Executives at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue appear poised to take action to regulate artificial intelligence in the coming weeks as officials warn of the technology’s dangers.

President Biden focused on the issue Tuesday when he called a meeting in San Francisco that gathered voices calling for a much more forceful response to the potential impact of AI in areas from the workplace to raising children in the years to come push for civil rights.

“We have to manage the risks,” Biden said in brief comments on Tuesday. Today’s event, a White House official said, will be “followed by a process in the coming days to quickly develop decisive actions that we can take in the coming weeks.”

President Joe Biden, seated next to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, addresses a meeting on addressing the risks of artificial intelligence June 20 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

On Capitol Hill, there could be additional industry excitement later this week when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) reveals new details of his own AI-related plans.

A White House stance on AI that began with “educate us.”

Back in May, the Biden administration brought the CEOs of Alphabet (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT) and others to the White House for what it called a conversation about AI, while emphasizing its “expectation that companies like yours will have to make it happen .” Your products are safe before they are released to the public.”

President Biden came to the meeting and warned of the “enormous danger” the technology could pose in a short video released by the White House. But he was concerned overall – going so far as to say he wanted the assembled CEOs to “educate” us about the technology.

So far, White House action on this issue has been largely limited to things like investment in AI research and an AI Charter of Fundamental Rights. But this week’s meeting came with a promise that even stronger action would be taken.

“Social media has already shown us the damage powerful technology without the right safeguards can do,” Biden said Tuesday. He compared the AI ​​issue to another part of the tech sector — social media, for example — which has fueled significant tensions between political and business leaders for years.

The story goes on

After his remarks, the President then turned to the number of the harshest critics of large technology groups to get ideas for further action.

Tristan Harris, a longtime social media critic, was one of the key figures at the table with the president. Harris, a former design ethicist at Google, is now exploring how tech companies, he said, “have a dangerous hold on our ability to make sense of the world.” He was also featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma and serves as the co-founder and executive director of the Center for Humane Technology.

Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, was also scheduled to attend the meeting. He was notable for urging Washington to take a tougher stance on AI. (Steyer previously led a wide-ranging campaign urging advertisers to boycott Facebook owner Meta.)

Others who took part in the discussion: Fei-Fei Li of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute will discuss the possible benefits of AI in fields like medicine, while Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, will likely discuss how AI could change education. Li, previously chief scientist for AI and machine learning at Google Cloud, has also been vocal about the need to improve diversity in AI. Additionally, Stanford’s Rob Reich, who calls for an established code of conduct among AI developers, is expected to attend the meeting, as will UC Berkeley’s Jennifer Doudna, an expert on gene editing and its ethical parallels with AI.

Joy Buolamwin of the Algorithmic Justice League, an expert on algorithmic bias and its real-world implications, and Oren Etzioni, founding CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, were also scheduled to meet with President Biden.

During this trip, Biden also encountered other key AI players, most notably Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott, who has been vocal about AI and its possibilities. The CEO and his wife held a fundraiser for the president’s re-election campaign on Monday afternoon.

“Shannon and Kev, thank you so much,” Biden said Monday night at the event at the couple’s home in Los Gatos, California, before beginning his short speech. The fundraiser was co-hosted by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016.

Supporters wave to President Joe Biden’s motorcade as they drive past en route to a fundraiser in Los Gatos, California. (Nhat V. Meyer/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)

A bunch of ideas from across Washington

Of course, it remains to be seen what specific actions the White House will take — and whether those will impact the fast-growing sector. But there is movement and apparently also urgency.

Last year, the Biden administration convened a national artificial intelligence advisory committee, headed by the Commerce Department, to make recommendations on the issue. A May report from the group presented 24 action ideas from Washington. Examples include the adoption of national standards for AI risk management, the retraining of laid-off workers, and diplomatic efforts against possible malicious AI from countries like China.

Trade Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a recent interview that her goal is to reflect on “possibly the most complicated technology policy discussion we’ve ever had,” adding that many of the threats posed by AI may not even be understood today become.

Elsewhere in Washington, a parallel trial is underway on Capitol Hill, led by Senator Schumer. The Senate Majority Leader will deliver a speech on Wednesday to unveil a plan that he hopes will frame a comprehensive and bipartisan approach to solving the problem.

