In “Bernie for Burlington,” Dan Chiasson’s affection for his subject risks turning history into a sales pitch.

By Alexander Nazaryan

Alexander Nazaryan writes about politics, culture and science.

Feb. 4, 2026 (NYTimes.com)

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BERNIE FOR BURLINGTON: The Rise of the People’s Politician and the Transformation of One American Place, by Dan Chiasson

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I always read the acknowledgments page of a book I’m reviewing. They’re usually bland, pro forma affairs. Sometimes, though, they give an inadvertent glimpse into the authorial soul.

Dan Chiasson concludes his new book, “Bernie for Burlington,” a history of the eight years during the 1980s that Bernie Sanders spent running the state’s biggest city, with a shout-out to his subject: “And thank you, Bernie Sanders — for Burlington.” I think that’s the heart of what bothered me about this impressive but frustrating book.

Bernie for Burlington

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Senator Sanders, according to Chiasson, is “arguably the most influential leftist politician in the modern history of the nation,” “a national figure of historic impact” who “leveled Burlington’s old hierarchies, networks and institutions,” turning the city into a “wacky, D.I.Y. civic experiment.” This “seasoned manipulator of the sometimes-hostile media,” who “overcame the fears of the establishment with one smart, nonpolitical initiative after another,” transformed Burlington into “a one-of-a-kind, historic inquiry into the possibilities for human happiness in an American city.”

Today an English professor at Wellesley College, Chiasson was born and raised in Burlington in a working-class Catholic family during the years of the four-term Sanders mayoralty. His affection for that place and time is obvious and often artfully rendered, as when he writes about the city’s first Xerox machine, where “metalheads ran off posters for their bands” and a local math professor printed a widely read anti-Sanders newsletter.

Chiasson is a witty, gifted poet and a sometime poetry critic for The New Yorker, the author of five collections. His poetic voice is jazzy and self-effacing, quietly assured.

We miss those qualities here. Sanders is legendary for the loyalty he inspires in adherents. But, unfortunately, the Independent senator benefits from Chiasson’s affection more than his book does. By collapsing the distance between himself and his subject, Chiasson turns history into a sales pitch.

He hasn’t chosen an easy subject. To his supporters’ delight and his critics’ frustration, Sanders has been focused on the same issues for decades, without concern for shifting attitudes or polls. And he’s not cuddly: As his advisers put it in a 1982 memorandum, “You are not nice to people.”

Sanders was one of many “idealistic pilgrims” from larger cities who saw Vermont as an affordable place to put countercultural politics into practice. He first went there in 1968, spent his first years as an “itinerant carpenter and freelance writer, deeply influenced by the rogue psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich.” (Sanders even penned some creepy erotica.)

“Bernie for Burlington” is at its best when it ignores both Bernie and Burlington. Writing about Vermont as a whole, Chiasson is encumbered neither by ideological affinities nor by hometown pride. He describes a state whose character is composed of “progressivism, thrift and orneriness.”

Vermonters were traditionally resistant to government initiatives, and hostility was not limited to Washington. Chiasson chillingly describes “Rural Vermont,” a eugenics study from 1931 that “speaks of the deteriorating of Yankee blood and the problem of towns being overtaken by immigrants who were ‘failures elsewhere.’” A story of quaint inns, ski resorts and quirky antique shops, this is not.

Between 1945 and the mid-1960s, the number of farms in Vermont fell sharply. The college-educated newcomers, inspired by back-to-the-land guides, provided a necessary blood transfusion, even if their experiments were often quixotic.

Sanders ran for public office as a candidate of the radical Liberty Union Party, four times between 1972 and 1976, losing two U.S. Senate races and two bids for the governor’s mansion. He had become, Chiasson acknowledges, a “perennial candidate.”

In Chiasson’s telling, an adviser named Richard Sugarman persuaded Sanders to leave behind the “performative politics” of the 1960s. By 1977, Chiasson writes, “the hippies were now in their 30s, with families to raise and mortgages to pay.” Sanders announced he was leaving Liberty Union later that year, charging that the party had not been aggressive enough in fighting “banks and corporations.”

It’s a testament to Chiasson’s research that I often found myself highlighting people and places I wanted to explore further. But the accumulation of detail also makes for an infuriating reading experience. A book that is about the time Sanders spent as mayor of Burlington takes 257 pages to get to his first mayoral run.

The Sanders candidacy was powered by “a new wave of Vermont transplants” who were liberal but not especially interested in forming communes. “Their music was Madonna, Patti Smith and Talking Heads,” Chiasson writes, their clothes bright and chic. And for these new arrivals, “part of the Burlington experience was voting for Sanders.”

In the four terms that followed, Sanders would turn a “dowdy, backward, deeply Catholic” city into “the place to see socialism in action,” Chiasson argues. Yet he appears to undermine his own argument by conceding that, in some respects, Sanders turned into “a classic ribbon-cutting mayor.” He also calls the proud democratic socialist an “innovative capitalist.”

An honest assessment of Sanders’s mayoralty would grant that he expanded parkland along the shores of Lake Champlain, made important strides in creating affordable housing and practiced a grass-roots politics that took the concerns of young people seriously. At the same time, he engaged in the kind of gestures Sugarman had advised against, such as his controversial 1985 trip to visit the Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua.

In 1988, Sanders went to the U.S.S.R. While there, he attempted to make Yaroslavl, an ancient settlement north of Moscow, Burlington’s sister city. Chiasson sarcastically excoriates a New York Times Moscow correspondent, Anton Troianovski, for reporting deeply, during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, on Sanders’s efforts while mayor to foster closer ties with the Soviet Union. It’s an unseemly attack that accuses Troianovski of trying to “red-bait” Sanders, while failing to acknowledge the very real risks to high-profile American journalists in Putin’s Russia.

Sanders and his wife, Jane, did not participate in this book, though it is not clear how much they would have had to add. Chiasson writes about traveling to Vermont in 2024 to meet Sanders at a picnic, where Chiasson told Sanders about growing up in his Burlington. The response from Sanders: “Oh, boy.”

It must have been an anticlimactic encounter, though maybe also an apt one. The stubborn Sanders has cleared the way for younger, more charismatic democratic socialists, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani. But Chiasson does little to dispel the charge, frequently voiced by Sanders critics, that he has few robust legislative accomplishments.

I have no doubt that Chiasson has written the authoritative history of the Sanders tenure in Burlington. Whether this somewhat confounding labor of love was necessary, whether it tells us something important or new, is more difficult for me to say.

