The Weekly Digest (June 1, 2025)
Happy Sunday, Brionies!
Here’s what you need to know about local politics this week and beyond:
San Francisco City Hall
Tuesday, June 3 at 2pm: Regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda here).
City Hall is trying to patch today’s staffing holes, refinance yesterday’s debt, and mortgage tomorrow’s tax growth at the last full Board session before its June recess. Highlights:
Item 13: A $7.9 million overtime patch for the Fire Department and Department of Emergency Management, which needs a two-thirds vote. City Hall has blown through its budget for firefighter and dispatcher overtime, and the Mayor is proposing to cover the shortfall partly with higher-than-expected ambulance revenue. We hope you didn't have to take a ride in an ambulance recently. But if you did, don’t tell your insurance company they’re funding Fire Department overtime.
Items 22-23: Resolutions relating to a new “Downtown Revitalization and Economic Recovery Financing District,” a flashy name for siphoning future property-tax growth to subsidize office-to-housing conversions south of Market. Supporters call it the shot of adrenaline downtown needs; critics call it a giveaway that will starve the General Fund for decades.
Items 11-12: Fee hikes all around. Assessment-Appeals filings, Alemany flea stalls, and City-run farmers’ markets all get price bumps. The dollars are tiny, yet they signal how desperately the City is hunting for coins under every couch cushion.
Items 17-19: Another $85 million to keep three homeless hotels and one 250-bed shelter running through 2028. City staff swear the “exit strategy” is coming… eventually. Until then, brace for sticker shock when these leases expire.
Item 31: Resolution urging Governor Newsom to back down from his proposal to freeze new Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented adults beginning in 2026 and imposing a $100 monthly premium for undocumented adults who retain coverage. California has a $12 billion budget deficit, so this is a chance for the Supervisors to practice taking fiscal responsibility ahead of Budgetpalooza coming to San Francisco in July. They won’t, though.
Happenings around town
Briones Society events
Thursday, June 19 at 5pm, online
What is the Briones Society? What is our mission and what are our core principles? How can you get involved? And where the heck does the name “Briones” come from? Join us for a half-hour Zoom meeting to learn the answers to these questions and more. We look forward to meeting you!
Thursday, June 12, 5:30-7:30pm, location upon RSVP
Other events of interest
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson: Biden’s Decline and the Cover-Up,
Monday, June 2 at 6pm, Commonwealth Club (in-person and online)
We’re Hiring!
Are you or someone you know eager to advance a solutions-oriented conservative movement in America’s cities? The Briones Society is looking for a Content and Operations Manager to write for the News Digest, lead Briones operations, and help build a vibrant volunteer network. Please see the job description and application here. Feel free to reach out to diana@brionessociety.org for more information.
What we’re reading
The San Francisco Unified School District postponed implementation of a new “Grading for Equity” initiative after public outcry, including from Mayor Lurie himself. “Grading for Equity” purports to base grades on demonstrated mastery of academic standards rather than a hodgepodge of factors including attendance and effort. So Ferris Bueller’s Day Off could grow into weeks or months as long as he shows up to take the final test. Happily for him, he wouldn’t have to ace the final test to get an ‘A’ because under this new scheme, grades get “equity” too! It’s not fair that A, B, C, and D get only ten percentile points of the 1-100 grade spectrum, while F gets 60 points, so “Grading for Equity” gives all grades an equal number of percentile points. An 81 would be an “A” and a 21 would be a “D.” No thank you. Also, as the ongoing kerfuffle over the District's ethnic studies course illustrates, it’s difficult to have confidence that SFUSD will grade students based on their mastery of core skills, rather than their willingness to regurgitate the “right” ideas. Suggestion for the Board of Education: Ask the Superintendent to come back in the fall with a “Grading for Excellence” plan.
Budget season is probably never anyone’s idea of a real hoot, but the rancid, gaseous, fetid behemoth that is the San Francisco budget has become everyone’s nightmare (well, not everyone - teacher’s unions in San Francisco and Oakland that rely on government coffers seem to go all Alfred E. Neuman when it comes to tightening the belt). Everyone knows why we’re in such dire straits - bloated, unchecked non-profit contracts, the pandemic turning downtown into a mausoleum, reliance on one-time infusions that have now dried up, voters that won’t ever demand the cessation of programs that buy vodka for alcoholics, etc. For his part, Mayor Daniel Lurie is trying to right the ship, at least somewhat, pledging to stop kicking the can down the road. Lurie’s budget contains a plan to close the staggering $800 million deficit, while eschewing any cuts to public safety agencies (police, sheriff, fire). Yes, yes, we know the adage of best-laid plans, and in the affairs of this City’s governance we’ve come to expect the worst, but there’s hope. We hope.
It’s game on in the campaign to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio: the petition to get the recall on the ballot has been certified and will go to the voters in a September special election. If Engardio is recalled, Lurie will appoint his replacement, and that guy or gal will have a leg up in the regular election. Will Lurie appoint a moderate? Is there a moderate candidate to be had? Aaron Peskin, who took over control of the recall effort in recent weeks, will certainly want to prop up a progressive candidate (perhaps the return of exciting-as-powdered-milk Gordon Mar). The real drama begins.
Quick hits
San Francisco in six charts: City’s ‘annual performance results’ paint a mixed picture
Burglary at SF Conservatory of Flowers linked to homeless encampment
Lurie signs legislation to boost SFFD fleet modernization through private funding
The Democratic Socialists of America don’t know if they should condemn murder
An old ex-con recalls his days at Alcatraz. His biggest complaint: ‘Boredom’
This week in San Francisco history
On June 2, 1873, construction began on the Clay Street Hill Railroad, marking the inception of the world's first cable car system. This pioneering transportation method revolutionized urban transit and became an iconic symbol of San Francisco.
Palate cleanser