News
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Tax-Break Tech Hiring a Bust in San Francisco’s Tenderloin

09.15.2014
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By Tom Carter, Mark Hedin and Geoff Link, Central City Extra/New America Media
When the Twitter tax break was signed, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee’s office had high hopes that the expanding technology boom would explode with local hiring and that the incoming Internet companies could help make his dream of 2,500 new tech jobs come true. So the first Community Benefit Agreements that each participating tech company signed to mitigate the harshness of the ensuing gentrification of the neighborhood referenced local workforce development. The 2013 agreements all contain some allusion to hiring locals, few specifics, no grand goals or hiring promises. Much of it resembled Twitter’s politically correct: “It is crucial that all people have access to economic growth.” But the expectation of jobs in the documents was palpable. Read the complete story at New America Media.

News
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City Attorney, Accreditation Commission Get Day in Court Over City College of San Francisco

09.11.2014
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By KQED and Bay City News, KQED News Fix
In a lawsuit that could go to trial next month, attorneys for San Francisco and a regional accrediting commission argued at a hearing Wednesday over whether City College of San Francisco has wrongly faced the loss of its accreditation. City Attorney Dennis Herrera sued the commission last year, saying it targeted the school unfairly. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 

News
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North Beach Tenants Find Strength and Friendship as They Fight to Keep Their Homes

09.10.2014
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By Melanie Young, KALW Crosscurrents
At the Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center, two dozen residents of North Beach come on a recent Tuesday night to hear from neighbors who have experienced evictions. The state’s Ellis Act allows landlords to withdraw from the rental market and evict their tenants. North Beach has one of San Francisco’s highest Ellis Act eviction rates. Marla Knight, a longtime North Beach resident and co-founder of the North Beach tenants committee, welcomed everyone and let them know they were not alone in their concerns about evictions. Read the complete story at KALW Crosscurrents.

News
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Undocumented Immigrants Still Mistreated by Employers Despite New Laws

09.09.2014
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By Emily Green, KQED News Fix
Undocumented immigrants comprise a whopping 10 percent of California’s workforce. These workers are particularly vulnerable to wage theft and other mistreatment by their employers, according to one national study. This year, several California laws went into effect to give undocumented immigrants greater protections in the workplace. Additionally, the state Supreme Court recently ruled that such workers have the legal right to sue their employers. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix.

Bay Area
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Following S.F.’s Lead, Cities Leapfrog State in Race to Raise Minimum Wage

09.09.2014
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San Diego, San Jose avoid Sacramento’s political quagmire, but encounter enforcement problems
The momentum to increase the minimum wage that is building in San Francisco and other localities across California has not caught on for similar statewide efforts.
Two high-profile efforts in Sacramento collapsed this spring, for what could only be described as counterintuitive reasons. » Read more

News
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Homeless Encampments Now Part of S.F. Landscape

09.08.2014
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By Joe Rivano Barros, Mission Local
On any given morning in the Mission’s northeast corridor, the homeless have set up multicolored REI tents in encampments that stretch entire blocks. On streets like Shotwell between 16th and 17th, the tents remain all day. On others, like Folsom between 18th and 19th or Treat between 17th and 19th, the homeless pack up during the day, but not always. Residents and local businesses — some of whom are sympathetic to the homeless — say the growing numbers have become a problem. Regardless, the men and women living in the tents, police said, are likely here to stay.

News
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Programs Target Crucial Summer Before College

09.04.2014
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By Susan Frey, EdSource
Lilie Hau, 18, of San Francisco, will be the first in her family to go to college this fall. And thanks to an intensive, two-week summer bridge program at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, she feels ready. Summer bridge programs and other support during the summer after high school graduation can make the difference in whether graduating seniors who plan to go to college actually enroll. Recent national studies by University of Virginia researchers show that from 10 percent to 40 percent of students, depending on the school district, who are intending to go to college, never show up.

News
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Extra 25 Cents Irks Muni Riders Unhappy With Service

09.03.2014
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By Laura Wenus, Mission Local
The S.F. Municipal Transit Agency’s 25 cent fare increase rolled out this week, leaving riders on Tuesday fumbling for an extra quarter as they boarded. And while for some the extra quarter was a nuisance, some were mad as hell. “F*** them. I’m on a low income. I’m stretched at $2 already,” said Keisha Jackson as she waited for her bus at 16th street.

Government & Politics
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Housing Solution: Update Local Rent Control Law to Prevent Mass Displacement

09.03.2014
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Part of a special report on solutions for housing affordability in San Francisco. A version of this story ran in the summer 2014 print edition.
If San Francisco were able to do the same thing it did 35 years ago to address out-of-control rent increases, the residents of as many as 50,000 apartments would be spared the ravages of the current environment of housing hyperinflation. » Read more

News
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Living Wage: UC Berkeley’s Ken Jacobs on Restaurant Wages in San Francisco

09.02.2014
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By Todd Whitney, KALW Crosscurrents
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, San Francisco passed a variety of measures to help low-wage workers try to keep up with the rising cost of living. The city now has the highest minimum wage in the country, at $10.74  an hour. It also requires employers to either provide health benefits or pay into a pool so the city can cover their health care costs. So how has this worked out for workers and their employers? Ken Jacobs has been studying those questions for over a decade.