The Weekly Digest (July 13, 2025)

Happy Sunday, Brionies! 

Here’s what you need to know about local politics this week and beyond:

San Francisco City Hall 

• Monday, July 14 at 1:30pm: Regular meeting of the Land Use and Transportation Committee (agenda here):

• Item 4: It’s another installment of Progressive vs. Progressive Thunderdome! This time it’s a non-binding resolution from Supervisors Chan, Chen, and Fielder opposing a(nother) Senate bill from Scott Wiener pushing transit-centered housing development. The Supervisors are concerned that Wiener’s bill impinges on the right of local communities to make their own decisions about land use preempts SF’s authority to require a certain number of affordable housing units and otherwise impede new development with regulations. Is it possible we’re on Scott Wiener’s side on this one?

• In future weeks, the Committee will consider an ordinance “Permitting Outdoor Handwashing, Vacuuming, and Detailing of Automobiles in the Geary Boulevard Neighborhood Commercial District.” Please do not hesitate to reach out to your supervisor to make known your position on this important issue.

• Tuesday, July 15 at 2pm: Regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda here):

• Item 3: Lest you think it’s all outdoor handwashing and vacuuming at City Hall these days, fear not! Our esteemed leaders will also vote whether they should remove design standards for gates, railings, and grillwork. But only on the ground floor. And only for non-historic buildings. And only in Neighborhood Commercial, Residential-Commercial, Commercial, and Mixed-Use Districts. We kid about the supes diving into this kind of minutiae, but what’s darn near criminal is that these kinds of standards were legislated in the first place.

• Item 6: This one is considering (among other things) eliminating permit requirements for ball or ring throwing games. Come on, people, this is a world-class city. Why does our legislative body need to concern itself with matters more typically taken up by the rules committee of a county fair in Iowa? For example, this week, Adams County (southwest Iowa, population 3,704), is having its county fair. They do not have any rules on ball-throwing games. Let freedom ring!

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 an Operations Manager to lead Briones operations and help build a vibrant volunteer network. See the job description here and reach out to diana@brionessociety.org for more information.
  

Happenings around town

• Briones Society events

• Briones Conversations: Frank Lavin, Author of “Inside the Reagan White House” - Tuesday, August 12, 6-8pm, location sent with RSVP

• Join us for a discussion with Frank Lavin, former Hoover Institution fellow, naval officer, diplomat, and White House political director about his new book, "Inside the Reagan White House: A Front-Row Seat to Presidential Leadership with Lessons for Today."

• Other events of interest

  • Understanding Homeless series – Manny’s, 3092 16th St

  • Night 1 - The History and Cause, Monday, July 14 at 6pm

  • Night 2 - What’s Being Done, Tuesday, July 15 at 6pm

  • Night 3 - Permanent Supportive Housing, Wednesday, July 16 at 6pm

  • Night 4 - How Legal Services Help Reduction, Thursday, July 17 at 6pm

  • Blueprint Briefing monthly update from City Hall

  • Thursday, July 17 at 6pm, 333 Hayes Street

  • Frank Lavin (see Briones Conversation above) hosts a lunch discussion with Olaf Groth, author of The Great Remobilization: Strategies and Designs for a Smarter Global Future

  • Wednesday, July 23 at 12:30pm

  • City Club, 155 Sansome St.

  • Cost: $80, includes lunch and an autographed copy of the book

  • If interested, please email Frank Lavin at hellofranklavin@gmail.com

• SFGOP Community Clean Up, Saturday, July 26, 10am-12pm, Cathedral Hill area

What we’re reading

• The decision by Joel Engardio to champion Prop K (Great Highway closure) continues to reverberate. Obviously, Engardio’s recall would not be happening if he hadn’t chosen to ignore so many of his constituents on Prop K. Now, it seems that negative sentiment about Engardio may be playing a part in the discontinuation of the Sunset night market, an Engardio initiative popular with merchants and the public alike. Engardio blames the cancellation on the fact that the recall has “poisoned local politics.” But there’s also good old fashioned bureaucratic sludge: the City has yet to reimburse organizers for night markets held many months ago.

• With no Digest last week (we hope you had a grand Independence Day!), we weren’t able to mention that Governor Hairdo signed legislation meant to spur housing construction by allowing some projects to circumvent the obstructive (and often weaponized) California Environment Quality Act (CEQA). Newsom touted it as “the most consequential housing reform that we’ve seen in modern history.” While any streamlining of CEQA is welcome, there are still limits in place that leave it well short of a home run.

Quick hits

• SF moves closer to banning RVs from parking for more than 2 hours on city streets

• S.F. wants to extend Embarcadero bike lane - and remove parking and trees

• The drug markets aren’t gone. They just changed opening hours

• The latest Bay Area spot to see a rise in homelessness? SFO

• San Francisco employers are hiring etiquette coaches for Gen Z

• Matt Dorsey is upset about the City’s broken contracting process

This week in San Francisco history

• In July 1934, San Francisco was gripped by intense labor unrest during the West Coast waterfront strike. For four days, the city ground to a halt as unions shut down transport and commerce. On July 17, the California National Guard rolled through Jackson Street with machine-gun trucks, backing police raids on union and Communist Party offices. Though the strike ended soon after, it marked a turning point in U.S. labor history, demonstrating union power and triggering lasting reforms.