Back Issues
Issue 27: Spring 2019
Taking on Big Tech
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From the Newsroom
A Decade of Defying Downward Expectations
In February 2009, our freshly launched website featured just a handful of stories. So, we were surprised when a reporter from the Wall Street Journal called wanting to know whether the San Francisco Public Press, which was planning to officially launch in March, was going to “replace” the San Francisco Chronicle. Facing falling revenues (it said it lost $50 million the previous year) and a protracted labor dispute, Hearst Corp. said that unless it was able to make steep staff reductions within weeks, it would sell the paper or, if no buyer emerged, close it. The threat earned national headlines, and though the Chronicle remained open for business, it lost many good reporters and editors.
City Hall
Writing the Rules on Data Privacy in S.F. Could Disrupt the Disrupters
B it by bit, San Francisco has become a place where it’s assumed that tech companies — many of which are based here — are tracking your every move. Until now, it has largely been up to you to find ways to stay off their collective corporate radar. » Read more
From the Newsroom
Live From the Issue 27 Launch Party
Thanks to everyone who joined us Wednesday, March 20, at The Green Arcade to celebrate the launch of Issue 27, featuring reporting on a lawsuit filed against San Francisco’s largest landlord, the city’s “privacy-first policy” mandated by voter-approved Proposition B, and claims by environmentalists that fast-track housing policy talks did not include them — plus a first-hand account of San Francisco’s biennial homeless point-in-time count. You can watch the whole program here.
Courts & Legal Issues
Sued by Tenants, Veritas Says it Maintains ‘High Standards’
Company spokesman accuses plaintiffs’ attorneys of pushing a ‘false narrative’ for profit
I n reporting on the tenant lawsuit against Veritas Investments Inc., the Public Press engaged company spokesman Ron Heckmann at length. Here are excerpts of some of our questions and his responses via email from Jan. » Read more
Housing
Searching for Truth in Tenants’ Lawsuit Against S.F. Corporate Landlord
Veritas accused of trying to force out rent-controlled residents. Big landlord says charges are false.
When the Great Recession destroyed San Francisco’s 20th-century kings of rent-controlled buildings — the infamous Lembi family — the founder of Veritas Investments Inc. began buying pieces of that broken, over-leveraged empire on his way to becoming what is perhaps the city’s largest residential landlord of the 21st century. » Read more
Aging
Counting the City’s Homeless: A First-Hand Account From the Streets
Point-in-Time counts rely on volunteers’ perceptions of homelessness. As such, the surveys are prone to error.
O n a chilly night in late January, more than 80 volunteers departed the basketball court outside Dr. George Washington Carver Elementary School in the Bayview carrying clipboards and maps. » Read more