Government and Politics

San Franciscans Are Constantly Cheating on Taxes. You Know Who You Are

We all know (and enjoy) that sweet taste of taking something for nothing, but it always feels a little wrong. Now that Tax Day is over, let the shaming begin. According to the 2012 National Taxpayer Advocate, California has the highest number of tax cheats in the nation, with San Francisco ... More >>

San Francisco's 1993 Mass Shooting Inspired National Assault Weapons Ban

The New York Times article, on July 2, 1993, began, "San Francisco -- A gunman carrying hundreds of rounds of ammunition terrorized a high-rise office building in the financial district here late this afternoon, killing eight people and wounding six others with a hail of automatic and semiautomatic ... More >>

Sandy Hook Shooting: Technology and Law Should Serve Us, Not Control Us

On Friday, not long after the Sandy Hook shootings, NPR's political editor Ken Rudin took to Facebook to tell his followers: As tempting as it may be to once again debate guns and gun contro -- and try to come to grips with this madness -- we know nothing is going to change. The fault/blame for th ... More >>

Gov. Brown Won't Let Reporters Have Easy Access to Prison Inmates

Assembly Bill 1270, passed by both chambers of the state legislature, would have allowed journalists to set up interviews with specific inmates in state prisons. Eight times over the past two decades a similar bill had passed through to the governor's desk, and all eight times it was vetoed.The stre ... More >>

Sales Tax: San Francisco Left in the Dust

San Francisco is an expensive place to be if you're paying a parking ticket or writing out a rent check or purchasing real estate. We've got that covered. But, when it comes to obtaining a bottle of juice or bar of soap, we're very reasonable. While San Francisco voters spurned a half-a-percent sale ... More >>

Oakland City Leaders Are Picking Marijuana Over Murders, Chronicle Columnist Says

What the hell are Oakland city leaders smoking these days? As the Chron's Chip Johnson astutely notes this week, Oakland city leaders' priorities are completely ass backwards, as evidenced by their reaction to the two biggest news stories in the last few weeks, involving pot clubs and murders.When t ... More >>

Bruce Oka off Muni Board -- Just Five Commissioners Left to Vote on Central Subway Bond

"You never call, you never write" isn't just the lament of parents and grandparents everywhere. It's come to be the gripe of several former city commissioners. Bruce Oka's four-year term as a Municipal Transportation Agency board member expired on April 29, and he says neither Mayor Ed Lee nor anyon ... More >>

Mexican Border Crossings Lowest in Decades, Study Finds

​A new study by researchers at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs upends a lot of the conventional thinking about the effects of U.S. immigration policy -- most notably the contention that harsher security measures along the U.S.-Mexico border have kep ... More >>

Could a Soda Tax Save Lives?

​In April last year, the California state Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation shot down AB 669, Assemblymember Bill Monning's attempt to pass a penny-per-ounce tax on all sweetened beverages, such as sodas, energy drinks, and sweetened fruit-juice drinks. Monning's office estimated that the ... More >>

Mayor Ed Lee Defends His Friendship with Willie Brown, Rose Pak

So what if he is a puppet, get over it!​The mayor's race might be over, but the deep tensions that often defined the candidates are still very much there. On KQED this morning, Forum host Michael Krasny reminded Mayor Ed Lee that his political rivals, namely state Sen. Leland Yee, are still beatin ... More >>

Adachi Campaign Alleges Lee Door Hangers Violate Campaign Finance Law

Ed Lee​Interim Mayor Ed Lee is facing new allegations of wrongdoing on the eve of the election, capping a slew of ethical complaints that has dogged his campaign this fall.Public Defender and mayoral contender Jeff Adachi says he filed a complaint with the San Francisco Ethics Commission this morn ... More >>

9/11 Conspiracy Movie Festival Brings "Truthers" to Herbst Theatre

Or was it?​The details may vary, but the premise behind almost all the 9/11-conspiracy films this weekend is roughly the same: Government investigations such as the 9-11 Commission report are inadequate and may be covering up other details. Beyond that, theories vary, and the Northern California ... More >>

Another Poll Shows Majority Support Legalizing Pot

Yes​Ho-hum. Another day, another poll showing a majority of Americans are sick of the War on Drugs and favor marijuana legalization.Of 1,003 Americans nationwide contacted by Canadian firm Angus Reid Public Opinion, 55 percent said they support the legalization of marijuana while 40 percent were o ... More >>

LA Times Just Now Figures Out That Ed Lee Isn't Running for S.F. Mayor

Los Angeles Times takes the new out of news​For as prestigious a paper as the Los Angeles Times is, we have to wonder how the reporting staff missed the news that Mayor Ed Lee says he isn't running for San Francisco mayor. Admittedly, we don't follow every story in the Los Angeles area, but if we ... More >>