Schumer also recently announced three senator-only briefings in the coming months to educate lawmakers on the issues surrounding artificial intelligence. After the initial briefing, Schumer described the mood on Capitol Hill as “a mixture of urgency and humility; Urgency because AI is evolving so damn fast, and humility because AI is incredibly complex.”

Schumer himself has signaled that his primary focus will be the technology’s impact on national security, and he is presenting his plan at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

–

Ben Vershkul is the Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Allie Garfinkle is a Senior Tech Reporter at Yahoo Finance.

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San Francisco Fleet Week is unique because it features a disaster response joint training exercise designed to train military forces and local, county, state and federal government agencies to work together to respond to natural and man-made disasters, such as earthquakes, wildfires and industrial accidents. During her keynote address at the fleet week’s Senior Leader Symposium, Ms. Berger spoke to senior leaders in the federal, state and local emergency management field and highlighted the DON’s recently-released Climate Action 2030 strategy, which sets the course for the Navy and Marine Corps to build climate resilience and reduce the climate threat while partnering with communities to tackle shared challenges.

“Changes in global climate and other threats like pandemics are increasingly challenging our Naval forces, platforms, infrastructure and supporting communities, and intensifying conflict and humanitarian disasters around the world,” said Ms. Berger. “A more volatile world calls on the United States Navy and Marine Corps, increasing demands on our forces at home and overseas, while simultaneously impacting our capacity to respond to those demands.”

The Navy has a long history of working closely with communities in California to make Navy and Marine Corps installations climate-ready. Last year, the DON and the California Energy Commission renewed a Memorandum of Understanding to streamline collaboration and accelerate initiatives for energy and water-related projects. In September 2022, the Navy launched a first-of-its-kind partnership with the Port of San Diego to participate in California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard program, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and advance energy resilience investments in San Diego.

“We are making significant strides in partnership with California and worldwide in ensuring the DON is resilient in the face of climate change, working hand in hand with local communities and industry,” said Ms. Berger. “Recent partnerships with the California Energy Commission and Port of San Diego are critical to our climate work in the region and supports our efforts by building resilience to climate impacts and taking decisive action to reduce the climate threat.”

San Francisco Fleet Week offers the public an opportunity to take a tour of the ships and interact with service members as they showcase their ships’, units’, and services’ capabilities. It also gives the public a chance to gain a better understanding of how the sea services support the national defense of the United States and protect freedom of the seas.

For more information on San Francisco Fleet Week please visit: https://fleetweeksf.org/

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The American Civil Liberties Union accused San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto on Thursday of violating the privacy rights of defendants who have been freed under electronic monitoring by requiring them to allow searches of their person or property and to share their location data with other law enforcement agencies.

Defendants who are released from jail before trial are often required to wear ankle monitors that allow officers to track their locations. But in a class-action suit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, the ACLU and a private law firm said Miyamoto went beyond constitutional bounds by requiring them, as a condition of release, to consent to a search of their body, home, vehicle or possessions at any time. They must also agree to let the sheriff’s office inform other law enforcement agencies of their location at all times.

“Ankle cuffs are supposed to ensure that an individual remains in the Bay Area and shows up for court proceedings,” Shilpi Agarwal, legal director of the ACLU of Northern California, said in a statement accompanying the suit. “They are not a license for law enforcement’s unlimited search and surveillance of vulnerable people who haven’t been convicted of a crime.”

“Stripping away privacy rights is illegal and only tolerated because of the disenfranchisement of those directly affected, who are indigenous and 70% Black and brown,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, who is not participating in the suit but helped the ACLU identify individual plaintiffs.

The three plaintiffs also objected to the searches but agreed to the conditions of release, the ACLU said, because they were able to go to work, care for a child and attend a high school graduation.

The suit accuses the sheriff and the city of violating rights against unreasonable searches, under the US and California constitutions, as well as the constitutional right of privacy approved by California voters in 1972. It seeks court orders halting the searches and erasing the shared location data .

Tara Moriarty, a spokesperson for Miyamoto, said inmates released under electronic monitoring have waived those rights, allowing the sheriff to “enforce the rules and regulations imposed by the court,” which she said included consent to future searches. “The sheriff details this information to assist the justice-involved individual to successfully complete the (electronic-monitoring) program,” Moriarty said in a statement.

More than 200 defendants are being electronically monitored in San Francisco, and that number is likely to grow as the city attempts to reduce its jail population, the ACLU said. As court backlogs have increased during the pandemic, the organization said, some people have been monitored for a year or more.

