It’s Former Mayor Willie Brown’s World City Hall is so infested with Brown appointees, Brown lobbyists, Brown confidants, and Brown contributors that San Francisco can no longer effectively police itself. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is now doing what City Hall either could not or would not do. San Francisco Mayor London Breed was caught receiving a $5,600 “gift” from her subordinate, Mohammed Nuru, and not reporting the gift. George Wooding. In a carefully worded statement, Breed acknowledged not only having a past romantic relationship with Nuru, but also accepting an unreported $5,600 gift from him for car repairs. Breed stated, “To be clear: I never asked Mohammed Nuru to do anything improper, and he never asked me to do anything improper. I was not aware of the schemes alleged by the FBI until shortly before they became public, and when I was informed, I immediately reported the information to our City Attorney—Dennis Herrera.” Nuru was not the FBI’s main target of the investigation—he was the bait to lure someone bigger. The FBI was looking for a big fish, so they released Nuru on the condition that he cooperate with “a pending public corruption investigation.” In addition to identifying City employees or officials involved in potential violations of local law, Herrera said the investigation will also examine contracts, grants, and other government decisions possibly “tainted by conflicts of interest.”. Breed’s disclosure was designed to legally comply with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the State’s campaign monitor. The State does not require disclosure of gifts “by an individual with whom the official has a long term, close personal friendship unrelated to the official’s position.” Nuru’s job as head of the DPW is directly related to Mayor Breed. She is his boss. Another huge problem for Breed, “San Francisco law prohibits City officials from accepting gifts from subordinates over $25.” This law means that City officials cannot accept a gift from a subordinate employee if the official directs or evaluates that employee’s work. Herrera and the San Francisco Ethics Department are almost certain to come to Breed’s rescue. The San Francisco public will stop demanding justice just as soon as some mid-level scapegoats are punished (Nuru). Fortunately, the public’s memory is short. Ethics Commission The Ethics Department’s byzantine rules, rule parsing and snail-like pace, dictate a decision on Breed’s unethical behavior in about three years. The Ethics Commission was established by San Francisco voters with the passage of Proposition K on the November 1993 ballot. Ethics was designed to serve the public, City employees and officials, and local candidates through education and enforcement of governmental ethics laws, including public information. The Commission has virtually stopped serving citizens and now protects City politicians while collecting penalties and fees. The fine issued by the City Ethics Commission or the State Fair Political Practices Commission for Breed’s ethics violation will be approximately three times the amount in question. So, Breed’s decision to let Nuru give her an unreported gift for $5,600 would cost her about $16,800 in fines. Breed’s annual $301,000 base salary is the highest in the nation among mayors. Breed’s fine would amount to 5.5 percent of one year’s pay. San Francisco’s Ethics Commission will probably waive this fine—because they can. Under the City Charter, the only person who can remove or suspend a local official from office is the Mayor. And chances are Breed isn’t going to remove herself. The only way that Breed will leave is through voter recall. The noose is firmly around Mohammed Nuru’s neck. Nuru, 57, and San Francisco restaurateur Nick Bovis, 56, are both charged with wire fraud. Nuru is separately charged with lying to the FBI after initially being arrested on January 21 and being told to keep quiet about the FBI investigation. To the FBI, Nuru was collateral damage in San Francisco City Hall’s corruption. He allegedly had accepted $2,000 bottles of wine and a free trip to China. David Anderson, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, accused Nuru of “corruption, bribery kickbacks and side deals.” Nuru was not the FBI’s main target of the investigation—he was the bait to lure someone bigger. The FBI was looking for a big fish, so they released Nuru on the condition that he cooperate with “a pending public corruption investigation.” Nuru was made the permanent head of DPW by then-Mayor Ed Lee in 2012. Prior to his appointment, Nuru worked for 11 years as the department’s Deputy Director for Operations and was long considered a protégé of former Mayor Willie Brown. Lee was also appointed by Willie Brown to head the DPW. For all of Nuru’s alleged corruption, he would probably have received reduced charges for cooperation if he had simply allowed the FBI to continue tapping his phone. So…who was Nuru so desperate to protect that he broke his deal with the FBI? Nuru is now facing more than 20 years in jail. DOMINOS Nuru told City Administrator Naomi Kelly—another Willie Brown appointee— that he was being investigated by the FBI. Kelly told Mayor Breed who then told Herrera. Incidentally, Naomi Kelly is married to Harlan Kelly, Jr. head of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)—another Willie Brown appointee. Brown officiated Naomi and Harlan’s wedding. After interrogating Nuru, Herrera’s office has issued 14 subpoenas to firms with ties to either Walter Wong, a San Francisco building permit consultant/expeditor, or Zhang Li, a billionaire real estate developer from China. Wong and Li have not been charged with any wrongdoing. On March 17, Tom Hui, head of the Department of Building Inspection (DBI) resigned. Hui was ensnared in City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s probe of criminally charged ex-DPW boss Mohammed Nuru: In an 11-page memo to Mayor Breed, Herrera outlines a lengthy history of alleged misconduct by Hui. Sources within DBI described Hui and longtime city permit expediter Walter Wong as “joined at the hip.” Both Breed and Nuru owe their positions and careers to former Mayor Brown’s political machine. (This was covered in last month’s article, City Hall is Getting Nervous.) Breed started working for Brown as his babysitter. Brown appointed Nuru to run San Francisco’s League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG). Nuru was later appointed to head the Department of Public Works (DPW). Brown has worked closely with Gavin Newsom, Ed Lee, London Breed and Kamala Harris. Board of Supervisors On Monday, February 24, the city’s Rules Committee reviewed Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s proposal 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. The San Francisco Chronicle quoted District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen, “There is rampant corruption in this city. It’s been so normalized that, despite evidence of it coming out every single day, it takes the FBI to do anything about it,” she said. “I feel it’s a top priority to root out corruption. If this subpoena power makes it easier for us to do that, now is the time to put it forward.” San Francisco is still Willie Brown’s World. George Wooding, Neighborhood Emeritus

Is City Hall Getting Nervous? Mayor London Breed is falling down. The Mayor recently wrote on her blog of accepting a $5600 gift from Department of Public Works (DPW) head Mohammed Nuru and she did not report it for over one year. Nuru was recently arrested on public corruption charges stemming from an FBI investigation into tranactions involving restauranteur and non-profit head Nick Bovis. Why is it that only the FBI can find criminal malfeasance in a City with only one political party? Sources tell me that many Top City Officials are worried that Nuru is about to negotiate a plea bargain deal naming names as he is facing twenty years in prison. If Mayor Breed topples, Willie Brown will probably lose much of his remaining hold over San Francisco politics. By utilizing unions, high technology and big business contributions, Brown helped elect and influence Gavin Newsom, Edwin Lee, and London Breed. As the king of patronage politics in San Francisco, Brown has the political connections and the gold. So, he rules. In 2018, Breed received approximately $3.9 million in re-election contributions and now controls a $12.3 billion City budget. Breed and Nuru are close and have enjoyed the job patronage of Willie Brown since the ‘90s. Breed admitted that she used to date Nuru and that they have remained close through the years. Willie Brown’s former babysitter and his gardener have thrived under Brown’s tuteledge. The Orange County Register’s September 26, 2018 edition states, “And then we have ‘the baby-sitter’, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who used to babysit Brown’s kids. Apparently, Breed was a good babysitter and was amply rewarded with one political appointment after another.” … City Officials are worried that Nuru is about to negotiate a plea bargain deal naming names as he is facing twenty years in prison.” Nuru has a long history with the San Francisco’s political establishment. He started running the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG), a city-funded nonprofit that tended to community gardens and provided job training. As early as 1999, the Bay Guardian reported that Nuru used SLUG employees to actively campaign to elect and then re-elect Willie Brown as Mayor. In 2004, the City Attorney’s Office investigated Nuru’s former nonprofit, SLUG, and found that it also coerced employees into supporting the campaigns of Gavin Newsom and former District Attorney Kamala Harris. In 2011, Nuru was appointed to become the director of DPW by Mayor Lee. District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen stated, “It –the $5,600 gift- is a huge problem and I believe that she needs to resign.” District 4 Supervisor Gordon Mar states, “I believe Mayor Breed should do the right thing and temporarily step back from her duties until a full, independent investigation can be completed.” District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney was quoted in Joe Fitzgerald’s Examiner column: “She absolutely cannot take a $5,600 gift from a subordinate and not report it until an FBI investigation is announced,” Haney said. “The fact that this subordinate is under investigation from the FBI for public corruption, this is as serious as it gets.” In 2003, voters passed the San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code-3.216C which states the following: (c) In order to maintain the public’s confidence in the integrity of governmental decisions related to the appointment and discipline of public officers and employees, public officers and employees must not give or receive anything of value in consideration of their appointment or accept anything of value from their subordinates, and must not participate in decisions related to their own character or conduct or that of their family members. Breed has accepted an unreported $5,600 gift from a subordinate—Nuru. She did not report that gift publicly with either the State Fair Political Practices Commission or the San Francisco Ethics Commission. Attorney Jon Gollinger states, “It’s critical for the integrity of City government that the Mayor entirely recuse herself from any involvement in the investigation of the Nuru allegations. The Mayor also should disclose any and all gifts she has received from “best friends” since she has been mayor or supervisor. We desperately need a clean sweep of City government.” George Wooding, Neighborhood Emeritus

