San Francisco, CA

Time for reform? San Francisco has been working under same legislative rules for nearly 30 years

Published

2 years ago

September 7, 2024

Time for reform? San Francisco has been working under same legislative rules for nearly 30 years

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco has been working under the same legislative set of rules for the past nearly 30 years.

We’re talking about the city’s charter that dictates how things operate. In order to build a better Bay Area, most anyone in city government will tell you it’s time to reform the city charter.

“What we have at this point, I think, is kind of a mess,” according to Supervisor Rafael Mandelman because of how the city’s governance is structured, based, in part, on that charter.

Here’s how the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, SPUR, explains it.

“Who’s in charge and who gets to make which decisions and who ultimately has responsibility and authority and accountability is very confusing,” said SPUR President and CEO Alicia John-Baptiste.

MORE: Here’s why a San Francisco landlord is purposely keeping commercial rents low for businesses

The charter was adopted in 1996 started out with 173 pages. Through the years, city leaders have added another 365 pages.

It includes proposals and ballots measures that voters have also approved. As a result, a lot of that extra stuff has, little-by-little, weakened the power of mayors that came after Willie Brown.

“I was certainly the last mayor that had the authority to be the mayor,” Brown said.

What most San Franciscans don’t know is that any mayoral candidate who wins in November will have limited authority over who leads San Francisco’s city departments.

Let’s say the mayor wanted to pick the next police chief. The mayor can only select someone from a short list given by the police commission.

MORE: Here’s why San Francisco’s art market continues to struggle against other big US cities

When it comes to hiring or firing the head of the Municipal Transportation Agency, the mayor can’t even do that and has absolutely no say in the matter, because that person is appointed or terminated by the SFMTA Board.

“All of that has made it really difficult, if not impossible, for a person to really be the CEO of a city like San Francisco,” Brown said.

Therefore, one can argue that there are too many cooks in the kitchen slowing things down. Have you tried to open a restaurant in San Francisco? Sure, the health department has to be involved, but why does it take 11 city agencies to get the required permits and licenses?

According to SPUR a new restaurant must go through 61 steps just to open.

“Well, there are too many cooks in the kitchen but there is also too many kitchens. We actually should be consolidating a lot of this. We should be bringing these agencies with responsibility for permitting together and making them function together, a unified authority,” Mandelman said.

MORE: SF launches new downtown revitalization push at Embarcadero to bring people back to city

San Francisco also has 126 boards and commissions, some with decision-making power that shape how a department operates.

According to SPUR, with so many commissions and departments sometimes conflicting with one another, it’s like a maze, making advancing a citywide agenda difficult not to mention time consuming.

SPUR says some commissions are very useful to maintain checks and balances. Still, they are recommending a review of all commissions.

“To decide which ones should stay, which one should have their roles changes and which ones have already lived out their useful purpose and can be let go,” Jean-Baptiste said.

For example, voters approved the creation of the Department of Sanitation and Streets, only to have it abolished two years later.

MORE: SFMTA delays vote on banning right turns at red lights anywhere in SF

Even though that department no longer exists today, its own oversight commission is still there.

As a result, people are not very satisfied with how things run in the city. A survey conducted last year by the city found residents gave certain departments mainly Bs and Cs.

There are many now calling the city charter to be reformed.

How do they get there? Let’s just say in the coming months, lots of people are expected to weigh in to develop a charter reform measure so that the board of supervisors can place it on the November 2026 ballot.

“If we want to do better than what we’ve been doing, if we want to improve the functioning of city governance, I do think there are structural changes that we need to make to make our city government is more successful going forward, and I think San Francisco deserves it. I think we should do it,” Mandelman said.

Source link

San Francisco, CA

Giants Head Home to San Francisco After Shutout Loss

Published

8 hours ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

Giants Head Home to San Francisco After Shutout Loss

After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.

The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.

So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.

Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.

Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.

The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.

They just didn’t get the job done.

Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.

With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.

San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.

Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.

The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.

All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.

Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.

That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.

Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.

Don’t miss out on our ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news!

It’s completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.

Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!

Source link

San Francisco, CA

Why do gray whales keep dying in San Francisco’s waters?

Published

20 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Why do gray whales keep dying in San Francisco’s waters?

The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.

Source link

San Francisco, CA

Eastbound I-80 closure in San Francisco snarls traffic, slows business

Published

1 day ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Eastbound I-80 closure in San Francisco snarls traffic, slows business

One of San Francisco’s busiest freeways remained shut down Saturday, creating major traffic delays and dampening business for some local restaurants and shops.

All eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 just before the Bay Bridge are closed as crews work around the clock to rehabilitate the roadway. The 55-hour shutdown, which began on Friday night, is scheduled to last until Monday morning in time for the commute.

The closure has forced drivers onto detour routes, leading to heavy congestion for those trying to reach the East Bay, including Oakland and Berkeley.

The impact is being felt beyond the roadways.

At MoMo’s, a restaurant across from Oracle Park, staff found business noticeably slower.

“A little bit more mellow than usual. We usually see a little bit more foot traffic, a little bit more people on Saturdays,” said Daniel Bermudez, executive chef at MoMo’s.

Bermudez believes the freeway closure may be discouraging visitors from coming into the city this weekend, despite favorable weather.

“The weather is beautiful today. It’s nice and sunny. So we have plenty of tables outside,” he said.

With the San Francisco Giants playing an away game, the restaurant had hoped fans would still gather to watch, but turnout during game time remained light.

“This is kind of like our off-season Saturday. A lot slower than our baseball weekend,” said Casandra Alarcon, general manager at MoMo’s.

Other small businesses in the Mission Bay and South of Market neighborhoods reported similar trends, saying most of their customers are regulars who live nearby rather than visitors.

“A little bit slower for sure. Before, we had tourists come and walk to the baseball park,” said Ajaree Safron, manager at Brickhouse Cafe & Bar.

Caltrans has shut down eastbound lanes between 17th and 4th streets to repave the 71-year-old roadway. The goal is to extend the life of the Bayshore Freeway by another decade.

City and transportation officials said the timing of the closure was intentional, noting fewer major events scheduled in San Francisco this weekend, aside from the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Westbound lanes remain open, and officials said traffic heading into San Francisco from the East Bay has not been significantly affected.

“Getting into the city, it wasn’t too bad. Regular [traffic], what we expect on a Saturday morning,” said visitor Andrea Inouye.

While the closure has posed challenges for businesses, some workers said they are taking it in stride.

“Hopefully, it’s not for too long and we get past it, and get back to our normal routine,” Bermudez said.

Despite early concerns about widespread gridlock, transportation officials said the region has avoided the worst-case scenario. Traffic remains heavy in areas near detours, but the anticipated “carmageddon” has not materialized, in part because many drivers chose to avoid the area or take public transit.

In:

Source link