Civic

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, San Francisco’s Latinx residents experienced higher rates of infection and deaths, and greater losses of income and homes compared with other ethnic groups. Widespread depression and anxiety resulting from the trauma led to a grassroots effort to heal the community. That’s when a UCSF psychiatrist asked them to test a new therapy that combines an app with trained coaches chosen from amongst members of their community. Now locals are envisioning a brighter future, and the project is getting kudos from the White House. 

San Francisco’s proposition K is the most heated issue in this year’s local election. It asks whether the city should close a segment of the Great Highway, a coastal thoroughfare, to car traffic, so it could later become a park. Residents are divided: some welcome the idea of a park for families and community gatherings, while others worry that it will make north-south travel on the west side more difficult, making it harder to connect with their families and communities. In this episode, we hear from residents about why this space matters to them—whether as a road or as a park.

Check the San Francisco Public Press voter guide

Affordable housing is too expensive for many in San Francisco, leaving people in untenable living situations: rentals they can’t afford, overcrowded single room occupancy hotels, or tents on the street. Proposition G tries to combat that issue by proposing the creation of a fund to subsidize 550 to 600 units of affordable housing for extremely low income seniors, people with disabilities and families in San Francisco. We speak with an older adult about her precarious housing situation, as well as local organizations that work with vulnerable populations to understand why affordable housing is so costly in the first place, and how this measure would affect groups living on fixed incomes if it passes. 

Check out our nonpartisan election guide.

In the November, 2024 election San Francisco voters are being asked to decide whether to approve a wide range of issues in the form of 15 local ballot propositions, including ones on a major overhaul of the city’s commission system, bond measures and other program funding, changes to the business tax system, and incentives to bolster the ranks of police, fire and other emergency services employees. San Francisco’s list of ballot measures is long and complex. Here are Propositions A through O as explained by our reporting staff. 

You can find more detailed information on our November, 2024 Election Guide.

San Francisco commission reform is on the November 2024 ballot. If either Proposition D or E passes, they will change the city’s commissions in different ways, which have had a vital role in how the combined city and county of San Francisco has been governed since 1898. Civic speaks to John Monson, the co-author of a civil grand jury report “Commission Impossible.” To create this report, the jury carried out an extensive examination of the commissions system before Proposition D or E made it to the ballot. 

Find the Civil Grand Jury report here: https://www.sf.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/Commissions%20Impossible%20Report.pdf

Decisions by local and state governments have major impacts on our daily lives. But as transparency about those decisions decreases, and underfunded newsrooms struggle to get answers, many affected citizens are taking matters into their own hands.

San Francisco Public Press Executive Director Lila LaHood spoke with award-winning journalist Miranda Spivack, author of the

 forthcoming book, “Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities — and the Local Heroes Fighting Back.” She shared what she has learned about keeping governments accountable.

As mentioned at the end of the episode:

How California Utilities Commission Undermines the Public Records Act

Web of corruption: Explore the cronyism, lies, and federal crimes at the heart of San Francisco’s government

Increases in the number of migrants arriving in San Francisco have stress-tested the city’s shelter system, revealing the dire need for more housing and support for families. We talk to migrant parents driven out of their homes by violence and political upheaval about navigating San Francisco’s homeless response system and its impacts on their families’ health and wellbeing as they fight for a better future. A housing provider shares the limitations of the city’s data on family homelessness, and an immigration attorney tells us how a stable living situation helps migrant families with their court cases.