BERNIE FOR BURLINGTON: The Rise of the People’s Politician: and the Transformation of One American Place | By Dan Chiasson | Knopf | 569 pp. | $35

A version of this article appears in print on March 1, 2026, Page 16 of the Sunday Book Review with the headline: Idol Worship. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

(Contributed by Michael Kelly, H.W.)

ChatGPT:

Yes. Saikat Chakrabarti was one of the co-founders of Justice Democrats.

• The group was founded in 2017.
• The main founders were:
  • Saikat Chakrabarti
  • Zack Exley
  • Kyle Kulinski
  • Cenk Uygur.

Chakrabarti served as an executive director of Justice Democrats and helped design the organization’s strategy and technology for grassroots organizing.

The group became well known for recruiting progressive challengers, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose 2018 primary victory over Joe Crowley was a major early success.

In short:

• Yes — Chakrabarti co-founded Justice Democrats and played a central role in building it.

If you want, I can also explain something many people miss: how Justice Democrats grew out of another project called “Brand New Congress.” That backstory is actually pretty interesting politically.

• By Patrick Hoge | Examiner staff writer
• Mar 4, 2026 (SFExaminer.com)

Two independent San Francisco advocacy organizations are separately planning to spend millions of dollars on city elections this year, largely to preserve the politically moderate majority that voters installed in 2024 on the Board of Supervisors.

Jay Cheng, the executive director of Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, said his group expects to spend $5 million to $7 million through November between races for supervisor and local ballot measures, including to oppose a union-backed proposal to raise The City’s Overpaid Executive Tax.

“There’s a lot at stake in this election, especially around keeping San Francisco’s recovery going, and a big part of that is keeping the moderate majority on the Board of Supervisors, keeping a moderate majority on the school board,” he said.

Neighbors for a Better San Francisco has been one of San Francisco’s most powerful and well-funded political organizations on the more-conservative end of San Francisco’s political spectrum since its founding six years ago. It focuses on issues that include public safety, homelessness, public education and fiscal responsibility.

Its plans also include spending $1 million to support candidates in several school board races and about $2 million on voter education, including about The City’s budget, said Cheng, who previously discussed his spending plans with Politico.

Meanwhile, GrowSF has budgeted at least $250,000 per supervisorial contest, including two races in the June primary election and as many as five in the November general election. The group’s level of involvement will depend on whether or not organizers determine the races to be competitive, said Sachin Agarwal, a GrowSF co-founder and co-director.

GrowSF is a nonprofit that advocates for building more housing, streamlining government, and maintaining clean and safe streets, among other things. It has received support from a wide variety of sources, including Garry Tan, the CEO of the famed startup accelerator Y Combinator, who is known for attacking progressive politicians on social media. Tan was previously on GrowSF’s board of directors.

GrowSF’s top focus has always been the Board of Supervisors since the organization was created five years ago. Though obscure to many, the Board of Supervisors wields enormous influence over city life with its lawmaking power, Agarwal said.

“We think that the Board Supervisors is critically important in moving San Francisco forward,” he said.

In addition to getting involved in supervisor races, Agarwal said GrowSF will also send its trademark voter guides to registered voters across The City. That will bring the group’s total budget for the June election to about $2 million and another $3 million for the November election, of which as much as $1.25 million could go to the November supervisor races, he said.

By comparison, GrowSF spent about $1.8 million on the November 2024 election, about $700,000 of which went to influence races for supervisor, Agarwal said.

“We are stepping it up this year,” he said. “We’re going to be prepared to go really big.”

A moderate majority could make it easier for Mayor Daniel Lurie to grapple with looming budget deficits, Agarwal said.

It could also be helpful for sending voters any charter-reform proposals that might be developed by a task force that Lurie and Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman launched in December — possibly even for the November ballot, Agarwal said. The City Charter is effectively San Francisco’s constitution, and six supervisors’ signatures are required for the board to send a proposed amendment to voters.

GrowSF in 2024 was the leader of the successful “Dump Dean” campaign to oust former Supervisor Dean Preston, who was replaced by current District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood. GrowSF spent more than $300,000 in that race, according to city records.

“We’ve taken everything that we learned from the last District 5 race with ‘Dump Dean’ — what worked well, what didn’t work well, how do we spend money effectively to get good information to voters?” Agarwal said. “We’re taking all of our learnings, and we’re going to apply them to every district this year.”

GrowSF so far has set up two independent committees — one to support District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, who was appointed by former Mayor London Breed in December 2024, and one to support District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong, who was appointed by Lurie on Dec. 1.

A campaign spokesperson for Sherrill, whose district includes the Marina and Cow Hollow neighborhoods, emphasized in a statement that independent groups make their own decisions about local races.

Wong rival Natalie Gee, who is chief of staff for Supervisor Shamann Walton, labeled GrowSF as an “outside group” out of step with residents in the Sunset district, which makes up most of District 4. GrowSF endorsed former Supervisor Joel Engardio, the lawmakere who was recalled by voters last year after he sponsored a ballot measure to close part of Great Highway to make way for Sunset Dunes park.

“District 4 voters will see through GrowSF’s big money and vote for the candidate who has consistently fought against outside wealthy interests,” Gee said.

Agarwal responded that he has lived in The City for 25 years and been a west-side resident for more than seven years.

On the initiative front, Cheng also said Neighbors for a Better San Francisco would be fighting a union-backed proposal to increase the Overpaid Executive Tax, which he said would “kill our recovery.”

Scott Mann, a spokesperson for the Stand Up for SF campaign pushing the tax, called Cheng’s warning about the local economy is “nothing more than a scare tactic intended to mislead voters.”

A bigger threat to the recovery would be cuts to the services that have stabilized The City, including health care, mental-health services, homelessness prevention and home care, he said.

On the supervisorial front, Cheng said Neighbors for a Better San Francisco would focus on District 8, which includes the Castro, Noe Valley and Cole Valley. The group will support candidate Manny Yekutiel, owner of Manny’s cafe and event space in the Mission. Yekutiel’s opponents include Gary McCoy, a campaign manager at U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s Save Our Healthcare campaign.

A Yekutiel spokesperson said his campaign would not comment and underscored that Neighbors for a Better San Francisco acts independently.

Catie Stewart, a campaign spokesperson for McCoy, suggested the group’s spending might be fruitless.

“If dumping Republican money into San Francisco politics were a guaranteed path to victory, we’d see a lot more of Neighbors’ candidates in office by now,” Stewart said.

Critics of Neighbors for a Better San Francisco have frequently pointed out that the organization’s financial backers — notably William Oberndorf — include people who have also contributed heavily to Republicans.

In District 10, meanwhile, Cheng, said his organization would back Theo Ellington against a raft of candidates, including Dion-Jay Brookter, a nonprofit executive endorsed by Walton, who is term-limited out of office.

