Civic

You can find the Public Press’ full nonpartisan voter guide here .

You can find the Public Press’ full nonpartisan voter guide here .

Even on main commercial corridors in the city, long-empty storefronts have raised concerns about blight from merchants, customers and politicians. In response, Supervisor Aaron Peskin drafted a vacancy tax measure that now appears on the March ballot as Proposition D. Lee Hepner, a legislative aide to Peskin, explains how the proposed tax is designed to motivate landlords to rent properties, how i...

In What's New & What's Next, the Civic team offers a roundup of San Francisco news and a look at what's ahead on the city's calendar. The news: Subpoenas issued emerge in corruption investigation and Mayor reveals gift from arrested department head, judge rules to make Apple pay employees for time spent in security searches, and a new planning director is appointed. Coming up: Youth Commission wil...

In the final episode in our series of interviews with the candidates running for state senate to represent District 11, current State Senator Scott Wiener discusses his legislative record in areas ranging from housing policy to conservatorship to criminal justice reform.

Editor’s Note: “Civic” reached out to several opponents of Proposition E, but nobody was available for an interview by broadcast time. Read more at sfpublicpress.org .

A California proposition on the March ballot would issue $15 billion in state bonds for facilities construction at public schools. John Fensterwald, a staff writer at EdSource, explains how districts will be prioritized for funding, and addresses confusion that has arisen over the measure’s number designation and implications for property taxes.

If you are a registered democrat living in San Francisco, your ballot for the March election is likely to be long because there are more than 50 candidates running to fill 24 seats on the Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC), the governing body of the local Democratic Party. Jason McDaniel, associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University, helps explain the committe...

In What's New & What's Next, the Civic team offers a roundup of San Francisco news and a look at what's ahead on the city's calendar. The news: More details emerge in corruption arrest, sobering center planned for the Tenderloin, and the POA votes on leadership. Coming up: Supervisors to consider property purchase and tenant buyout law, and a 100-unit building proposed for California and Polk is e...

San Francisco has rent control – rents can only go up by a certain percentage a year in buildings constructed before 1979 – but there are some costs that landlords can pass on to tenants. Tenants, in turn, may apply for an exemption by showing that the cost creates a financial hardship for them. A report from the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s office indicates that the pass-throughs individually...

Decades of explicitly and implicitly racist policies have left the Bay Area not just unaffordable, but deeply segregated, according to panelists at a gathering of regional government administrators, nonprofit staff and community advocates. They convened recently at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Building to talk about the future of fair housing in California and how governments and community ad...

As part of Civic’s series of interviews with candidates for the state Senate seat currently held by Scott Wiener, Jackie Fielder details her platform and shares insight into her background. Fielder is an indigenous organizer who co-founded the San Francisco Public Bank coalition. She calls for increased taxation of corporations and billionaires to build and preserve affordable housing, universal r...

As part of Civic’s series of interviews with candidates for the state Senate seat currently held by Scott Wiener, Erin Smith tells her story and lays out where she stands on policy issues. She calls for reforms of policies like Proposition 47, a state ballot measure passed by voters in 2014 that reduced six nonviolent felonies including drug possession to misdemeanors, and AB 5, the “gig worker” l...

In What's New & What's Next, the Civic team offers a roundup of San Francisco news and a look at what's ahead on the city's calendar. The news: FBI arrests a top city employee, City College gets a funding boost, and the CA governor demands changes at PG&E. Coming up: Workshops to determine the future of public transit, supervisors to weigh naming part of City Hall after Buck Delventhal, and a prop...

The FBI this week arrested Mohammed Nuru, now on administrative leave from his position as director of the Department of Public Works, on corruption charges and other charges relating to failing to keep the investigation secret. Joe Eskenazi, managing editor and a columnist at Mission Local, explains why Nuru’s alleged behavior likely isn't the sole focus of this investigation – and how this same...

The San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance has joined several legislators in calling for the California Public Utilities Commission to allow at least some public access to ride-hailing safety data, which are kept hidden. Safety data about taxis is available to the public through records requests. Mark Gruberg, a taxi driver and a member of the Taxi Workers Alliance’s executive board, explains how thi...

In some countries, legal representation in civil cases is a right. Not so in the U.S., which means low-income people facing a civil legal proceeding may not be able to afford an attorney. One organization looking to change that is Open Door Legal. With the help of a million-dollar city grant, the nonprofit has just cut the ribbon on two new locations in the Excelsior and Western Addition. Director...

In What's New & What's Next, the Civic team offers a roundup of San Francisco news and a look at what's ahead on the city's calendar. This week: San Francisco all but ends cash bail, mental health advocates deliver a letter to the Department of Public Health, Supervisors will vote on banning gas in new buildings, and Muni service changes and car-free Market Street will take effect this week.

Read the CalMatters explainer here .

When foster youth age out of the foster care system, they can find themselves in difficult housing and financial situations. Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese explains the reasoning behind his proposal for a pilot program in which the county would give each youth transitioning out of foster care $1,000 a month.

Brian Howey reported on the complications of assessing homelessness by counting tents for the San Francisco Public Press and explains what the numbers do and don’t show. Yesica Prado, a multimedia journalist and a Catchlight fellow for the Public Press, is producing photo essays for the Public Press that document the experiences of vehicle dwellers in San Francisco and Berkeley, and shares how cit...

Read the Public Press story here , and Seth's follow-up here .

The city of Redding, California, made headlines late last year when its then-mayor proposed legislation to force people to enter a shelter facility and only allow them to leave on certain conditions, like sobriety. Independent journalist Evelyn Nieves has covered homelessness extensively and has been reporting in depth on Redding’s response to homelessness, and how it parallels trends around the r...

In What's New & What's Next, the Civic team offers a roundup of San Francisco news and a look at what's ahead on the city's calendar. This week: Changes in the District Attorney's office, a city supervisor announces her retirement and a candidate announces a run to replace her, and advocates plan an anti-war protest.

For years, advocates in San Francisco have pushed for the city to create its own bank, to divest from enterprises like oil pipelines and for-profit prisons, or to fund urgent needs, like affordable housing development. Jackie Fielder, co-founder of the SF Public Bank Coalition, lays out the details of how such a bank would be formed and what steps are being taken toward creating one.