In the wake of the uprisings over the police killing of George Floyd, cities and counties across California are putting policing reforms to a vote. We’ll take you through a roundup, starting with San Francisco’s Proposition E — which asks voters if they’d like to take minimum police staffing requirements out of the city’s charter. … Continued
Voters in San Francisco are about to vote on whether to create California’s first tax on inequality. Prop L would raise the gross receipts tax on every business in the city that pays its top manager at least 100x more than its median employee. PRO: Supervisor Matt Haney represents San Francisco’s District 6; he sponsored … Continued
Prop 15 would let property taxes rise with property values, but only for large owners of commercial and industrial real estate. The argument from the no campaign is that prop 15 would hurt some small businesses, too. They couldn’t actually give us an example when they came on to debate it–so we had our reporter … Continued
Oakland’s District 3 is mostly West Oakland. That’s a historically Black neighborhood, an epicenter of the 2008 foreclosure crisis, now rapidly gentrifying. Last year, it was also the site of an action that drew national attention: “Moms 4 Housing.” A group of unhoused Black mothers took over an empty home owned by a private equity … Continued
First: Wayne Hsiung is mounting a left-flank challenge to incumbent Berkeley mayor Jesse Arreguin that is quite well-financed and -organized for someone who’s never held office. Hsiung’s also a hardcore animal rights activist, leading a group some ex-members describe as cult-like, who co-authored a strategy document calling for supporters to move to one city, take … Continued
This week, we are having a conversation with Kali Rubaii, an assistant professor of anthropology at Purdue University, about the toxic legacy of the war in Iraq and the underlying reasons for the high rates of birth defects in the city of Fallujah. we are also speaking with documentary filmmaker Jeff Kaufman about his latest … Continued
First: Oakland’s at-large council election, where outside money from Lyft has piled on to the effort to oust incumbent councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, and her main challenger is … not the business owner his campaign lit claims. Then: a tour through the late flood of attack money into San Francisco’s local races. 1:06 Darwin BondGraham, news … Continued
If Proposition 25 passes, it will end cash bail — no one will spend time incarcerated just because they couldn’t pay for a ticket out before trial. That’s why the bail bond industry’s poured millions into defeating it. But could the risk assessment tools it uses to replace cash bail be even more unfair? That … Continued
Proposition 24 in an overhaul of our California’s brand-spanking-new Consumer Privacy Act, which regulates what businesses can do with our data. The changes in prop 24 would change who that act applies to–it would wind up covering fewer businesses. It would add some restrictions, it would take some restrictions away, and it would fund a … Continued
Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice. Senate Republicans and Democrats continue to spar over coronavirus relief aid. President Donald Trump pushes his Attorney General to investigate rival Joe Biden. Latino voting block outnumbers the African American block for first time. Governor Gavin Newsom … Continued