Chancellor Mark Rocha (right) at Mission Campus, Feb. 28, 2018, with Trustee Tom Temprano (left to right), Assemblyman David Chiu and Trustee Brigitte Davila. Photo by Janeth R. Sanchez/The Guardsman Salarygate at City College San Francisco (CCSF) This is the sad saga of the attempt of CCSF Chancellor Mark Rocha to greatly increase Administrative Salaries while eliminating over 300 once- offered classes, and over 100 faculty jobs, by reducing the number of educational counselors, full-time faculty, course listings and library hours. The stated CCSF goal was to decrease a $32 million CCSF deficit to approximately $16 million. The most important goal should be to provide the best education experience possible for CCSF students. Many times I have shot myself in the foot. This is a case ... in which I tried to shoot my foot clean off,” Rocha told CCSF budget chair Ivy Lee and budget committee member John Rizzo and the standing-room-only crowd, as he made his case for the raises.” General Obligation Bond CCSF will be presenting an $800-$845 Million General Obligation Bond for the March 2020 election. Unlike other property bonds, this bond will add $11.00 for every $100,000 in assessed value of property. For example, if your house is worth $1 Million your annual property tax will include a separate line item for $110.00. Do you want Chancellor Rocha handling this bond money? After CCSF’s latest salary fiasco, I no longer trust his oversight. CCSF’s Board of Trustees, Alex Randolph, Tom Temprano, Brigitte Davila, Ivy Lee, John Rizzo, Thea Selby, Shanelle Williams and Bryan Daily, fought back Rocha’s hidden salary increases. In many cases the administrative pay increases were over 100% higher than the prior year. Rocha himself makes over $360,000 a year. Hidden Salary Increase The new administrative salary increases had been carefully hidden on page 105 in a 110-page budget document one day before the trustees were to vote for approval. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “CCSF officials appear to have violated their own public disclosure policy by adding executive raises to their budget just one day before trustees adopted the spending plan.” Here is an example of one of Rocha’s salary increases: the base salary for vice chancellors at the low end would more than double, from $124,358, to $250,000. The base salary for the same job at the high end would rise 23%, from $210,895 to $260,000. Who receives a $125,000 raise in one year? College staffers broke no law, CCSF attorney Steve Bruckman told trustee Ivy Lee. But he remained mum on whether the action “met the spirit” of state and local laws meant to give the public enough time to review matters up for a vote. “The board did NOT approve pay raises,” Trustee John Rizzo said, “secretly or otherwise, in closed session.” The raises were approved in open session, but not discussed. Nor did the public know that the raises were voted on. CCSF Trustees: Alex Randolph, President, Tom Temprano, Vice President, Brigitte Davila, Ivy Lee, John Rizzo, Thea Selby, Shanelle Williams Is public transparency dead at CCSF? A cloak of secrecy and suspicion is starting to envelop the Rocha administration. There are too many off-site retreats, altered documents, violations of CCSF’s policies, and attorneys speaking on behalf of the administration. With all respect to you trustees, are you out of your minds? Have we not been through enough hell?” Janet Lohr, an art instructor, told the trustees ...” CCSF policy gives the public at least two days to examine documents up for discussion. But on Aug. 22, when the board approved the executive raises that had been added to the thick budget the day before, “it could be argued that the (college) district did not comply” with its policy, Bruckman told trustee Lee. Lee, a professional legislator and lawyer, knew better. She understood that the California Brown Act superseded CCSFs policy and refused to vote for the budget without a public hearing. The Brown Act is intended to provide public access to meetings of local government agencies. Its purpose is described in the Act: “The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them.” E-mails sunshined by the Chronicle, “offer a behind-the-scenes look at how City College officials stepped into a public-relations debacle by doubling executive pay after complaining to City Hall about their deep financial woes. The e-mails reveal that college leaders tried to hide the damage by claiming it never happened — days after their lawyer privately confirmed to them, on Sept. 11, that the new executive pay rates had been legitimately adopted as part of the newly approved budget.” Staff and Faculty React When CCSF staff and faculty found out about the increases weeks later, and accused the trustees and Rocha, they were enraged. On September 25th, students and faculty gathered at RAM Plaza where a mock funeral, advertised as “A Celebration of the Life of City College of San Francisco: Death by a Thousand Cuts”, was held to point out the failing educational hopes and dreams of students. The protest was hosted by City College’s Higher Education Action Team (HEAT). Several community members walked around campus handing out flyers with event programs and lyrics to the live music that was played so that attendees could sing along. Protesters held posters that said “My tuition is for college not for admin pockets” and “stop killing our college.” After protests and rallies, Rocha apologized and issued a statement saying, “The fact of the matter is that the administrator salaries have NOT yet been approved. “I take full responsibility for the process and the errors in the process on salaries,” Rocha told an auditorium of faculty, students and city residents who had staged protests and had angrily admonished him and the trustees before lower salary increases were proposed. “It is time for us, especially myself, to be peacemakers. To come together as a college,” Rocha said. A shot in the Foot “Many times I have shot myself in the foot. This is a case ... in which I tried to shoot my foot clean off,” Rocha told CCSF budget chair Ivy Lee and budget committee member John Rizzo and the standing-room-only crowd, as he made his case for the raises. There is never a good time to propose a salary increase, Rocha said. “However, this is the best time.” Lee, the budget committee chair, moved to recommend that before considering the salary proposal, they hire an independent financial analyst to determine if it is “reasonable and fiscally feasible, and how our salaries compare with other institutions.” Trustee Rizzo seconded the motion On Sept. 26, the trustees replaced the big administrative raises with much smaller ones: 10%, of which the college will pay only 6.74%. The rest will be covered by a state-funded cost-of-living increase. They also voted to hire a consultant to study whether additional raises make sense. Rocha and the next four highest-paid executives — including Bruckman — will see no increase unless the consultant recommends it and the trustees approve it. Why did City college hire Mark Rocha? A five-year battle over CCSFs’ accreditation status ensued after the State Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) threatened to revoke CCSF’s accreditation. Finally, in 2015, the ACCJC voted to establish a new accrediting system for CCSF. With full accreditation, CCSF then needed a fulltime chancellor. Out of 34 job candidates for chancellor, they voted six to one for Mark Rocha as fulltime chancellor. Disturbingly, Mark Rocha was forced to leave his last chancellor position at Pasadena City College after the Faculty Senate voted 23-0 to express “no confidence” in his management. Rocha had also received a “no confidence” vote at Rancho Santiago Community College. The CCSF teachers’ union, AFT Local 2121, lobbied furiously against him, but the trustees, in closed session, voted to offer him the Chancellor position. “With all respect to you trustees, are you out of your minds? Have we not been through enough hell?” Janet Lohr, an art instructor, told the trustees, expressing the views of most speakers. Lone Vote of Opposition Trustee Rafael Mandelman—now the current District eight Supervisor, the lone no vote, said it will be a “tough thing for the chancellor” to work in an atmosphere of opposition. But he pledged to “do everything I can to make him a successful chancellor.” Regarding CCSF, Trustee Lee stated, “My goal is to ensure that this venerable institution remains a resource and a bridge to opportunity for decades to come. “The very first step to realize that goal must be to stabilize the College’s financial footing so that everyone, from the chancellor to the administrators, to the faculty to the classified staff and students, can focus on education rather than the constant struggle to make ends meet. Stabilization requires having steady and rigorous financial oversight in real time — an annual audit is simply not enough because that only looks backwards. An audit only tells us what went wrong and suggests how to fix it in the future. We need a controller who can identify budgetary red flags before they become costly errors.” Further, “Stabilization also requires implementing transparent budget controls at every level of the College — we should never be surprised by the budget or its content — and the entire college community, especially those in positions of decision-making power should be aware of our budget, our actual expenditures vs. budgeted expenditures, our enrollment projections, which play such a critical role in revenue, and the impacts that our budget will have on the class schedule and the physical locations that we are able to offer courses. This is not rocket science but it does require firm budget discipline.” Finally, “There are so many programs at the College that are ready to grow and that provide San Franciscans with opportunities for real, solid-paying jobs, but also for a chance to achieve their educational dreams. That’s why it’s so important to keep pushing forward past the challenges, so many of which are a result of the chronic underfunding of education. Because the students of City College are worth the effort and worth our investment.” George Wooding, Neighborhood Emeritus

Close Proximity Microwave Radiation Antennas (CPMRA) can be installed on PG&E utility poles in public right-of-ways. These CPMRA installations are NOT “small” at all, and will destroy property values, create visual blight, and completely change the character of our neighborhoods Is Faster Always Better?

George Wooding. A new generation of faster, more intense, untested, and potentially dangerous radio frequency radiation (RFR) waves are about to bombard San Franciscans. 5G technology uses high-energy millimeter-wave ionizing radiation that is dangerous, because it can break chemical bonds. Fifth-generation wireless (5G) is the latest iteration of cellular technology, engineered to greatly increase the speed and responsiveness of wireless networks for technological devices. In addition to delivering faster connections and greater capacity, a very important advantage of 5G is the fast response time referred to as “latency.” Latency is the time devices take to respond to each other over a wireless network. 3G networks had a typical response time of 100 milliseconds, 4G is around 30 milliseconds, and 5G will be as low as one millisecond. Hundreds, to thousands, of new 5G antennas will be attached to telephone poles or placed in street-level metal cabinets. 5G has an extremely short, intense frequency broadcast signal which necessitates an abundance of antennas.” The 5G infrastructure is still a work-in-progress, using standards that have yet to be finalized. However, you can roughly assume 5G to be around 10 to 100 times faster than your present-day cellular connection. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors (BOS), the Department of Public Works, and San Francisco’s City Attorney were hoodwinked — by large telecommunications companies and an overreaching interpretation by the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) declaratory ruling 18-133 — into giving up all local control over the implementation of 5G wireless. After a large contingent of concerned citizens testified at the October 22 BOS meeting against the installation of 5G technology, Supervisors Aaron Peskin (D3), Gordon Mar (D4), and Ahsha Safai (D11) decided to hold a future hearing on the environmental and health impacts of 5G technology. In July 2019 the City Attorney was approached by telecommunications companies indicating that San Francisco needed to comply with the new FCC Order 18-133 to streamline deployment of small cell towers (4G/5G). Under the recommendation of the City Attorney, the Personal Wireless Service Facilities Site Permits Ordinance, File No. 190-19 was then discussed at the BOS San Francisco Land Use Committee chaired by Supervisor Peskin. This new ordinance was then brought as an agenda item to the Mayor and Board of Supervisors (BOS) on the consent calendar, which passed unanimously. The BOS asked that the Department of Public Works (DPW) write permitting rules to the amend Ordinance 190-19. The DPW’s new amendments include: • Hundreds, to thousands, of new 5G antennas will be attached to telephone poles or placed in street-level metal cabinets. 5G has an extremely short, intense frequency broadcast signal which necessitates an abundance of antennas. • Telephone poles can have up to four 5G antennas placed on them. • 5G antennas can be placed within six feet of a private residence. • Placement of antennas is “ministerial”; therefore, residents do not need to be notified of the placement of antennas. • San Francisco has given up the right of “conditional use permits,” and has forfeited its right of oversight and review. It requires only a ministerial permit to approve small cell towers in the right of way, not the current conditional use permit that is fully vetted. • There will be no antenna setbacks for schools or homes. • The DPW will place as many 5G antennas as possible in the first 90 days. • Close Proximity Microwave Radiation Antennas (CPMRA) can be installed on PG&E utility poles in public right-of-ways. These CPMRA installations are NOT “small” at all, and will destroy property values, create visual blight, and completely change the character of our neighborhoods. The FCC Declaratory Ruling and Third Report 18-133 is being misused and abused by the FCC and President Donald Trump to 1) illegally steal San Francisco’s Conditional Use Permit protections, and 2) speed up the impacts of local regulation permits for the siting of wireless telecommunication facilities and cell towers. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai responded, “I want to thank you again,