In addition to turning GPS location data over to San Francisco police and other agencies, the ACLU said, Miyamoto’s program allows Sentinel Offender Services, a private contractor that has run the program since 2019, to keep the data indefinitely.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko

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Problems with mold and vermin, broken tubs and showers and other slum-like conditions continue to mount at a massive South Los Angeles apartment complex even as politicians, housing and public health officials are pledging to hold the landlord accountable.

City and county inspectors are planning to reassess all 425 units at Chesapeake Apartments in early June, following a Times story in April that revealed widespread tenant complaints and public health violations, including leaking sewage and gas and electrical failures.

“It’s not acceptable,” said Robert Galardi, the chief inspector at the city housing department. “The building is in need of some major renovations.”

Galardi said the complex-wide inspection could be the precursor to sanctions against the building owner, Pama Properties, including enrollment in a city program that withholds rent from landlords to force them to repair blighted conditions.

For years, housing inspectors and others responsible for overseeing Chesapeake Apartments have missed obvious warning signs about its extensive deterioration and at other buildings owned by Pama Properties and Pama President Mike Nijjar. The World War II-era Chesapeake complex stretches across multiple city blocks in the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw area, with nearly two dozen two-story buildings constructed around courtyards and open-air parking lots.

County public health officials have found 205 violations at Chesapeake Apartments since 2017, an average of more than three per month and the most of any residential property in LA County during that time, a Times analysis found. Violations have included mold, rats and plumbing problems. Over the same period, more than 100 complaints have been filed with city housing inspectors over conditions at the property, including missing and faulty carbon monoxide and smoke detectors and gas and electrical issues, according to a Times review of city data.

Companies linked to Nijjar own more than $1 billion in real estate, predominately in Southern California, and many other properties also have had serious health and livability problems, according to a 2020 investigation by LAist. Five years ago, LA City Attorney Mike Feuer sued Pama Properties and Nijjar over crime concerns, reaching a settlement that required safety and habitability upgrades.

In January LA housing inspectors completed an assessment of Chesapeake Apartments that’s required every two years. Officials identified 71 violations during that inspection, but said all were corrected and gave the complex a clean bill of health. Galardi conceded that review failed, and that about half of the units were never examined.

Many tenants had placed notices on their doors advising inspectors not to enter their units, Galardi said, and the COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges. The assessment began in November, just as the Omicron variant’s wave of infection was hitting Southern California.

“I wouldn’t say the system’s broken,” said Galardi, who visited the property and met with tenants and organizers last month. “I would say that the timing in the pandemic had a big impact on [inspecting] such a great community.”

Jim Yukevich, an attorney who has represented Nijjar in litigation with the city, did not respond to a list of questions from the Times. Previously, Yukevich has said that his client takes health and safety issues seriously at all his properties and makes repairs when notified by tenants.

Since the Times story published last month, staff members for the federal, state and local officials who represent the area, all Democrats, have been meeting to discuss conditions at Chesapeake Apartments.

County Supervisor Holly Mitchell called the situation “horrendous” and said that the severity and longstanding concerns with the property required public agencies to penalize the landlord and ensure speedy and complete repairs.

“We’re at the point now where that strong, clear, decisive action needs to be taken,” Mitchell said.

US Rep. Karen Bass, State Sen. Sydney Kamlager, Assemblymember Isaac Bryan and LA City Councilman Herb Wesson declined or did not respond to Times interview requests. After the initial Times story published, Bass, who is running for Los Angeles mayor, called on Nijjar’s companies to make immediate repairs to Chesapeake Apartments, relocate tenants until the work was complete and give them the right to return to the refurbished property.

Chesapeake tenants say that conditions have remained, or even worsened, since April as Pama Properties has scrambled to respond.

Milton Morris, 39, has lived in a one-bedroom apartment at the property for six years with his wife and 13-year-old daughter. One afternoon last week, an air purifier the family newly purchased whirred as his wife used a breathing machine and daughter clutched her asthma inhaler while doing science homework. Morris said he’s been complaining about problems for years.

An environmental contractor hired by building management in late April found numerous mold spores throughout Morris’ apartment at levels that exceed federal environmental guidelines, according to a Morris report shared with The Times. The contractor also found structural damage in the living room, bathroom and kitchen it called “unacceptable.”

