Josh Koehn

San Francisco

Senior Political Reporter at The San Francisco Standard

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Articles

SF Standard - Insurance chief lives large on campaign cash as homes burn

1 week ago | consumerwatchdog.org | Josh Koehn |SF Standard

By Josh Koehn, SF STANDARDhttps://sfstandard.com/2025/04/10/california-insurance-commissioner-ricardo-lara-wildfires-slush-fundThe sun had already set over The Grand, Frank Gehry’s skyscraper complex in downtown Los Angeles, as Ricardo Lara sat down for dinner at San Laurel, a flagship restaurant of famed chef José Andrés that offers sparkling views of the city.
Lurie gives Waymo the keys to Market Street. People are furious

1 week ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

By Josh KoehnPublished Apr. 15, 2025 • 6:00amSafe-street advocates and militant cyclists have spent more than a decade fighting with rideshare companies Uber and Lyft in San Francisco’s transportation trenches. But the natural enemies have finally found common ground: They all hate Mayor Daniel Lurie’s decision to give Waymo robotaxis near exclusive access to Market Street.
Insurance commissioner splurges on meals, drinks as CA burns

2 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

By Josh KoehnPublished Apr. 10, 2025 • 6:00amThe sun had already set over The Grand, Frank Gehry’s skyscraper complex in downtown Los Angeles, as Ricardo Lara sat down for dinner at San Laurel, a flagship restaurant of famed chef José Andrés that offers sparkling views of the city. Lara and a guest started with an Americano and a Diet Coke, according to a receipt from the California insurance commissioner’s meal the evening of Jan. 15, 2024.
San Francisco official gifted $30K to political nonprofit for event

3 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn |Annie Gaus

Kimberly Ellis, head of the Department on the Status of Women, overruled staff to push excess funds to a friendly political group, a source said. San Francisco’s Department on the Status of Women appears to have violated local laws by approving a $30,000 overpayment to a political nonprofit with close ties to a city official who is currently suspended, an investigation by The Standard has found.
San Francisco spent $600K on a women's conference. Here's how

3 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn |Gabe Greschler |Annie Gaus

The Department on the Status of Women spared no expense on plane tickets, a DJ, and fees for speakers — including one tasked with agency oversight. San Francisco is famous for burning taxpayer cash in weird ways, but a policy summit held by the Department on the Status of Women last spring may have set a new standard by lighting more than $600,000 ablaze while also potentially violating city rules, according to documents obtained by The Standard.
San Francisco official paid ‘dear friend’ $85K using city money

4 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn |Gabe Greschler

As director of the Department on the Status of Women, Kimberly Ellis used taxpayer money for extravagances that include a fancy Tahoe retreat — with her close pal at her side. Back in October 2023, employees in San Francisco’s Department on the Status of Women made a nearly four-hour trek to Gravity Haus, a resort in Truckee that bills itself as a “storied California playland” due to its amenities and proximity to Tahoe’s ski slopes.
San Francisco places director of department on women on leave

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Annie Gaus |Josh Koehn

Kimberly Ellis, the head of San Francisco’s Department on the Status of Women, has been placed on administrative leave, The Standard has learned. Sources said that Ellis has been under review by the city attorney’s office since before Mayor Daniel Lurie was inaugurated in January, and her leave is related to a conference her department hosted, called “Shift Happens,” and other issues. Ellis has been in charge of the department for more than four years, according to her LinkedIn bio.
Democratic donors fume in San Francisco as party charts new path

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Emily Shugerman |Josh Koehn

As the party’s money machine cranks up for another fight, donors who bankrolled Kamala Harris still feel like they were “lied to” and “burned.”In between exclusive dinners at the high-end bistro Prospect and the lush Terrace Courtyard at the Ritz-Carlton, more than 100 Democratic Party donors flooded into San Francisco’s downtown Four Seasons this week to hear why things went so horribly wrong in 2024.
Daniel Lurie's top press staffer is sacked after uproar in City Hall

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

Mayor Daniel Lurie’s communications director is out of a job a week after The Standard reported on tensions between the mayor’s staff and press officials for city departments who have bristled over a micromanaging approach to dealing with the media. Thursday marked Nina Negusse’s last day working in the mayor’s office. She lasted just two months on the job. Negusse will be replaced by Han Zou, who is adding the communications director title to his current role as the mayor’s head of public affairs.
San Francisco’s new mayor is very sensitive to media coverage

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

San Francisco's mayor has new rules for working with the media that sources described as aggressive and micromanaging. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” one source said. Daniel Lurie mostly avoided public criticism in his adult life by staying out of the city’s ruthless political scene. That all changed in 2023 when he announced his candidacy for mayor and started trading barbs with other candidates.