Mr. President, for your leadership on 5G. Your White House

has advanced your vision in many ways, from international

treaty negotiations to much-needed regulatory reforms.

Photo: truthdig.com San Francisco Ordinance 190-19 will greatly accelerate deployment of small 5G cell antennas on sites in the public right of way. It took effect January 14, 2019. The League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, among many others, feel this declaratory ruling by the FCC is a huge overreach of Federal authority over municipalities. These cell antennas/towers can be batched so dozens of antennas can be automatically approved at once. There is an increasing sentiment that this FCC Ruling should be overturned to give cities back what little authority they had in the placement of cell tower sites per the Telecommunications Act of 1996. That Act requires proof that there is a significant gap in coverage and that the least intrusive methods should be used. Those provisions were removed from the FCC’s ruling. In September 2018, FCC Order 18-133 restricted the fees cities can charge Sprint and other telecom companies for siting of wireless towers and other infrastructure in their communities. Several lawsuits challenging the FCC’s action have been consolidated before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Case No. 19-70146). Opening briefs were filed on June 10, 2019. Final briefs were scheduled to be filed by September 18. In addition to restricting fees that cities can charge for building new wireless networks, Order 18-133 limited the time allowed for review of the proposed construction. The FCC imposed a so-called “shot clock” on cities and towns. If the local government has not acted within as few as 60 days on a construction permit, the project is deemed approved. In March 2018, the FCC eliminated environmental and historical review for siting of certain cell towers and other wireless facilities. On August 9, 2019 the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the FCC’s action finding that the Commission’s attempted explanations for eliminating environmental and historical review “did not meet the standard of reasoned decision-making.” While the FCC has limited the review by others, the Commission at the same time has refused to update its own health and environmental guidelines. The Commission’s guidelines date from the 1990’s. In 2012, the General Accountability Office found that the existing guidelines may not reflect current knowledge and recommended that the FCC formally re-assess its guidelines. The FCC’s guidelines address only one aspect of potential harm from electromagnetic radiation: Heat. The current guidelines do not address other ways in which exposure to increasing electromagnetic radiation from wireless communications can harm human health, as well as the natural systems around us upon which all life depends. Despite the many health and environmental studies that demonstrate 5G networks create a host of health problems, President Donald Trump has pushed the FCC to establish 5G as fast as possible. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai responded, “I want to thank you again, Mr. President, for your leadership on 5G. Your White House has advanced your vision in many ways, from international treaty negotiations to much-needed regulatory reforms. I appreciate all these efforts, and in the same spirit, this FCC will help build a great and lasting legacy of American success on 5G.” Pertaining to health and environmental matters, the FCC has become a rogue agency. Now that it is politicized, the agency only cares about network speed. To achieve the RFR speeds necessary for 5G to work, the FCC is forcing municipalities around the country into converting to 5G. Many cities have decided not to use 5G technology after a recent $30 million research examination by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) concluded there is clear evidence that male rats exposed to high levels of radio frequency radiation (RFR) like that used in 2G and 3G cell phones developed cancerous heart tumors, according to its final reports. Imagine how the rats would have fared being tested using 5G cell phones. There was also some evidence of tumors in the brain and adrenal glands of exposed male rats. For female rats, and male and female mice, the evidence was equivocal as to whether cancers observed were associated with exposure to RFR. The final reports represent the consensus of NTP and a panel of external scientific experts who reviewed the studies in March 2018. The NTP concluded: “Fiber optics are the best and only solution. They are energy efficient, less vulnerable to shut down due to Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) or hacking, and do not create hazardous RF emissions that cause damage to health and the environment.” Cindy Lee Russell, MD said San Francisco should take the following actions regarding 5G technology: • Delay action on the San Francisco Personal Wireless Service Facilities Amendment of Department of Public Works Code for Small Cell Towers, Ordinance No. 190-19. This has been accomplished. • Instead of passing the 190-19 amendment, bring this back to the Board of Supervisors and have a full public hearing of this very complex subject matter This has been accomplished. • Review other ordinances that local cities have recently passed, such as Los Altos that have listened to its citizens and have incorporated reasonable setbacks and provisions that they consider legal. I agree. Faster isn’t always better. San Francisco needs to do a better job protecting the health and safety of its residents and environment. Please email the BOS and tell them that you are against the installation of the 5G antennas (Ordinance 190-19), and demand another hearing be held as soon as possible. George Wooding, Neighborhood Emeritus

Call to Action Save Juvenile Hall Westside neighborhoods, schools, churches, and businesses need to stop the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (BOS) from closing down the Youth Guidance Center (YGC) and converting it into a Navigation Center. The Juvenile Probation Department’s calendar year 2018 Annual Report shows there were 695 bookings (detentions) of minors — involving just 331 separate individuals — into Juvenile Hall. Of the 331, 269 were booked only once, 39 were booked twice, 10 were booked three times, and 13 were booked four or more times. The 269 booked only once represents 81.3% of the 331; the remaining 62 booked multiple times represents an 18.7% recidivist rate during a single year. Of the bookings, 259 of were not for new crime offenses, but for other reasons such as probation violations, home supervision violations, warrants, court-ordered holds, in-custody transfer cases from other jurisdictions, etc. The remaining 436 YGC bookings were for Part I or Part II crimes listed in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting nomenclature. The City needs this facility for offending-youth rehabilitation. There are many more wayward youth — at least 331 involved in 695 bookings in 2018 alone. With a strong District Attorney, the YGC population will increase. If we don’t write to City supervisors in protest, $80 million will have gone up in smoke and the YGC will soon become an $80 million homeless Navigation Center.” Division Navigation Center, Photo: Sprung Structures Of the 436 bookings, 326 (75%) involved Part I crimes, which are felonies; the remaining 110 (25%) were Part II crimes that can be booked as felonies or misdemeanors. Of the 326 Part I crimes, 164 (50%) involved robbery, 59 (18%) were burglaries, and 53 (16%) involved aggravated assault. Two of the 326 Part I crimes were booked as willful homicide. Of the 110 Part II bookings, a total of 61 (55%) involved weapons offenses, assault/battery, or drug abuse violations, including narcotics (not marijuana). In 2018, the YGC averaged housing 40 juvenile offenders a day; each stays an average of 23 days. The 695 bookings in 2018 involved at least 15,985 nights of services. Mayor London Breed appointed a task force to plan for the future uses of the YGC for juveniles after the San Francisco Chronicle published a series of articles titled “Vanishing Violence.” The articles showed juvenile felony crime had fallen 86% between 1980 and 2016. How could this massive drop in Juvenile crime happen, the report pondered? No explanation was put forward or answered. Many believe a combination of new state laws to reduce felonies to misdemeanors and San Francisco’s permissive prosecution rates have decreased the YGC’s population. San Francisco has the highest crime rate among the 20 largest cities in the country. Burglary, larceny, shoplifting, and vandalism are included in this category. The rate of car break-ins is out of control: In 2017 over 30,000 reports were filed. Other low-level offenses — including drug dealing, street harassment, encampments, indecent exposure, public intoxication, simple assault, and disorderly conduct — are also rampant. Mercifully, crime is slightly on the decline in 2019. All of this crime, yet the YGC population continues to fall. California law enforcement blames much of the crime wave on Proposition 47, which in 2014 downgraded possession of illegal narcotics for personal use and theft of anything under $950 in value from felonies to misdemeanors. Theft is indisputably booming, and narcotics activity is epidemic on sidewalks, parks, and playgrounds. When City police now catch youths committing crimes, the minor is given what amounts to a parking ticket for their offense. The next day, the minor may be back out on the streets committing additional crimes. In San Francisco, youth crime is a revolving door, with few juvenile offenders being prosecuted. The lack of enforcement for these crimes is a conscious choice by the D.A.’s office, not always a limitation in existing law. A stay at the YGC could help many of our young offenders through rehabilitation. Thankfully, current D.A. George Gascón has announced his retirement. The historic closure of San Francisco Juvenile Hall (by 2021) does not have the support of District Attorney candidate Nancy Tung. According to Mission Local, Tung stated that “The problem that I have with closing down our secured facilities (YGC) completely is that there are still going to be minors [who] are found by a judge that need confinement …” Tung also worried about “farming out” convicted minors outside of their communities. Although critics keep stating that there are 150 beds at YGC, the facility was only designed to house 79 offending youth. The rooms are extremely small. According to testimony submitted by Chief Probation Officer Allen Nance to the BOS on May 14, 2019 prior to the Board’s June 4 vote to close the YGC, “The rooms designed for two youths can hardly be characterized as ideally suited for two teens given their size and the presence of a toilet which the youths would be expected to use in the presence of their peers. For the past five years, all youth in SF’s juvenile hall are on single room status.” Nance further testified, “Most youths involved in San Francisco’s juvenile justice system do not require secure custody. However, for the approximately 40 youths housed at Juvenile Hall on any given day, the facility represents a safe, secure, nurturing and necessary environment where their needs can be assessed, and a plan for their return to the community can be developed, meeting their best interests and in the furtherance of public safety. As such, judges, probation officers, and other practitioners must weigh the benefits and consequences of its use. The highest JH census thus far this year was on 01/22/2019.” Nance also testified, “Closing the existing facility without a clear alternative denies these marginalized, disenfranchised, and vulnerable youths, the very interventions collectively designed to meet their needs.” He also wrote that African American and LatinX youth would be impacted the most. The more than two-thirds reduction in juvenile court referrals is a clear indication that our youth are better off today than a decade ago. Since closing the current Juvenile Hall does not eliminate the county’s obligation to detain juveniles, we can ill-afford to suffer a gap between the closure of the existing facility and the creation of an equally effective alternative. It has been discussed that the need would not exceed 15 beds. It is unclear how this number was determined, nor is there clarity as to the manner in which youth classification and housing requirements will be met as promulgated by the Board of State and Community Corrections in state regulations Title 15 and Title 24. Chief Nance’s testimony noted that of 50 juveniles in the YGC on March 31, 2019, 30 (60%) were there for felony offenses. Probation officials responded to the BOS 10-to-1 vote for YGC closure by offering a new plan called “Commitment to Success.” The “Commitment to Success” proposal targets male offending juveniles age 16 to 18, and would require youths to spend at least six months in the maximum security setting, participating in a range of programs including anger management, financial literacy, health education, vocational training and social skills development, according to an overview submitted to the Juvenile Probation Commission. The program would target young people who have escalating criminal behavior and for whom other interventions have failed. A rehabilitative program in juvenile hall would fill the void, probation officials said, providing an alternative to out-of-state placements and long-term sentences to juvenile hall — a facility designed for short-term stays. A view inside one of the tents at the