“There’s nothing that they can possibly say to justify this,” said Morris, an in-home healthcare worker who pays $1,346 a month in rent. “A lot of people’s lives have been ruined by living over here.”

In other cases, tenants say the landlord’s recent efforts to make repairs have left them without basic necessities.

Maria Gonzalez did not have a working bath or shower for days after workers responded to complaints about a foul odor emanating from the plumbing. She was further annoyed when she said a maintenance worker entered the one-bedroom apartment she shares with her husband and 16-year-old daughter without permission while the teenager was home alone. To clean herself before her janitorial job at a local hospital, Gonzalez had to fill a bucket with water from the sink.

“Another day without bathing,” said Gonzalez, 50, throwing up her hands in her bathroom on a recent afternoon after five days without an operable shower. ‘When are they coming to finish?’

Another tenant said her shower has been offline for more than two weeks while undergoing repairs. She’s had to wash her 5-year-old son in the kitchen sink.

Tenants said they want the landlord to relocate them when doing major construction in their units and to assure them that all contractors are licensed and taking adequate protections when working with lead paint and other health hazards.

Galardi, the city chief inspector, said that tenants should file complaints to the housing department if bathing facilities are inaccessible or if they believe unlicensed construction is occurring, and that the department would respond immediately.

“We do not have the resources to supervise the day-to-day repairs at the property,” he said. “We do have the resources to respond to a scenario that could impact the tenants in either the short term or the long term.”

To date, Galardi said, the city hasn’t ordered the relocation of any tenants nor declared any apartments in the complex uninhabitable.

Over the past month, Chesapeake residents have gone to City Hall to plead their case in person and also protested outside Pama Properties’ corporate office in El Monte.

Morris said that tenants have to maintain pressure because history shows that public agencies haven’t helped them.

“The question is still there as to how the hell this place has been passing inspections all of these years,” he said.

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two homes caught fire due to fireplace chimneys this past Saturday.

Fortunately, no one was hurt in either fire, but these fires serve as a reminder to properly maintain your chimney.

Some Jacksonville residents decided to keep warm by using fireplaces, but once their chimney fires started, they quickly spread.

“Both of them were the result of cracks in the mortar which then get inside and burn the wood,” JFRD spokesperson Eric Prosswimmer said.

RELATED >>> Red Cross called for 3 adults, 1 child after chimney fire

JFRD is reminding folks that even though we may only use our chimneys once or twice a year – they still need to be properly taken care of.

“It’s really important to have your chimney checked regularly, maintained and cleaned,” Prosswimmer said.

It’s not only about your chimney structure, but what you burn at the bottom. Officials told us fires can start from a buildup of creosote or from cracks and loose bricks.

“Make sure you’re burning seasoned firewood. Seasoned firewood is a lot dryer, burns hotter,” Prosswimmer said.

Firefighters said to make sure you have a cap on top of your chimney so no debris or wild animals get inside.

They said it’s also important the flue is open for proper ventilation.

RELATED >>> Apartment fire in Jacksonville’s New Town neighborhood

Even if you live in Florida, remember:

• Make sure your chimney is inspected annually by a professional.
• Do not use flammable liquids.
• Never leave a fire unattended.
• If you have normal chimney soot, head to your local hardware store for a chimney sweep. However, if there is serious buildup inside your chimney, JFRD urges you to let a professional handle it.

©2022 Cox Media Group

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By Joanie Juster

Slava Ukraine

As the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine grows monumentally with each day of the Russian invasion, so does the need for us all to step up and help. In our last issue of the San Francisco Bay Times, I listed a number of organizations that are helping all Ukrainians, as well as LGBTQ+ Ukrainians, in particular. Since then, more have come to light, and benefit concerts, protests, and events are popping up all over the Bay Area. Please do what you can to support these efforts. Every dollar counts. Here’s one place to help: https://tinyurl.com/mr4yd2zd

stop the hate

While the state legislatures in Texas and Florida have grabbed most of the media attention for their hateful bills targeting trans kids, other states seem to be trying to outdo each other in a race to see who can pass the most gratuitously cruel and damaging legislation. It’s a torturous game of whack-a-mole: every time we think we have alleviated the situation in one state, two more pop up with ever-more-destructive laws. Alabama, Idaho (which may win this month’s Most Hateful State award), and now Alaska are trying to erase and punish trans people, and—just to add another level of evil—to punish anyone who loves or tries to help them.