District 10, in the southeastern part of The City, includes Potrero Hill, Bayview and Hunters Point.

Ellington was a member of the Neighbors for a Better San Francisco board from 2022 until 2025, said Noah Finneburgh, a consultant for the Ellington campaign, via email.

“Theo is a Bayview native with a deep family history in San Francisco, and that’s resonating with voters,” Finneburgh said. “It’s also reflected in who is funding this campaign — we have more than 500 grassroots donations from artists, teachers, nurses, small business owners, and community leaders.”

Vanessa Pimentel, a consultant with Brookter’s campaign, predicted that District 10 residents will not be swayed by any big spending.

“We’ve seen high-dollar interference before, and we’ve seen it fail when it collides with informed, engaged residents who care deeply about their neighborhoods,” Pimentel said. “This election isn’t for sale. It belongs to the people of San Francisco, and they won’t be fooled.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez speaks during an event in Madrid on March 4, 2026.

 (Photo by Burak Akbulut/Anadolu via Getty Images)

European leaders expressed solidarity with Spain after Trump threatened a trade embargo in retaliation for the prime minister saying the US could not use Spanish military bases to attack Iran.

Julia Conley

Mar 04, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday appeared undaunted by President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a full trade embargo on Spain in retaliation for its refusal to allow the US to use its military bases to wage war on Iran.

In a 10-minute televised address, Sánchez told the Spanish public that the country “will not be complicit in something that is bad for the world and contrary to our values and interests simply out of fear of reprisals from someone.”

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Despite Trump’s threat, the Spanish government’s position on the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran, the prime minister said, can be summarized as “no to war.”

The address came hours after Trump claimed the US military would use Spain’s military bases to launch warplanes “if we want,” despite Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares’ earlier statement that the facilities could not be used “for anything that isn’t covered by the [United Nations] Charter.”

The US and Israel began attacking Iran early Saturday morning after Oman’s foreign minister said American and Iranian officials had been making progress toward a deal on Iran’s nuclear program.

Legal experts have said the unprovoked attacks are a clear violation of international law and the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force unless it is “authorized by the UN Security Council or is a necessary and proportionate act of individual or collective self-defense in response to an armed attack.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stunned observers this week when he claimed the US and Israel had waged war because of an “imminent threat”—one that was posed because the US believed Israel was planning to strike Iran, and Iran was expected to retaliate against that potential attack.

On Wednesday, Sánchez said the US and Israeli strikes against Iran, which have so far killed more than 1,000 people, according to Iranian officials, signify a “breakdown of international law.”

He compared the bombings to the George W. Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq, which led to eight years of war and killed over 100,000 Iraqi civilians, and warned against “repeating the mistakes of the past.”

“Very often great wars start with a chain of events spiraling out of control due to miscalculations, technical failures, and unforeseen circumstances,” said the prime minister, who has also been outspoken in his opposition to Israel’s US-backed assault on Gaza and the Trump administration’s invasion of Venezuela in January. “Therefore, we must learn from history and cannot play Russian roulette with the fate of millions.”

Trump on Tuesday also expressed anger over Spain’s refusal to cave to his demand that all North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states commit to spending 5% of their gross domestic product on defense by 2035.

But other members of the European Union, which collectively negotiates trade with the US, were quick to express solidarity with Spain.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday, told the president that European countries would not agree to a trade agreement with the US that didn’t include Spain, while French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Sánchez to convey his “solidarity.” European Council President António Costa also said he has spoken to the Spanish prime minister and reaffirmed the EU’s “firm commitment to the principles of international law and the rules-based order everywhere in the world.”

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Despite Europe’s strong stance against Trump’s threats, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday doubled down on the president’s rhetoric, appearing on CNBC to accuse Spain of “not meeting their NATO requirement” and of putting “American lives at risk” by not allowing the US to use its bases.

Stéphane Séjourné, the EU’s internal market commissioner, was not deterred by Bessent’s comments, warning that “any threat against member state is by definition a threat against the EU.”

He noted that European countries already joined together this year to defend Greenland from Trump’s claim that he would take over the autonomous territory, part of the Danish kingdom, by force.

“If you threaten one particular country… well, we’ve seen that about Greenland,” said Séjourné. “I think we saw that there was a lot of unity.”

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Julia Conley

Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

Full Bio >

By Sophia Bollag, Staff Writer Updated March 3, 2026 (SFChronicle.com)

Gift Article

California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks speaks during a press conference on Feb. 20 at the state convention at Moscone Center in San Francisco.Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle

SACRAMENTO — The leader of the California Democratic Party on Tuesday began publicly urging Democrats to drop out of the governor’s race because of the possibility they will be locked out of the general election.

About 45% of California voters are registered Democrats, compared with about 25% registered as Republicans. But nine candidates are splitting the Democratic vote, versus just two dividing Republicans. As a result, the two Republican candidates — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News pundit Steve Hilton — could place first and second in the primary. Under California’s jungle primary system, where the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party, that would guarantee a Republican governor in liberal California.

• Read more: Key Friday deadline could help determine whether California elects a Republican governor

On Tuesday morning, a website built by California election data expert Paul Mitchell to assess the likelihood of a Democratic shutout was pegging that possibility at about 15%. The website factors in recent polling and fundraising data and runs simulated primary elections to predict how much of the vote each candidate might expect to win.

“The likelihood of two Republicans effectively ‘locking out’ California Democrats from the contest for Governor in the General Election is relatively low,” California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks wrote in an open letter. “However, while it is implausible, it is not impossible.”

At its convention last week, the party failed to coalesce around one candidate to endorse. 

Hicks didn’t name any candidates in his letter. But he urged all Democrats to assess whether they have a path to victory and to drop out before Friday, the deadline to file paperwork to appear on the ballot, if they don’t. If they decide to stay in the race, he said they should assess their viability again before April 15 and endorse someone else if they can’t win.

At a forum Monday evening, most Democrats in the race declined to do just that. Moderators asked all seven of the candidates participating which of their rivals they would endorse if pressed, and just three gave an answer. Billionaire Tom Steyer said he would pick former Controller Betty Yee. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Yee and state schools chief Tony Thurmond. Yee said Steyer and Villaraigosa. No one said they planned to drop out.

Just hours after Hicks called on candidates to consider dropping out, Yee and Thurmond announced they had formally filed paperwork to appear on the ballot. Once candidates file paperwork, they cannot remove their names from the ballot.

“Bernie Sanders was right. Our political system is rigged,” Thurmond said in a video posted on social media. “The California Democratic Party is essentially telling every candidate of color in the race for governor in the race to drop out.”