Division Circle Navigation Center, which houses 126 homeless

Photos courtesy of Sprung Structures Within two months, the BOS passed legislation on June 4 with a veto-proof vote of 10-to-1 to get rid of the YGC. Only District 2 Supervisor Catherine Stefani voted against closing the YGC. What were the other Supervisors thinking? A confidential source has stated Breed was “furious” that the vote was designed to undermine her own YGC Task Force. Breed was against the YGC closure and stated, “she is concerned that if juvenile hall is closed, San Francisco would have to send young people to another county when a judge orders detention.” The BOS — particularly Hillary Ronen (D-8), Matt Haney D-6) and Shamann Walton (D-10) — were ecstatic. San Francisco is now the first major municipality in the country to close its Youth Guidance Center. Another BOS farce involving “political correctness” — albeit, minus common sense. The qualified or unqualified San Francisco non-profits who work with troubled youth are also ecstatic at the windfall largess in City money that they now may receive. San Francisco taxpayers will subsidize these non-profits’ high costs and fee increases. Obviously, the BOS wants the YGC building for other purposes. Construction of Juvenile Hall was funded using Certificates of Participation (COP’s), not bond money. City Hall can issue COP’s without voter approval. The 30-year COP’s were issued in September 2003 for $41.96 million, plus $37.5 million in interest, for a total of $79.5 million, which won’t be paid off until June 2034. The building was completed in 2007 to be a juvenile detention center, not a Navigation Center for the homeless. Navigation Centers are different from traditional homeless shelters in that they have few barriers to entry and intensive case management. Unlike traditional shelters, people with partners, pets, and possessions are welcome at Navigation Centers. Drug users and alcoholics are also welcome. Clean syringes are passed out freely and often. Homeless shelter residents aren’t prisoners and have total access to surrounding neighborhoods. Locating a Navigation Center at the YGC will allow easy access to Westside schools, neighborhoods, businesses, and churches. Former Mayor Willie Brown was quick to state in his September 7 San Francisco Chronicle column Time to Help SF’s Homeless: “Here’s a thought: San Francisco’s progressives appear committed to cutting back on the number of people incarcerated in the city’s justice system. We’ve even set a 2021 closure date for juvenile hall.So let’s turn it and underused jail space into Navigation Centers.” The BOS are also scheming to replace San Francisco’s troubled youth with a Navigation Center homeless population. This population bait-and-switcheroo must be done quietly and out of public view. The BOS wants to appear blameless. Replacing troubled youth with the homeless is nothing to be proud of. It’s cowardly. Now, with no plan for the care of San Francisco’s juvenile offenders in place, the BOS is vaguely mumbling about keeping offending youth in the community and building another “hidden” YGC for the more violent offenders. Many of these Juvenile offenders will undoubtedly be shipped out of county, away from their families, at substantial tax-payer expense. Please help save San Francisco’s YGC. The City needs this facility for offending-youth rehabilitation. There are many more wayward youth — at least 331 involved in 695 bookings in 2018 alone. With a strong District Attorney, the YGC population will increase. If we don’t write to City supervisors in protest, $80 million will have gone up in smoke and the YGC will soon become an $80 million homeless Navigation Center. George Wooding, Neighborhood Emeritus

