Debating gentrification is one thing. Arsonists doing their best to burn down new housing projects is another.

That’s what seems to be happening in Oakland, where six of nine buildings were destroyed Tuesday at an apartment complex under construction. Ten blocks away, an apparent arson try at another project fizzled before there was significant damage.

The twin incidents are bad enough — but they’re not alone. There have been seven major construction fires at East Bay housing projects since 2012, all of them at sites where wood rather than concrete or steel was the building material of choice. In two cases, footage from video cameras show hooded suspects on the scene. Tuesday, rags and a can of gasoline were found at one site.

While police search for clues, developers invest in extra security patrols. Or they spray fire-suppressing chemicals on wooden beams. But they know the potential for profit in this affluent housing-strapped region: “We’re resolute,” one developer on Tuesday told The Chronicle’s Roland Li.

It also looks like they’re being targeted. Let’s hope there are no innocent victims if suspicious flames burst out again.

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Top of the News

•The power of publicity: The Chronicle on Sunday broke the news that Oakland has long asked police department applicants if they’ve ever been victims of sexual assault. An apparently startled Mayor Libby Schaaf quickly said the practice must end. Now, reporter Kimberly Veklerov finds out the topic was raised at a City Council committee in July. And yes, the finger-pointing has begun.

•In the bag: I’m guessing Sidney Wilson won’t be stumping for his old boss, Desley Brooks, during the Oakland city councilwoman’s re-election campaign. Wilson has filed a lawsuit claiming Brooks verbally and physically abused him while he worked for her — and would have him fetch bags of money collected from vendors at a farmers’ market in her district.

•Sounding off: Transbay Joint Powers Authority officials, investigating why two huge girders cracked in the splashy new Transbay Transit Center, were called to City Hall on Tuesday where members of the Board of Supervisors — in their role as the board of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority — berated them and symbolically voted to withhold $9.7 million from the project’s ever-more-distant second phase.

•Taking stock: The board of the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System on Tuesday voted to sell off investments in five fossil fuel companies. But board president Brian Stansbury warned that such idealistic stands can be costly to pensioners: two of the stocks have climbed 50 and 73 percent in the past year, and “someone’s going to have to make up that shortfall somewhere.”

•Bombastic and SAD: President Trump on Tuesday pontificated that “lousy management” is why California has been ravaged by wildfires. “California, get on the ball because we’re not going to hand you any more money,” Trump told a crowd of local officials at the White House. “It’s ridiculous.” As are Trump’s claims that environmental policies have caused water shortages here when battling flames, say firefighting experts.

•The view from Berkeley: Meanwhile, UC Berkeley public policy professor Robert Reich’s take on the current occupant of the White House is succinct: “Never before has a president of the United States been so determined not to be president of all Americans. He’s president of his supporters.”

•Recurring anger: Protesters who gather regularly outside the home of San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón — they’re upset that he didn’t charge police officers who fatally shot two men armed only with knives — have also allegedly harassed Gascón and his wife and tampered with their car. The DA is now seeking a restraining order against one of the protesters, report Matier & Ross.

•Chew on this: When Oakland rapper G-Eazy is on tour, he dines at places like Osteria Francescana in Italy with its $286 tasting menu. Back at home, you’re more likely to find him ordering ... the $8 carnitas burrito at Gordo Taqueria, G-Eazy tells food writer Justin Phillips in a calorific interview.

•Fondly remembered: Hank Greenwald, the Giants’ play-by-play announcer for nearly 20 years, died Monday in San Francisco. He was 83. “He’d say, ‘You can have a bad game, but there’s no excuse for a bad broadcast,’” recalled current announcer Mike Krukow.

The Kicker

This is long overdue: Female surfers will receive cash prizes equal to mens’ at the vaunted Mavericks big-wave competition near Half Moon Bay. Elsewhere nearby, we’ll get to see women compete directly against men as well as nature — including a watery ordeal on stand-up paddleboards that requires a passage beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. “Don’t rule out these women,” one male surfer tells Bruce Jenkins. “They’re some of the fittest, most driven athletes in the world.”

Bay Briefing is written by John King and sent to readers’ email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here and contact King at jking@sfchronicle.com