The same afternoon, Villaraigosa began publicly calling for former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to drop out, citing Mitchell’s website. Becerra responded on social media that unlike Villaraigosa, he has actually been elected to statewide office.

“And I’ll do it again,” Becerra wrote.

Villaraigosa, Yee, Thurmond and Becerra all garnered less than 5% of the vote in a February poll from Emerson College, alongside San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Assembly Member Ian Calderon.

The same poll found Hilton leading with 17% and Bianco tied with Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Castro Valley, at 14%. Former Rep. Katie Porter came in fourth place with 10% followed by Steyer at 9%. 

Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, also urged candidates to drop out on Tuesday. She noted that it will be more difficult for Democrats to flip competitive U.S. House seats in California without a Democratic gubernatorial candidate at the top of the ticket to draw liberals to the polls.

“Two Republicans advancing to the general election for California governor would be beyond detrimental to the progress we have made in California to protect access to abortion and reproductive health care,” she wrote.

Planned Parenthood has not yet endorsed in the race.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has also not endorsed anyone in the race. On Monday, he said his attention has been elsewhere. That’s true, he said, for the California electorate more broadly, who have been focused on the constant stream of news coming from President Donald Trump’s White House.

Newsom acknowledged his own effort last year to redraw California’s congressional maps also took attention away from the race. 

Newsom has mostly avoided answering questions about the contest. On Monday, he suggested that might change.

“When I’m out in the community, people aren’t talking to me about it, which is interesting this late, just weeks before early voting,” he told reporters at an event in the Bay Area. “As a consequence, I’m not directly as engaged as perhaps I might need to be.”

March 3, 2026

Sophia Bollag

Politics Reporter, Sacramento

Sophia Bollag joined the San Francisco Chronicle as a politics reporter in 2022. She has covered state government from Sacramento since 2016 and has worked at The Sacramento Bee, The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times. She grew up in the East Bay and graduated from Northwestern University, where she studied journalism and literature.

Mayor Lee’s homelessness office has issued a bold report. But funding is short, and there’s a different plan already on the table.

by Natalie Orenstein March 4, 2026 (Oaklandside.org)

A few months into taking office, Mayor Barbara Lee created a new, high-level city office dedicated to one of Oakland’s most severe and persistent crises: homelessness.

Now that office has released its draft “strategic action plan,” with a goal of reducing unsheltered homelessness in Oakland by 50% in the next five years.

“I wish that we could have said we’re going to get to functional zero in the next five years,” said Sasha Hauswald, who leads the new Office of Homelessness Solutions, speaking at a February meeting of the city’s Commission on Homelessness. “Not to mince words, but we don’t have the resources.”

It would cost $3.2 billion beyond what the city and county already spends to abolish homelessness in five years, she said.

Hauswald was not available for an interview by publication time. A city spokesperson responded to questions we sent.

At last count, Oakland had an estimated 3,659 unsheltered residents and 5,485 homeless people overall — numbers that have grown dramatically over the past decade. But a tally conducted this year will offer an updated snapshot.

The plan identifies a roughly $284 million annual gap in funding, and suggests avenues to pursue to plump up city resources.

The vision laid out in the new 71-page document highlights strategies that have been successful, and calls for the city to double down on those programs in the coming years. 

But it’s also not shy about weighing in on what hasn’t worked so far in Oakland and where priorities should shift, raising questions about how the administration’s approach will square with a more aggressive encampment policy the council is considering. 

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“Despite a substantially increased pace of encampment closures in 2025, reported encampments still rose,” the draft plan says. “The city lacks shelter and housing to meet the needs of unhoused individuals and without an indoor place to move, most individuals simply self-relocate to another Oakland location during encampment closures.”

The plan also lays bare the severe racial disparities in the homeless population in Oakland and calls for keeping equity at the forefront of all programs and policies. 

Ramping up what’s working already

The mayor’s plan addresses five areas:

• Preventing people from becoming homeless
• Improving access to services
• Managing homeless camps and neighborhood health
• Improving interim housing 
• Building permanent housing

Last summer, the city held 10 general community feedback sessions and two focus groups with people who’ve experienced homelessness to inform the proposal.

Oakland’s “targeted prevention” program is held up as one of the city’s most successful strategies; the plan recommends expanding it significantly. Under this program, the city identifies households that face the greatest risk of homelessness. These risk factors, according to research, include prior homelessness, severe rent burdens, and involvement in the criminal justice system. Households with these characteristics are eligible for financial assistance, social services, and legal help.

More people enter homelessness each year in Oakland than leave it. Preventing inflow costs $6,000 to $10,000 per household, according to the city, but getting someone stable and housed once they are already homeless costs tenfold that, so it’s cheaper to nip the problem in the bud before it becomes a crisis. Even so, Oakland would be left with a $21 million annual shortfall by expanding the targeted prevention program to the size the plan suggests, according to the report.

Moving people from interim housing programs into permanent supportive housing also works, the city says. Most people remain housed after that step. But Oakland can’t do this at the level that’s needed. 

“Shortages of effective emergency and transitional housing solutions, combined with scarcity of permanent affordable housing, have created bottlenecks where the street becomes a waiting room, and shelter becomes a long-term home,” the plan says.

“You get placed somewhere temporary and then forgotten,” says an unhoused person quoted in the report. “No plan, no timeline, no follow-up.”

The city recommends funding permanent housing — the subsidies that Oakland provides to developers and social service agencies — at a significantly higher rate.

Oakland needs “3,650 additional permanent, deeply affordable housing options” to cut unsheltered homelessness in half over five years, the plan says. Put in dollar figures, that’s roughly $217 million a year — or $169 million annually once you take into account existing city and county funds.

Accessing Measure W dollars and a new bond measure?

Cutting the size of the unsheltered population in half is an expensive endeavor, the plan makes clear.

The estimated $284 million annual shortfall for meeting this goal is paired with a dearth of external resources. The state is facing an extreme deficit, and the Trump Administration is poised to tighten limitations for using federal homelessness money.

One bright spot is the county’s $1.83 billion sales tax Measure W. Officials have decided that 80% of revenue will go toward homelessness, but big decisions remain on exactly how and where most of the money will be allocated. 

The city says Measure W could cover 55-61% of the budget shortfall in the report, and the plan calls on Oakland officials to advocate fiercely at the federal, state, and local levels for funding. Oakland should also put forward a new bond measure for homeless housing development, it says.

Another controversial encampment policy already on the table

How the city should handle homeless camps and treat people living in them has been one of the most engrossing and divisive debates in Oakland in recent years. Last year, Councilmember Ken Houston proposed legislation that would have the city crack down on unsheltered homelessness, towing vehicles people live in and closing more encampments, regardless of whether the city has available shelter beds.

