Aaron Peskin

Win David Chiu's Money? Come On Down!

Not long ago, we wrote about how members of the Board of Supervisors have allotted themselves $100,000 apiece to sprinkle about their districts as they see fit. On the one hand, it's hard to argue against playgrounds and sunshine and happiness and other such things the supes have pushed money toward ... More >>

Unpredictable: A Fortune-Teller Encounters S.F Bureaucracy

Aaron Peskin Denies Willie Brown Ice Capades Tale

A little while ago, your humble narrator read through every last Willie Brown Chronicle column to count the unsolicited plugs of businesses or folks about town. That pretty much filled up a notebook. But we didn't see anything about Satan. Perhaps Satan doesn't have the kind of scratch it takes to g ... More >>

8 Washington: Development Foes Say They've Got the Signatures to Force Referendum on Project

Anti-condo petition could spawn first successful referendum in 21 yearsHalting the construction of 8 Washington, a waterfront development that would likely house the most expensive condos in city history, has blossomed into the progressive ur-issue. And that figures to continue for quite some time. ... More >>

America's Cup, San Francisco, and an Armada of Yachting Teams are Sued

​On the cusp of next week's likely final approval of the far-reaching America's Cup development agreement, the city, race organizers, the Board of Supervisors, and no fewer than 50 yachting teams have been hit with a lawsuit in San Francisco court. Waterfront Watch, an umbrella group that lists fo ... More >>

Progressively Worse: The Tumultuous Rise and Acrimonious Fall of the City's Left

Aaron Peskin Questions Whether Gavin Newsom Can Be a Member of Local Democratic Party

Dear Gavin ... ​Upon hearing news that Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom would move his family to the ritzier county of Marin, you'd expect to hear his political rivals say something like "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Instead, they are going to great lengths to remove any remaining t ... More >>

San Francisco's Political Winners and Losers

Once again, San Francicans gave Gavin what he wanted...​With all of San Francisco's races decided, there's no excuse to not weigh in on who shat and who was shat upon in this electoral season. Other than the fact that San Francisco politics, like radium, slowly kills you over time by rotting your ... More >>

Art Agnos Speaking With Supervisors About Interim Mayor Gig

Is he The One?​Art Agnos, San Francisco's mayor from 1988 to 1992, says he has been speaking with members of the Board of Supervisors about the possibility he will serve as an interim mayor. Under the deal being proposed, he would not stand for election in Nov. 2011, leaving the field clear for ot ... More >>

S.F. Babylon: A Decade of Scandal, Hypocrisy, and Weirdness (Pt. 1)

By Ashley Harrell and Will Harper     Over the past decade, we have oftentimes felt as though we are living in an adult playground run by a feisty bunch of hypocrites, philanderers, and drunk-dialers. This, we have to admit, makes San Francisco a pretty exciting city in which to gather t ... More >>

The Worst-Run Big City in the U.S.

Spend more. Get less. We're the city that knows how.

What Did Gavin Newsom Bring Everyone From Hawaii?

​On the one hand, following Mayor Gavin Newsom's abrupt withdrawal from the governor's race, he spent quality time back in a beautiful city nestled in the bosom of the Pacific. On the other hand -- it was in Hilo, Hawaii. When you take off for an impromptu jaunt several thousand miles away from Ci ... More >>

Mayor's Choice to Replace Wealthy Supporters on Arts Commission -- His Own Employee

Nan Park ImagesAh, but is it art? ​In San Francisco, the term "Arts Commission" is misleading. This is not merely a roomful of wealthy dowagers deciding where to place a bust of Adolph Sutro. A small percentage of funds expended on development projects in the city, by law, are sent the commission' ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: Your 'Labor Day' Guide to What the F*#@k Happened in the Last Eight Months

With a federal holiday appears on the calendar, city hall's motto becomes: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but how much time off you can take from your country". In this particular case, The supervisors like to celebrate Labor Day by pretending to have labored, while their staff likes ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: The Budget Still Sucks, But Now I Want to Hug Chris Daly

Building & Trades Unions Say City Hall Protest Isn't Political Show -- It's All About Jobs, Jobs, JOBS!

