Dispatch from City Hall. The headline item from yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting — the item that provoked hundreds of people to show up to City Hall and stand in line for hours hoping for the chance to give a one-minute speech in front of their legislators and peers — was Supervisor Dean Preston’s resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The mass turnout was unsurprising; similar resolutions have now made the rounds in dozens of city councils across the Bay Area and nation, and each has inspired similarly large turnouts, protests and counterprotests. The thrilling (if improbable) premise of these resolutions is that local politicians can influence the outcome of a geopolitical conflict happening almost 8,000 miles away, and in no way under their jurisdiction, by uttering words like ceasefire, end the war, and no more killing. It’s something like an act of manifestation, a magic spell.

As of Tuesday evening, public comment on this resolution has lasted almost five hours and is ongoing. The attendees, most of whom appear to be repeating arguments from a “ceasefire talking points” document circulated via QR code in line, are unwearied. “This is the most important thing they’ll talk about all year,” a Doc Marten-wearing teenager told me, as we watched Preston introduce the resolution on the livestreamed broadcast in the overflow room. She was wearing a shirt that said “Gaza & Ferguson & Chiapas & Aleppo & Oakland & Standing Rock & Mindanao.” Most people had been nodding off as the supervisors voted on an array of local legislation (sweeping changes to the planning code which may bring the city into compliance with state law; a disbursal of $50 million to a nonprofit tasked, strangely, with developing a waterfront park; the redirection of nearly $300,000 to the city’s “Human Rights Commission,” which already gets over $20 million a year). Who cares about this stuff, one bored attendee said to another.

Who cares, indeed. The local stuff — the only stuff, incidentally, that means anything at all in the mouths of local politicians — is unsexy and technical, too niche to be a talking point or a slogan. The crowd wants nothing to do with zoning changes or shady nonprofits. They care little about the dysfunction on their doorstep. They want a moment of glory, a triumphant manifestation. And when do they want it? Now.

CITY HALL

policy, power struggles, and more from the legislative and executive branch (and their sprawling army of unelected hall monitors)

• Mayor Breed quietly ordered cuts of around $75 million in planned spending, amid talk of a resurgent budget deficit. While most of the savings will come from hiring freezes and state grants, the city will also nix around $23 million in program spending (including the $2 million previously earmarked for the creation of an ‘Office of Reparations’). 

• In a text exchange with a reporter at the Standard, ex-Interim Mayor Mark Farrell hinted that he may challenge Breed in next year’s election.

• Following accusations of “cultural appropriation” from Supervisor Chan, the city’s Department of Election has decided to tighten rules around which Chinese names non-Chinese political candidates can use on ballots. 

• Democrats for Change, a moderate political group, held an event in Hayes Valley on Saturday to promote a slate of candidates running for the SF Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC), the governing body of the local Democratic Party. Speakers included state Senator Wiener and Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan.

• City Attorney David Chiu announced a lawsuit against online tobacco retailers accused of violating local flavored cigarette and vape bans. 

• Attorneys for Nina Momeni, the alleged killer of tech executive Bob Lee, say their client cannot get a fair trial in San Francisco because former Mayor Willie Brown influenced Momeni’s previous defense lawyer to cooperate with the prosecution.

• Supervisor Walton introduced a resolution calling on the city to issue a “formal apology” to Black San Franciscans for “past harms.”

ROSE ALERT

notes from the bay area’s beloved class of local activists

• “Because he took a free trip to Israel,” CA Democratic State Central Committee delegate Nadia Rahman says Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin won’t entertain a resolution on the Israel/Hamas conflict. (Arreguin says it’s because he “won’t use taxpayer resources [for that] when we have public safety issues, homelessness, a housing crisis.”)

• Facing outcry from First Amendment defenders, Alameda County DA Pamela Price (last week seen presiding over an ancestor-invoking poinsettia watering ceremony) claims she has “corrected” the “oversight” that led to credentialed reporter Emilie Raguso being barred access to one of the DA’s news conferences.

• A guest Rose Alert item from our neighbors down in the Central Coast — Cal Poly’s Pride Center is apparently holding three days of “processing sessions” for students after detransitioner Chloe Cole gave a speech on campus. 

• “Homeless advocates” are up in arms after café and restaurant owners roped off a small “customer’s only” section at Downtown Berkeley BART plaza, citing frequent harassment of clients from loiterers. Advocates claim the symbolic, unenforceable barrier “privatiz[es] public space” and discriminates against the homeless.

MEMO SACRAMENTO

a brief, essential spotlight on the state of california

• Thousands of Cal State employees went on strike on Monday, days before the end-of-term, to demand higher pay — an escalation in ongoing contract negotiations between their union and administration. 

• LA Mayor Karen Bass announced new guidelines prohibiting mayoral staff from raising money for nonprofits associated with the city, a move ostensibly designed to curtail the pay-to-play system that thrived under her predecessor Eric Garcetti.

• Large groups of Chinese nationals were caught crossing illegally into the United States at the border wall in San Diego County. (Spies? CCP dissidents? Thrill-seekers?)

• An LA con-man who posed as the right hand of a powerful Armenian crime lord (and somehow scored a meeting with Gavin Newsom) was sentenced to six months in prison after taking a plea deal which involved testifying against corrupt law enforcement officers.

• The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) now alleges Cruise withheld crucial details related to an October 2 crash involving one of its autonomous vehicles and misled the public about its cooperation with state regulators, charges that could result in fines of up to $1.5 million. 

AROUND TOWN

stories from the neighborhood you should know about

• Yesterday, two dozen Valencia Street business owners blocked the center-of-the-road bike lane installed several months ago, protesting its impact on business. They claim the lane, which eliminated around 70 parking spaces, has led to a sharp decline in revenue. 

• Car break-ins are down dramatically throughout the city after law enforcement announced a “blitz” operation involving bait cars, plainclothes officers and video surveillance. 

• The city’s office vacancy rate has reached an all-time high of 35%, though some analysts say the rate of companies abandoning leases appears to have plateaued and demand for office space is growing again. 

• Many affected by the current 90-day ban on street vending at Mission BART plaza have rejected a city-provided indoor vending space, instead opting to set up tents and sell their goods along 24th Street. 

• A Fisherman’s Wharf restaurateur was charged with trying to bribe undercover FBI agents posing as San Francisco Port officials in an attempt to secure expedited approval for waterfront commercial property leases. 

• A handful of previously-closed restaurants in the Mission, including Rosamunde Sausage Grill and Stonemill Matcha, have announced reopenings. 

• BART and Muni run apparently lucrative transit-themed merchandise businesses, and some of the new holiday-themed gear is surprisingly pretty cool. 

• Resurrected version of now-shuttered iconic gay bar The Stud recently obtained its liquor license, though owners say the new bar won’t open until the end of winter. “It’s not cheap to turn a straight sports bar into a fabulous drag bar.”

• Entrance to SF MoMa is free for residents of all nine Bay Area counties tomorrow, as part of the Museum’s “First Thursdays” initiative. 

• SantaCon, the Christmas bacchanal celebration best described as ‘an excuse to put on a vaguely Santa-themed outfit and get wasted,’ is happening this Saturday, starting at noon in Union Square. See you there?

Catch you next Wednesday,

Sanjana

Editor’s note: This post has been lightly edited for clarity and style.