The GrowSF Report: Illegal vending banned in Mission; stolen goods sales persist
The GrowSF Report: Illegal vending banned in Mission; stolen goods sales persist
PLUS: Mayor Mark Farrell?
What You Need To Know
Here’s what happened around the city for the week of November 27, 2023:
- Illegal vending banned in Mission; stolen goods sales persist
- Mayor Mark Farrell?
- Transit bailout requires BART, Muni to stop fare evasion
- SF delays housing vote, ignoring State threats
- No Party Preference? Here’s one reason why you should register as a Democrat
Illegal vending banned in Mission; stolen goods sales persist
A 90-day ban on street vending has just come into effect on Mission Street. The goal is to stop the sale of stolen goods, which is of course already illegal. (Food vendors are exempted from the ban).
Even Supervisor Hilary Ronen is on the right side of the issue this time, saying “Everything we’ve tried up until this point, and we’ve been trying for over a year, has not worked,” reports Eli M. Rosenberg at The Standard. The Mayor’s office is currently in contact with the state about amending a state law that decriminalized the illegal activity.
Mayor Mark Farrell?
Will our next Mayor be former interim Mayor Mark Farrell?
Well.. despite the rumors, Farrell is remaining coy. According to Mike Ege at The Standard, Farrell stated that “Any decision I make about the future will not be taken lightly.“ Farrell will likely point to his success cleaning up the streets during his short stint as Mayor, which might be just what voters are looking for.
Mark Farrell served for seven years on the Board of Supervisors in District 2 and later served as interim Mayor for six months following the death of Ed Lee. He was put in the job after the progressive Board of Supervisors blocked then-Board-President London Breed from becoming Acting Mayor.
Transit bailout requires BART, Muni to stop fare evasion
In exchange for bailing out our underfunded Muni and making service cuts, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission is requiring accountability measures to be implemented in the Bay area, according to Ricardo Cano in The Chronicle.
SFMTA has to report how it plans to reduce fare evasion, which has increased since the pandemic. BART will swap out more than 700 gates to make it less vulnerable to non-paying riders. In exchange for boosting fare enforcement, SFMTA and BART will receive hundreds of millions in State funding.
This sounds like a win-win for us: We keep our transit systems running, and we crack down on fare theft.
SF delays housing vote, ignoring State threats
As we relayed last week, San Francisco has missed a state-imposed deadline to reform its homebuilding permitting process to allow more growth. But the State has agreed to a one-time 30 day extension before enacting penalties.
Unfortunately, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman torpedoed last Tuesday’s vote to pass the Mayor’s Constraints Reduction Ordinance which would eliminate red tape and speed up the housing approval process, bringing SF into compliance with the law.
“We have reiterated that the inclusion of Mandelman’s historic amendment would violate our housing element, and [the Department of Housing and Community Development] agrees,” said Corey Smith of the Housing Action Coalition, which has advocated for the mayor’s housing bill according to Mike Ege in The Standard.
We’ll find out what happens next when the deadline expires on December 28.
Your Action Plan
Now that you know what’s happening, help us shape what happens next:
No Party Preference? Here’s one reason why you should register as a Democrat
Only registered Democrats can vote for the San Francisco DCCC, the committee which controls the SF Democratic Party endorsements. If you care about San Francisco, but you are not a registered Democrat, you are unable to vote for the DCCC in the critical March 2024 election.
If you want to get San Francisco on the right track, the #1 thing you can do today is register as a Democrat and vote in this election.
The SF DCCC election is decided by very few votes. Visit RegisterSF.org now to register as a Democrat. It takes just 2 minutes and over 7,000 people have already done it.
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The Spirit of San Francisco
There’s a lot to love about our city and the Bay Area. Here’s what makes it great. Brought to you by The Bold Italic.
What we’re doing this week
Winter Crafts Day at Randall Museum
Get crafty and make presents and decorations for the winter holidays this year at the Randall Museum’s annual Winter Crafts Day. The museum will be bustling with fun craft activities for the whole family. Everyone can create one-of-a-kind hand-made gifts and items to decorate their homes.
Learn how to custom-decorate votive candleholders, sweeten the season by constructing a candy house, practice pickling, make and decorate a winter wreath. Explore the museum for unexpected surprises while enjoying familiar favorites likes building wooden trains, live entertainment and more. Admission is free
WHEN: 10 am – 2 pm, today, December 2nd
WHERE: Randall Museum
199 Museum Way, San Francisco, CA
Randall Museum is a facility of the SF Recreation & Parks Dept.
SF is a Drag
Oasis Arts is organizing a massive taking over of the streets of San Francisco by drag performers. The performances will take place near popular street corners and LGBTQ+-owned businesses as a testament to San Francisco’s enduring legacy.
WHEN: December 2nd and 3rd, 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.
WHERE: In several spots of San Francisco, check their drag map
What we’re writing about
Why now is the best time to live in San Francisco
Does anyone in mainstream media have anything nice to say about San Francisco? Or is this a kind of national schadenfreude, where it’s fun and trendy to shit all over what is still — by any standard — the most beautiful big city in America?
Pop-up bar takes over on Sutter Street with plenty of Christmas spirits
The Miracle on Sutter Street, currently encamped at Pacific Cocktail Haven, is snowed over in kitsch Christmas comfort, wrapping paper, holiday pin-ups, dangling lights and the occasional flurry out front, and the feeling is catching.
Miracles are popping up all from Yukon to Panama, London to San Francisco, with a couple dozen sprinkled in between. Ours is an easy walk from the Union Square skating rink — still $20 for an hour and skates — and there’s no reason not to hobble on over afterwards to recover your inner child with one or several of the sixteen holiday cocktails.
In defense of the Tenderloin
“I’ve lived within a few blocks of the Tenderloin since 2001, but never smack in the heart of it — pun intended. The rental prices here for studio apartments are the lowest you’ll find in San Francisco, and there are definitely gems to be had. Everyone warned me how much worse the neighborhood had gotten since COVID, but I brazenly ignored their warnings. After all, I lived here during the crack-and-crime infested 1990s. How bad could it be in 2023?” Adriana Roberts shares her insights on the Tenderloin.
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