Houston has repeatedly said that allowing encampments to remain is a safety issue for both housed and unhoused people. In response to criticism that his proposal was too aggressive, he updated the legislation to say Oakland should try to offer shelter before closing a location, but refrained from requiring it.

Houston’s proposal has been repeatedly tabled and rescheduled, but it recently cleared a hurdle when a state agency weighed in, saying his plan won’t imperil state funding. 

When she spoke to the Commission on Homelessness last month, Hauswald said her office’s plan is not meant to counter Houston’s proposal. However, it paints a different vision for the near-future of Oakland encampments. 

City closures of encampments have ballooned from 240 in 2024 to 1,212 in 2025, according to the report. This spike was due in large part to extra staff hired, large state funding awards, and priorities that shifted after Mayor Sheng Thao issued an executive order to clear more camps, the city told us.

However, the city estimates that while closures ramped up, encampments still grew, to over 1,900 locations. 

“While encampment closures are necessary to maintain usability of Oakland’s parks, schools, businesses, and critical infrastructure, forced relocation has negative and racially disproportionate impacts on unsheltered people,” the plan says. Because the city has insufficient shelter beds — under 1,300 for over 5,000 homeless people — the closures often “force residents into more dangerous locations,” cut off their access to healthcare and service, increase the loss of critical paperwork and medications, and heighten the risk of fatal overdoses, the report says, referencing research.

“Every time they sweep the camp, you lose your place in line. You lose paperwork, you lose your worker, you start over,” a homeless person says in the report.

Because almost half of Oakland’s unsheltered residents are Black, compared to 22% of the city overall, the closures have racially disparate impacts, the plan says.

The document calls for the creation of more “low-sensitivity” zones where unhoused people can generally live without being rousted. Presenting the plan, Hauswald said Oakland should “pace” its closures based on available shelter. Oakland’s current rules, and Houston’s proposal, define most of the city as “high-sensitivity,” allowing camps to be closed more easily.

In the first year of the plan, the city should expand trash pick-up and sanitation services at camps — something homeless people have long called for — increase outreach, and reinforce expectations that unsheltered residents be “good neighbors” to surrounding businesses and people, the report says. 

“We need to bring down the temperature, and bring a basic level of health and sanitation to our neighborhoods and to our unhoused neighbors,” Hauswald said at the February commission meeting.

She said the plan is “not intended to set a stake on one side of the convo. Nobody wants homelessness in Oakland…The polarizing nature of the convo is harming our ability to make practical progress.”

If both were adopted by the City Council, Houston’s legislation “would prevail over” the action plan, city spokesperson Jean Walsh said. 

A representative for Houston, speaking at a council committee meeting last week, praised Hauswald’s commission presentation but said the councilmember was frustrated that he wasn’t briefed on it in advance.

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Natalie Orenstein

natalie@oaklandside.org

Natalie Orenstein is a senior reporter covering City Hall, housing and homelessness for The Oaklandside. Her reporting on a flood of eviction cases following the end of the Alameda County pandemic moratorium won recognition from the Society of Professional Reporters NorCal in 2024. Natalie was previously on staff at Berkeleyside, where she covered education, including extensive, award-winning reporting on the legacy of school desegregation in Berkeley Unified. Natalie lives in Oakland, grew up in Berkeley, and has only left her beloved East Bay once, to attend Pomona College.More by Natalie Orenstein

Diamond Dave Whitaker, a San Francisco icon and legend, dies at 88

Diamond Dave Whitaker, a San Francisco icon and legend, dies at 88

There is going to be a gathering to honor him this Saturday March 7, 3-6 pm at Hippie Hill in Golden Gste Park. Bring poetry to read and acoustic instruments.

He was also a participant in ‘Occupy’.

By Adrienne Fong

Not back posting on a regular basis.

RESOURCES:

 UPDATES WITH BAY RESISTANCE and get plugged to actions you can support, text “Resist” to 888-850-0928

GI HOTLINE (877) 477-4497

  – Share this number to people who know active duty service members

There are events listed on Indybay that might be of interest to you(many listings in the South, North & East Bays and beyond the bay area)

Please post your actions on Indybay: https://www.indybay.org/calendar/?page_id=12

Bay Area Progressive Action Calendar: ATW Bay Area / NorCal — Action Together West

ARTICLES

A. US Senate fails to advance war powers measure to rein in Trump’s Iran war – March 4, 2026

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/4/us-senate-fails-to-advance-war-powers-measure-to-rein-trumps-war-with-iran

   US House of Rep. VOTE IS TOMORROW – Thursday –

     See Petition #1

B. Marine veteran disrupts US Senate hearing – protesting US-Israeli war on Iran (2 min. YouTube)

Marine veteran disrupts US Senate hearing protesting US-Israeli war on Iran – YouTube
Marin corps veteran @brianmcginnisnc — a 4 year combat veteran– was violently pulled out of Senate hearing today, then tackled to the floor and had his arm snapped and broken by Senator Sheehy and security after saying ” Israel is the reason for this war in Iran.”

  He yelled out FREE PALESTINE as he was being cuffed in the hall.

C. No Evidence Iran Is Building Nuclear Bomb, Says UN Atomic Energy Chief

Deja vu. – March 4, 2026
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/04/no-evidence-iran-is-building-nuclear-bomb-says-un-atomic-energy-chief/

D. The U.S. CAN’T WIN This War And Here’s Why! w/ Scott Ritter – March 3, 2026

The U.S. CAN’T WIN This War And Here’s Why! w/ Scott Ritter

   YouTube – about 6:34 min long. Turn on your sound

E. I fought in Iraq. The Iran war already feels like déjà vu – March 3, 2026

I fought in Iraq, so the Iran war already feels like deja vu

F. Iran, Epstein & Human Sacrifice

G. Minnesota county attorney investigating Gregory Bovino and other federal officials over immigration crackdown – March 2, 2026

H. Democratic Leaders Face Backlash Over ‘Cowardly’ Responses to Trump War on Iran – March 1, 20-26

Democratic Leaders Face Backlash Over ‘Cowardly’ Responses to Trump War on Iran | Common Dreams

I. Israel shuts Rafah, seals Gaza off again as joint strikes with US on Iran raise fears of wider war – February 28, 2026

J. Growing Tensions With US Could Lead Europe Deeper Into Nuclear Proliferation – February 24, 2026

Growing Tensions With US Could Lead Europe Deeper Into Nuclear Proliferation | Truthout

5 PETITIONS

1. Tell Congress to Oppose U.S. War on Iran for Israel’s Benefit

CAIR Action Alert: Tell Congress to Oppose U.S. War on Iran for Israel’s Benefit

  House of Rep. VOTE IS TOMORROW – Thursday

   Make the Call to your US Representative

   Capitol Switchboard: 202) 224-3121

 Rep. Nancy Pelosi(202) 225-4965

2. Demand companies side with the people & constitution – not the regime waging illegal war

  SIGN: Demand companies side with the people & the constitution – not the regime waging illegal war.

