SF Politics

How Many 'Ambassadors' Does the City Need? SF Community Ambassadors Rally to Save Their Jobs

A fight is ongoing over SF Mayor London Breed's new proposed budget, in which she is attempting to cut the 14-year-old program Community Ambassador Program in order to close a major deficit.

SF Politics

Lights Went Out as Candidates Were Speaking at Monday Night’s Very Glitchy SF Mayoral Debate

It was literally a “lights out” performance, and not in a good way, on Monday night when the five major candidates running for San Francisco mayor debated at UC Law, and repeated technical glitches marred the night’s proceedings.

SF News

Supervisors Up In Arms Over Breed’s Massive Budget Cuts to Community Ambassador Program

Those bright neon yellow- and green-jacketed street ambassadors are on the chopping block in Mayor Breed’s new proposed budget, as she’s calling to phase them out by 2026 to save a few dollars, but supervisors are furious because they think that program really works.

SF Politics

In First SF Mayoral Debate, Crowd’s Jeers are More Memorable Than Candidates’ Performances

All five major candidates for San Francisco mayor faced off Wednesday night in their first proper debate of this year’s mayoral race. All stuck tightly to their pretty wonky scripts, but the crowd let loose on the candidates (and the moderators) with booing and heckling.

SF Politics

Breed and Supervisors Arguing Publicly After Committee Rejects Breed’s Police Commission Pick

With two of Mayor Breed’s nominees for the Police Commission up for a vote, a Board of Supervisors committee rejected Breed’s pick Debra Walker, setting off Twitter spats between the mayor and Supervisor Ahsha Safai, but the full board will have the final say on this.

SF Politics

We’ve Finally Got a Real SF Mayoral Debate, Happening on June 17

After two scheduled debates crashed and burned, we’ve finally got a true mayoral debate with all five major candidates on the same stage, scheduled for June 17 at UC Law San Francisco.

SF Politics

Mayor Breed Suspected of Slow-Walking Police Commission Appointments, Causing Meeting Cancellations

The SF Police Commission is supposed to meet three times a month, but they’ve canceled five of their last eight meetings, and there is speculation that Mayor London Breed is engineering absences so the commission can’t meet regularly.

SF Politics

Supervisors Stymie Mayor Breed In Panda Fundraising Plan, Creating First Roadblock

A San Francisco supervisors' committee on Thursday effectively shot down a resolution concerning Mayor London Breed's announced plan to bring Chinese pandas to the San Francisco Zoo.

SF Politics

London Breed, Aaron Peskin Beg Off From Monday Mayoral Candidate Debate By TogetherSF, Will Host Their Own Thing

A scheduled May 20 debate among mayoral candidates by two tech-funded advocacy groups has been making Mayor London Breed uneasy, and as of Tuesday, she is officially pulling out.

SF Politics

Breed Threatens to Back Out of First Mayoral Debate, Questions Whether It Might Be Rigged by Organizer

The first SF Mayoral debate is in less than two weeks, but London Breed may be a no-show, as there are ties surfacing between the debate’s tech PAC organizer, and both the Mark Farrell and Daniel Lurie campaigns.

SF News

Mayor Breed Touts New Numbers Saying SF Tents and Encampments at a Five-Year Low

London Breed’s office is making a big to-do over the latest city numbers that indicate tent encampments are at a five-year low, and while these numbers vary wildly over time, it does look like the trend line is going in a positive direction.

Arts & Entertainment

Mayor Breed Proposes ‘Entertainment Zone’ Where Bars Can Sell Open Containers for Outdoor Events

SF Mayor London Breed’s latest gambit to get you to please go downtown and spend money again is her new proposed “entertainment zone” where establishments can sell alcohol to street patrons, and the first of these could be on the Financial District’s Front Street.

SF News

Rally Planned to Protest Mayor Breed's Omission of City Clinic Relocation Funds In Proposed Bond Measure

LGTBQ health advocates, along with City Clinic doctors and members of the Harvey Milk Democratic Club are rallying today outside the clinic on Seventh Street to protest Mayor London Breed's omission of clinic funds in a proposed bond measure.

SF Politics

Mayor Breed Proposes a $360 Million Bond Measure to Fund a Potpourri of Seemingly Unrelated Causes

When you vote on whether to reelect Mayor London Breed on November 5, you might also be voting on Breed’s new $360 million bond measure that would fund hospitals, homelessness services, street improvements, and even Harvey Milk Plaza.

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

Tadich Grill 175th Anniversary Party Draws Willie Brown, Mayor Breed, and Aaron Peskin (Who Were Very Nice to Each Other)

The oldest restaurant in California, Tadich Grill, celebrated its 175th anniversary on Sunday, bringing many local luminaries, with political foes Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Aaron Peskin burying their hatchets for one brief afternoon over cioppino and crab cakes.

SF News

Latest City Hall Remedy for Tenderloin Street Circus Is Shutting Down Corner Stores at Midnight

Corner stores that cater to the crowds who hang out around UN Plaza and elsewhere into the wee hours of the morning are part of the problem, the mayor's office says.

SF News

Peskin, Breed Both Say They Are Trying to Get Macy's to Stay In Union Square

Supervisor and mayoral candidate Aaron Peskin was on TV Thursday night discussing the city's efforts to cajole the Macy's organization to change its mind about closing the San Francisco store.

Arts & Entertainment

SF Zoo to Receive Panda Loan From China

A giant panda, or a pair of pandas, will be coming to the San Francisco Zoo sometime in the future, as Mayor London Breed has succeeded in her mission to coax some Panda Diplomacy out of China.

SF Politics

London Breed Would Like a Chinese University to Open a Satellite Campus In SF's Downtown

Another of Mayor London Breed's goals in her upcoming trip to China, besides getting a panda for the San Francisco Zoo, is apparently to chat up a university there about opening a satellite campus in SF's struggling downtown.

SF News

SF Mayor Heads to China Next Week to Promote Tourism — and Lobby For a Panda

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is heading to China next week to conduct some "panda diplomacy," or, at least, to ask again for some, and to promote tourism to SF.

SF Politics

Supervisors Override Breed’s Veto of Peskin’s Density Limit Legislation, In Big Win for Peskin

With two supervisors likely running for mayor, the SF Board of Supervisors flexed a supermajority and shot down Mayor Breed’s veto of their measure to limit large towers along parts of the city’s northern waterfront.

SF News

Fake Post About SF 7-Eleven Stores Selling Onigiri With the Mayor's Face on Them Goes Viral

An SF artist really wanted to bring rice balls to Bay Area 7-Elevens — so she made a bunch with London Breed's face on them and got the hype going.

Arts & Entertainment

Mayor Breed Wants To Keep That Giant Ferris Wheel at Fisherman’s Wharf Another Year and a Half

The 150-foot Ferris wheel that’s technically known as the SkyStar Observation Wheel is scheduled to shut down April 30, but could stay at Fisherman’s Wharf through October 2025 if Mayor Breed gets her way.

SF News

SFPD Reopens Investigation Into Death of 63-Year-Old Asian Woman, Breed Demands Video Be Released

The July 2023 death of 63-year-old Yanfang Wu is back in the headlines, and now more politically charged, as Mayor London Breed is demanding that SFPD release the video of the shoving incident that killed Wu.

SF Politics

Changing to 'A City of Yes': SF Mayor London Breed Touts Accomplishments In State of the City Address

Coinciding with Biden's State of the Union address this evening, San Francisco Mayor London Breed gave her annual State of the City address to supporters and business leaders today, touting all the positive change she's seeing in SF.