Matier and Ross reveal that PG&E is spending upwards of $2 million on television ads intended to influence state lawmakers into supporting new legislation that would let California’s utilities partially off the financial hook for their part is starting deadly wildfires across the state.  The state’s utilities have spent $6 million combined on lobbyists in attempts to sway lawmakers behind the scenes. 

Opponents to the utility-friendly legislation include fire victims, cities, and counties who have suffered in the devastating aftermath of the fires.  Their financial coffers do not match the utilities, however they are spending hundreds of thousands on their own legal team and advertising to hold utilities feet to the financial fire.

PG&E has enlisted two San Francisco-based lobbying firms to do their bidding.  The company has paid $400,000 to SCN Strategies whose clients include Governor Jerry Brown and gubernatorial hopeful Gavin Newsom.  Longtime political consultant to PG&E, Storefront Political Media, has received $108,000 in 2018 to help create the tv ads.

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The Examiner reports that Shimmick Construction, one of the contractors on the Twin Peaks Tunnel upgrades where worker Patrick Ricketts was recently struck and killed by a falling steel beam, has a record of safety violations that was not disclosed in its bid to the SFMTA. 

Shimmick has been indicated in nearly 50 violations in the last 10 years, which include citations for serious allegations for its role in the death of a forklift driver in 2016 now under appeal by the company.  The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found Shimmick to be guilty of “willful violations” on several of the violation allegations.

The company has offered to pay for the cost of Patrick Ricketts’ funeral.

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The SFPD says officers’ use of force on a teenage girl was justified because she allegedly “assaulted two officers by spitting in their faces.”  The girl, whose name has not been released because she's a minor, was arrested Monday for an outstanding burglary warrant.

Some witnesses have said they felt it was unnecessary for officers to throw the girl against the hood of a police car with her hands behind her back.  The incident led to her being taken to the hospital where she was treated for her injuries before being released into policy custody.

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Schools and Communities First is an organized effort by community, labor, and education advocates who want large corporate and commercial properties to undergo regular property assessments and pay their full share of taxes, rather than being assessed at the current rate only when the property is sold which is the process under current state law. 

On Tuesday, the group turned 860,000 signatures to put the measure in front of voters in 2020.  If passed, homeowners and small businesses would continue to be assessed when their property is sold.  

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Gary McCoy, a longtime LGBT activist, policy analyst, and strong advocate for the homeless who live with HIV, will be joining Congresswoman Pelosi’s office as a congressional aide where he will focus on constituent services. 

McCoy himself was chronically homeless and lived with untreated HIV for nearly a decade before turning his life around and launching his career in local government.

He has worked in the district offices for former Supervisors Scott Wiener, London Breed, and Julie Christensen.  Most recently he served as the policy and community affairs analyst for San Francisco's Rec and Park Department.  He replaces Alex Lazar who recently took over as Director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services.

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While the Masonic Avenue Streetscape Improvement Project is complete, work along the corridor is not.  After two years of construction along the heavily traveled street to implement measures intended to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety, calm traffic, upgrade aging water and sewer facilities, and create a public plaza at the intersection with Geary, additional work on protected bike lanes is still to be completed.

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San Francisco Ethics Commissioner Quentin Kopp has filed a federal lawsuit to force the Secret Service to release documents detailing the taxpayer dollars spent protecting Donald Jr. on a Trump Organization business trip to India in February.  

Kopp’s Freedom of Information Act request seeks to uncover how much federal money was spent on Secret Service salaries and other costs incurred on a trip that was supposedly business-only, though critics have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

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It’s a problem we all know about; between January 1, 2018 and August 13, 2018, more than 14,500 calls were placed regarding feces on San Francisco sidewalks. Starting next month, SF’s new solution is “Poop Patrol”, which will travel along the affected areas of SF in the evening and steam clean sidewalks, in between the nightly street cleanings. more

Two years ago, voters in California passed Prop 51, a $9 billion dollar bond to modernize and renovate the state’s public schools. To date, only 20% of the money has been given to schools, and 17 schools in San Francisco alone are in line for $62 million that has been allocated but not received.