3. Investigate and shut down abusive ICE prisons!

  SIGN: Investigate and shut down abusive ICE prisons! | Demand Progress

4. Tell your governor: No tax breaks for Big Tech data centers

  SIGN: Tell your governor: No tax breaks for Big Tech data centers  

5. Tell Universities: End support for Chinese state-run AI labs and complicity with the Uyghur Genocide

  SIGN: Tell Universities: End support for Chinese state-run AI labs and complicity with the Uyghur genocide – Action Network

PETITIONS of Scheduled March Executions (click on the name to sign)

March 3, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET: 
Billy Kearse in Florida

–        He was executed yesterday

March 11, 2026 at 6:00 pm CT:
Cedric Ricks in Texas

March 12, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET:
Charles “Sonny” Burton in Alabama

March 17, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET:
Michael King in Florida

EVENTS / ACTIONS

Thursday, March 5 – Wednesday, March 11

Thursday, March 5

1. Thursday, 4:00pm – 6:00pm, Tell Target to STAND UP TO ICE!

Metreon Target: 789 Mission Street.

Meet on the sidewalk by the Mission Street entrance.

SF

Tell Target: We will boycott until they Stand Up To ICE!
Join us to say: Until Target acts to protect its workers and guests from ICE, we will not shop at Target!

We will hold signs, hand out flyers, and explain why we must all boycott Target until they Stand Up To ICE!
Bring a sign if you have one.
This is a peaceful protest.

Info: Tell Target to STAND UP TO ICE! : Indybay

2. Thursday, 5:30pm – 6:30pm (PT, Workshop on Local Divestment and Boycott Campaigns Targeting Military Tech Giant Palantir

Online
https://actionnetwork.org/events/from-minneapolis-to-gaza-purge-palantir-workshop

Palantir, the tech giant which powers ICE surveillance and kidnappings as well as the Israeli military’s genocide, has been expanding its contracts in communities across the US. From medical centers that use Palantir AI tech for patient services, to partnerships with utility companies, to student recruitment on university campuses, Palantir has local contracts everywhere—and community cut-the-contract campaigns to “purge Palantir” are popping up just as quickly.

Join us to learn more about different local campaigns targeting Palantir contracts in communities across the country. We’ll be joined by Cathy from Mijente to talk about stopping Palantir’s student recruitment, Amy Schur from Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment to talk about challenging Palantir’s work with utility companies, and more!

Info: Workshop on Local Divestment and Boycott Campaigns Targeting Military Tech Giant Palantir : Indybay

Friday, March 6

3. Friday, 10:30am, Noisemakers Against Genocide (NAG)

SF Israeli Consulate
456 Montgomery St.
SF 

Palestinians still being slaughtered on a daily basis by Israeli Forces!

Break the silence at the SF Israel Consulate….what better place to resist?
Join our family of noisemakers and chalkers for Palestine!
We will not rest until Palestine can rest!

israeli consulate NOT welcome in the Bay Area ‼️
Come and join Noisemakers Against Genocide (NAG) and autonomous activists in letting the israeli consulate know that they are NOT welcome in SF Bay Area! 

Bring noisemakers, drums, banners, whistles, horns, keffiyehs and flags  to make a proper ruckus!
No business as usual for mass murderers. 

Info: Noisemakers Against Genocide (NAG) : Indybay

4. Friday, 7:00pm – 9:00pm, Film Showing of Persepolis

Revolution Books, Berkeley
2444 Durant Ave.
Berkeley 

As the US and Israel bomb Iranian cities in an unprovoked and criminal war, we screen Persepolis.

This film comes from a perspective of opposing BOTH the horrific rule of the US-backed Shah of Iran, AND the rule of the repressive Islamic Republic, which just last month murdered thousands of protesters. This understanding and perspective is urgently needed now in relation to the US’s unjust attack on Iran.

From the 1953 CIA coup, to the Shah, to the Islamic fundamentalist theocracy, this film movingly portrays the resistance and lives of the Iranian people through the beautifully animated film of the life of Marjane Satrapi, based on her graphic novel.

In 1970s Iran, Marjane ‘Marji’ Satrapi watches events through her young eyes and her family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah’s defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

But as she grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.

Our screening is dedicated to the people of Iran.

Watch the trailer here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PXHeKuBzPY&t=2s

Info: Film Showing of Persepolis : Indybay 

Saturday, March 7

5. Saturday, 12Noon – 2:00pm, Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday)
corner of Van Ness and O’Farrell St
SF 

We do not consent to Trump and his billionaire allies taking a chainsaw to our government and our economy for their benefit! San Francisco is a sanctuary city and We the People need to defend the values that make it so. Let’s stand united and oppose the endless assaults on our communities, our civil rights, the rule of law, and our democracy.

Keep democracy alive every Saturday by showing up, taking a stand, and sticking together for the long haul. Standing together is better than standing alone. Let’s get together and call out the Trump/MAGA regime as a community. Plus, it’s fun! Think of it as our democracy corner—a place for you to voice your opinion, hang out with like-minded fellow protesters, and experience a cathartic moment together.

What you can do:
• If you’ve got signs, flags, cardboard cutouts, or any protest visuals you want to make, bring ’em! We also have spare signs to lend.
• If you have whistles, drums, cowbells, or other noisemakers, bring ’em!
• Musicians are welcome and encouraged. Sing the song of democracy!

Sponsors: Indivisible & 50501

Info: Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday) : Indybay

6. Saturday 2:00pm-4:00pm, The Global Struggle for Women’s Rights

In person:

The Starry Plough Pub
3101 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley 

Online: Register for your personal link at https://bit.ly/SSS-WomensRights

March is the month when we honor the history of approximately half the world’s
population. On this day before International Women’s Day, our speakers will discuss
some pioneers in women’s reproductive freedom in the U.S., and women’s movements
in Ireland, Iran, and beyond.

