As the arrest of Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru gains national headlines, the Ethics Commission has called for an increase of $1.7 million in funding. The commission claims it is currently underfunded, with administrators required to do several roles and some investigations, like the auditing of lobbyists, not happening at all. This call for more resources is happening when Mayor London Breed has called for cuts to the city budget, as the city is expected to have a budget deficit. 

A federal judge has extended her order preventing the transfer of people under quartine for coronavirus from Travis Air Force Base to a facility in Orange County. U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton sided with officials in Costa Mesa, stating the transfer of 30 to 50 people who may have the virus from Travis to Fairview Developmental Center, which was built for the developmentally disabled and isn’t currently in use, could put residents of Costa Mesa at risk of infection. The order stands till Monday.

KQED and the Wall Street Journal give rundowns on Proposition D, a measure to tax vacant storefronts as an incentive for property owners to find business tenants. If a storefront stands vacant for more than 182 days, the property owners would have to pay $250 per linear foot of ground-floor retail space. The next year, the tax would go up to $500 and, the following year, it would hit $1,000 annually. It has the support of Mayor London Breed as well as all members of the Board of Supervisors. It is opposed by the San Francisco Republican Party. The measure needs 2/3rds of the vote to pass.

SF Public Press covers John McDonnell, a Republican challenging Phil Ting for his assembly seat. He is a business and tax attorney. He is running on a platform of doing more to keep businesses that create, in his opinion, middle class jobs, and states Democrats are the ones causing inequality in the state of California.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin has introduced legislation to reduce the wait time for obtaining conditional use permits. Peskin hopes to reduce the time to 90 days, whereas now, it can take months, even a year to get a permit that allows you to transition a property from one type of business to another. During that time, small business owners still have to pay rent. This is in addition to legislation introduced last year by Mayor London Breed and then Supervisor Vallie Brown that also aimed to reduce wait times.

Verizon joins AT&T, IBM, and 11 other companies that have withdrawn from the RSA Conference happening this week at Moscone Center due to coronavirus concerns. Facebook has withdrawn for the Game Developers Conference happening in March for coronavirus fears as well. Mayor London Breed has stated city officials are working with state and federal officials with regards to coronavirus and the risk of catching the virus is low.

Five assembly Democrats, led by Tim Grayson of Concord, have unveiled legislation to cut the cost of new housing by eliminating local fees on new developments. Multifamily units can have more than $100,000 in fees per unit attached to them. This is in addition to legislation by Assemblyman David Chiu, who has introduced legislation aiming to reduce the fees on affordable housing projects by up to 75%.

Last night, the SFMTA held a meeting at City College’s Mission Campus regarding the proposed Valencia Bikeway Improvements Project. Only written comments were taken. Cycling advocates, who appeared to make up the majority of attendees, support expanding protected bike lanes on Valencia while several business owners opposed it for parking-related reasons.

Monday saw the opening of Jelani House, a new shelter in the Bayview for pregnant women and recent mothers. Currently 3 expecting and recent mothers are part of the transitional housing program, with more expected. The Homeless Prenatal Program, who is running the shelter, currently assists 300 homeless expecting or recent mothers in San Francisco.

Dacari Spiers is suing the SFPD for using excessive force in a violent encounter last year on Fisherman’s Wharf. Spiers’ lawsuit states Spiers and his girlfriend were in a “loving embrace” when a cop started attacking Spiers with a baton. He suffered a broken wrist and leg, as well as a large gash. The police department maintains that Spiers was strangling his girlfriend, a claim the lawsuit denies.

The Chronicle details what an Amy Klobuchar Presidency would mean for California, and provides the Minnesota Senator their recommendation for the Democratic Nomination. 

Sandra Zuniga, director of the city’s Fix-It Team and director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, has been identified as ‘Girlfriend 1’, according to sources for the Chronicle. Girlfriend 1 allegedly traveled with Nuru when he allegedly accepted improper gifts, according to federal documents. Zuniga has not been charged with any crime connected to the criminal complaint to date. 

Maximus Real Estate Partners have pulled the plug on their 331-unit project at 16th and Mission, dubbed the Monster in the Mission by the project’s opponents. In the course of getting entitlements for the land the project developers attempted duplicitous efforts that served to fuel their opponents and frustrate those who might have supported the project. The project united various community organizations under the banner of the Plaza 16 Coalition, which sent a letter to Maximus Real Estate Partners to buy the property around $41 million to build 100% affordable housing. 