Joanna Rees Gives a Large Chunk of Money to Democratic Party For No Good Reason

The best way to support the Democratic Party is to JOIN the party​In the San Francisco's mayor's race Joanna Rees has played the part as the unknown, nonpolitical candidate who has confounded people by claiming she is a "progressive independent" -- whatever that means. But now it seems the apoliti ... More >>

Federal Fingerprinting Program May Still ID Illegal Immigrant Teens Shielded By City

Looking for the right fingerprints​This week Mayor Ed Lee announced the city would stop alerting federal immigration officials about illegal immigrant youth they book into juvenile hall on felony charges -- if the teens have family in the Bay Area.Even with this new policy, immigration authorities ... More >>

Cesar Ascarrunz Would Have Spiced Up Mayoral Candidate Forum

Hmmmm. How could we make the mayor's race a little spicier!​Cesar Ascarrunz, the legendary nightclub impresario and current mayoral candidate, blasted the University of San Francisco for excluding him from a recent candidate forum."They're afraid, because they know I'm going to win the election," ... More >>

Sheriff Michael Hennessey to Give Illegal Immigrants a Break

Talk to the hand, ICE.​Today we woke up to the news that Sheriff Michael Hennessey has found a loophole in the federal fingerprinting program that identifies illegal immigrants in the county jail. And as of June 1, Hennessey will no longer hold illegal immigrants booked into county jail on minor m ... More >>

Tea Partier Portrays Obama as Ape in E-Mail to Friends

Courtesy OC WeeklyTea Partier Marilyn Davenport sent this photo to fellow conservatives​Time for some link love to one of the southern garrisons of the Village Voice Media empire. We've written before about the paranoiac, semiliterate reasoning that supports the related belief systems of the Tea P ... More >>

Gay Binational Couples Fighting Deportations On Obama's New DOMA Stance

​Gay couples are already using President Obama's new stance against the Defense of Marriage Act as a weapon to fight deportations of their foreign spouses. The couples hope that the administration's declaration last week that the law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman is uncon ... More >>

Ross Mirkarimi Says Talk of Mayoral Run is 'a Leap'

Running for mayor?​After reading Willie Brown's column on Sunday, reporters started peppering Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi with calls about whether he plans to run for mayor. Why? In his column, Brown leaves readers to believe that the District 5 supervisor is planning not only a run for sheriff but ... More >>

Gay Couples to Stage City Hall Sit-In to Celebrate Valentine's Day

Love hurts​For many San Francisco gay couples, Valentine's Day is just a bitter reminder of what they don't have -- marriage certificates. So expect a huge turnout at San Francisco City Hall for the hallmark holiday today; gay couples across the nation will celebrate their love with a little civil ... More >>

Mayor To Answer Questions in Public-- Finally

Eleven players​Former mayor Gavin Newsom squirmed his way out of City Hall just in time to dodge the one thing he dreaded more than a an interview with former CBS reporter Hank Plante: mayoral question time. Last November, voters approved Proposition C, which  forces the mayor to have face ti ... More >>

KUSF Needs You To Write the FCC

Only Uncle Sam can save you now....​On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will likely approve a symbolic resolution opposing the University of San Francisco's decision to sell KUSF, the community-based radio station that was abruptly shut down two weeks ago. Even if the vote is unanimous, as author ... More >>

Week in Gay: Ted Haggard is Bisexual and Anderson Cooper has a 'Companion'

Coming after cousin Geri​This edition of The Week in Gay is a potpourri (either a miscellaneous collection of stories or a mixture of dried flowers and spices) of four categories - plus an extra special bonus!Included are updates on the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, the latest stories from San F ... More >>

Ed Lee Still Doesn't Want to Be Mayor

Ed Likes Policy, Not Politics​Mayor Ed Lee never wanted to be mayor of San Francisco in the first place. In fact, he had to be convinced and cajoled by powerful people in the Chinese-American community to take the job when it was offered. Knowing that, it has been interesting to watch him bounce a ... More >>

Chiu, Lee Talk About Repairing Relationship Between Mayor and the Board of Supervisors

White Flag ​If there is anything that the new Board of Supervisors can learn from their predecessors, it's that provoking the mayor can only backfire. After a tense week that shook San Francisco's political circles, Supervisor David Chiu today invited City Administrator Ed Lee, who is expected to ... More >>

Tom Ammiano Makes It Official: He Won't Be Next Mayor

Count me out, says Tom Ammiano​Assemblyman Tom Ammiano told SF Weekly, in no uncertain terms, he doesn't want to be the next damn mayor. He told his former board colleagues the same. He hasn't yet hired out a pilot to do skywriting -- but his drift is unmissable. Supervisor Chris Daly remains unda ... More >>

Fantasy Voter Fraud

How the Tea Party Is Screwing Over Republicans

Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell: "I'm not a witch"A new Harris Poll indicates that Democrats are gaining ground ahead of the November mid-term elections, and that the assortment of right-wing extremists who call themselves the "Tea Party" have something to do with this last-minute success.

