A committee of the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance Task Force ruled in favor the city Planning Department last week against a filmmaker who wanted key documents about ParkMerced. And even the complainant agrees that the city is probably right.
But that just raises a key question about how local agencies are failing to live up to an important provision of the Sunshine Law.
Nick Pasquariello wanted detailed financial records for the massive project near San Francisco State, and he relied on a provision of the law that reads like this:
The City shall give no subsidy in money, tax abatements, land, or services to any private entity unless that private entity agrees in writing to provide the City with financial projections (including profit and loss figures), and annual audited financial statements for the project thereafter, for the project upon which the subsidy is based and all such projections and financial statements shall be public records that must be disclosed.
ParkMerced got a lot of what could be considered subsidies, including a new Muni stop and some tax reductions. But the Sunshine committee concluded that the Planning Department had giving Pasquariello everything it had.
And that’s probably true – because when the project was approved, the planners never enforced Section 67.32 of the Sunshine Ordinance. They never asked ParkMerced for those records. So as far as the city is concerned, they don’t exist.
“As far as that goes, I agree,” Pasquariello told me.
And because of the limited power of the Task Force, the only option might be for Pasquariello (who has very limited resources) to go to court and ask a judge to say that the approval of the project (which is already well underway) was illegal and must be revoked unless the developer coughs up the documents.
How likely is that?
And that, of course, assumes that the tax abatements that ParkMerced got were based on the future project and not on past property-tax values. The developers could argue that the city gave them nothing.
This is, however, a lesson for all of us in the world of journalism and activism. We need to start earlier on these things, and remember the power of a 1999 law that has never been enforced: The city can’t give away anything to a developer unless that developer gives the public financial statements. But if nobody calls the city on this, and the city never asks, it’s hard to sort out after the fact.
The state Senate race was fairly quiet for a month or so after the June election, which shocked Sup. Scott Wiener and propelled Sup. Jane Kim into the frontrunner position. But it’s heating up, fast: Wiener has a series of web ads talking about his history in the LGBT community, and has come up with an attack website called therealjanekim that’s pretty low-tech and filled with mostly old news, some of it (of course) misleading. It accuses Kim, for example, of not supporting the LGBT community because she opposed naming a Navy ship after Harvey Milk; many progressive LGBT folks thought that a militaristic memorial was the wrong way to recognize Milk. It takes a conservative line on crime, criticizing Kim for saying the more cops don’t always prevent crime and that felons ought to have a chance to return to society. And it’s got the old saw about Kim supporting “legislation allowing tents in front of your home.”
BTW, as of this weekend, nobody owned therealscottwiener.com.
That’s his strategy – play to the base and attack Kim relentlessly.
Kim is taking a different approach: She’s holding community meetings to talk about key local issues. On Tuesday/30, Kim will join former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, CSU Trustee (and BART Board candidate) Lateefah Simon and author David Talbot in discussing housing, transportation, and urban planning. Free and open to public input. 6:30pm – 8:30pm, Mission High School Auditorium, 3750 18th St. Janekim.org/housing.
This coming Tuesday/23, Kim and Wiener will appear in what may be the only public debate between now and Election Day. It’s sponsored by the Potrero Hill Democratic Club, Black Young Democrats of San Francisco, Latina/o Young Democrats of San Francisco, and the Willie B. Kennedy Democratic Club. 6:30pm, Potrero Neighborhood House, 953 DeHaro St.
The evictions never end: North Beach poet Diego Deleo is facing an Ellis Act eviction from the apartment where he’s lived for more than 30 years. It’s yet another horrifying case of a senior who helped build this city facing an eviction that would tear him away from his community. From his supporters:
Diego Deleo built his life in America brick by brick as a 17-year-old immigrant from Bari, Italy. He worked as a bricklayer and, along with his late wife Josephine, became part of the foundation of the city’s North Beach neighborhood, known for restaurants, landmarks and tourist attractions. But the area is increasingly known for evictions of elders and loss of culture and values such as community and neighbors looking out for one another. Diego Deleo is yet another senior being evicted by his landlord who has used the state’s Ellis Act to do so.
Supporters will rally at Superior Court at 400 McAllister St. at noon Monday/22. The case goes to trial Monday afternoon.
If you have items that ought to be listed in The Agenda, please send to Tim@48hills.org.
