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Happy Summer! Celebrating CYC’s “Craving Chinatown”, one of my favorite community cultural events!
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| It’s been a busy legislative session, and we’ve been working at a breakneck speed to wrap up work in time for the summer recess! Here’s a run-down of everything you need to know about what’s heating up this San Francisco summer: |
Office of Inspector General
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I introduced a ballot measure that creates an Office of the Inspector General. The Inspector General would investigate fraud, waste, and abuse in city government and by city contractors – without electing a new city official. This proposal would give the Inspector General within the Controller’s office expanded investigative powers and elevated mandate to go after public corruption proactively. Other major cities, such as New York, Chicago and New Orleans, all have an Inspector General imbued with the powers we are charging this position with, which will be located in the Controller’s Audit Division.
Read more:
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Task Force on Commission Reform
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I have authored a measure creating an expert independent task force to publicly analyze the costs and benefits of potentially consolidating, changing, or even eliminating commissions and other advisory bodies, who would then be empowered to recommend a well-written measure to the Board of Supervisors to place on the ballot. The task force’s recommendations may lead to a later measure asking voters to consider changing seat criteria, meeting requirements, potential mergers of overlapping functions or elimination of duplicative functions, etc.
Read more:
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The Affordable Housing We Need
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Thank you to everyone who helped us get Proposition A across the finish line in March, our local $300 million commitment to building affordable housing. We have been busy working to ensure that the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) works with stakeholders to get the NOFA’s out quickly for the projects voters supported, as well as supporting local efforts to get a regional housing bond onto the November ballot. The stakes are much higher with the $20 billion dollar Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) measure being proposed for November – that could potentially bring in $2.4 billion for San Francisco alone to invest in affordable housing!
On our end, my office has been working with a growing coalition of seniors, working families, and adults with disabilities to tackle a persistent issue in affordable housing production: ensuring “affordable housing” isn’t too expensive for those who truly need it the most. As we learned at a hearing in April, many working San Franciscans don’t income qualify for the City’s affordable housing lottery. They are usually seniors living on a fixed income, doubled-up families, or adults living with a disability that impacts their income. Many are making below 30% of the Bay Area Median Income (AMI) effectively putting them below the poverty line. |
Rental Subsidies for Extremely Low-Income Households
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I have authored a Charter Amendment for November that creates an “Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund for Seniors, Families and People with Disabilities” to receive an annual dedicated contribution of $8.3 million to subsidize the non-profit affordable housing rents of income-eligible residents. Thank you to my co-sponsors and the communities across the city who came to tell their stories of trying to get into affordable housing to no avail.
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Back to Basics: Public Health and Safety
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With the backing of a diverse support group of doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers, I was able to ensure that the Mayor restored funding in this November’s public health bond for long-deferred public health & safety capital infrastructure. If approved, $70 million will go to secure new adult psych facilities at SF General Hospital, renovations to Laguna Honda Hospital to retain our state accreditation, and rebuilds of City Clinic and the Chinatown Public Health Center - all priorities in our Capital Plan.
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Common Sense Community Policing
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| This past Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted to send the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) charter amendment I co-authored to the ballot. The amendment addresses our current police staffing shortage by incentivizing members of SFPD to postpone their retirement in exchange for more pay. It requires officers to be on active patrol or investigation. The program is a temporary stopgap (of five years) to address our staffing crisis, and will cost less than our ballooning overtime. (On that note, I am also working on legislation to create a City-subsidized student loan repayment plan with participating colleges for police officers who commit to at least five years with the SFPD in an effort to recruit and retain locally based police officers who come from our communities.) |
Workforce Housing for the "Missing Middle"
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In addition to Extremely Low-Income residents, there’s another demographic that we’ve struggled to build housing for: middle-income earners, who make too much to qualify for affordable housing but struggle to afford market-rate rent. This is why I authored the Workforce Housing for Affordable Middle-Incomes (WHAMI) Act, which creates a new financing program, using revenue bonds, to dramatically expand the funding available for affordable housing for middle-class families and essential workers, such as educators and healthcare service professionals. The program also streamlines the income certification process to get people into stable housing faster.
Instead of arguing about paper entitlements and zoning, we are taking action on the chief obstacle to building more affordable housing, and look forward to working with stakeholders to build and protect housing for San Francisco's working families. Thanks to your support, we just passed WHAMI at the Board of Supervisors!
Read more:
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Ban on Rent Price-Fixing Software
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Ever wondered why the rents are so high? And why they don’t seem to be going down, despite vacancies across the city and an out-exodus post-pandemic? It turns out that large corporate landlords utilize a software that artificially sets rents to maximize profits for investors. I’m proud to have introduced the first local ordinance in the country banning the sale or use of software which enables price collusion for the purpose of rent-gouging. Third-party revenue management companies, such as RealPage and Yardi, collect and combine proprietary large landlord data and make pricing and occupancy recommendations. These recommendations then effectively set the prices for available rentals. This type of software is subject to dozens of ongoing lawsuits and investigations alleging it has enabled price fixing, caused double-digit rent increases, and increased evictions and units held empty.