Joe EskenaziMike Theriault, head of the Building & Construction Trades Council, wants jobs. When does he want them? Now.A crowd of 300 to 400 soggy, hardhat-and-overalls-wearing union men and women -- many of whom, sadly, had no other engagements at noon on a working day -- stood at City Hall Pl ... More >>

Bidness as Usual

Firm that won $26 million contract donated to campaigns tied to supervisors and the mayor.

The recession is hurting A.C.T. and others

SF Gov InAction Fire Sale: Supes Sell Their Legacies Off for Pennies on the Dollar

By Benjamin Wachs Come on down to San Francisco, boys and girls, where the deals are hot, hot, HOT! That's right, I'm Crraaaaaaazy Gavin Newsom, and this week everything must go! We have an ENORMOUS deficit looming up after the holidays and our entire inventory must be cleared out! No deal t ... More >>

SF Government InAction: We blame everybody. EVERYBODY!

By Benjamin Wachs San Francisco has managed to come out of the most hopeful election in US memory more divided than ever. It’s not because Prop 8 passed – everybody loses at some point in a Democracy. It’s because our search for someone to blame has now got us hating each other even more ... More >>

Senior Memories

Some of the Class of 2000's stranger moments. (A lot of them involve Chris Daly.)

The Failed Experiment

The Class of 2000 made San Francisco its political petri dish.

SF Gov InAction: Superheroes, Stereotypes, and all of San Francisco to become One Giant Tourism District!

Building Overtime

Off-duty police officers making time and a half are swarming over construction sites, handing out tickets. Only in S.F.

SF Government InAction: Supes to "Commend" Department Head Accused of Sexual and Religious Harrassment...

Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Liberals

Bye-bye, Mr. DBI: Controversial Head of S.F. Building Department Bids Adieu

Public Power Grab

Why some "progressives" are putting energy into a bad idea.

SF Government InAction: Summer SanFranSchitzophrenia Begins! We're Saving Water! Use More Water! Keep Elections Safe from Candidates!

SF Gov InAction: Special "Budget Week" Edition! DO: Tip Your Skycap! DON'T: Pay Any Fees

SF Gov InAction: Supes to Help Ration Water by Making it Cost More, and Debate whether the Handicapped and Elderly Have Too Many Parking Spaces

SF Gov't InAction: 2,400 Square Feet in SF Renting for only $200. WHAT?

SF Gov't InAction: Bye-bye Taxi Commission, hello Peaker Plants?

Taxi Cabs Hauling Trans-Fats to Budget Hearings; That's Right, the Board of Supervisors Are Back! It's ...

Civil Grand Jury Reports SF City Government 'Sucks Big Time' (Paraphrased)

The Daly Show

Even in a summer of discontent for San Francisco progressives, bad-boy supervisor Chris Daly remains unbowed

The Muni Paradox

A new ballot measure could change this absurd concept: less management for more money

MUNI To Run Faster, Cheaper and On-Time Under New Act

Fore Play

The city's new New Deal: Privatizing public parks

The Oracle of San Francisco

No, not that jerk-led software behemoth down the Peninsula – the real Oracle, with the surefire, bet-the-house prophecies you deserve

The Chick Factor

He's idealistic, he's good-looking, and he's even a great listener

A Glimmer of Hope

In the city of sleaze, someone's finally doing something about SFO's shady little side business

Death of a Deli

Mike Cresci just wanted to sell his raviolis. But the old neighborhood never accepted him.

Fissilingual Predictions

Chewing on the past and future is a New Year's cliché that no word-loving breedbate can resist

You Don't Own Me

Touring the glamorous homes of the opponents of Prop. R, which would allow thousands of renters per year to buy their own apartments

Now That's Amore

In S.F., spring is the season for romance. And pig coitus. And mouse erections. And ...

Letters to the Editor

Week of March 6, 2002

Axing Permission

Everyone who needs an affordable apartment loses when NIMBYs get to appeal housing permits to the Board of Supervisors

Sporting News

The wonderful world of sport, packaged to appeal to a city of blasé cafe intellectuals

The Art of the Deal

The Academy of Art College may be questionable as a school, but it's a hell of a business