YGC: A Confederacy of Dunces George Wooding. The Youth Guidance Center (YGC) will be closed and turned into a Navigation Center. The YGC was built to help youth see there are new paths they can follow. On June 4 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10 – 1 to close the YGC by December 31, 2021. Supervisors could be seen celebrating their lame decision. From beginning to end, the legislative process took only two months. Mayor London Breed was against the YGC closure and stated, “she is concerned that if juvenile hall is closed, San Francisco would have to send young people to another county when a judge orders detention.” YGC Under Construction According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the YGC closure was based on a juvenile delinquent study by the Chronicle. The study — hardly “independent” — showed that as YGC juvenile delinquency rates declined, overall facility costs rose. This article is about: 1) The stupidity of closing the YGC facility, 2) The City’s repurposing of mental health facilities to create Navigation Centers, and 3) The repurposing of the YGC to become a large Navigation Center. Navigation Centers are designed to shelter San Francisco’s highly vulnerable and long-term homeless residents who are often fearful of accessing traditional shelter and services. Navigation Centers provide these otherwise homeless San Franciscans room and board, while case managers work to connect them to income, public benefits, health services, shelter, and housing. I don’t want the Youth Guidance Center to be closed. I don’t want the YGC facility to become a Navigation Center or mental health “justice” center. Please contact your Supervisors and Mayor Breed to voice opposition.” Navigation Centers are different from traditional homeless shelters in that they have few barriers to entry, and intensive case management. Unlike traditional shelters, people with partners, pets, and possessions are welcome at Navigation Centers. Drug users and alcoholics are also welcome. Clean syringes are passed out freely and often. Shelter residents are not allowed to take drugs or drink alcohol inside of Navigation Centers; therefore, they will drop used hypodermic needles and bottles throughout the surrounding neighborhoods. Shelter residents are not prisoners and have total access to surrounding neighborhoods. Locating a navigation center at the YGC will allow easy resident access to Midtown Terrace, Forest Knolls, Forest Hills, St. John Armenian Church, Greater West Portal Neighborhood Association, Twin Peaks Improvement Association, Miraloma Park, children’s parks, public trails, Mount Davidson, Mount Sutro, City streets, Laguna Honda Hospital, St Brendan Parish School, Rooftop Elementary School, Clarendon Alternative Elementary School and just across the street, The Ruth Asawa School of the Arts High School. Legislative wording: “The City may not close the Juvenile Hall until the Board of Supervisors has approved by resolution a final plan following the submission of such a plan by the Close Juvenile Hall Working Group as provided in Section 5.40-6(d).” This wording means that the current YGC has approximately a 90% chance of being converted to a navigation center. The City will have public meetings, but the Mayor and the BOS can move forward on Navigation Centers without any public approval. SEC. 5.40-7. SUNSET DATE. Legislative wording: “This Article XL shall expire by operation of law, and the Working Group shall terminate, when the Chief Juvenile Probation Officer certifies in writing that Juvenile Hall is closed and there is a substitute place or places of detention, approved by the Court, that is available for wards of the Court and persons alleged to come within the jurisdiction of the Court. In that event, after the sunset date, the City Attorney shall cause this Article XL to be removed from the Administrative Code.” Everybody talks about the rights of homeless people, but nobody talks about the rights of residents to have a peaceful existence in their neighborhoods. Despite completing the brand new YGC for $45 million in 2007, the City will consider rebuilding a “hidden” YGC. This will allow the participants who closed the 2007 facility to continue to feel good about themselves. Allen Nance, San Francisco’s Chief Juvenile Probation Officer, hates the idea of closing the YGC. Nance states “that he has concerns that 2.5 years is not enough time to create and implement alternative settings for youth.” Nance acknowledges most juvenile detentions in San Francisco are for serious, violent felony offenses. Nance and representatives from local chapters of the NAACP have called on the supervisors to keep the facility open and update its treatment programs. “It will be a real challenge to do that,” Nance stated. “There are entities outside of my department and outside the city and county of San Francisco that would have to look at those plans, approve those plans, and look at the feasibility and suitability of whatever vision is created.” Many San Francisco juvenile delinquents may now be shipped out of county where they may face much harsher conditions. Separating youth from their families and communities by dumping them into out-of-county alternatives may harm their rehabilitation. Further, “Nance added that key stakeholders were not consulted before the measure was introduced, including leaders in the African American community and the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Commission.” This idiotic action makes San Francisco the first major City in the country to shut down a juvenile hall in an effort to eliminate the jailing of children. Another first for “politically correct” San Francisco. “For me this is about history,” said Supervisor Ahsha Safaí. “We incarcerate more people ... than any other country in the world. We have a culture of incarceration.” The average stay at the YGC is 23 days. Only D-2 Supervisor Catherine Stephanie voted to keep the YGC. Thank you for your intelligence, Supervisor! Stephanie called for additional community input prior to such a drastic step and before real alternatives are in place. “I think we all know we can do better and things need to change, and we need to put our youth first,” Stefani said. More interesting, Supervisors have said that transfer out of county would not be necessary, since the legislation requires creation of community-based facilities, including a secure environment for those who need it. Those settings would include mental health services, job training, and other support systems. Really? Creation of community-based facilities rarely happens. It cost $45.5 million to build the YGC in 2007 and now with no plan, the City is considering duplicating facilities throughout the city and/or paying out-of-county fees for services. No wonder a $12.2 billion City budget leads to deficit spending! Ultra-progressive co-sponsor, District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, led the charge to get rid of the YGC. Citizens may remember Haney, the former president of San Francisco’s Board of Education, wanted to paint over the 13-panel, 1,600 square foot mural at Washington High School depicting scenes from “slave owner” George Washington’s life. Members of Isis and the Taliban would be proud of Haney’s revisionist history. Haney tried to rename Washington High School after Maya Angelou. One problem, Angelou dropped out of Washington High at the age of 14. He also wanted to distribute free condoms to ten- and eleven-year-olds. Yes, getting rid of the YGC is right up Haney’s alley. It doesn’t help that the Board of Supervisors has reportedly not developed a plan for what to do with the vacated YGC facility. Haney is currently developing legislation called “Navigating Homelessness Together” that would force all eleven supervisorial districts to build at least one Navigation Center in the next 30 months. Supervisors Gordon Mar (D-4), Hillary Ronen (D-9), and Shamann Walton (D-10) are already co-sponsors. Supervisors based their votes on the decline of juvenile crime and the costs of operating the facility per occupant. The YGC was operating at a lower rate of occupancy. Thus, the cost per juvenile delinquent increased. If more children were prosecuted for crimes — such as breaking into cars, vandalism, assault, or robbery — the YGC would soon be full. As former D7 supervisor Tony Hall brilliantly stated in his July Westside Observer article, “(I)f our laws were enforced, the YGC would be filled to capacity. The last thing we should be doing is eliminating what was intended to be an established correctional, rehabilitative, counseling and vocational justice community half-way houses. This unprofessional treatment increases the dangers to the community at large. The fact that the present YGC has not operated as it should have, or at near capacity is not due to lack of street crime, but to the permissive policies pursued by the last three administrations.” NACCP president and former district Supervisor Amos Brown called on supervisors to consider African American youths, who make up the majority of those in juvenile hall, saying he was concerned they would be “shipped out of town to other facilities.” “If we close down juvenile hall, where will violent or sexual offenders and those with mental health issues go?” Brown asked. “Through sensible, respectful conversation, we should tweak the facility and amend it, but not end it.” According to the Chronicle “Supervisors have said that if juvenile hall closes, there will be community conversations about what to do with the facility, including possible uses to address homelessness or mental health needs, among other ideas.” The Chronicle reported August 25 that California’s Deputy Attorney General Leif Dautch, a November candidate for San Francisco District Attorney, has “proposed transforming the nearly empty juvenile hall into a mental health justice center to treat people battling mental illness.” San Francisco politicians have a long history of social engineering. Few remember how Mayor Ed Lee dismantled the Mental Health Rehabilitation Facility (MHRF) in June 2013, after Mayor Gavin Newsom had reconfigured it in 2008 by reducing its 147 psychiatric beds to just 47. The MHRF was constantly over-budget by approximately $8 million to $12 million annually. An enlightened Lee decided that mental health patients would be better served by placing them back into the community. “In the community” often means in out-of-county communities. Does this sound familiar? Many of the mental patients had trouble either receiving their medications and/or taking their medications. Within a year many of the mental patients were back on the streets and homeless. Mayor Gavin Newsom did the same thing with Laguna Honda Hospital by eliminating 420 skilled nursing beds from the LHH rebuild, promising more community-based alternatives — which were never built! At least 1,659 San Franciscans have been discharged out-of-county because of the severe shortage of long-term care medical facilities in the City. Now, Mayor Breed is shoving long-term mental health patients out of beds that some of them have lived in for 15 years. Breed engineers with a hammer. The City is preparing to close dozens of permanent, residential treatment beds at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital in order to increase capacity in a short-term psychiatric respite program also operated at the hospital. Breed has prioritized short-term stays for the homeless over long-term mentally ill patients. She is creating another Navigation Center at SF General. According to the San Francisco Examiner, “The proposed closure of 41 beds in the unit, which currently operates 55 residential beds reserved for patients with severe mental health challenges who are unable to live independently, would reduce its bed count to 14.” Further, “None of the patients currently living in the Adult Residential Facility (ARF) will lose their homes, stressed Department of Public Health spokesperson Rachael Kagan, who said that the beds are being ‘redistributed’ to allow for a 27-bed expansion at the hospital’s Hummingbird Place, a low-barrier homeless shelter, called Navigation Center, that specifically serves clients struggling with mental health and substance use issues.” Hall wrote, “To those who vote them in [politicians] and are footing the bill, you’d better be prepared to fight. Don’t forget, YGC sits on Laguna Honda property. Look at what our leaders have done to that once nationally-acclaimed facility – once the envy of cities across the country for needy seniors. Now home to conflicting populations of mental and substance abuse patients and homeless indigents, forcing our less fortunate elders to seek refuge and treatment in more expensive out-of-town facilities.” I don’t want the YGC to be closed. I don’t want the YGC facility to become a Navigation Center or mental health “justice” center. Please contact your Supervisors and Mayor Breed to voice opposition. George Wooding, Neighborhood Emeritus; Contact him at gswooding@gmail.com.

Our State Senator’s War on Neighborhoods Accelerates Wiener’s Unethical Gut-and-Amend Senate District 11 residential homeowners may have the most unethical State Senator in California: Scott Wiener. Wiener’s latest act of poor governance? On June 12, Wiener used what’s known as a “gut-and-amend” maneuver to completely rewrite SB-592. The original SB-592 addressed licensure for barbers and cosmetologists. He completely gutted it, now calling it the Housing Accountability Act. Wiener eliminated all language in the original barber’s and cosmetologist’s bill, and replaced it with new language, essentially an amended version including the first part of SB-50 and the first part of SB-330, sprinkled with a dose of SB-167 on top. Wiener’s goal is to increase the size of Westside housing (McMansions) or demolish existing housing and build four - to five-story buildings with no parking.” He did so in part because SB-592 had successfully passed the Senate Appropriations Committee, whereas his SB-50 had been suspended in Appropriations. He did so to avoid vetting public review during further public hearings and to avoid having to start at the beginning of the process. SB-592 would once again undermine a long list of local controls over residential development, at the same time Mayor London Breed is trying to override neighborhood input into affordable housing projects with her proposed November 2019 City Charter change. Gut-and-amend bills are designed for legislators to deceive the public. With this maneuver, a legislator at the last moment before adjournment strips a bill that has gone through multiple committee hearings of its original content and inserts new language usually completely unrelated to the original bill. “The problem isn’t just gut-and-amend,” said Jim Mayer, director of the nonpartisan think tank California Forward. “Every gut-and-amend — it’s really a power play — comes with the suspicion that it’s to avoid public scrutiny.” “The abuse of process is breathtaking,” said Sen. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo. According to Daily Post correspondent Elaine Goodman, “The Housing Accountability Act (SB-167), enacted in 1982, is intended to make it harder for local governments to block housing projects. It’s sometimes referred to as the anti-NIMBY law, refering to those who say ‘not in my backyard’ to new development.” Goodman adds, “Wiener’s new version of SB-592 would clarify that a housing development doesn’t have to be a multi-unit project to be covered by the Housing Accountability Act (HAA). A project could be a single housing unit; an accessory dwelling unit, or so-called granny unit; or even the addition of one or more bedrooms to an existing home, under the bill.” Goodman also says, “If a developer takes a city to court for rejecting a housing project and wins, SB-592 would allow the developer to receive compensatory damages, in addition to attorney fees.” With virtually no public scrutiny, Wiener has created a situation where it is beneficial for developers and housing lobbyists to sue cities for big settlements, and/or development concessions. Local legislators will see their budgets looted. Wiener’s strongest allies are housing lobbyists who receive contributions from the same contributors that he does — real estate developers and high-techs. They’re called “Yes In My Back Yard” (YIMBYs). Brian Hanlon, the president of YIMBY, helped Wiener write SB-827 and was involved in the amendments to SB-167. He also consulted with Wiener on SB-50. In 2015, YIMBY formed the California Renters Legal Advocacy Fund, or CaRLA, to sue the suburbs. CaRLA has used the HAA — SB167 — to sue on behalf of developers in Sausalito, Berkeley, San Mateo, Sonoma, Dublin, and Lafayette. YIMBY will now use SB-592, the tougher HAA version, to intimidate cities. CaRLA is a so-called 501(c)3 non-profit that holds cities accountable that they consider are acting in perceived violation of state laws. CaRLA pursues legal action where developers have not, bringing suit against cities that fail to approve compliant housing. CaRLA claims to work for renters, not homeowner wealth. Wiener’s new stealth housing act will include an amended portion to help groups such as YIMBY coerce or sue cities to build housing. Amateur lawsuits can lead to unintended housing consequences. In a huge defeat for YIMBY, Lafayette developer O’Brien Homes had initially proposed 315 apartments at the intersection of Deer Hill and Pleasant Hill roads. O’Brien eventually received approval for 44 single-family homes, which will be far more expensive. Let’s see. 271 affordable homes will not be built in Lafayette and 44 very expensive homes will be. Of course, YIMBY declared victory. Is their mission still to create more affordable housing? “Lafayette supports smart growth, not indiscriminate growth. In this case, the city and the developer agreed to work together on a more suitable plan for that parcel. That’s good government,” said Steven Falk, Lafayette’s city manager. “YIMBY should look around — there is a multifamily construction boom in downtown Lafayette and at least seven major developers are now entitling and building projects,” Falk continued. “YIMBY is intent on suing the suburbs over the housing crunch. In this case, they sued the wrong suburb.” Put a tent over this circus. On June 21, John Mirisch, the Mayor of Beverly Hills, wrote to Scott Wiener “We are extremely concerned that SB 592 would stifle opportunities for our residents to engage in a transparent public process and to provide comments on projects involving single-family homes and accessory dwelling units.” Further. “Our residents expect us to take every step that we can to protect the character and excellent quality of life in their neighborhood, but SB 592 would rob us of the ability to carry out this responsibility.” According to Larry Gersten,1 Ph.D., “Under the rules of the legislature, bills are supposed to be vetted through numerous committee hearings where individuals, experts and organizations like the CMA and others [can] speak up. Sometimes they win and sometimes they lose, but the process is transparent.” Gersten added, “That’s what makes the gut-and-amend strategy so unfortunate. With a simple parliamentary ruling of the Senate Rules Committee, the committee process can be tossed aside ... why have committees in the first place? There’s nothing illegal about gut-and-amend. Whether it’s ethical is another matter.” Wiener is supported by 700 development and high-tech contributors. His goals are to increase developer incentives, market rate housing, and to promote himself. In 2018, his SB-827 failed to pass, Planning and zoning: Transit-Rich Housing Bonus. It received two votes. Then he reintroduced SB-827 as SB-50 Planning and zoning: housing development: streamlined approval: incentives. Both SB-827 and 50 were developer giveaways and entitlements. SB-50 is currently in the Appropriations Committee and can’t be voted on before 2020. His failure may kill SB-50 — a major legislative setback. Wiener’s goal is to increase the size of Westside housing (McMansions) or demolish existing housing and build four - to five-story buildings with no parking. The SF Land Use Coalition has scheduled a forum on “The Impact of Increased Housing Density on the Westside of San Francisco.” It will be held at 7 pm on Thursday, July 18 at St. John Armenian Church, 275 Olympia Way. President of the Board of Supervisors Norman Yee and D4 Supervisor Gordon Mar will discuss housing issues. A presentation on the impacts of proposed state legislation and its impact on Westside housing will be made. There will be plenty of parking and admission is free. Tell your friends! George Wooding, Coalition For San Francisco Neighborhoods. Contact him at gswooding@gmail.com.

