Cartoon by Randy Glasbergen.
By Ralph E. Stone
February 3, 2012
Last year, California State Senator Lou Correa (D-Orange County) was sued for a $4,000 debt owed by an unrelated “Luis Correa,” and learned of the lawsuit only after his wages had been garnished. Sear’s billing department had handed the original debt off to LVNV Funding LLC, a debt-collection clearinghouse, which in turn hired the Brachfield Law Group to collect the actual debt. Brachfield sent numerous letters to Luis Correa that went unanswered. The company then apparently decided to stick it to Lou Correa instead. The senator sent numerous letters to Sears and Brachfield explaining they had the wrong Correa. Those letters went unanswered, too. Then came the order to garnish the senator’s wages.
Senator Correa shared his horror story with his Senate seat mate Mark Leno, the San Francisco Democrat, who drafted Senate Bill 890, “The Fair Debt Buyers Act,” aimed at helping those in the same predicament as Senator Correa.
Continue reading Collection Agency Picked On the Wrong Lou Correa
2 Comments »
Email This Article
Print This Article
Filed under:
Business,
Economy,
Opinion,
Politics
Members of a home-ownership group, Plan C, held a rally on the steps of City Hall yesterday to announce its proposal to allow for a one-time bypass of the city's condo-conversion lottery in exchange for a fee earmarked for affordable housing. Photos by Luke Thomas.
By Luke Thomas
February 2, 2012
Members of a home-ownership group held a press conference on the steps of San Francisco City Hall yesterday to announce its support for reform legislation it is sponsoring that aims to allow a one-time, fee-based, bypass of the city’s condo lottery.
The group, Plan C, estimates as much as $25 million could be raised for the construction of affordable housing.
“We’ve been fighting for this for ten years and have gotten nowhere,” said Plan C co-chair Mike Sullivan. “What’s different this year is that we’re not just asking for more condo conversions, we’re suggesting that condo-converters pay a fee that would go to affordable housing and we think it could raise up to $25 million for affordable housing in this city.”
Continue reading Group Seeks Condo Lottery Bypass,
Raise Funds for Affordable Housing
Post comment »
Email This Article
Print This Article
Filed under:
Housing,
News,
Politics
Media access to California prisons may soon be a reality in a country that prides itself on its constitutional guarantee of a free press. (Photo courtesy Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images).
By Rebecca Rosen Lum, special to Media Workers Guild and Fog City Journal
Editor’s Note: This important media access bill (AB 1270), sponsored by California Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, has the backing and full support of the Media Workers Guild which endorsed the legislation at its January 21 meeting.
February 1, 2012
Bills loosening restrictions on media access to prisoners have been vetoed eight times by three California governors, but the latest version stands a chance to become law.
This month, the Assembly Appropriations Committee unanimously passed AB 1270, also known as the “California Prisons: Media Access” bill, and it is expected to sail through the Senate in March.
Of course, lawmakers have repeatedly approved nearly identical legislation in the past, only to see it fall victim to vigorous lobbying by the Department of Corrections and victim rights groups.
But neither opposes the current bill, which was sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano.
Continue reading Bill Would End Journalist Lockout at State Prisons
Post comment »
Email This Article
Print This Article
Filed under:
Media,
News,
Politics
Activist Michael Goldstein, 9/23/1953 - 12/2/2011, was memorialized Sunday at SEIU 1021 headquarters. Photos by Luke Thomas.
By Kat Anderson
January 31, 2012
Michael Goldstein, long-time San Francisco activist and Democratic County Central Committee vice-president, was celebrated by his San Francisco “family” at SEIU 1021 headquarters on Sunday afternoon.
Michael died of lymphoma on December 2, 2011. He was 58.
Eileen Hanson, mistress of ceremonies, painted a sensitive and authentic picture of a “complicated person,” who could be “sweet,” but also “really bitchy.” According to Hanson, Michael loved gossip and the “blood sport that is San Francisco politics.”
