Dean Preston
@deanpreston.bsky.social
Former legislator, democratic socialist, housing advocate, founder of Tenants Together. He/Him. Opinions my own, reposts not endorsements.
SF Mayor is using his political capital on four major projects: 1. Net decrease in affordable housing funding 2. Gutting inclusionary housing 3. Eliminating anti-corruption oversight 4. Blocking ballot access for anyone but the ultra rich 5. Cutting taxes on billionaires Lurie is a republican
Conservatives who have long pushed for Medicaid work requirements often said vulnerable people would get a pass. But the federal government's list of exemptions left off homeless people. n.pr/4w4pkH0
Medicaid work rule leaves homeless people in the cold
Conservatives who have long pushed for Medicaid work requirements often said vulnerable people would get a pass. But the federal government's list of exemptions left off homeless people.
n.pr
Years of deregulation and “no uptick in permits for building new housing in The City” JP Morgan: “With the right public policies in place, the firm can provide more capital for housing, scaling solutions that help expand supply and affordability” See what’s going on yet?
SF economy "accelerating" in second quarter
A 14% jump in rents indicates a "significant" shift.
sfexaminer.com
“Lurie has yet to offer a clear agenda-or for that matter any concrete policies-aimed at the affordability crisis in San Francisco that will likely get much worse in the coming months and years.” @lincolnmitchell.bsky.social
Daniel Lurie, Zohran Mamdani and Competing Visions for Our Cities
San Francisco's Daniel Lurie and New York City's Zohran Mamdani are both popular new mayors, but have very different visions of urban governance.
open.substack.com
In 2020 we taxed the rich to raise the money to build social housing in SF. That should have started a period of collaboration to ramp up social housing. Instead, industry-aligned “moderate” pols who call themselves “pro-housing” refused to spend the money on housing and now seek to repeal the tax
Upzoned: Zoning Is Not Enough — Organized Labor
Could social housing be the key to getting shovels in the ground and dirt flying on residential projects?
orglabornews.org
However horrible you think the Tate brothers are, I promise, it's worse than that. It's insane that Dems aren't making a bigger deal of the GOP embracing these grotesque monsters.
The Tate Brothers' Should Be The Trumps' Second Epstein Scandal
The truth is much worse than most people realize, and they knew a lot of it.
offmessage.net
one policy debate we deserve but are never going to get to have is what demands to be done to make blue states and cities whole after this presidency
Stephen Judkins@stephenjudkins.bsky.social · 4d agothis absolute scumbag www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/20...
The Mayor and so-called “moderate” Supervisors are further reducing the requirement that private developers include affordable units in new developments. Industry is hell bent on full deregulation after which they’ll demand subsidy to build homes no working class person can afford.
Disappointing to see Mayor’s Office of Housing misrepresenting the Affordable Housing Guarantee Act. MOH falsely claimed to the Ballot Simplification Council that the measure isn't focused on funding affordable housing even it’s literally a ballot measure to dedicate funds to affordable housing 🤦♂️
It was inevitable that reactionary centrists would turn against harm reduction and call for a return to mass incarceration
The Cities That Said Yes to Drugs
Policies that gave addicts clean needles and places to use drugs were intended to reduce harm. They created a “zombie apocalypse.”
theatlantic.com
The Cow Palace in Daly City is a treasured cultural institution for the people who loved San Francisco and the Bay Area before AI came to town. It's home to the annual Dickens Christmas Fair a month long community costume party and immersive theater experience providing Victorian delight since 1970.
Mayor Lurie could use his clout to lobby for emergency repeal of Costa Hawkins, followed by immediate control of the offering price of rental units. He could do this and lower rents. He’s choosing not to in order to deliver for the real estate industry, corporate landlords, and his investor friends.
San Francisco's per capita police spending is higher than anywhere else in the country, by a longshot. Last year, San Francisco budgeted $1,017 on policing for every resident. New York City came in a distant second at $746 per resident.
It is political malpractice for Democratic senators to be helping Trump fill judicial vacancies four months before the midterms. Completely unserious people.
I Am Begging Senate Democrats to Do Anything Other Than Help Confirm Trump Judges
Four months before the 2026 midterms, three Democratic lawmakers have decided to give a historically unpopular president a little boost.
ballsandstrikes.substack.com
"SF leaders have relentlessly promoted the city as the epicenter of the artificial intelligence industry. With local titans OpenAI and Anthropic poised for two of the biggest stock market debuts ever—potentially topping $1 trillion each—how much of that wealth will flow back to the city? Not much"
OpenAI and Anthropic could go public for trillions. Will S.F. cash in?