Don Quixote’s Banjo Player Westside: Scott Wiener Does Not Represent Us George Wooding. With one foot on a banana peel and the other foot sliding off the national stage on housing issues, San Franciscans have to start asking ourselves: Do we really want to re-elect Scott Wiener in 2020? Most politicians have negatives. But the extreme dislike of Wiener by knowledgeable residential property owners is way past a negative. Wiener’s Senate District 11 consists of all of San Francisco County, including Treasure Island; Colma; Daly City; 27% of South San Francisco; and 17% of San Mateo County. In his Don Quixote quest to pass statewide density housing legislation, Wiener has become a lobbyist for developers and high-technology companies at the expense of the residential homeowners in Senate District 11 and throughout the state. No one denies that California has a housing problem. Wiener’s developer-driven, Sacramento-based, build-at-all-costs legislation will ultimately be much less successful than intelligent locally-planned growth. Wiener wants developers to build San Francisco’s housing by giving developers incentives to increase their profits. That’s like Quixote tilting at windmills. Wiener has become a lobbyist for developers and high-technology companies at the expense of the residential homeowners in Senate District 11 and throughout the state.” The results of Wiener’s Senate Bill 50 (SB-50) would create a wonderland of poorly-designed, ugly, housing density for high-earning workers in a town that already has 30,000 vacant units. The average new unit would be approximately 500- to 800-square-feet in size, preferably in buildings that are five stories high but with no parking. The buildings would be near San Francisco’s aging transit centers, or could be built in any residential neighborhood next door to your home. Thus, Wiener has led an all-out attack on the 70% of his constituents who live in single-family housing. According to his legislation, existing single-family housing needs to be torn down or rebuilt so that larger apartment structures can be built. San Francisco’s Westside is one of his primary targets. Low-income areas are also in jeopardy because the housing costs less. This leads to gentrification and residential displacement. Over one-third of the San Francisco Mission District’s Hispanic population has already been displaced. Wiener has accused the West Side of being racist and exclusionary. Early West Side developers wrote Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) that were racially exclusionary, but these old CC&Rs were rescinded 51 years ago in 1968. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin or sex. According to the San Francisco Supervisor Districts Socio-Economic Profile report: 57% of District 4 is Asian, 1% Black, 34% White, 6% Latino, and 7% Mixed Race. The District 7 demographics are: 34% Asian, 4% Black, 52% White, Mixed Race 10%, and Latino 11%. District 4 is 66% non-white; District 7 is 48% non-white. Are they all exclusionary racists? Clearly Districts 4 and 7 are racial melting pots, not homogeneous white enclaves. This is one of Wiener’s racial comments about his detractors on the West Side on February 4, 2018. Wiener twittered: “It’s fascinating when racist anti-growthers pretend they’re opposing pro-housing bills b/c, they say, low income communities & communities of color will be harmed. These folks should be honest about what they want: to keep those same exact communities out of their neighborhoods.” Perhaps Wiener should more closely study the demographics of San Francisco’s districts. Wiener disrespects West Side residents by using the derogatory term, “NIMBYS.” NIMBY (an acronym for the phrase “Not In My Back Yard”), or Nimby, is a derisive characterization of opposition by residents to proposed developments in their neighborhoods. It carries the connotation that such residents only oppose a development project because it is close to them and that they would tolerate or support it if it were built farther away. The residents are often called Nimbys, and their viewpoint is called Nimbyism. Wiener’s Nimby terminology is the equivalent of labeling his opposition “banjo-playing idiots.” He neither listens to residents’ opinions, nor respects West Side homeowners’ opinions. Although he has already failed legislatively twice, he still believes that nobody else is as smart as he is. It’s almost as if he believes he’s another very stable genius. He spent the last two years trying to pass his draconian housing legislation — first, his SB-827 Planning and Zoning: Transit-Rich Housing Bonus failed in 2018, and second, his SB-50 Planning and Zoning: Housing Development: Incentives legislation failed in 2019. According to an anonymous Sacramento lobbyist, Wiener pulled the bill because he did not have enough votes to get the SB-50 legislation out of the Appropriations Committee. SB-50 will come up for a vote at the Senate Appropriations Committee no earlier than January 2020. Should Wiener manage to get SB-50 passed in 2020, his tenure as a state Senator will effectively be over. On May 16, Wiener was quoted on WEHOville.com, “We’re not giving up trying to move it [SB-50] forward this year,” Wiener said. “This is not over … We’re either serious about solving this crisis, or we aren’t. At some point, we will need to make the hard political choices necessary for California to have a bright housing future.” WEHOville.com is a West Hollywood news outlet. Ironically, SB-50 was opposed by the West Hollywood City Council and other local governments that had argued the bill would unfairly reduce control over local development. It was also opposed by West Hollywood homeowner associations. In the 2018 California Senate’s Transportation and Housing Committee’s vote, SB-827 lost four votes to six. The only two yes votes from Democrats were from the bill’s authors (Wiener and Nancy Skinner), illustrating the disconnect between the bill’s progressive goals and the demands of constituents from liberal (and often wealthy) areas. Naturally, Wiener voted for his own poorly-written housing density legislation. Wiener used SB-827 to promote housing density and as a bully pulpit to promote himself. SB-827 would have overridden most local zoning controls. It would have allowed for much higher building heights and a higher density of new projects within a half-mile radius of any transit stop. The result: 96% of San Francisco’s residential housing stock could be built at least five stories higher. Imagine 60-foot-high homes being built next door to normal 26-foot-high residential houses. Mayor London Breed supports her “Good Friend” Scott’s housing density legislation. Scott Wiener sold his soul to developers and high-tech firms in the 2016, State Senate District 11 race. Wiener was competing against former-Supervisor Jane Kim. Kim held the lead by winning the June primary but was then buried under an avalanche of Wiener’s campaign contributions. Wiener won the November 2016 general election by just under 13,000 votes. The race between the two shaped up to be the most expensive local State Senate race in history, and was a nail-biter from the start. Backed primarily by business and developers, Wiener narrowly won in November. Wiener generated approximately three times more political contributions than Kim from over 700 developers and businesses. On November 3, 2020 please make sure not to make the mistake of voting for Scott Wiener. Three strikes and he’s out. Despite the number of Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions by billionaire developers, Independent Expenditure Committee’s (IEC) financially contributed to by high-technology billionaires, paid volunteers, daily brochures in your mailbox, endorsements, web advertising, website platforms, television and radio commercials, campaign operatives and managers, phone banks and robo calls, please do not vote for Wiener’s re-election. His political support will be a mile wide and an inch thick, accompanied by a banjo-playing Don Quixote. George Wooding, Coalition For SF Neighborhoods

