Category Archives: Politics

Politics

Is gentrification an environmental impact?

By Tim Redmond : 48jills – excerpt

The battle over People’s Park has been raging since I was in sixth grade, and we could spend a huge amount of time talking about the role of the three-acre lot in the history of Berkeley. It’s been a point of contention representing so much and so many issues, and it’s back in the news now that UC Berkeley once again is trying to build a dorm on the site as part of a much larger campus expansion plan.

And this week, the Court of Appeal for the First Circuit of California issued a ruling on what started out as a technical legal issue around the project but has now, potentially, changed the way environmental law applies to cities in Northern California.

Specifically, the tentative court ruling holds that gentrification and displacement are issues that have to be analyzed under the California Environmental Quality Act.

That would, among other things, justify the Board of Supes decision on 469 Stevenson Street and force the city and developers to do an entirely new type of analysis before they put luxury housing projects in vulnerable communities.

This isn’t final: The opinion is still in draft form, and won’t be finalized until after the court hears oral arguments Jan. 12. Even if the court sticks to its tentative ruling, the Supreme Court could take up the case.

But if it holds, development-friendly folks are already freaking out. From today’s Business Times… (more)

Alameda Court cases are not always predictable and this case proves that point. Will this become a precedent setting case or only a blip on the radar? Stay tuned.

Politics

Grassroots Democrats denounce PAC that helped get Haney elected to Assembly

By Tim Redmond :48hills – excerpt

Govern for California is anti-labor, anti-teacher, anti-single-payer, and pro-Matt Haney. Now county committees around the state are telling Democrats not to take the money.
Several county chapters of the California Democratic Party have passed or are considering resolutions condemning the anti-labor plutocratic group Govern for California and calling on Democratic candidates to refuse to accept the group’s money.

The SF County Central Committee approved that resolution Sept. 28, with Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymember Phil Ting the only ones voting no…

The resolution has no binding authority, but it’s part of a growing movement among grassroots Democrats to distance the party from a powerful group of very rich donors who are under investigation for dubious campaign spending and openly seeking to end tenure for teachers, end organized labor in government, and block single-payer health care.

Haney insisted he supported single-payer, but he took $285,000 in direct contributions from Govern for California affiliates. Check out this video where David Crane, the co-founder of the group, explains how he helped kill single-payer:..(more)

Sounds like a lobbying organization if they are working on that many subjects. David Crane must be a lobbyist if he killed the California single payer bill.

Politics

Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

By Garrett Leahy : sfstandard – excerpt

Nearly half of San Franciscans have been a victim of theft in the past five years and a quarter have been threatened or physically attacked, according to a new poll.

Findings from the SF Chronicle survey underscored the challenges of the city and the unhappiness of its residents, with 65% saying life in SF is worse today than when they moved here.

The survey also found that 39% of residents have had their property damaged in the past five years…(more)