The backlog of pending facilities requests and projects is expected to balloon to $5.2 billion by next year, and teachers and school districts are anxious to have their needs and requests met.  

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Some people noticed one big difference in the new Salesforce Transbay Terminal that opened last week; less seats, more wide open space. The open space is designed for pedestrian movement, and to prevent the homeless from loitering all day in the transit center.

Regardless, officials agree there need to be more measures in place to prevent anyone from sleeping on the ground and on what limited seating exists in the terminal.

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The Twin Peaks Tunnel closure has delayed buses not only for a crucial route for MUNI trains, but also for the replacement buses now carrying passengers. The apology from MUNI, which stated that they are “performing below their 98.5% service goal”, comes late, after they knew about the tunnel closures, and did not adequately hire drivers and reorganize bus lines to accommodate.

MUNI has deemed the death of construction worker Patrick Ricketts was an accident.  Ricketts, who was killed repairing the 100 year old Twin Peaks Tunnel, was pinned by a falling steel beam on August 10th. more

San Francisco’s November ballot measures were assigned letters on August 13th, an act which may seem mundane (they are chosen from slips of paper in a mason jar), but which affect their campaigns and the order they appear on the ballot. There are 5 propositions on the local ballot this November, and 12 state ballot measures.

Prop A: Embarcadero Seawall Earthquake Safety Bond

Prop B: The Privacy First Policy; personal data protection

Prop C: Our City, Our Home; gross receipts tax on businesses

Prop D: Gross receipts tax on cannabis

Prop E: Reallocates hotel taxes to arts and cultural organizations in the city.

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San Francisco’s memorial to the Lincoln Brigade, American veterans who fought fascism in the Spanish Civil War, has been closed temporarily for repairs. The memorial, which is only 10 years old, had begun to fade and crack due to moisture and climate conditions. The panels, which were originally carved onyx, will be replaced with glass, and will hopefully last longer after their repair. more

A teenage girl on Market Street was dragged out of a smoke and vape shop, and knocked unconscious while being arrested on August 13th, reports said. The girl was 14 and had resisted arrest from the store, which prompted police intervention. more

Without high-speed rail bringing a large volume of passengers and fares to the newly-opened Salesforce Transbay Transit Center, it is structurally millions of dollars in the hole.

A large portion of that shortfall will be covered by increased bridge toll taxes approved by voters this June, a move that is angering some East Bay elected officials.

Meanwhile, former San Francisco Mayor and Gubernatorial front runner Gavin Newsom briefly toured the facility but declined to appear at the public ribbon-cutting ceremony in Monday's Matier & Ross. more

The long-standing GOP positions of slashing government programs, regulation, and denying climate science may be setting some vulnerable GOP congressional incumbents on their heels as California burns. 

Between having to defend cutting federal fire protection funding, a younger GOP electorate in targeted districts who are more likely to believe climate science and want environmental protection, and Trump's continual tweets about the Golden State, congressional incumbents are struggling to respond as California Democrats tie their behavior to the unprecedented wildfires ravaging California. more

The BART Board declined to support SB 1045 by State Senator Scott Wiener, a bill to create a pilot conservatorship program for mental health, with some members pointing to opposition from groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the California Association of Mental Health Patients’ Rights Advocates, among others. 

Meanwhile, the Chronicle's Otis Taylor takes the board to task for failing to implement any significant safety programs on BART in the wake of increased violent crime in Mondays' BART roundup. more

Construction has resumed on the Twin Peaks tunnel after the tragic death Saturday of a worker struck by a steel beam. The Examiner and Chronicle provide updates on the details of the incident, which has been ruled an accident. more

Notorious landlord Ann Kihagi, dubbed 'San Francisco's Cruelest Landlord', may be getting another taste of her own medicine, as a court-appointed receiver moves to evict a family member from one of her properties. 