San Francisco leaders have promoted the city as the epicenter of AI. With local titans poised for two of the biggest stock market debuts ever, how much of that wealth will flow back to the city?
sfchronicle.com
“Add to the list of things The City doesn’t need: op-eds written by a machine that has never flinched at the sound of someone saying “San Fran.”
Word on the Street: Baghdad-by-the-Bot
Consider this your notice: The Examiner’s opinion editor has read one too many AI-generated submissions.
sfexaminer.com
“The official account for Spain’s national football league shared an altered image of the country’s celebration, snipping the US president out of photos after he refused to leave the dais. The FIFA World Cup account also cropped Trump out of the shot, leaving only the president’s shoulder in view”
Spain Humiliates Trump After He Refuses to Get Out of Victory Photos
Donald Trump presented Spain’s World Cup team with the trophy ... and then refused to leave.
newrepublic.com
Billionaires like Larson could solve homelessness and hunger in San Francisco overnight. Instead, he’s pouring tens of millions into policing, mass surveillance, and buying politicians. San Francisco needs to stand up to Trump-loving tech billionaires before it’s too late
Billionaire Chris Larsen gifts more millions to SF's growing surveillance state - 48 hills
Police Commission approves another huge donation to SFPD's Real Time Investigation Center, whose operations have not been secure.
48hills.org
Anti-fascism is objectively good. We should all oppose fascism.
Rebecca Solnit@rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 3w agoAntifascism looks like Pedro Pascal. It looks like Alex Pretti and AOC. It looks like 600 priests, imams, and rabbis in the cold streets of winter Minneapolis. Antifascism is gorgeous.
“The best time to start a public bank is 20 years ago,” Misha Steier (Public Bank Coalition) said. “the second best time is now.”
After ten years, advocates finally have a chance to make public bank a reality - 48 hills
Just a vision in 2016, it's now coming before the voters. But will Mayor Lurie stand in the way?
48hills.org
These war criminals are definitely scared of being brought up on charges. “The highest compliment that can be paid to the International Criminal Court is that the Trump administration is terrified of it.”
Trumpworld Is Scared of the International Criminal Court
Marco Rubio says the administration will try to “dismantle” the ICC. Who is he trying to protect?
newrepublic.com
“Here’s an idea for a media company: don’t give your top prize to a billionaire who bankrupted one media outlet and is funding a machine to harass the rest. Seems easy enough.”
Peter Thiel Snags Top Prize from Politico’s Owner
Politico’s parent company honors the “Antichrist” lecturer — without mentioning the $50 million he gave the CEO's son
thenerdreich.com
At a time of surging evictions in SF, the Board of Supervisors just voted to increase evictions
San Francisco to Require Drug-Free Living at New Permanent Supportive Housing | KQED
Residents caught using drugs could face eviction or relocation to other housing units and homeless shelters under the city’s controversial new housing policy.
kqed.org
“Trump and his MAGA fascist party have a desperate new strategy for the midterm elections: a fake hysteria over “communists.” “This dangerously unhinged propaganda comes from Unhumans, a genocide-themed 2024 book that depicts liberals as bloodthirsty demons hellbent on murder”
'Unhumans' Playbook Explains Trump's 'Communist' Fixation
“It’s important to use ‘communist’ this way as a slur.”
thenerdreich.com
City Hall is quite literally eliminating homes for working class people in the hopes that it will create more homes for millionaires. The new law will eliminate nearly all affordable (“below market rate”) units in new developments. It is class warfare against the working class.
The market fundamentalists have succeeded in effectively eliminating the requirement that developers include affordable homes in new construction in San Francisco. With this change, new private developments here will be exclusively for millionaires
San Francisco drops affordable housing requirement from 15% to 5%
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to reduce the rate after the city controller warned new housing was too difficult to build.
missionlocal.org
BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani announces click-to-cancel rule for NYC. This rule is aimed at guaranteeing New Yorkers can cancel subscriptions as easily as they sign up — and stopping corporations from trapping customers. This will save New Yorkers up to $162.5 million per year.
Mahmood, who sits on the SF Democratic Party’s official committee on sexual assault, continues to endorse a billionaire-allied candidate despite sexual assault allegations that the Mayor’s office calls credible. The allegations were made public 10 days ago. Other officials have unendorsed.
Bilal Mahmood is reconsidering his Manny Yekutiel endorsement
The District 5 supe’s support of the embattled District 8 candidate rests on the SF Dems’ investigation into sexual assault claim
sf.gazetteer.co
