Last month, I started a conversation about how we can work toward a better and more vibrant neighborhood. This time I want to consider what will need to be done to put us on a path toward that vision. Have you considered what a vibrant neighborhood looks like to you?
In a Dec. 6, 1962, speech in New York City, then-assistant secretary of defense stated: “I think the inherent right of the government to lie to save itself when faced with nuclear disaster is basic.” The California High Speed Rail Authority’s Northern California Regional Director Boris Lipkin in the San Mateo Daily Journal’s Nov. 17, 2022, edition applied such falsity doctrine to that failed project. (I have publicly pleaded guilty of creating such state body with 1996 legislation as a then-state senator.)
In 2019, more than 100 Veritas renters sued the landlord for harassment. Among their complaints was that the firm targeted tenants in rent-controlled apartments, allowing their homes to fall into disrepair, ignoring asbestos and mold, and invading renter privacy.
I intended to write about another subject for this month’s column, but I could not ignore the need to discuss guns in this country after the recent discharge of a firearm at the local Jewish community space on Balboa Street, and the mass shootings in California. It should be horrifying to us that a person would enter a public space and shoot randomly at walls and windows with seniors present. The fact that there have been 67 mass shootings in 2023 so far should give us all pause.
As 2023 City Hall legislative sessions move forward, San Franciscans face a startling reality: the far left-wing ideologues in elected office have failed to learn from November’s elections – and now these officials are continuing to reject policies for reviving our city as it spirals further downward.
Playland at the Beach, Sutro Baths, the Cliff House, Topsy’s Roost – these are some of the former attractions that used to bring people out to the western half of San Francisco.
On April 19, 1972, John B. Connally, Jr., then-U.S. secretary of the treasury, declared at the American Society of Newspaper Editors meeting in Washington, D.C.: “A democracy unsatisfied (by support of the people] cannot long survive…. We live in )robably the most turbulent and tormented times in the history of this nation. Criticize … disagree, yes, but also we have as leaders an obligation to be fair and keep in perspective what we are and what we hope to be.”
Please help us Keep the Castro Theatre for the community. Landmark the sloped floor and seats to ensure that it can continue as the only historic movie palace in San Francisco, as it has for the past 100 years.
The job of a journalist is to inform and educate. The discussion prompted by last month’s column on homelessness made me realize, all too painfully, that many of my Richmond neighbors hold mistaken beliefs about unhoused people. Some of those misconceptions, intended or not, seem tailor-made to justify denying unhoused people the support they so desperately need.
We have federal and state laws which exist to prevent a government’s awarding of resources to groups of people based on race, gender or ethnicity, in terms of employment, contracts and education. But this is precisely what The Plan aims to do.
The memories are still fresh. Many San Franciscans spent holidays with loved ones, sharing hearty meals snug in their homes. The stormy weather, while inconvenient, posed no real danger to those who enjoy the luxury of staying indoors.
As we leave behind the atmospheric rivers that have tormented California this winter, our hearts go out to all the Bay Area folks and those throughout the state who have been left stunned and throttled.
San Francisco used to be called “the city that knows how.” We put on international expositions and tamed the sand dunes. We had good, smart politicians who worked together for the greater good. We were a destination for fortune hunters, bohemians and entrepreneurs.
It has been a new year at City Hall where Supervisor Aaron Peskin from Telegraph Hill was elected president after 11 roll call votes by our district heroes, almost tying Congressman Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield for roll call votes. This columnist wishes President Peskin two years of leadership achievement. My hero, U.S. President Harry Truman, once reminded Americans: “America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, imagination and all the unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.”
Despite a recent court order banning them, city workers swept homeless settlements during some of the worst weather in recent San Francisco history. At the time, Mayor London Breed was out of town, first in Napa partying with wealthy political donors before jetting off to Las Vegas to watch a 49ers game in a private box on the 50-yard line.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 