SF Politics

Oakland City Council Approves Slashing Police, Fire, and Arts Departments to Trim $130 Million Deficit

With the City of Oakland drowning in about $129 million in red ink, Oakland City Council voted to approve a plan to cut police overtime, close a few fire stations, and eliminate some arts programs in hopes of closing the deficit.

SF Politics

Mayor Breed Appoints Former Michael Bloomberg Aide Stephen Sherrill to District 2 Supervisor Seat

The relatively unknown Stephen Sherrill was just appointed by Mayor London Breed to fill the empty District 2 Supervisor seat formerly held by Catherine Stefani, and he’s vowing to vote exactly like Catherine Stefani did.

SF Politics

Supervisors Reject Breed’s Final Commission Appointments, Because Breed Won’t Be Mayor Anymore

Mayor London Breed clearly has less juice in City Hall these days, as her final three commission picks went down in flames at the last Board of Supervisors meeting of her mayoral tenure.

SF Politics

SF DA Brooke Jenkins Gets In Dig at Elon Musk After Momeni Verdict

Before he became Trump's temporary lackey, Elon Musk was just your average bandwagon-jumping, San Francisco-hating tech CEO on Twitter, trying to tell the world that the city that birthed his company and many others had gone to hell overnight.

SF Politics

Lurie Hires Former Twitter CFO Ned Segal to Be ‘Policy Chief’ of Housing and Economic Development

A former Twitter executive who’s suing Elon Musk over unpaid severance is now taking over SF’s housing and economic recovery response under the Daniel Lurie administration, as Ned Segal has been named Chief of Housing and Economic Development.

SF Politics

Charges Tossed Out for San Mateo County Sheriff's Deputy Whom Sheriff Had Ordered Arrested

Controversial San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus had the head of the sheriff’s deputies’ union arrested last month, accusing him of grand theft. But the San Mateo County DA has dropped all of those charges, in the latest black eye for Corpus.

SF Politics

Scott Wiener Helps Lead Charge to Thwart a Republican-Led Constitutional Convention Nightmare

Among the many, many nightmare scenarios we face as Donald Trump and his band of anti-government zealots march back into the White House is the looming threat of a constitutional convention.

SF Politics

El Cerrito to Have First Majority-LGBTQ City Council In Bay Area When New Members Are Sworn In Tuesday

Well check out El Cerrito, as the Contra Costa County city will have an LGBTQ majority on its city council as of Tuesday night, the first ever such majority in the Bay Area and only the third ever in state history.

SF Politics

Pamela Price's Phone Records Subpoenaed Over Extortion Allegations Against Her

A public defender claims former Alameda County DA Pamela Price tried to shake her down for political donations in exchange for a lighter sentence for her client, and that public defender just won a subpoena to go through Price’s phone records to prove it.

SF Politics

Lurie Taps Former Giants Executive as Chief of Staff, Announces Other New Hires

Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie announced his first three hires, and while two of them were campaign staffers, his out-of-left-field pick is former Giants executive vice president Staci Slaughter as his new chief of staff.

SF Politics

Daniel Lurie Plans to Create Four Deputy Positions In Mayor's Office

San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie has plans to switch things up a bit in the mayor's office, reverting to a system that voters in the city did away with almost 30 years ago.

SF Politics

SF City Hall Cancels Contracts With Nonprofit That Had Improper Spending Scandal

After the director of a city commission was found to be directing taxpayer-funded contracts to a man she lived with, City Hall officials have found what appears to be more self-dealing, and canceled their contracts with a controversial nonprofit.

SF Politics

Is This Why the FBI Raided Sheng Thao’s Home? Filings Allege High-Rollers Traded Campaign Donations for City Contracts

A new set of filings allege that a recycling company and a security firm funneled nearly $300,000 to a Sheng Thao political operative in exchange for lucrative city contracts, and now that political operative may have flipped and could be cooperating with the feds.

SF Politics

Adam Schiff Sworn In to Senate, Says He Doesn't Need Pre-emptive Pardon From Biden

Congressman Adam Schiff is now Senator Adam Schiff, as he was officially sworn in Monday to cover the balance of the late Dianne Feinstein's term. And he says he doesn't just want to be known as a thorn in Trump's side.

SF Politics

Oakland City Council Weighing Drastic Cuts as $130 Million Deficit Looms

Layoffs, pay cuts, and reductions to the police and fire departments are all on the table in Oakland, as the City Council looks for ways to slash the city's budget as they confront a deficit of nearly $130 million.

SF Politics

Santa Clara Vice Mayor Resigns After Being Found Guilty of Perjury In 49ers Scandal

A sitting Santa Clara City Council member and Vice Mayor of the city, Anthony Becker, was just found guilty of lying under oath about an illicit favor to the San Francisco 49ers ownership. He’s now stepped down, and he’s got prison time to worry about.

SF Politics

Divisive BART Board Member Debora Allen Passes Out MAGA Hats to Colleagues On Her Way Out the Door

In a sign of things to come in the year ahead, as Trump supporters from every basket of deplorables feel emboldened to once again spit in the faces of others and proclaim their dominion, a conservative BART director on her way out gave out a provocative parting gift to her colleagues.

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

Supervisors Eliminate $10 Million Per Year In Licensing Fees for Bars and Restaurants

SF food and drink establishments will no longer have to pay licensing fees for outdoor seating and a host of other add-ons under newly passed legislation, though the breaks don’t kick in until 2026.

SF Politics

Mayor Breed Leaving an $876 Million Deficit on Her Way Out the Door, and It Could Top $1 Billion

Mayor London Breed’s final fiscal update of her tenure in office shows a budget deficit that’s nearly $100 million higher than it was projected to be just four months ago, and the Trump administration seems likely to yank some already-promised federal funding.

SF Politics

With Final House Seat Decided In California, Republicans Set to Have a One-Vote Majority Until Vacancies Are Filled

California's 13th Congressional District has flipped from Republican to Democrat, and with that race settled, we now know that the Republicans yet again hold the slimmest of majorities in the House — 220 seats to Democrats' 215.

SF Politics

Trump Names Anti-Lockdown Stanford Doctor to Lead NIH

The ridiculous clown car that is the second Trump administration just gained another clown.

SF Politics

FBI Probe That Brought Raid of Sheng Thao’s Home Has Witnesses Giving Closed-Door Testimony

The FBI appears to be making progress in whatever investigation resulted in the June raid of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home, as witnesses are being subpoenaed, but we still don’t know why the raid happened or who the FBI’s suspects are.

SF News

SF-Bashing Twitter Troll ‘Raw Ricci’ Arrested for Allegedly Pimping Women Out of His Luxury SoMa Apartment

One of SF's most notorious Twitter provocateurs and “anti-crime” Fox News guests finds himself in SF County Jail today, after being arrested at SFO on pimping and pandering charges that allege he ran a sex work ring from his upscale apartment.

SF Politics

President of Oakland City Council, Nikki Fortunato Bas, Declares Victory In County Race, Complicating Mayoral Transition

Who will be interim mayor of Oakland? That's a more open question now as City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas announced victory in her bid to become an Alameda County supervisor.

SF Politics

Rumor Swirls That Breed Will Appoint Former Aide, Loyal 'Guard Dog' and Potential Chaos Agent as Supervisor

Mayor London Breed is rumored to be seriously considering appointing her former aide and more recently campaign advisor Conor Johnston to Catherine Stefani's soon-to-be-vacated seat on the Board of Supervisors.