{"id":32530,"date":"2024-03-28T12:52:38","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T19:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=32530"},"modified":"2024-03-28T12:52:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T19:52:39","slug":"in-mayoral-race-preview-supes-reject-breed-veto-of-peskin-zoning-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/03\/28\/in-mayoral-race-preview-supes-reject-breed-veto-of-peskin-zoning-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"In mayoral race preview, supes reject Breed veto of Peskin zoning bill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mayor’s move was all politics, not policy, most board members agree.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By TIM REDMOND<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MARCH 26, 2024 (48hills.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In what could be a preview of the upcoming mayor\u2019s race, the Board of Supes Tuesday overrode Mayor London Breed\u2019s veto<\/a> and approved very limited protections for the Jackson Square Historic District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation, by Sup. Aaron Peskin, is limited: The area in question is only 20 square blocks, and only a small number of sites in that area are even eligible for development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would prevent height limits for that area to increase to 270 feet, similar to the downtown core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis has been badly misrepresented in the local media,\u201d Peskin said, pointing out that the measure doesn\u2019t conflict with the Housing Element, had the support of all seven members of the Planning Commission, and that both the current and former planning directors were in favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Peskin called Breed\u2019s action \u2018depressing and unprofessional.\u2019 Photo by Ebbe Roe Yovino-Smith<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, Breed (and her ally State Sen. Scott Wiener) have denounced the measure, saying that it\u2019s \u201canti-housing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peskin quoted former Planning Director John Rahaim, who has never been against any sort of development, saying that \u201cthis does not prevent housing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might prevent a few exceptionally high-end luxury highrises, and reflects, as Sup. Rafael Mandelman said, \u201cour desire not to see the Fontana Towers replicated all along the waterfront.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Sup. Catherine Stefani, the most conservative member of the board, voted in favor of the Peskin bill. Most of the area in question, she said \u201cis already protected\u201d by historic preservation rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peskin followed the city\u2019s normal procedures, and brought his proposal to the Planning Commission, which studied it and decided, with the concurrence of the mayor\u2019s planning director and all four mayoral appointees to the commission, that it made perfect sense and would have no significant impact on future housing development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So: the politics. The mayor\u2019s veto was all about politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sup. Ahsha Safai, who is challenging Breed, was pretty direct: \u201cI\u2019m perplexed by so much misinformation,\u201d he said. \u201cThe mayor\u2019s veto highlights the inconsistencies in her policies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted: \u201cWe need to be building housing for working families, not just tall expensive condos for the wealthy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s going to be a talking point for Safai during the campaign, and a signal of his efforts to try to go after progressive voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peskin, who is widely reported to be considering entering the race<\/a>, also challenged Breed: Generally, he said, when a mayor plans to veto a measure, the executive office reaches out to the legislator to at least discuss the matter, but that didn\u2019t happen here: \u201cThis is depressing and unprofessional,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe city planning representative of this mayor makes a recommendation, and we follow that, and we get a veto, this is rewarding bad behavior. This is not a policy discussion but a political one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mandelman: \u201cI am frustrated by this fight over this little legislation. It is all politics and no policy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes: Breed wants to paint Peskin and the supes as anti-housing, because that attracts big money, and the mayor\u2019s campaign staff thinks it\u2019s a winning issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The supes, who will now face even more attacks, voted 8-3 to override the veto, with only Sups. Matt Dorsey, Joel Engardio, and Myrna Melgar opposed.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Redmond<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Redmond has been a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He spent much of that time as executive editor of the Bay Guardian. He is the founder of 48hills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mayor’s move was all politics, not policy, most board members agree. By TIM REDMOND MARCH 26, 2024 (48hills.org) In what could be a preview of the upcoming mayor\u2019s race, the Board of Supes Tuesday overrode Mayor London Breed\u2019s veto and approved very limited protections for the Jackson Square Historic District. The legislation,… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32530"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32532,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32530\/revisions\/32532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}