I’ve never much cared for San Francisco International Airport—until SFO decided to take a courageous stand for truth and accuracy in airport names.

Last month, SFO’s leaders filed a lawsuit to stop the Port of Oakland from changing Oakland International Airport’s name to “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.”

Author and Oakland native Gertrude Stein famously said “There is no there there” of her hometown. Which is perhaps why the Oakland Port Commission justified the name change by saying it wanted to educate travelers unfamiliar with California that Oakland is an actual place that sits on the bay. I also believe that Oakland may have been combating a widespread misperception among Star Wars fans that it’s on Planet Tatooine; after all, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) was a native Oaklander.

Fortunately, SFO saw through the Oakland’s airport Jedi mind trick. The lawsuit accuses its East Bay competitor of trademark infringement as part of a grab for more air traffic. SFO also alleges that the name change creates the impression that Oakland is in San Francisco, which it is not.

I admire SFO’s bold commitment to defending geographic integrity. Which is why I’m so excited to see the airport take the next logical step in advancing the same principle, by changing its own inaccurate name.

I can hear it now: My Southwest Airlines pilot asks me to return my seat back to its full upright position—and then welcomes me to San Mateo County International Airport.

Because SFO, just like Oakland, isn’t in the City or County of San Francisco. It’s in an unincorporated corner of northeast San Mateo County, south of San Francisco.

As a lifelong SFO passenger, I can testify that taking San Francisco out of SFO’s name would be a service to the flying public.

Because it’s actually quite difficult to get into or out of San Francisco via the airport with San Francisco in its name.

You might even say that Oakland is a better San Francisco airport than San Francisco’s airport.

SFO’s problems start with flight delays. For years, it’s had among the highest rates of delayed flights in the United States. Other badly delayed airports typically have snow or severe winter weather. Of course, SFO has fog, but fog alone doesn’t make so many flights late. It’s the poor organization of the airport itself. Its two main, parallel runways are too close together to permit landings at the same time. So, when visibility is low, there are delays. This year, a construction project has been creating still more backups.

And if fog and poor organization don’t trap you at SFO, the airport’s design will. Today’s SFO was largely created 20 years ago, via an expansion that was hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. The project left the airport feeling overbuilt and bloated, with too much distance between ground transportation and gates.

Today, getting to your flight at SFO requires taking slow rides on an internal Air Train (whose construction was dogged by corruption allegations) and taking long walks through large, glassy, and often empty halls. Even when security lines are short, walking alone can add 20 minutes to your trip. Travel websites routinely advise SFO passengers to arrive at the airport two or more hours early.

And the transportation options outside the airport are no picnic, either. SFO sits at a traffic chokehold point, with crammed freeways and dead-end streets. Public buses stop at the terminals, but the main line, SamTrans 292, only shows up every 30 minutes or so. And Caltrain, the peninsula commuter line, doesn’t stop at the airport.

BART trains have a station inside the airport, which is nice. But many trains on that line don’t go into the airport, ending their routes four stops earlier at Daly City instead. And there are so many BART stops along the 13 miles between SFO and downtown San Francisco that the trip can take nearly an hour.

When I need to go to downtown San Francisco, I fly into Oakland. It’s faster, less likely to experience delays, and more reliable. And the airport’s two terminals are small and efficient, so that it’s just two minutes from my gate to ground transportation. The airport also has a connector train to BART that can take you into San Francisco in just five stops, or down to Fremont and San Jose with ease.

You might even say that Oakland is a better San Francisco airport than San Francisco’s airport.

Of course, I would never say that. No way. Because your truth-telling columnist is 100 percent behind SFO’s righteous defense of geographic accuracy in airport names.

But I will say this: Until this cross-bay airport dispute is over, and until SFO follows its own principle and changes its name to San Mateo County International, I am changing my own name to honor the Bay Area airport I actually enjoy flying into.

So, for the time being, you can call me San Francisco Bay Joe.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco nonprofit Providence Foundation is being accused of fraud.

“We discovered through our investigation that Providence was defrauding the city by submitting false invoices and as a result over $100,000 dollars of public monies that were supposed to benefit individuals experiencing homelessness were not being used for their proper purpose and has disappeared,” said Chiu.

San Francisco city attorney David Chiu said their findings are just the beginning of their push for accountability.

Multiple fake invoices collecting more than $100K led San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu to take action against Providence Foundation

“Our office is going to be seeking the debarment and suspension of a nonprofit called Providence Foundation. Providence Foundation for a number of years has been providing services to the city to address the needs of families who are homeless,” said Chiu.

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The invoices were submitted in 2022 for painting of the exterior of the Oasis Hotel and the removal of locks at the hotel. The city’s attorney’s office discovered that work was never done.

“Our action today starts the process to insure that providence is not able to apply for future contracts. It is up to the city as we are reviewing this if the current contracts would end,” said Chiu.

Providence Foundation operates the Oasis Hotel a shelter for families experiencing homelessness.

Providence receives city funds to operate a navigation center, as well as multiple housing subsidy and voucher programs. For years they have received grants through the city’s department of homelessness and supportive housing.

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In a statement the city’s department said in part:

“HSH will be reviewing each contract on a program-by-program basis to determine the best way to continue seamless services for the guests and tenants in these programs.”

“I think it’s very unfortunate the nonprofit contractors do wrong to the city but I think it’s almost foreseeable when you have the avalanche of new programs and new contractors coming in and the city wanting to get more contractors involved and not really scrutinize those,” said Randy Shaw, Director Tenderloin Housing Clinic.

Shaw, Director Tenderloin Housing Clinic the leading provider of permanent supportive housing for homeless single adults in San Francisco is concerned about what these findings will mean for other nonprofits like his.

“Social media is filled with tweets about corrupt nonprofits in the homeless sector but reality is that there are a lot of nonprofits involved and these are still a small number and they give us all a bad name. It’s really unfortunate,” said Shaw.

Our Data Team found that San Francisco has awarded over $213 million to nonprofits in the housing and homelessness sector for contracts starting in 2023 to present.

The city attorney’s office said they will continue their investigation

“Our office we will continue to root out bad actors who take advantage of our public resources we will fine you. We will cut off your funding and hold you accountable,” said Chiu.

We went to the Providence Foundation office for comment and their staff closed their doors. At the time of the publication of this article Providence Foundation did not respond.

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HSH Full statement:

“The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) has had a long-standing partnership with the Providence Foundation of San Francisco to provide shelter, housing assistance and supportive services to people experiencing homelessness, particularly in the Bayview and Fillmore neighborhoods. Providence has played a critical role in serving the unhoused community in these neighborhoods.

Providence, like many other small community-based organizations, has at times struggled to maintain compliance with all the City’s contracting requirements. HSH has worked closely with them for years to build their capacity and comply with City requirements because of the important work that they do.

However last fall a series of serious allegations came out from Providence’s own staff about possible fraud, wage theft, and mismanagement. The Providence staff, seeking support and guidance, brought these concerns to us as well as to Office of Labor Standards and the City Attorney’s Office.

The City Attorney’s office launched their own investigation into the situation and have issued a debarment letter to Providence which will make them ineligible for future City contracts for up to 5 years. The debarment does not require that HSH immediately end existing contracts with Providence, HSH will be reviewing each contract on a program-by-program basis to determine the best way to continue seamless services for the guests and tenants in these programs.

HSH’s ultimate responsibility is to the guests and tenants in these programs and we are working diligently to ensure that clients continue to receive the shelter, housing, and services they need.”

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