“Michael was compassionate and dedicated to the causes he believed in, and there were so many,” Hanson said. She held up several campaign buttons that Michael used to wear, such as “Si, se puede,” “Home Care Saves Lives,” “Choice,” and “It’s 4:19. Got a minute?”
Hanson expressed her gratitude for the fact that Michael supported women candidates and their progressive causes. “He loved the women in his life and he taught things to gay men in that regard.”
Former San Francisco Ethics Commissioner Eileen Hansen.
Continue reading Michael Goldstein Remembered
Post comment »
Email This Article
Print This Article
Filed under:
Events,
Human Interest,
Labor,
News,
Politics
City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced today the filing of civil lawsuits against two Tenderloin markets for allegedly facilitating in drug trafficking and engaging in the sale/resale of stolen merchandise. Photos by Luke Thomas.
By Luke Thomas
January 30, 2012
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, with SFPD Chief Greg Suhr by his side, announced during a press conference today the filing of civil lawsuits against two Tenderloin markets for allegedly facilitating in drugs trafficking.
The lawsuits were filed following a two-year undercover police investigation which documents “numerous instances in which the markets operated as virtual safe havens for the sale of cocaine, crack, heroin, prescription painkillers and other drugs,” in violation of the Drug Abatement Act, according to Herrera.
Continue reading Herrera Files Lawsuits Against Tenderloin Markets
for Alleged Facilitation of Drugs Trafficking
Post comment »
Email This Article
Print This Article
Filed under:
Crime,
News
During a day marred by several intense and violent clashes between riot gear-clad law enforcement officers and Occupy protesters, the Oakland Police Department unleashed a volley of CS tear gas canisters, bean bag bullets and flash bang grenades at protesters outside the Oakland Museum yesterday in response to bottles and rocks being thrown at the officers. Over three hundred protesters were arrested by day's end. Photos by Luke Thomas.
By Eric Louie, special to Media Workers Guild and Fog City Journal
January 29, 2012
Khalid Shakur was riding his bike past police Saturday at the start of Occupy Oakland’s “move-in day.” Protesters were planning to establish an indoor residency for the movement in a vacant building. But the Oakland authorities were having none of it.
Words were exchanged. Shakur was told bikes weren’t being allowed into the plaza outside City Hall. Officers pulled Shakur off the bike and briefly took him into custody.
Protesters still assembling for the noon start time jumped into action, aiming their cell phone cameras to record the police action, shouting condemnations as more officers arrived in vans. Although the police soon left, the early confrontation set the tone for what would become a day and night of intense and violent clashes between law enforcement and Occupy.
Continue reading Violent Clashes with Police
Mar Occupy Oakland Move-In Day
8 Comments »
Email This Article
Print This Article
Filed under:
Economy,
Education,
Environment,
Healthcare,
Homelessness,
Labor,
Land Use,
News,
Politics
An ordinance passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and signed into law by Mayor Ed Lee last year has provided a green light to urban farms such as Little City Gardens (pictured above), to produce and vend locally grown fruits and vegetables. Photo courtesy Little City Gardens.
By Catherine Adams, guest contributor
January 27, 2012
San Francisco took a bold step in 2011 further legitimizing urban agriculture in the city. With the passage of the Planning Code Amendment on Urban Agriculture (ordinance 66-11), commercial garden and small farm sites are now legal city-wide. The ordinance received unanimous support from the Board of Supervisors in April before it was approved by Mayor Ed Lee.
This ordinance allows properly permitted and code-abiding gardeners and farmers to sell any produce they grow directly to the public on site. Growers were previously required to haul their bounty to a third party commercial zone, like a farmers market, or sell through a distributor. The permit does not, however, allow for value-added products, such as pickles or jam, or animal products, such as honey and eggs, to be sold at garden sites in residential areas. These products can, however, be sold on production sites within commercial zones. Growers can apply for a permit through the Planning Department for approximately $350.
Continue reading San Francisco Legitimizes Urban Farming
1 Comment »
Email This Article
Print This Article
Filed under:
Business,
Economy,
Environment,
Land Use,
News