Republicans tastelessly milk cow-shooting controversy

Republicans Following Porn on Twitter (NSFW)

By following @_PrettyAlison, the California GOP studied the body politic...​If you're going to get hit with a sex scandal, you should at least make sure to enjoy the sex. Yet the California Republican Party has been monitoring the online offerings of dozens of porn purveyors in a situation that ga ... More >>

Obama 'Even Worse' Than Bush On Secret Wiretapping Case, Says S.F. Lawyer

Is 'Mr. Change' listening?​San Francisco attorney Jon Eisenberg thinks he's learned a thing or two about Barack Obama over the past 15 months. Eisenberg, who won a landmark decision against the government in Northern California's U.S. District Court Wednesday on a wiretapping case, says that when ... More >>

Distressed Properties

The state's quick budget fix of selling off public buildings is a horrible idea.

Letter to the Media: Stop Coddling Tea-Party Crazies

But not to stop tea-partiers' batshit lunacy​Those who pick up their news exclusively from such esteemed outlets as The Economist magazine, the Web site Politico, or ABC television could be forgiven these days for having a charitable view of the new American political force known as the Tea Party ... More >>

Explained: The Clusterfuck That Lost the Proposition 8 Campaign

​During testimony, filings, and deliberations in the Proposition 8 trial, an unasked question reverberated through the federal courthouse in San Francisco: Why, exactly, are we here?A step outside into the reality of still separate and unequal California provided an answer: An inept anti-Prop. 8 c ... More >>

Frantic E-Mail Bemoans Scant Submissions For Mayor's Teacher, Principal Awards

When it comes to submissions, the mayor's office has got it bad, got it bad, got it bad...​An urgent e-mail fired off to every member of the Board of Supervisors and other government officials pleads with them to drum up entrants for the Mayor's Teacher of the Month and Principal of the Year Award ... More >>

Stimulating Debate

S.F.'s employment rate is relatively good, but city leaders can still create more jobs. Here's how.

Leno: Even if Maldonado Becomes Lt. Gov, Republican Voters Won't Back a Latino

La respuesta del Senador Maldonado en español from CA Senate GOP on Vimeo. Sen. Mark Leno, the sole San Francisco legislator to vote in favor of installing Republican Abel Maldonado as the state's next Lieutenant Governor, said he has good reasons for casting his vote the way he did. But he said M ... More >>

Screwed

A lawsuit against the city highlights an affordable-housing program's decades of mismanagement — and the middle-class homeowners who lost out as a result.

Oh Yes, There's an Election Today. A Guide For the Last-Minute Voter.

Hey, lazy! It ain't too late to turn in that absentee ballot! ​Here at SF Weekly, we make a point of not telling you how to vote. Well, I'm going to break that taboo today. But not really. I'm not telling you who or what to vote for. I'm going to, literally, tell you how to vote. When we spoke wit ... More >>

Flubbers

How Federal Home Loan Banks and their execs exacerbated the banking meltdown.

Aftermath of War

Mexico Burning? Don't believe it.

S.F.'s Global Exchange wins publicity by pushing a vote recount Mexico doesn't need

The Deal With Treasure Island

Tony Hall's firing casts the spotlight on a real estate mega-deal that slogs along under a veil of secrecy

S.F. Hosing Authority

City government promised Katrina victims a haven, then it gave some of them the shaft

The Spybots Among Us

How the NSA tracks terrorists in the United States through the Internet

Fallout

Newly released documents indicate the Navy dumped far more nuclear waste than it's ever acknowledged in a major commercial fishery just 30 miles west of San Francisco. Why won't the government even study the Farallon Islands Nuclear Waste Site?

Fallout

How nuclear researchers handled -- and grossly mishandled -- the Cold War's most dangerous radioactive substances at a top-secret lab inside the Hunters Point Shipyard. The same shipyard the city wants to remake as San Francisco's newest neighborhood.

Bitch, Bitch, Bitch

Politicos, prudes, and the paranoid protest the programming heard on Bay Area radio stations to the highest authority in the land -- the Federal Communications Commission