Time Is Running Out for the Youth Guidance Center Do not close down SF’s Youth Guidance Center (YGC). San Francisco Supervisors Hillary Ronen, Shamann Walton, and Matt Haney are drafting legislation that would close the YGC by the end of 2021. It has 150 beds but typically has fewer than 50 youths held inside. I do not want juveniles who commit violent crimes to be placed in halfway houses, nor do I want them to be placed in adult prisons where they will learn to become better — or worse — criminals. San Francisco should keep the YGC, and repurpose it by offering services to nonviolent youth offenders while continuing to incarcerate separated violent juveniles. The relatively small number of youths for whom confinement is justified need facilities that can provide a humane and developmentally-appropriate setting in which their delinquent behaviors can be treated effectively. Although the United States still leads the industrialized world in the rate at which we lock up young people, the youth confinement rate in the United States is rapidly declining.” Margaret Lemus, a concerned Miraloma Park resident, received this response from Supervisor Norman Yee’s Legislative Aide Ivy Lee regarding the potential closure of the YGC, “Supervisor Yee is in agreement with you completely that there must be a fully-informed and thoughtful development of alternatives. It’s very easy to simply call for tearing something down – it’s much more difficult to do the work of examining the issue from all sides, determining what is in the best interest of both the youth in custody as well as the best interest of true public safety improvements, and then coming up with a concrete plan of action to execute an alternative.” Further, “Under state law, there are certain criminal charges that result in mandatory detention or at least the possibility of detention in the interest of public safety. Without a brick-and-mortar facility in the city and county, we would be forced to send youth charged with certain crimes out of county. That’s not an ideal outcome preventing recidivism… It is likely to be both more expensive as well as less effective...” A change is underway in San Francisco’s approach to dealing with young people who get in trouble with the law. Although the United States still leads the industrialized world in the rate at which we lock up young people, the youth confinement rate in the United States is rapidly declining. In every year for which data are available, the overwhelming majority of confined youth are held for nonviolent offenses. The current YGC rebuild was completed in 2007 at a cost of $45.9 million — at least $9 million over budget. It was designed to house 150 minors. Work on the new juvenile hall on Woodside Avenue began in 2003, paid for partly with a $15.1 million state grant. The old hall then located next door was more than 50 years old and still housed youths. It was considered so outmoded and rundown that a civil grand jury once called it “unfit to house the city’s children.” The old YGC had 104 beds and today’s YGC has 150 beds, another source of controversy in a city where youth advocates want fewer juvenile delinquents locked up and more sent to alternative programs within the community. “I don’t intend to fill the beds in the new facility at all,” said former Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Bill Siffermann, who was appointed to the job in 2005 by Mayor Newsom based on Siffermann’s efforts to reform juvenile programs in Chicago and reduce the kids in lock-up. Mayor Newsom and Sifferman wanted to house no more than 78 juveniles at any time in the new YGC. Now we have three City supervisors basing legislation on the difference between 150 beds and the number of beds currently being used. Perhaps the Supervisors should work with the Community Behavioral Health Services (CBHS), a Department of Public Health division, to help promote wellness among San Francisco’s children. CBHS provides mental health prevention and early intervention through partnerships with community-based agencies, schools, health centers, shelters, child care centers and family care providers. Services may include outreach, assessment, child/classroom observation, screening, clinical/program consultation, individual/family therapy, parent support groups and other related activities and training. This would be time well spent. “Nothing humbles you more than a tragic loss or when something doesn’t go as expected. But my experience at YGC was quite humbling, for the better,” said an anonymous former YGC member, who was 12 years old and stayed at the facility for one month. “Growing up as an angry misguided youth, I was caught up in the wrong crowd, making bad choices. My time in YGC was very short lived but fortunately it taught me to learn from my mistakes. It wasn’t exactly the environment I wanted to be in, but it was well needed, meeting a few other kids who had gone through nearly the same situation I have and learning their motives as to why they were at YGC. I tried to look at their stories from both perspectives. I can remember the food wasn’t the worst.” Further, “The worst thing I remember is when a fight broke out for some reason I can’t recall. I made a few friends there, but I’ve never kept in touch after that. All in all, my experience at YGC was one of my wake-up calls and my opinion on why YGC should not be closed, but rather transformed into a youth center so that kids can learn how to deal with their problems in a more positive and beneficial course of action. “They [YGC] should open up programs such as cooking classes, movie nights, video game lounges, study halls, health and wellness classes, psychological evaluations with counselors and licensed therapists. Just anything that will benefit the youth and keep them out of the streets.” There are two other reasons the City might want to close the YGC. The Fiscal Year 2018–2019 YGC budget is $40.4M. This would be a large sum to hijack for other budgetary uses. The YGC is built on Laguna Honda Hospital property. Will the city demolish, remodel or refurbish the fairly new building and build and/or fund a new housing project that may feature homelessness-, mental health-, or low-income housing? Alan Nance, the Chief Juvenile Probation Officer at YGC said, “In accordance with your [city] priorities with this funding, the Department and Commission have engaged in conversations to create up to three dedicated beds in an appropriate psychiatric setting for this vulnerable population.” Nance added, “The [city] Policy staff and the Department of Public Health should explore flexible opportunities to provide dedicated beds for youth requiring acute psychiatric care in custody of the Juvenile Probation Department, but whose needs cannot be met within the secure facility of the Department.” I question the Supervisors’ and City Hall’s motives for getting rid of the YGC. Their legislation should be thoroughly vetted by the neighborhoods, and their good intentions should be questioned. Let’s keep the YGC. George Wooding, Coalition For SF Neighborhoods

The Thrill Is Gone for Neighbors of ‘Outside Lands’ Thunderous noise for three days. People cannot hear in their own homes. Windows rattle. Children and seniors covering their ears in pain. Welcome to the San Francisco Outside Lands Festival Concert (OL). The August 2018 OL festival generated 249 noise complaints by 190 different residents over approximately 12 square miles of western San Francisco. Some of the complaints came from residents who live as far as three miles from Golden Gate Park. And some residents whose noise complaints have been ignored for years simply abandon their homes during the three-day festival. According to the City’s own data, noise complaints in 2018 more than tripled over the average of prior years. Therefore, it appears OL complaints aren’t a mere continuation of pre-existing activities, they represent a significant increase. Currently, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) noise standards don’t apply to San Francisco Recreation and Park Department (RPD) land. By cleverly utilizing CEQA categories incorrectly, the RPD was able to declare that OL automatically receive a categorical exemption in Golden Gate Park. According to the City’s own data, noise complaints in 2018 more than tripled over the average of prior years.” The RPD needs to use a CEQA Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND). A MND is prepared for a project when an initial study identifies potentially significant effects on the environment, but the effects no longer pose a significant environmental impact after a project is revised. MNDs require an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The report can cost millions of dollars and take up to two years to complete. Public safety should always come first. “Categorical Exemptions” are descriptions of types of projects which the Secretary of the California Resources Agency has determined don’t usually have a significant effect on the environment. They are the lowest CEQA environmental standard. The RPD has now rid itself of bothersome CEQA environmental reports and restrictions on noise. Plaintiffs Andrew Solow and Stephen Somerstein are suing the City for OL noise reduction and changing the CEQA Categorical Exemption to a CEQA negative declaration. No Police Jurisdiction: RPD’s first step was to remove the noise jurisdiction from San Francisco’s Police Code, Article 29 Regulation of Noise, Guidelines for Noise Control Ordinance Monitoring and Enforcement. The Police Code supersedes all previous San Francisco noise guidelines. RPD no longer has to comply with City noise guidelines. RPD now operates under a new noise standard it calls “As Required.” This new standard is a mystery. Nobody knows what decibel level the standard uses, not even the RPD. Further, the proposed use permit doesn’t include acoustical standards or testing protocols RPD and Outside Lands use to determine if outdoor noise levels from OL are acceptable, because the City never adopted outdoor noise standards. And the use permit doesn’t even mention the possibility of retaining an acoustical engineering firm to design the sound system for each festival. The last slap in the face for neighbors involves OL complaint reporting. Neighbors over three miles away have made noise complaints. Complaint phone numbers are difficult to find. OL is self-monitoring and it receives the complaint calls rather than RPD receiving the calls. This is the classic “fox guarding the hen house.” Fewer noise complaints will be received and probably many complaints will go unreported. RPD has no way of knowing how many neighborhood complaints were received. Additionally, OL is a private company and cannot be Sunshined for information and records. The police simply say that they have no jurisdiction, and won’t even take noise complaint calls. Tiffany Lin-Wilson, an RPD secretary answerable to RPD director Phil Ginsburg, Dana Ketchum, Director of Permits and Property Management, and RPD Commissioner Mark Buell responded to one Sunshine records request stating: “The documents I sent last week, were all that I was given. I was also informed of the following: Park Rangers don’t conduct sound measurements in Golden Gate Park during Outside Lands Concerts. We are reactive to the calls from citizens who are complaining and concerns over loud music coming from the concert venue. There is no requirement as stated to monitor sound during the event. I cannot speak for the promoter ‘Another Planet Entertainment’ who hires a private company to monitor sound. I do not know their criteria.” “The festival has drawn 2 million visitors to San Francisco and is estimated to generate $66 million annually in economic benefits,” according to Ketchum. RPD essentially admitted it has no idea how many noise complaints there were, what the decibel levels were per complaint, or even whether sound meters used the same calibration to produce uniform results. It’s a clear example of RPD being inept and placing profits before public safety. According to page 3 of the Wilson Hirig report Noise, Vibration and Acoustics: “It is not clear who gathered the data, though most appear to have been collected by Treeline Security, the security company retained by the concert promoters, Another Planet Entertainment, LLC (promoters of OL.) These data are not provided in a formal technical report, so there is no indication of equipment used (San Francisco requires Type 1 sound level meters), calibration traceability, or even meter settings. Additional readings appear to have been made by San Francisco Park Rangers. Again, no information was provided about the equipment, calibration, or meter settings for these readings.” Plaintiff Solow states: “The RPD has now rid its agency of environmental reports and restrictions on noise. After spending six months trying to convince the SF Recreation and Parks Dept. to adopt objective standards for noise levels from the Outside Lands Festival, on Jan. 17, the SF Recreation and Park Commission (SFRPC) ignored complaints from more than 240 San Francisco residents and approved a 10-year extension of the Festival Use Permit with no noise limits. If the permit is adopted by the SF Board of Supervisors (BOS) on April 2nd, this permit would make it impossible to make a meaningful objection to noise from Outside Lands, no matter how loud it is, until 2031.” Citizens don’t want to stop or harm the OL festival. We should want the following: • A better run, more honest RPD. • San Francisco’s RPD and the Planning Department must withdraw its deficient CEQA Categorical Exemption Determination. • The City must promulgate quantitative noise standards that are appropriate for the OL Festival and other music performance events in Golden Gate Park. • The City must develop a CEQA process incorporating Quantitative Noise Limits and other feasible noise mitigation measures. After all, excessive decibel levels can damage everybody’s hearing. George Wooding, President of the Coalition For San Francisco Neighborhoods

