent control imposed at the new Trinity Plaza, which was necessary to replace the rent-controlled units slated for demolition. Parkmerced’s development then followed this model.

Both circumvented the state ban on applying rent control to new construction because the restrictions were part of development agreements. Such agreements would also likely be necessary to implement Peskin proposal…

The Politics of Passage

Despite the limited impact, expect Peskin’s plan to provoke hysteria among some in the real estate industry. State fights over Ellis Act reform show that the real estate industry mobilizes against measures that do not even impact them in order to send a message to legislators to stay away from their turf;  even Peskin’s limited plan to impose rent limits on new buildings will get realtors out in force to City Hall… (more)

New D3 Supervisor Peskin Talks Rent Control, Subway, Crime And Spending

by Geri Koeppel : hoodline – excerpt

District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin took his seat, so we caught up with him to chat about some of the current concerns his constituents have, some projects he’s already working on, and things he has in the hopper…(more)

Peskin could take office this month

by Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

City Attorney rules that the newly elected supe doesn’t have to wait until January

NOVEMBER 4, 2014 – Aaron Peskin can take his seat on the Board of Supervisors within as little as a few weeks, and won’t have to wait until after January, the City Attorney’s Office ruled today.

That’s significant because there are major development projects, including 75 Howard (on the waterfront) and the 5M Project (at Fifth and Mission) moving through the pipeline quickly, and both could come to the board before the end of the year.

Normally supervisors take office in January. But Peskin won a seat that was up in a special election because Christensen had just been appointed. (He’ll have to run again in the fall.)

And the City Charter states that such an election is to “fill the unexpired term” (in this case of David Chiu, who resigned to move to the state Assembly) – and the “winner may be sworn in as soon as the election results are final.”

That means the head of the Department of Election, John Arntz, has to issue a certificate of election (after the last ballots are counted, which will probably be the end of this week or early next week), and the Board of Supervisors has to “declare the election results,” which is pro forma and can happen at the next meeting.

Which means in theory Peskin could join the board before Thanksgiving… (more)

Dissension in the streets, but Lee coasting to victory

By Joshua Sabatini : sfweekly – excerpt

Like his predecessor before him, Mayor Ed Lee is coasting to a second term victory.

So much so it may seem he spends more time at press events for his District 3 appointee Julie Christensen in a nail-biter contest against progressive challenger Aaron Peskin than stumping for himself. Ask his campaign, and they will say the mayor’s main focus is ensuring his $310 million affordable housing bond passes with two-thirds of the vote…

The only candidate “debate” the mayor engaged in on the so-called campaign trail was more of a staged question-and-answer that left most people underwhelmed. He generally came off scripted, similar to how he operates when he attends monthly question time sessions before the Board of Supervisors, and by some accounts seemed disinterested…

While the mayor may not have a contest on his hands, there are three contests on the ballot that would have a direct impact on his next four years in office: Proposition I, the Mission moratorium; Proposition F, tougher restrictions on short-term rental platforms like Airbnb; and the District 3 supervisor race, according to McDaniel.

“If the progressives get [Prop.] I passed and [Prop.] F passed and Peskin wins, all right, they have a strong case to make that the mayor needs to work with them and change what he has been doing,” McDaniel said. “If that doesn’t happen, I think the mayor will have a sense of being vindicated in his style of governance and results-oriented approach he has taken.”… (most)

Aaron Peskin Supporter on how Aaron helped District 10

Why you should consider voting for Aaron Peskin if you are in District 3.

d-10supporters-desktop from zRants on Vimeo.