San Francisco's former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru has met with City Attorney Dennis Herrera multiple times to provide information that he hopes will lighten his sentences. His interviews led to the 10 subpoenas that the City Attorney sent to PG&E, Webcor, Pankow, Clark Construction and others.  

Proposition F, authored by Supervisor Dean Preston, guarantees full legal representation to every San Franciscan who is facing eviction. Passed in June 2018, the tenant right-to-counsel program is helping people stay in their homes, but they’re having trouble helping everyone who needs it. One third of houses from July to December last year received limited services because of the shortage of lawyers. With budget cuts in City Hall an increase in funds seems unlikely, which begs the question, will this be enough?

Mayor Breed will likely not be removed from office because of her recent possible ethics violation in receiving a 5,600 gift from disgraced ex-head of Public Works, Mohammed Nuru. Former Ethics Commission President Peter Keane said, “There is an ethical violation...but I don’t see any kind of criminal violation.” She may be fined up to $18k by the Ethics Commission, which may take months or years to be determined. Lastly, the only City official who can remove the Mayor from office is - the Mayor; otherwise, you must go through a voter recall.

In the wake of the continuing fallout from the Nuru corruption scandal, the rules committee will consider a proposal from Supe Aaron Peskin to allow the Government Audit and Oversight Committee to issue subpoenas and compel people to take an oath to testify truthfully, under the penalty of perjury. Currently, only full Board can issue such a subpoena with 6 votes.

SF Curbed provides a deep dive into the mindset of ‘NIMBY’ activists who push for open space and against much development in the city and region wide. 

Contractor Synergy Project Management Inc is alleging that it was “scapegoated” by then-Supervisor London Breed and fired by Mohammed Nuru back in 2015 for refusing to take part in a corruption scheme, costing the firm millions of dollars in city contracts. Five gas lines on Haight Street were cut during 2015 roadwork, but the company denies responsibility, and the company's $19 million bid for work on the Van Ness corridor was too high and cancelled it- while the final project ended up costing $30 million. 

A recent BART report shows that Black BART riders are disproportionately likely to be targeted for quality of life enforcement. The report, requested by BART Director Janice Li, shows that nearly half of BART police citations for violations like fare evasion were handed out to black BART riders, despite being only 10 percent of the BART ridership. 

Mission Local contrasts the all-but-certain-to-pass Prop A, the $845 million City College bond on the March 3 ballot, with the seemingly never ending financial woes the College inflicts upon itself. The bond is ostensibly sold as a need to take care of the college’s maintenance backlog, yet 12% of the bond is going toward a NEW building that will increase college’s maintenance requirements. Has San Francisco’s generosity to CCSF led to an institution that cannot govern itself? 

The BAR provides a rundown of the local DCCC race and the appropriateness of local elected officials vying for seats on the committee. 

Supervisor Dean Preston began the process for his promised D5 navigation center at a community meeting on Sunday. The project is still in its early days, but the neighborhood seems supportive. 

Fatal drug overdoses, largely from Fentanyl, reached an all-time high last year according to a recently released report by the Department of Public Health. Fentanyl is an attractive drug for being stronger and cheaper, but it’s also much more likely to cause death. Supervisor Matt Haney called for the department to more frequently report overdose data, however, the lag time is due to the amount of time it takes for the medical examiner to make a ruling and report the data. The department plans to start releasing the data bi-annually.

PG&E’s main union is protesting calls to make the company a public entity, a call which several prominent voices gave lent their voices to, including Senator Bernie Sanders. The unions did not take kindly to this, launching a five-minute advertisement that criticizes Sen Sanders’ endorsement of the issue, claiming a public takeover would be expensive and misguided. 

SFMTA director Jeffrey Tumlin sits down for an interview on KPIX over car-free Market Street.

SF Curbed provides a rundown of the approximately 34,302 vacant homes in San Francisco, including the type of ‘vacant’  homes, and their overall implication on housing prices and housing policy. 

The Chronicle provides a rundown of Prop B —the $628 million dollar earthquake and emergency safety bond.