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Mayor Breed Orders Increased Scrutiny of San Francisco Contract Work, Grantees | KQED

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Mayor Breed Orders Increased Scrutiny of San Francisco Contract Work, Grantees | KQED


The city is also still working to earn back voters’ trust after a spiraling corruption scandal within the Department of Public Works and the Department of Building Inspection, which has led to convictions for Mohammed Nuru, former head of the Director of Public Works, and former Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly.

“Those who undermine our contracting processes and exploit public resources are not welcome to do business with our City and will be held accountable,” said City Attorney David Chiu. “I am proud of our attorneys and investigators who have worked diligently to root out corruption and maintain the integrity of City government”

Meanwhile, those hoping to unseat Breed in the mayoral election are laying out their own plans to combat corruption in City Hall.

“You can’t solve the problem when you are the problem, and we can’t trust the same people who built this broken, corrupt bureaucracy to turn it around,” nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie said in a statement. “I am the only candidate who will bring a new culture of accountability to City Hall on day one.”

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Lurie wants to remove a campaign fundraising loophole where candidates are able to raise more than the $500 contribution limit through ballot measure initiatives. He also wants to raise candidate filing fees for those who have records of ethics misconduct, fully fund the Ethics Commission, require reporting for any meals costing over $500, and create an ethics enforcement dashboard to track campaign finance reports, lobbying disclosures, gifts, contracts and other areas for potential conflicts of interest.

The plan explicitly targets several of the ethics complaints that former interim mayor and supervisor Mark Farrell, who is also running for mayor, has faced in the current election cycle. He has come under scrutiny for his ties to the moderate political organizing group Together SF Action, which has raised millions of dollars through a ballot initiative to slash the number of city commissions.

From left, Manny Yekutiel, proprietor of the event space Manny’s and Heather Knight, San Francisco bureau chief of The New York Times, moderate the San Francisco mayoral debate featuring Ahsha Safai, Mark Farrell, Daniel Lurie, London Breed and Aaron Peskin at the Sydney Goldstein Theater on June 12, 2024. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

Farrell faced similar accusations for campaign finance violations during his bid in 2010 for San Francisco Supervisor. The Ethics Commission fined Farrell $191,000 – the largest in the city’s history – and he later paid the city $25,000 to settle the case.

Still, Farrell has sought to portray his candidacy as a break from past City Hall scandals.

“I will bring new transparency and accountability from day one,” said Farrell, who has defended his record on the current campaign trail. “I will centralize all third party non profit contracts under the Office of the Mayor to reduce fraud and waste while bringing greater accountability.”

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Supervisors running for mayor criticized Breed for the corruption that has come to light during her administration, pointing to their own efforts to weed out corruption in City Hall from within.

“​​Our current mayor’s administration is one of the most corrupt in San Francisco history,” said Supervisor Ahsha Safaí. “More of her senior officials have been convicted of corruption than in any other administration in modern times.”

The Excelsior supervisor pointed to his efforts to maintain funding for the Ethics Commission when Breed attempted to reduce it and said mandating audits of nonprofits and other city contractors will be a priority if he is elected.





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Marina braces for Golden Gate Bridge fireworks show, massive crowds

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Marina braces for Golden Gate Bridge fireworks show, massive crowds


San Francisco is preparing for its major July 4th fireworks display on Saturday night, an event expected to draw massive crowds as pyrotechnics are launched directly from the Golden Gate Bridge for only the third time in history.

Will crowds flood Marina? 

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What we don’t know:

To pull off the event, the Golden Gate Bridge, major roadways, and key parking lots at Marina Green and Crissy Field will be shut down. 

Several neighborhood streets will also be blocked off, creating significant traffic hurdles. Officials are strongly advising spectators to utilize public transit due to severely limited parking.

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Local residents in the Marina District have expressed concern over the impending chaos as crowds flood the neighborhood.

“I’m a little worried, yeah,” said nearby resident Michael Zoboski. “I think it’s gonna be definitely hectic. I don’t know where people are going to park, it seems like it’s taking up a large amount of the streets up here. I think it’s going to be a little crazy.”

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To manage the influx, access to many surrounding neighborhoods will be strictly limited to local residents. 

Checking IDs

What we know:

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Law enforcement officers will be checking IDs and questioning drivers to verify residency. According to the district supervisor, there will be 10 police officers deployed per block in the Marina.

Road closures will stretch from Baker Street to Van Ness Avenue between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. 

Portions of Fisherman’s Wharf are scheduled to shut down even earlier, starting at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon, with much of that neighborhood also restricted to local access. The Golden Gate Bridge itself will close to traffic starting at 9 p.m.

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Additionally, roads will be closed in the Presidio and Richmond District. To encourage the use of public transportation, Muni is providing special shuttles to help transport spectators to the viewing areas.

The Source: Marina neighbors, Muni, San Francisco city website

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Crash on freeway in Millbrae leaves driver dead after reportedly overturning multiple times, CHP says

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Crash on freeway in Millbrae leaves driver dead after reportedly overturning multiple times, CHP says


A driver died Thursday evening after reportedly overturning multiple times and being ejected from the vehicle in Millbrae, authorities said.

The California Highway Patrol said the crash happened around 7 p.m. on southbound Highway 101 at Millbrae Avenue. 

Officers said they received a report that a vehicle had overturned multiple times and that an occupant was possibly ejected.

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At the scene, officers found a man, who was determined to be the driver of a white Toyota Camry, lying in the road with major injuries. He was taken to a hospital where he later died, officers said. 

It was determined that a second vehicle was involved in the crash and no one was injured in the second vehicle. 

The CHP said the driver of the Camry was not wearing a seatbelt.

 Three lanes of southbound Highway 101 were closed for an extended period. 

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Jury deadlocked on 2 counts for Golden Gate Bridge pro-Palestinian protesters

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Jury deadlocked on 2 counts for Golden Gate Bridge pro-Palestinian protesters


A jury in San Francisco returned to a packed courtroom Thursday morning to tell a judge that it was deadlocked on two counts in the case against seven pro-Palestinian protesters who shut down traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge in 2024 to denounce U.S. aid to Israel in the Israel-Hamas war.

The jury indicated that it could likely reach a decision on one of the deadlocked counts, but the other it could not. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Teresa Caffese asked the jury to resume deliberations on one of the two deadlocked counts.

“Why don’t I send you back, and then we’ll go from there,” Caffese said.

Six of the protesters who chained themselves together on vehicles on the bridge and a protester who was designated to communicate with authorities are each facing eight to nine charges of felony conspiracy and false imprisonment.

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The seven defendants sat in the courtroom with anticipation for a verdict, wearing keffiyehs around their necks. Dozens of their supporters packed the courtroom to the brim.

The jury reached unanimous decisions on the rest of the counts. It did not indicate which two counts it was deadlocked on.

Supporters of the seven protesters said that a verdict on the rest of the counts is expected to be read out sometime Thursday.



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