The Weekly Digest (June 8, 2025)
Happy Sunday, Brionies!
Here’s what you need to know about local politics this week and beyond:
San Francisco City Hall
Tuesday, June 10 at 2pm: Regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda here):
Items 2-3: Ordinances relating to the refinancing of previously issued and outstanding certificates of participation. The refi will reduce the City’s interest payments on $507,880,000 in certificates that were issued in 2017 to finance expansion of the Moscone Convention Center.
Item 14: A new 10-year lease for restaurant space at 340 Jefferson Street, which is expected to bring in $1.5 million in rent over the decade. The Port Commission is sweetening the deal at tourist-friendly Fisherman’s Wharf with $470,000 for improvements.
Item 16: Approval of an $8 million grant to the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing from the state fund responsible for allocating “savings” from Proposition 47, the 2014 measure that downgraded certain drug and property offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. The funds will support a new program called HEARTTSS (Housing, Expungement and Recovery through Treatment and Support Services). This program helps people who’ve been involved with the justice system by providing housing, clearing their criminal records, and connecting them to recovery and support services. HEARTTSS might be a nice program, but it’s a small band-aid for the deep wound of Prop 47. By removing critical guardrails of law enforcement, Prop 47 caused an increase in chronic drug and theft offenses and turned part-time criminals into pros. Rather than paying for criminal rehabilitation, California would have been better off deterring crime in the first place.
Item 36: Resolution urging Governor Gavin Newsom to restore an adult acupuncture benefit in Medi-Cal, with an estimated cost of $5,400,000. Pish posh on that $6.2 billion budget shortfall. The people need to unblock their qi!
Thursday, June 12 at 10am: Special meeting of the Budget and Appropriations Committee (agenda here):
Items 1 and 2 relate to the Mayor’s proposed budget. Several departments are scheduled to appear.
Friday, June 13 at 10am: Special meeting of the Budget and Appropriations Committee (agenda here):
Further evaluation of the Mayor’s budget.
Happenings around town
Briones Society Events
Thursday, June 12, 5:30-7:30pm, location upon RSVP
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!
Other events of interest
Thursday, June 12, 10-11:30am, 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
Briones Society Co-Founder Bill Jackson takes a clear-eyed look at Mayor Lurie’s challenges and opportunities in a new piece for City Journal: “If step one is acknowledging the problem, step two is fixing broken processes. Until recently, five city departments responded to street crisis calls. Lurie has rationalized the system so that a single integrated team focuses on a particular geographic area. ‘Before, it was nine different outreach teams, five different departments. No one was in charge. Now, someone is in charge,’ he said in an April interview. So far, so good. But Lurie faces at least two further challenges: changing the perception that San Francisco is a place where you can come to do drugs while accessing free services; and improving the city’s grim fiscal outlook.”
The Police Commission voted on Wednesday to accept a $9 million dollar gift from Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, which is especially generous given that Larsen’s previous gift was ripped off by nonprofit fraudsters. If approved by the Board of Supervisors, the new gift will go to the Real Time Investigation Center (RTIC), which was set up after voters passed Proposition E in March 2024. “We’re going to be covering the entire city with drones,” said RTIC representative Captain Thomas MacGuire. Recent drone successes include the arrest of two suspects who were identified by surveillance camera footage analysis. The use of technology has led to 500 felony arrests in 2024 and has mitigated SFPD’s staffing shortage, but it has downsides. Privacy advocates point out that cameras sometimes get things wrong. Drones can also get hacked, and if you’ve ever been around one, you’ll hear it. We want SFPD to get the support it needs, but will keep an eye on proper use of this tech.
The Police Commission is down to three candidates for the new police chief to replace Bill Scott, whose last day was Friday. Mayor Lurie will select from the list of finalists.
Quick hits
SF parents want a Mandarin charter school. They have to get past the unions first
California’s budget excludes World Cup support, leaving 49ers to fill $37M gap
SF landmark to be town down as part of major Fisherman’s Wharf redesign
Newsom ‘threatening’ criminal tax evasion, Treasury Secretary warns
The reason the left loves riots is because it hates civilization
This week in San Francisco history
On June 9, 1851, amid rampant crime and ineffective law enforcement during the Gold Rush era, citizens established the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance. This extralegal group aimed to restore order by taking justice into its own hands, leading to the execution of four individuals, including John Jenkins, who was hanged on June 10 for grand larceny.