Cure for Vacant Storefronts? Build Housing

Posted January 29, 2019 by Randy Shaw

Housing Brings Foot Traffic, Customers Nobody likes vacant storefronts. They deaden street life, send a message of neighborhood decline, and deprive the community of needed retail services. The challenge is finding the cure. Many cities have seized upon a vacancy
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Mayor Breed ‘s Historic Speech on Tenderloin at U.S. Conference of Mayors

Posted January 29, 2019 by Randy Shaw

Breed Speaks Truth About Tenderloin Drug Activities On Thursday, January 24, San Francisco Mayor London Breed talked about the Tenderloin at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. And what she said is something that I have never heard another mayor publicly
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A Trusteeship Diaspora: How SEIU’s Self-Inflicted Loss Became Labor’s Gain

Posted January 29, 2019 by Steve Early

SEIU-UHW Alumni Keep Fighting for Progressive Change Ten years ago this month, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) shot itself in the foot, big time. To silence internal critics, then-SEIU President Andy Stern imposed the largest trusteeship over a local
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Reviews From 21st S.F. Independent Film Festival

Posted January 29, 2019 by Peter Wong

Dennis Cooper and Zac Farley try to make French suburban teen anomie intriguing in their drama “Permanent Green Light.” But the results wind up being a tedious slog. A couple of intriguing characters cannot save a tale smothered by its
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Is California Ignoring its Tenant Crisis?

Posted January 22, 2019 by Randy Shaw

Builders and Tenants are Allies After decades of failing to build anywhere near enough housing, California is waking up. A broad and diverse political coalition has emerged to get more homes built. This development should be cheered by all those
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Why Did Beto Reject Pelosi?

Posted January 22, 2019 by Randy Shaw

Beto O’Rourke’s Troubling Loyalties As former Texas Congressperson Beto O’Rourke prepares a presidential run, more is being learned about his record. O’Rourke has been accused with voting with Republicans on some issues, and the January 20 Sunday New York Times
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Is LAUSD Crying Wolf With Its Claims of Financial Distress?

Posted January 22, 2019 by Bill Raden

This piece first appeared in Capital and Main. ED NOTE: The strike settled Tuesday morning Persistent claims of poverty by the district have been the most contentious issue separating LAUSD and UTLA. As the first Los Angeles teachers strike in
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Housing Disrupts “Progressive” Politics

Posted January 15, 2019 by Randy Shaw

Opposing Infill Housing is not “Progressive” Housing is disrupting “progressive” politics. Specifically, it is exposing traditional “progressive” politicians for maintaining elitist and exclusionary zoning policies. Many of these “progressives” support pro-mansion land use policies that ban apartments, while it is
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