Speakers include:

Emer Martin – Award-winning Irish novelist; Co-founder of Saoirse Hurriya
(Palestinian/Irish Solidarity Committee); member of Fremont Education
Association

Negeene Mosaed – Founder, Berkeley Network for Palestine; member,
Democratic Socialists of America; owner/operator, Berkeley Community
Physical Therapy, a community clinic for the people of Berkeley

Marsha Feinland – Member, Peace and Freedom Party State Executive
Committee, and California Teachers’ Association (retired); Former
commissioner, Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board

An open discussion will follow the presentations. While online attendees may have their input read by the moderator, attendance in person greatly facilitates participation in the discussion

This event is sponsored by the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party,
the Alameda County Green Party and Bay Area System Change Not Climate Change.

Info: The Global Struggle for Women’s Rights : Indybay

7. Saturday, 2:00pm, SF: Stop the War on Iran – National Day of Action

Meet at:

Embarcadero Plaza
SF 

SAN FRANCISCO ACTION: This Saturday, March 7th, in cities and towns around the country, stand up to say No War on Iran!

Hundreds have already been killed by the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran—including over 100 children as they sat in their elementary school. The people of the U.S. overwhelmingly oppose the war, but that opposition needs to be expressed in the streets so it is impossible to ignore. Join a protest this Saturday, March 7, to make your voice heard!

We won’t stand by while this new war claims more lives—including the lives of U.S. service members—and Trump and the billionaires in the White House cheer.

Host: Multiple organizations

Info: SF: Stop the War on Iran – National Day of Action : Indybay 

Sunday, March 8

8. Sunday, 11:00am – 3:00pm, Oakland: International Working Women’s Day Protest March & Rally – No ICE! Stop Fascism!

Meet at:

Pergola at Lake Merritt
path near El Embarcadero and Lakeshore Ave
Oakland

The march will be roughly 1 mile on mostly flat terrain. More access information to come!

Come with loved ones and your fighting spirit as we demonstrate our power against the repression of immigrant communities, the stripping of services to the most vulnerable, the demonization of our trans kin, and the funneling of our tax dollars toward endless wars.

We uplift the hundreds of thousands of working women within Turtle Island and all around the Global South who have paved the way for revolutionary struggle today. We know that working women and gender expansive folks will light the way forward and advance our fight towards liberation.

View site for listing of organizations

Info: Oakland: International Working Women’s Day Protest March & Rally – No ICE! Stop Fascism! : Indybay

9. Sunday, 1:00pm – 4:00pm, San Francisco: Anti-Fascism March & Rally – Unleash the Power of Furious Women

Meet at:

Union Square in San Francisco
Corner of Geary Street and Stockton Street
SF 

March & Rally

The start of 2026 made one thing painfully clear: this administration thinks it’s above the law. We’ve watched cruelty become policy, chaos masquerade as leadership, and power exercised without accountability. And still, women have stood up.

The Trump regime thinks it’s above the law. Cruelty is policy. Power is exercised without accountability.

And still, women stand up.

We’ve seen women like Renee Good face fascism head-on. Her courage reminds us that bravery is a choice made in real moments, by real people, at real cost. This moment calls for more of us to be brave.

This International Women’s Day, let’s be brave together. Join us for a Brave Women Weekend of Action with a march and rally in San Francisco on March 8th. We will demonstrate the collective power of women & allies to resist, the impact of our noncompliance, and our will to build a better world.

The land of the free is under attack. The home of the brave still stands. A Free America depends on us!

Info: San Francisco: Anti-Fascism March & Rally – Unleash the Power of Furious Women : Indybay

10. Sunday, 4:30pm – 5:30pm, Webinar: Tax Resistance and Civil Disobedience

Virtua Register at https://bit.ly/3MYlvTt

join Taxpayers Against Genocide (TAG) for the educational webinar, Tax Resistance & Civil Disobedience: History, Law, and Consequences, presented by the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee

Info: Webinar: Tax Resistance and Civil Disobedience : Indybay

Monday, March 9

11. Monday, 12:30pm – 1:30pm, No Monarch’s Monday: Weekly Protest at Tesla in San Francisco

Tesla Dealership –SF
999 Van Ness Ave. (Corner of O’Farrell)
SF

Join us to stand up for democracy, civil liberties, and the planet, and against the fascist/authoritarian Trump Regime!
ABOLISH ICE! NO WAR ON IRAN!
Bring a sign if you have one.

Info: No Monarch’s Monday: Weekly Protest at Tesla in San Francisco : Indybay

Wednesday, March 11

12. Wednesday, 11:00am – 1:00pm, a humble prayer March in honor of Intl Women’s Day

Meet at:

11am Wednesday , March 11th occupied Yelamu (SF) Launch at Corner of Market and Montgomery streets

SF

1:00pm – Ends at St. Mary’s Square on California St.between Grant and Kearney Sts. SF

Homeless Women/Indigenous women/Refugee Women/Disabled women /incarcerated women/Comfort women… a humble prayer March in honor of Intl Women’s Day

Honoring women surviving the violence of borders, colonization, sweeps, evictions, and wars across Mama Earth.

The Vision (Engles)
The vision of this humble multi-generational walk in the occupied village of yelamu (SF) is to pray, to weap, to dream , to honor voices and struggles from the poorest women among us – impacted first and worst by violent gentrification , eviction , false borders, carceral systems , police Terror and violent extraction of mama earth and our mamas

Each stop on the march reflects these communities, We will b starting at Montgomery and market, above a BART station where many houseless , disabled, elder women have tried to sleep and sit and were met with violent sweeps and arrest -then to the site of an abandoned ICE korthouse -a site of false colonial border terror of indigenous women , men and families and then we will culminate at the comfort woman memorial in St Mary’s park because the far too little known story of the comfort women who were victims of terrifying sexual violence, abuse and extraction has much to teach us about the abuse and terror experienced by poor women in a colonial systems everywhere

We chose SF becuz this city currently employs some of the most violent anti-houseless , anti disabled peoples policies. As well, that all of these issues are intertwined , Most houseless women are disabled , a very high percentage are indigenous refugees from the other sides of the false borders and the only “solution” this settler town has is incarceration and criminalization

PLEASE DM us if your movement or org would like to co-sponsor

Hosts: House Keys Not Handcuffs, POOR Mag. & Other groups

Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/DVPgVNsj_w1/?hl=en&img_index=1

13. Wednesday, 1:00pm – 2:30pm, No More Nukes On 15th Annviersary of Fukushiam: SF Rally

San Francisco Japanese Consulate
275 Battery St/California St.
SF 

3/11 SF Rally At SF Japanese Consulate: On The 15th Anniversary Of Fukushima Nuclear Meltdowns-Stop Restarting Nuke Plants In Japan & Shutdown Nuke Plants Around The World

On the 15th anniverary of the meltdown of 3 nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan the government and the operator TEPCO have still been unable to remove over 880 lbs. of melted
radioactive waste. At the same time Japanese governments including the latest supporter of Nukes Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi who supports opening up all closed nuclear plants and is in full support of the expansion of nuclear power and weapons. She and her party also want to eliminate Article 9 and build a military force for military interventions around the world. She has also supported the export of weapons from Japan to other countries.

