Tim Redmond

4 days ago | 48hills.org | Tim Redmond

The Yimby movement is backing a bill in the state Legislature that would make it more difficult for local government to raise real-estate transfer taxes—a key source of revenue for affordable housing. AB 698, by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks of Berkeley, would do exactly what the Yimbys and their allies complain about: Add a “constraint” to passing taxes on high-end real-estate transactions. Transfer taxes are fees collected by local government based on the sales price of real estate.

6 days ago | 48hills.org | Tim Redmond

It will be a while before anyone drills down into the details of the mayor’s budget plan. It’s 343 pages, and most reporters so far have just outlined the press statements. But the patterns that will shape this document, and Lurie’s legacy, are pretty clear. A budget is a statement of policy priorities. Here’s what this budget does—and what the Lurie Administration has made its top priority:—It pours money into public safety, particularly law enforcement.

1 week ago | 48hills.org | Tim Redmond

In 1983, when I was a young reporter just starting out at the San Francisco Bay Guardian, then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein signed a law strictly limiting the possession of handguns in the city. A self-described Marxist-Leninist group called the White Panthers, whose members argued that the left should be well armed, immediately launched an effort to recall the mayor.

1 week ago | 48hills.org | Tim Redmond

Mayor Daniel Lurie and Gov. Gavin Newsom are facing budget crises that threaten basic services, and as they prepare for brutal cuts, they are also facing a serious adversary: Organized labor. In rallies at City Hall and at the last Board of Regents meeting, broad coalitions of local and statewide union members have opposed the deep cuts that have already impacted essential programs and may lead to layoffs.

1 week ago | 48hills.org | Tim Redmond

The San Francisco Parks Alliance, a private group that raises private money (allegedly) for improvements to city parks, is in something akin to financial free fall, as allegations emerge that the group badly mismanaged its money and used funds earmarked for other organizations to cover its own budget problems. The Lurie Administration has cut the alliance off from city funding, and a lot of small community groups that are owed money are scrambling.