Banning automated price-fixing will allow the market to work and bring down rents in San Francisco. We want to put more units on the market. Let’s be clear: RealPage has exacerbated our rent crisis and empowered corporate landlords to intentionally keep units vacant. So we’re taking action locally to ensure our working renters can afford to live here.
Read More:
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Investing In Economic Recovery For ALL
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As the City charts its economic recovery, it’s important to ensure that we are raising all ships and that public investments are getting spread to our neighborhoods citywide. To that end:
Fisherman’s Wharf/Waterfront - Last month, I announced that funding I initially earmarked in FY 2021/2022 to support Black, Indigenous & People of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs and small businesses to open up venues on SF Port property is finally available through the Office of Economic and Workforce Development’s (OEWD) small business support program, which they will be touring around to Port master tenants this summer.
Our local Bay Area BIPOC entrepreneurs should be at the heart of our economic recovery plans. The City has rightly made a commitment to preserving and uplifting our cultural districts, but my office also realized that with so much of the economic recovery focused on areas like Union Square, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Embarcadero, our BIPOC communities should be afforded opportunities in these tourist-rich areas as well.
Read more:
● KALW story on BIPOC Fisherman’s Wharf funds and SFGov Press Release
Chinatown - We recently announced a new Chinatown Artist Registry that builds on my office’s add-back proposals over the last few years to set aside funding specifically for culturally competent and in-language outreach to Chinese and API artists, as well as new artwork in our public infrastructure projects. We fought hard for these capital projects but found that project-specific funding often only covers preserving existing art and monuments. Particularly for a community with a rich cultural history like Chinatown, it’s critical that our artists, residents, storytellers, and workers have a strong role in shaping these projects today. I’m thrilled to see this finally happening, and that culturally competent art will be at the center of major public projects like the new Portsmouth Square rebuild, the Mark Him Lai Library, and the Chinatown Public Health Center.
Read more:
Downtown and Lower Nob Hill - Thank you to my colleagues for helping me reallocate $3m of parking funds in the budget to spread throughout more neighborhoods downtown for arts & culture, entertainment, and public realm activation in the East Cut, Yerba Buena, Union Square, Financial District and Lower Nob Hill areas, including a Downtown City Performing Arts ticket kiosk.
Additionally, we secured new Community Ambassadors from GLIDE for Lower Nob Hill, who started on the 22nd! We would love to bring them by your shop or neighborhood event to say hello!
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Free Another Planet Entertainment Downtown Concerts
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Supervisor Chan and I negotiated with Another Planet Entertainment (APE) to require them to provide free downtown concerts in exchange for extended contracts at the Polo Fields for Outside Lands and other upcoming summer projects, and they’ve finally released their schedule!
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Alcatraz Cruise Workers on Strike - Solidarity!
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I stand with the Alcatraz ferry workers who went on strike again in early July while still in the midst of their labor negotiations. I have been a steadfast supporter of the Alcatraz Workers United union, picketing with them and delivering postcards in support of the workers to Hornblower’s corporate offices. Pier 33 is an integral destination in our district, and I have worked with the Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution that urged the Hornblower group (operators of Alcatraz City Cruises) to come to an agreement with Alcatraz Workers United. We called on the company to reimburse workers for wages lost or vacation time used while negotiating.
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Finally, with the threat of public school closures weighing on many parents and teachers minds, I authored and passed a Resolution calling for SFUSD to include clear equity criteria in its “resource alignment” plan that takes into account the cultural and community importance of school sites and the potential impact of school closures on low-income, immigrant and BIPOC communities. |
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I proposed a new law in June to protect the LGBTQ+ mental healthcare facility Queer LifeSpace from being evicted. The legislation was recently passed by the Board of Supervisors and establishes land use controls to preserve the center's critical health services. It also requires Planning Commission approval for any change of use at the property in the Castro and Upper Market commercial districts. This is intended to ensure the center remains open and able to provide essential health and social services for the queer community in a safe space on a sliding scale.
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Saturday, 7/27/24
Aging and Older Adults Resource Fair (12:00pm - 2:30pm) — RSVP here The TEL-Hi Neighborhood Center will be hosting its second Aging and Older Adult Resource Fair. Registration is required for complimentary lunch.
Sunday, 7/28/24
Letters to San Francisco Literary Magazine Release Party (2:00pm -4:00pm)- Join the official party of the new incredible literary magazine The Dreams I Dreamt: Letters to San Francisco in Kerouac Alley (between Vesuvio and City Lights Books). Enjoy performers and music by Classical Revolution.
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Board of Supervisors | District 3 | Aaron Peskin
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