The fact that the supporters of nuclear power have still been unable to remove the radioactive waste from Fukushima is proof positive that this technology and nuclear development is a threat to not only Japan but the world.

At the same time the US Biden and now Trump administration are pushing for more nuclear plants and mini-nuclear power plants to help power the expanding data centers. Governor Gavin Newsom also with the support of the super majority of Democrats in the legislatue and Republicans in California voted to spend billions of dollars in subsidies to keep the PG&E Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open. This threat of an earthquake at this nuke pant is is real since it sits on an earthquake fault. It is also one of the reasons for the massive increase in electrical costs for rate payers in California.

We need to continue the international campaign to stop re-opening of Nuke plants and to stop the drive for nukes and war globally.

Stop Dumping Fukushima Radioactive Tritium Into The Pacific
Shutdown Diablo Canyon, No Subsidies to PG&E For Nuke Power
Defend of the Residents of Fukushima & No More Nukes In Japan and the World

Host: No Nukes Committee

Info: No More Nukes On 15th Annviersary of Fukushiam: SF Rally At SF Japanese Consulate : Indybay

14. Wednesday, 6:00pm – 7:30pm, The Future of Independent Commissions in San Francisco

Women’s Building
3543 18th St #8
SF 

Register: The Future of Independent Commissions in San Francisco · Luma

​You may attend this event in person or online. The event recording will be shared with all event registrants.

San Francisco’s system of independent commissions is one of the strongest tools residents have to hold their government accountable — and it’s now at a critical turning point.

​The Commission Streamlining Task Force, created by the voter-approved Proposition E (November 2024), is proposing changes that could dramatically weaken public oversight and concentrate more power in the Mayor’s office. This will have real consequences for housing, public safety, transit, and neighborhood services across the city.

​Come to this urgent community forum to understand what’s at stake. You’ll learn what commissions actually do, how these recommendations could reshape who makes decisions for San Francisco, and why this moment matters for everyone who cares about transparency, democracy, and the future of our city.

Host: League of Women Voters – SF

Info: The Future of Independent Commissions in San Francisco : Indybay

• By James Salazar | Examiner staff writer
• Mar 2, 2026 (SFExaminer.com)

City leaders are turning the focus of their investments in San Francisco’s Mid-Market neighborhood to its arts scene, with a new proposal on the table and positive feedback from the community.

Under a proposal from District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, the area and its five historic theatrical venues would be targeted for street performances, public art installations and other improvements as part of an effort to create a robust theater-arts district.

So far, community stakeholders have expressed optimism about what the proposal means for the continued revitalization of the area.

Last week, Mahmood proposed turning the stretch of Market Street between Fifth and Ninth streets into a cultural destination with murals, digital displays highlighting current theatrical productions, pop-up events with local small businesses, and other attractions.

The area is already a significant city hub for the performing arts. It’s home to the American Conservatory Theater’s Strand Theater, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, Golden Gate Theatre, the Orpheum and The Warfield. The proposal for a theater-arts district builds on post-pandemic investments in the neighborhood to continue its revival.

“San Francisco’s recovery starts downtown, and downtown’s recovery starts with the arts,” Mahmood said in a press release announcing the plan. “The theater arts district is about … turning the incredible venues we already have into a destination people experience both inside and outside.”

The proposal would cost an estimated $5 million, which Mahmood’s office said it will raise through a mix of philanthropic donations and contributions from The City’s public and private sectors.

Mahmood said he aims to secure an initial $1 million in pilot funding to begin the first phase of the project by the end of this year. (As a public-private partnership, the proposal would not require a formal vote by the Board of Supervisors, per Bay City News Service.)

Mahmood said in an interview that since announcing the proposal, it has been “really encouraging to see the outpouring of support from so many different walks of life.”

Tenderloin Community Benefit District Executive Director Kate Robinson said the “renewed investment in arts and thoughtful placemaking represents an important step” toward reestablishing the Mid-Market neighborhood as “a vibrant destination for both residents and visitors.”

Fernando Pujals, executive director of the Mid-Market Business Association and Foundation, said a theater-arts district will turn “a collection of great venues into a destination.” The proposal is “a great step forward,” which “catalyzes momentum that has been building in the neighborhood,” he said.

In early February, tech billionaire Chris Larsen gave The City $5 million to help revitalize the Larkin Street commercial corridor with “better lighting, cleaner sidewalks, decorative security gates and regular cultural events,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said at a press conference announcing the public-private partnership.

Last summer, the nonprofit workforce-development program Holy Stitch and the Roar Shack Live creative lab — both of which occupy formerly vacant storefronts — celebrated their one-year anniversaries in the Mid-Market neighborhood.

Mahmood said that city-backed grants, such as those issued through the Tenderloin Storefront Opportunity Grant Program, have also been helpful in revitalizing the neighborhood. Launched earlier this year by The City’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the program issues grants of up to $100,000 to entrepreneurs who set up shop in the neighborhood, with money going toward purchasing equipment, decreasing operating costs and tenant improvements.

Last February, the Community Arts Stabilization Trust and San Francisco public-radio station KALW jointly acquired the Warfield Building, with aims of turning the property into an arts and media incubator. It will provide studio and training space to local artists and arts organizations, as well as house KALW’s new broadcast studios.

“When buyers like that are investing in Mid-Market, it validates the direction this neighborhood is heading,” Pujals said.

Mahmood said that before announcing the proposal, he spent six months talking with neighborhood entertainment operators, businesses and other residents about the safety and security improvements they wanted to see in the neighborhood. He said that as a result, San Francisco Police Department officers have increased foot patrols throughout the neighborhood on weekdays, while the multiagency Drug Market Agency Coordination Center task force, launched in 2023 by then-Mayor London Breed, continues to target illegal drug activity in the Tenderloin and SoMa.

As details of the theater-arts district get hammered out, Pujals said, there needs to be continued coordination among city officials and community stakeholders.

“This has to be built together with the people who are already here,” he said.

To that end, Mahmood said, the proposal will be accomplished in stages, meaning that officials can take their efforts block by block, or focus on one element on the corridor at a time, such as lighting or artwork.

“What is clear is that this will be a phased process, so that we can continue to show progress throughout the street for years to come,” he said.

James Salazar

Neighborhoods & Culture Correspondent

(Courtesy of Tenderloin Museum)