San Francisco’s budget is bigger than 17 U.S. states
San Francisco’s budget is larger than 17 U.S. states including New Mexico ($10.5B), Alabama ($12.6B), and Oklahoma ($12.6B). At $15.9B total, the scale of our city budget is massive. This analysis is…
San Francisco has the longest city charter in America
To understand San Francisco, you need to understand our city charter. And to fix the problems in San Francisco, you need to fix our charter. Think of our charter, basically, like our city’s…
How San Francisco built a Homeless System that Fails its Most Vulnerable
San Francisco’s approach to homelessness is called “housing first.” This sounds great, but it only serves about one third to one half of homeless people well. Many people need psychiatric care, many…
Why San Francisco Can’t Get More People Into Treatment
San Francisco faces many challenges, but perhaps none is as visible or as heartbreaking as our drug crisis. We've struggled for years to effectively address addiction and its consequences on our…
What is going on at SFUSD?
By Patrick Wolff There has been a lot of dramatic news about San Francisco’s public schools (SFUSD) over the last two weeks. Let’s break down what happened: September 17: A salacious news article…
Ranked choice voting education key to November election
With at least five serious candidates in the running for mayor, it's likely that no single candidate will secure more than 50% of first-choice votes in November---making it more important than ever…
What are San Francisco Board Committees?
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has 11 members who vote on legislation that determine how San Francisco operates. However, before legislation gets to the full board, it usually passes through a…
What's wrong with housing in San Francisco?
San Francisco is an awesome place to live — we have incredible weather, great job opportunities, and the only two Michelin-starred Thai restaurants in the country (and lots of other great food, but…
San Francisco is not a "Strong Mayor" City
From commissions, to appeals, to discretionary review - the Mayor of San Francisco lacks the power to actually act as an executive, leaving City departments to flounder under the mismanagement of the…
