Jake McGoldrick

City Rules "Remodeling" 850-Square-Foot House to 5,139 Square Feet Is A-Okay

Readers may recall a December SF Weekly article about the surreal city rules builders exploit to blow up small homes into mansions, and blow away what's left of San Francisco's dwindling affordable housing stock. That article turned out to be Exhibit 17 in a hearing last night at the Board of Appeal ... More >>

Next Stop: Oz. There's No Place Like Muni, There's No Place Like Muni...

Joe EskenaziNo Toto, though...​ While riding tornadoes over the rainbow is the preferred route to Oz, it turns out the Muni train is ever so slightly more reliable. And, as we've documented numerous times in the past, they'll even take your little dog, too. Our eye-catching Dorothy Gale stepped on ... More >>

Oops, They Did It Again -- Public Campaign Finance Advocates Bemoan Latest 'Raid'

​Public campaign financing isn't just a political football here in San Francisco -- it's a football so frequently kicked, punted, or otherwise buffeted the laces have come undone. And is there any money to fix it? Don't ask! The latest instance of San Francisco politicos stating they like the idea ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: The Budget's All finished, Except for the Backstabbing

Our story so far: The Supervisors were drinking champagne in City Hall last week after reaching a budget deal that restored an unprecedented amount money to programs that Mayor Gavin "Call me Governor" Newsom cut from San Francisco because he thought it would play well in Fresno. Par-TAY! B ... More >>

Eric Mar's students say he's easy like Sunday morning

SF Gov InAction: The Supes are Dead! Long Live the Supes! Plus: Why It Doesn't Matter Who the New Board President Is

By Benjamin Wachs I cannot imagine a board without Aaron Peskin, Jake McGoldrick and Gerardo Sandoval - let alone Tom Ammiano. As the old board reaches its end and transitions to the new this week, I find myself hoping that - like a bad sitcom - our departing cast members will come back as guest ... More >>

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 Gov InAction: Who Wants to Play on Moscone Center's New Waterslide?

By Benjamin Wachs It could just be me, wading through the hell of Gavin Newsom's fevered imagination the way Peary crossed the arctic, but I kind of feel like all of San Francisco is governmented-out this week. The Mayor pummeled us with 7.5 hours worth of speeches last week, not a single minut ... More >>

SF Gov. InAction: Quick, the Budget's in Trouble! Someone Cut the Community Justice Center or Something

By Benjamin Wachs Keeping with tradition, the Supervisors have taken a holiday weekend and turned it into an extended vacation. Their justification this time is that they all need the extra two days off to go see "Milk." Last year, it was to stand in line and buy iPhones, and the year before th ... More >>

Business Conductor

The city needs to stop subsidizing the S.F. Symphony and other snobby arts organizations that cater to the rich.

SF Gov InAction: Dirk Dirksen alley is back, non-profits pay surprisingly well, and hey - who wants to build a library?

SF Gov InAction: Overtime Report Catches City Departments Working! Democracy will Save the Eastern Neighborhoods!

Senior Memories

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

The Class of 2000

Eight years after being swept into office, a once-disorganized band of neighborhood leftists tries to create a citywide political machine.

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!

SF Gov InAction: Supes to Investigate Crucial Wooden Decks, Celebrate Sea Otters, and Look like They're Reading Reports

SF Government InAction: If Anyone at City Hall was Paying Attention to the Civil Grand Jury Report, They'd be Furious. Fortunately, That Never Happens!

SF Gov InAction: Supes find New Ways to Threaten Newsom. Plus: Can You Feel the Ground Shaking? That's this Week's BIG Meeting!

Public Power Grab

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

Sf Government InAction: Is Ross Mirkarimi Captain Ahab? Is Burma a Root Vegetable? And Who is that Masked Supervisor, Anyway?

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

Something Bad Happened

SF Gov InAction: Same Old Shit Gets Bigger Tax Breaks; Jake McGoldrick's Charter Amendment Retirement Tour Heats Up, and Did Somebody Say "Peaker Plants?"

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

First Offender Prostitution Program Punishes Victimless Crime

Supes Spread Manure

Their anti-Newsom campaigning is preventing more affordable housing

City Hall's War Against City Hall: It's ...

MTA War Is Brewing on MLK Day as Archduke Gavin Newsom Inspects His Troops. It's ...

SF Ghettos Re-Zoned for More Booze? It's: SFGovernmentInAction!!!

SF Weekly on Muni: Is Giving the Board of Supes Control A Good Idea?

Letters to the Editor

Week of 4-11-2007

Making (Radio) Waves

The mayor's Wi-Fi plan is about to have its signal blocked by a group of activists

A Walk in the Park

Cynics use the retarded to keep cars in Golden Gate Park

Prying Eyes

Missed Connection

The multiuse Transbay Terminal project may have shrunk into a really expensive bus station

Up Theirs, Please

As a favor to a columnizing colleague, Social Grace gives San Francisco's swearing-obsessed politicians some damn good advice on cleaning up their whiny fucking acts

The Daly Show

Why a supervisor needs to feel some love and back off a counterproductive assault on a nonprofit housing agency

Cuss and Conquer

A more polite, nuanced approach might prove more effective for Supervisor Chris Daly. Or not.

Moral Inferiority

S.F. Democrats have talked "values" for years, but it's all been empty talk. To make a national comeback, Demos need to concentrate on moral works.

Progressive Failure

Why San Francisco supervisors who call themselves progressives should get the boot in November

Same as the Old Boss?

Why the new mayor should resist political pressure from the new shadow ayatollah of San Francisco politics, real estate mogul Clint Reilly

Pumping Irony

Gavin Newsom should look to Sacramento for political inspiration

Fear Factor

SARS has barely touched S.F. Yet tourists and others are staying away from Chinatown in droves.

Letters to the Editor

Week of July 24, 2002

Political Relativity

Stuck in a strange warp of the space-time fabric, our supervisors can't stop tilting against a dot-com development monster that's dead and buried

Urine a Bad Spot Because of Them

Why do our supervisors pass over substance in favor of trivia like the public peeing bill?

Dog Bites

The Law of Unintended Consequences; Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining; From the Record Shelf

Dog Bites

Hawaiian Shirts, Expensive Condos, and the Hoochie People

Dog Bites

Board of Supervisors; Population Growth; Dot-com Layoffs