Welcome to Wienerville If you want to protect your neighborhood, street, or house, it’s time to defeat or mitigate State Senator Scott Wiener’s SB-50 legislation. George Wooding. Wiener and his allies want to replace the single-family housing stock throughout California with dense/multi-family housing. These structures will derisively be called Wienervilles and will feature many of the same sized and structural components as Hoovervilles. SB 50 will ruin cherished neighborhoods, severely gentrify working-class areas, significantly worsen housing affordability, and displace thousands of San Franciscans. SB-50 is designed to add housing density at the expense of residential neighborhoods. The least expensive housing is housing that is already built. This bill will impact 100% of San Francisco’s residential housing stock. ...developers will only be constructing market rate housing—not affordable housing—under Wiener’s misguided belief market-rate housing will magically trickle down to affordable housing. This will result in housing price increases, but no increase in housing supply and a city filled with eyesores: Wienerville units. Thanks, Scott, and co-author Phil Ting. ” Wiener’s goal is to get rid of residential housing by upzoning all of San Francisco. State legislated upzoning encourages development by offering entitlements to developers. Upzoning avoids any serious planning in neighborhoods, or in the city as a whole. Local residents and businesses will not be able to address serious concerns with everything from housing needs to traffic because upzoning regulations are limited to use and density controls. If SB 50 passes, developers will become San Francisco’s new Planning Department. They will do whatever they want with the properties they purchase. SB 50 will turn thousands of San Francisco streets into density-bonus areas. San Franciscans will have no say regarding developer decisions. Developers will choose their own incentives from a menu of rewards and waivers. Below is a sample of existing local development standards and planning tools. SB 50 will let developers toss out up to three of them at their discretion, including height limits: • Setbacks: Areas for trees, green belts, and side yards can be eliminated. • Floor area ratio: Building size/density can grow 47% to 297%. This means developers can build 85-foot structures next to your house and you can’t do a thing. • Parking: Developers can build apartment towers with no parking. • Environmental sustainability: Any development standard adopted by a city that isn’t state law can be ignored by developers. • Onsite open-space: Courtyards and balconies can be killed. • Historic buildings/zones: Developers can demolish buildings not on the state’s Registry of Historic Resources. Unlike Wiener’s defeated predecessor SB-827, which centered around transit-rich housing projects, Wiener has added a new criterion called “job-rich” housing projects. Job-rich defines a residential development within an area identified by the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Office of Planning and Research based on indicators such as proximity to jobs, high area-median income relative to the relevant region, and high-quality public schools, as areas of high job-rich opportunities close to jobs. A “transit-rich housing project” means residential development on parcels that are within a half-mile radius of a major transit stop, or a quarter-mile radius of a stop on high-quality bus corridors. A project shall be deemed to be within a half-mile radius of a major transit stop or a quarter-mile radius of a stop on a high-quality bus corridor if any of the following apply. From the legislation: “This bill — SB 50 — would require a city, county, or city and county [San Francisco] to grant upon request an ‘equitable communities incentive’ when a development proponent seeks and agrees to construct a residential development, as defined, that satisfies specified criteria, including, among other things, that the residential development is either a job-rich housing project or a transit-rich housing project, as those terms are defined; the site does not contain, or has not contained, housing occupied by tenants or accommodations withdrawn from rent or lease in accordance with specified law within specified time periods; and the residential development complies with specified additional requirements under existing law.” SB 50 will require that a residential development eligible for an equitable communities incentive receive waivers from maximum controls on density and automobile parking requirements greater than 0.5 parking spots per unit, up to three additional incentives or concessions under the Density Bonus law and specified additional waivers if the residential development is located within a 1/2-mile or 1/4-mile radius of a major transit stop, as defined. The bill would authorize a local government to modify or expand the terms of equitable communities incentives, provided that the equitable communities incentives are consistent with these provisions. Bill language: “The equitable communities incentive” shall not be used to undermine the economic feasibility of delivering low-income housing under the state density bonus program or a local implementation of the state density bonus program, or any locally adopted program that puts conditions on new development applications on the basis of receiving a zone change or general plan amendment in exchange for benefits such as increased affordable housing, local hire, or payment of prevailing wages.” The Coalition to Preserve Los Angeles makes the following analysis of SB 50: 1) SB 50 wipes out all single-family zoning in the below “transit” areas: SB 50 bans cities from rejecting big residential luxury developments containing a small number of affordable units if a) They are proposed within a ¼-mile radius of a busy bus stop, or b) Within a 1/2-mile radius of any rail or train stop. 2) SB 50 wipes out single-family zones in thousands of neighborhoods: SB 50 overturns single-family zoning in areas “above-median income, jobs-rich, with good public schools” that lack major transit (i.e., it allows tall apartments next to houses in areas that have good schools and jobs). 3) Rewards construction of 85-foot-high towers next to single-family homes: SB 50 encourages 75-foot-high and 85-foot-high luxury towers in single-family areas that are either too close to transit or too close to jobs and good schools. The height limit is not 45 feet and 55 feet, as Senator Wiener falsely implies in SB 50. 4) Cities can’t stop a luxury tower unless it hurts public safety: SB 50 is weaponized by the Housing Accountability Act of 1982, which was quietly amended by Skinner/Wiener in 2017. It bans cities from rejecting any “density bonus” project unless the developer “puts public safety at risk.” 5) Cities can’t reject demolitions in the new SB 50-targeted areas: Also weaponized by the Housing Accountability Act, SB 50 prevents cities from fighting demolition for housing towers in “jobs-rich, good schools areas” and “transit” areas. The bill tells developers to sue, if challenged by a city. 6) SB 50 forces “sensitive communities” to upzone themselves by 2025: SB 50 openly threatens “sensitive communities” — low-income, diverse areas. It requires them to upzone their Community Plans within five years to conform to SB 50, annihilating homeowner areas. If not upzoned, Wiener’s 7) Turns developers into the fox guarding the rental hen-house: SB 50 utterly fails to protect renters. Only those cities who register their renters and closely track vacancies can stop developers from lying about rental history. 8) SB 50 puts developers in charge of their own planning: SB 50 turns thousands of streets into density-bonus-on-steroids, where cities have no say. Developers choose their own incentives from a menu of rewards and waivers. Ironically, Wiener’s key strategy for solving California’s housing crisis by increasing the supply of cheaper housing — Wienervilles — by encouraging dense construction near transit centers, has been challenged by a new MIT university housing report. Yonah Freemark, the study’s author and a doctoral candidate at MIT, found “no evidence for short- or medium-term increases in housing-unit construction.” “We have a housing crisis in much of the U.S., and that crisis needs to be addressed by providing funding for construction of more units and subsidies for people to afford those units,” Freemark said. This is contrary to Wiener giving subsidies to developers so that they can make more profit. Freemark adds, “What are the local-level impacts of zoning change? I study recent Chicago unzoning’s that increased allowed densities and reduced parking requirements in a manner exogenous of development plans and neighborhood characteristics. To evaluate outcomes, I use difference-in-differences tests on property transaction prices and housing-unit construction permits. I detect significant, robust increases in values for transactions on parcels that received a boost in allowed building size. I also identify value increases for residential condominiums, indicating that upzoning increased prices of existing housing units. I find no impacts of the reforms, however, on the number of newly permitted dwellings over five years. As such, I demonstrate that the short-term, local-level impacts of upzoning are higher property prices but no additional new housing construction.” The Freemark research demonstrates Wiener severely miscalculates supply and demand theory. SB 50 will have no effect on housing supply in urban areas, since Wiener is building units at five to ten times the cost of the homes that he wants to let developers destroy. Due to the cost of land, construction interest rates, and increasing construction building costs, developers will only be constructing market rate housing — not affordable housing — under Wiener’s misguided belief market-rate housing will magically trickle down to affordable housing. This will result in housing price increases, but no increase in housing supply and a city filled with eyesores: Wienerville units. Thanks, Scott, and co-author Phil Ting. On December 3, 2018, Phil Ting introduced AB 68: Land Use Accessory Units, legislation co-written by — no surprise — Scott Wiener. The bill’s purpose is to take any remaining open space in residential projects and turn that space into accessory dwelling units. Thanks again, Scott and Phil, for yet another developer incentive handout! Wiener’s supporters consist of paid housing lobbyists, such as the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY), Bay Area Renters Federation (BARF), San Francisco Housing and Action Committee (SFHAC); and San Francisco Mayor London Breed and State Senator Scott Wiener. This housing group embodies the current status quo in California. The paid housing lobbyists support an extreme market-rate housing philosophy of “build housing density at all costs and at any consequences to existing residents.” This is a terrible land use housing philosophy, but appeals to millennials who thought life would be easy after they graduated from college. Older generations who preceded millennials faced many of the same problems that millennials do. All of these housing lobbyist groups and individuals receive a major amount of their funding/contributions from developers, large employers, or lawsuit settlements. Their housing positions feature extreme housing growth and density because they either agree, or have little free will. The housing lobbyists represent a small percentage of the public, but push their extreme agenda through state legislation, including Wiener’s SB-827, SB-828, SB-50; lawsuits; and by lobbying commissions such as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). Wiener’s introduced bills usurp local community planning authorities. They promote demolition, evictions, displacement, congestion, and overcrowding. Wiener’s bills don’t provide funding for the infrastructure burden they bring into our communities, nor do they provide affordable housing or local community self-determination. The bills are statewide, one-size-fits-all solutions with no regard for geographic housing equity to job location. His legislation is supported by big business and special interests that will receive windfall profits at the expense of residential housing and the displacement of residents. The long-term livability of California depends on moderately-paced growth, balancing residential and commercial development with the financial and environmental capacity of other infrastructure. It must provide opportunity for residents of all income levels and demographics. Businesses must pay fair wages and their fair share of in