Tag: Board of supervisors

“Milwaukee inspires me and breaks my heart every day,” says Angela Lang, the executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC). “It is such a beautifully complex city and it’s full of potential.” Interacting with people in her community almost every day, Lang sees immense hardships but also uplifting resilience. She is the kind of person who witnesses struggles in her neighborhood and feels moved to take action. In her eyes, there is a path for change and a way to achieve a better future. “All we have to do is tap in and engage folks in a really meaningful way,” she says. By organizing her community and encouraging participation in the political process, she gives others the power to fight for their rights. Lang grew up on 32nd and Wisconsin, well aware of the dichotomy of the neighborhood’s low-income housing in the shadow of Marquette High School, a school most of her friends would never be able to afford. She also watched as her single mother struggled with breast cancer while working multiple jobs. Fast forward to 2017, when Lang and five elected officials (Sen. LaTonya Johnson, Rep. David Bowen, Ald. After hearing the concerns of everyday people and taking time to understand their hardships, BLOC began training canvassers (or ambassadors, as BLOC calls them) to educate citizens about the political system.

Eleven years since he lost re-election, former San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre remains in the psyche of the city attorney’s office. We have now seen two city attorneys elected since then promising that they would never do that. She is running for the District 3 seat on the County Board of Supervisors, and that will be a race we and everyone else who cares about the county will follow intensely. Civic San Diego Lawsuit Resolution? The City Council is getting briefed in closed session Tuesday on the state of two lawsuits that have challenged the legality of the city’s downtown redevelopment agency. The first lawsuit, and the one we’ve had our eye on for years, was filed by Murtaza Baxamusa, a former board member at Civic. We don’t know what the city’s attorneys plan to tell the City Council in closed session Tuesday about the suit, but a settlement has been looming for months. – Cory Briggs has filed his own lawsuit against Civic, again over the legality of the city delegating some planning responsibility to the agency. The lawsuit is over a year old, but somehow we hadn’t previously known – and it doesn’t look like anyone else has yet reported – that Briggs was also involved in the legal challenge to Civic. What’s at stake: Backing up a bit, a major settlement could fundamentally change Civic’s role in city development.

Eleven years since he lost re-election, former San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre remains in the psyche of the city attorney’s office. We have now seen two city attorneys elected since then promising that they would never do that. She is running for the District 3 seat on the County Board of Supervisors, and that will be a race we and everyone else who cares about the county will follow intensely. Civic San Diego Lawsuit Resolution? The City Council is getting briefed in closed session Tuesday on the state of two lawsuits that have challenged the legality of the city’s downtown redevelopment agency. The first lawsuit, and the one we’ve had our eye on for years, was filed by Murtaza Baxamusa, a former board member at Civic. We don’t know what the city’s attorneys plan to tell the City Council in closed session Tuesday about the suit, but a settlement has been looming for months. – Cory Briggs has filed his own lawsuit against Civic, again over the legality of the city delegating some planning responsibility to the agency. The lawsuit is over a year old, but somehow we hadn’t previously known – and it doesn’t look like anyone else has yet reported – that Briggs was also involved in the legal challenge to Civic. What’s at stake: Backing up a bit, a major settlement could fundamentally change Civic’s role in city development.

“I don’t think anyone is afraid of the Ethics Commission who is in competitive political life in San Francisco. And so have the candidates.” The commission was established by a 1993 ballot measure to enforce the city’s ethics laws and rules, which cover campaign spending and contributions, conflicts of interest and policy issues. The Board of Supervisors appointed him to the Ethics Commission in February 2017. “I find the investigative practices of the Ethics Commission staff unsatisfactory,” Kopp wrote in his resignation letter. “I have lost confidence in the ability of the Ethics Commission and its staff to achieve the purposes represented to voters and residents two decades ago for its establishment.” Kopp said there is a massive backlog of cases at the commission, which he said is “ineffective and a waste of taxpayer money.” He pointed to one case in 2017 when the commission negotiated a $25,000 settlement with former Supervisor Mark Farrell for violations related to his 2010 campaign for supervisor. The commission currently has 88 open complaints — 25 more than it had this time last year, according to commission data. “I am proud of the great work the commission and staff have done and are continuing to do to deepen the effectiveness of our reform laws in the city,” she wrote. “The commission’s mandate is vital and demands a deliberative body that represents a variety of viewpoints.” Kopp said he will now spend his free time working for a November ballot measure that would reform the city’s campaign finance laws. If it passes in November, the measure would also limit campaign contributions from a person or company who would have land-use decisions going before the city within 12 months. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.