San Francisco, CA

London Breed calls for overhaul of San Francisco city charter

Published

4 months ago

August 23, 2024

London Breed calls for overhaul of San Francisco city charter

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is proposing the first overhaul of the city’s charter since 1995.

Breed called on city and county leaders to start the process of comprehensive charter reform and examine potential changes that could be put before voters in November 2026.

As the city and county’s “fundamental law,” the city and county charter is its governing document that defines its governance structure and government duties.

In an executive directive on Tuesday, Breed did not lay out any specific proposals, but said broadly that the changes should “improve the effectiveness of government and improve the delivery of services to our residents.”

The directive also took aim at the ballot measure process, saying it had added too many layers of bureaucracy to the city’s government. Eight measures will go before voters this fall.

The closest the directive comes to specifics is its component that calls on city leaders to gather data related to potential reforms, including “consolidating City Departments, overhauling Commission structures, improving accountability in the Executive Branch, and updating the legislative process to ensure that new rules can be implemented,” according to the executive directive.
Breed said she thought now was the time for wholesale reform.

“Over the last three decades, the Charter has been amended over and over, adding new departments, creating new positions, setting in place new legal requirements, restricting city spending, and adding other bureaucratic barriers that have not been created through a holistic view of what it means to govern,” Breed’s directive said.

Breed also included the nonprofit San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, known as SPUR, as a participant in the process. The organization has made specific recommendations for a new charter, including reducing redundancies, adding a legislative analyst to the Board of Supervisors, and restoring the mayor’s ability to hire and fire department heads.

The organization has also suggested “raising the bar” for getting measures on the local ballot, something Breed’s directive hinted at. The organization said in its newly released report, “Designed to Serve,” that any potential measure put forth by the county Board of Supervisors and be subject to a mayoral veto, and that any measure proposed by the mayor should first be passed by the Board.

It also suggested raising the signature threshold from 2% to 5% of registered voters’ signatures to qualify a measure for the ballot.

The mayor’s executive directive calls on the city controller and city administrator to work with other city leaders and good government experts like SPUR to prepare for putting proposed changes before voters in fall 2026 by collecting data, preparing outreach and stakeholder input, and, ultimately, make a range of recommendations for reforms.

“It’s the right time to ensure that laws are keeping pace with our ever-evolving city,” said San Francisco Controller Greg Wagner.

County Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who, like Breed, was interviewed for SPUR’s report, agreed that a lot of “dysfunction is baked into our Charter.”

“Too often, our City government acts more like a collection of loosely affiliated departments than a unified municipal government with clear lines of accountability and oversight,” Mandelman said.

SPUR’s President and CEO, Alicia John-Baptiste, agreed it was time for a broad reexamination of the charter.

“Sometimes, it’s important to step back and evaluate whether the system we have in place is structured to allow the government to play this critical role effectively and if not, how it should change,” John-Baptiste said.

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco Giants Gold Glove Catcher Projected For Huge Season

Published

6 hours ago

December 24, 2024

Press Room

San Francisco Giants Gold Glove Catcher Projected For Huge Season

The San Francisco Giants have made some huge offseason moves already and hope they aren’t done just yet, but as is the case for every team that doesn’t win the World Series, the most important development will have to come from within.

One player who took a huge step from 2023 to 2024 and will try to improve even further in 2025 is Giants catcher Patrick Bailey. After a beyond solid rookie season in 2023 in which he finished in the top-ten for the National League Rookie of the Year, Bailey won a Gold Glove in 2024.

While the offensive output was similar to his rookie season and not anything to write home about, there’s confidence the bat will come along for the 25-year-old.

In an article naming breakout stars in 2024 who are due for a huge season in 2025, Bailey was one of the first names mentioned by Will Leitch of MLB.com.

“Bailey led all players in Statcast’s fielding run value metric (plus-22), and FanGraphs, which factors pitch framing into its WAR calculation, had Bailey third among catchers with 4.3 WAR,” Leitch wrote. “At age 25, Bailey already has won as many Gold Gloves as Posey — now his team’s president of baseball operations — did over his whole career.”

Leitch pointed out that Bailey has established himself to be San Francisco’s catcher of the future, something that seems undeniable at this point. If the former first-round pick can develop his bat to the point where he is hitting at least close to the same rate as he was raking in the minor leagues, he will have a chance to become one of the best catchers in baseball.

Through 218 games over his first two seasons in MLB, Bailey has posted a batting average of .234, an OPS of .640, slugged .348, and has hit 15 home runs and 94 RBIs. Certainly not numbers that will blow you away at the plate, but his defense has more than made up for it and allowed the Giants to be patient with his bat.

In 193 minor league games since being drafted No. 13 overall in 2020, Bailey hit .251 across all levels and had an OPS of .779. He also showed an encouraging level of power with 25 home runs, but has struggled to replicate that in the big leagues thus far.

Having already established himself to be one of the best in the game on defense, Bailey will have a chance in 2025 to enter the upper echelon of catchers across the game if he can have the breakout season he appears poised to.

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San Francisco, CA

Christmas gifts arrive early for children at San Francisco hospital

Published

15 hours ago

December 24, 2024

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Christmas gifts arrive early for children at San Francisco hospital – CBS San Francisco

Watch CBS News

Kelsi Thorud reports on Operation Holiday Cheer, an event aimed at cheering up children staying at the hospital.

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker celebrates big milestones this season

Published

23 hours ago

December 23, 2024

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San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker celebrates big milestones this season

It’s a magical and beloved holiday tradition that’s uniquely San Francisco – The San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker.

SAN FRANCISCO – It’s a magical and beloved holiday tradition that’s uniquely San Francisco – The San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker.

This year, the production is marking big milestones at the War Memorial Opera House.

The San Francisco Ballet performed the first Nutcracker in the United States in 1944. This year, the company is celebrating its 80th anniversary.

“My family has this term called ‘nerv-cited,’ it’s a mix between nervous and excited… so I’m feeling nerve cited,” said 12-year-old Stella Sieck.

Sieck performs as a butterfly in the Nutcracker this season. Dancers have been rehearsing for the production since October.

This holiday season, the company is marking its 20th year of Helgi Tomasson’s Nutcracker. The former artistic director set this production in San Francisco, inspired by the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, a world’s fair held in 1915.

Tomasson led the San Francisco Ballet for 37 years. The Nutcracker is his tribute to San Francisco.

“It means so much to the city, and the audience, how they bring their children and their grandchildren, and it has become a real tradition, and they have taken ownership of this Nutcracker, and I’m very proud of that,” Tomasson said.

Grace Maduell Holmes first danced in SF Ballet’s Nutcracker in 1979, performing in upwards of 350 holiday shows. Today, she serves as the San Francisco Ballet School Director.

“I hope that they’re not just enjoying their time on the stage as performers but also having a look at the teamwork that it takes to put on a production of this professional level,” she said. “I think it’s so important for these students to see that it’s not just about class, it’s not just about performance, but it takes a huge group of people to put something on like this.”

KTVU was there as Stella prepared to go on stage. She normally trains six to seven days a week throughout the year, and hopes to join the company one day.

“It’s just an honor and I’m so grateful to be in a production like this one, and there’s so many amazing dancers,” said Sieck. I’m standing here, an incredible dancer stood here before me.”

“We make people happy. I love making people happy because I know when I dance, I’m bringing joy to other people,” she added.

This season, the San Francisco Ballet will hold more Nutcracker shows than ever. The final day of performances is December 29.

HolidaysSan Francisco

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