Long-term tenants of the unit in question were evicted for the family member, who took a professional residency in another state during the time in question and cannot produce a lease. more

Nima Rahimi, a San Francisco immigrants rights commissioner and in-house Counsel and registered lobbyist for tech shuttle company Chariot, pushes back on an assertion published in the Examiner that his bundling of contributions for Mayoral Candidate London Breed was improper in a personal profile by the Examiner's Joel Engardio. more

East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell is openly mulling a 2020 Presidential run, positing that his youth and shorter time in Congress could be winners in today's political climate. 

Meanwhile BART station agents joined community members in railing at the BART Board over recent upticks in violent crime within the system, as other advocates push to ensure that enforcement not be targeted toward the poor in Sunday's Matier & Ross. more

Trump's legal strategy seems to rely on discrediting the people closest to the Trump campaign as unrepentant crooks and thus unreliable witnesses.

Meanwhile, Da Mayor gives his advice to reporters on how to handle Sara Huckabee Sanders continual lying on the podium - leave. more

A worker hit by a steel beam in the Twin Peaks Tunnel project on Friday afternoon has died from his injuries.

The worker- whose name has not yet been released, was injured Friday afternoon and rushed to San Franscisco General. He succumbed to his injuries Saturday afternoon.

The project shut down as California safety regulators investigated the scene, but had resumed work as of Saturday evening. more

A coalition of Excelsior youth and community partners rallied in opposition against a proposed large mixed use development in the Excelsior- claiming that the lack of affordable housing and dearth of community services would fuel displacement, and advocating for affordable housing on site.

Former Supervisor John Avalos was on hand in support, stating the recent changes made by the developer to move all affordable housing offsite backtracked on an agreement made and funding secured while he was still in office. Current Supervisor Asha Safai stated that he thought the recent changes made for a  “better project”. more

The Examiner's Nato Green gives us his take on a recent Chronicle story claiming negative economic consequences predicted from City analysts should a November homelessness housing bond pass.

Green explains that the 'study' was not an analysis but an internal memo from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and notes that the dire economic consequences posited by the Chamber of Commerce's Chief lobbyist Jim Lazurus regarding local funding measures have consistently failed to materialize. more

As the cost and scarcity of housing becomes a significant limiting factor for students hoping to attend college, five San Francisco Universities are constructing additional housing to try and meet their needs. more

The Chronicle provides an update on the Mayor's $11 Billion Budget, with a visual breakdown of where the money is going. more

Unions and community advocates are urging the Board to support the proposed resolution for the Central SOMA plan that would prioritize San Francisco residents for the tens of thousands of new jobs expected to be created by the development of new retail, office spaces, and hotels.  The plan will rezone the area to pay the way for 8,000 new homes and more than 33,000 new jobs. 

The proposed resolution would require each new development project to include a “Community Good Jobs Employment Plan” to project the number of permanent jobs created by each new development and what percentage of new jobs created that will be targeted toward low and moderate-income SOMA residents, including the formerly incarcerated, homeless, immigrants, and transgender residents, among others. 

The Board of Supervisors will revisit the resolution after the August recess. more

In a surprise decision, a judge yesterday rejected the plea deal for the defendants in the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland that killed 36 people in December 2016.  

The combined plea deal called for master tenant Derick Almena to be sentenced to 9 years in prison, and Ghost Ship “creative director” Max Harris to receive 6 years, with the possibility to be released on good behavior after serving only half their sentences.  Families of the victims slammed the deal saying it was too lenient on both men.  

No trial date has been set.

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The new Salesforce Transit Center will begin bus service tomorrow, and on Friday, dozens of officials including Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Assemblymember David Chiu, Mayor London Breed, and Supervisor Jane Kim, attended the ribbon-cutting held on the building’s rooftop park. 

While the event was a celebration, attendees acknowledged that the work is far from over, as currently there is no “financial blueprint” to extend Caltrain service from 4th and King and longer term plans to be a hub for high speed rail.

Officials say thew new complex has created 14,000 new jobs and sparked (thes) $9 billion in development around the center.

 

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