My friend Ruth in Alaska is one of the smartest and most compassionate allies and activists I know. This week she penned a letter to the Alaska Senate Education Committee, strongly opposing a bill that would force students to play on teams that aligned with the gender assigned to them at birth. Ruth was having none of it:

“Dear Senate Education Committee,

I strongly oppose Senate Bill 140: ‘The Even Playing Field Act.’

Trans kids deserve to live honestly, and if they want to play games, let ’em. Sports are supposed to be for fun and personal achievement and teamwork, not a zero-sum gladiatorial trial for scarce resources to determine who can continue their education. If that’s what school sports are about then we have bigger problems to address, and forcing trans kids to play on a different team isn’t going to fix that.

What this will definitely achieve is making life harder for trans students by painting them as a threat to their classmates’ success, when they’re already struggling for acceptance. I’m not convinced that trans girls possibly winning a trophy now and then is all that big a threat to anyone, especially not when compared to the very real threat of losing more LGBTQ kids to hopelessness when they don’t see a place for themselves in their school or in their home state. The danger of trans athletes sounds like the latest incarnation of the trans bathroom bogeyman, or the argument that letting gay people get married will ruin marriage for everyone else. Those were bad-faith concern-trolling hogwash to rile up a political base, and this is too … this is national politics using us, and using other state legislatures, to generate a lot of sound and fury around an emotional wedge issue as we head into midterms. Focusing negative political attention on trans kids will hurt those kids, it will hurt all LGBTQ Alaskans by sending the message that they are not welcome to be themselves here … .”

There’s more, but you catch her drift. We all need to speak up against this kind of legislation. Thanks to Ruth for setting an example for allies everywhere.

Mental Health Resources from Juanita MORE!

Spring may be in the air, with more sunshine and flowers blooming everywhere, but we are still living through particularly stressful times, and many are struggling to maintain their emotional and mental health. Juanita MORE!, who just completed her successful reign as Empress of San Francisco, keeps her finger on the pulse of the community, and responded to the despair she was seeing by publishing a compassionate and thought-provoking article that includes a valuable list of mental health resources compiled by Queer Life Space, a local nonprofit that provides long-term, low-fee mental health and substance abuse therapy for the Queer community.

MORE! candidly shares that she has at times struggled with some mental health issues herself, and addresses the challenges head on: “Queer people often struggle with suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, trauma, abandonment, and loss of family. As if any of these issues weren’t problematic enough, government funding for nonprofits dealing with mental health issues has decreased dramatically over the past few decades. And their model doesn’t address long-term-based services, as well.” She adds that the past two years of COVID-induced isolation have been particularly challenging.

The comprehensive list of mental health resources, compiled by Queer LifeSpace, is available on MORE!’s web site: https://tinyurl.com/4j5d8sm8

And while you’re at it, mark your calendar for Queer LifeSpace’s 10th anniversary gala, coming up on May 7. More info coming soon.

https://tinyurl.com/QLS10Gala

Save Easter Weekend for the Sisters

And now for some truly joyful news. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will be filling up our dance cards on the weekend of April 16 & 17 for two celebratory events, only in San Francisco.

First, on Saturday April 16, a modest little one-block street near Dolores Park will be undergoing a high-profile name change, when Alert Alley receives the commemorative designation “Sister Vish-Knew Way, in honor of Kenneth Bunch, aka Sister Vish -Knew, one of the original founders of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. For almost five decades Sister Vish has been a pioneering human rights activist who has devoted their life to serving the community. Congratulations sister!

Then on Easter Sunday, April 17, the Sisters are bringing back, live and in person, one of San Francisco’s favorite traditions: Easter in Dolores Park. Promising live entertainment, drag, and miracles, fans are excited about the return of the Foxy Mary and Hunky Jesus contests.

https://tinyurl.com/BacktoHabits

Rainbow World Fund heads back to Cuba

When Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February, Rainbow World Fund jumped into action, creating an emergency fund to aid vulnerable LGBTQ+ Ukrainians who were at risk of being marginalized and scapegoated.

An all-volunteer LGBTQ-based organization, Rainbow World Fund did this on top of their ongoing work of providing humanitarian aid to countries around the world, including planning their ninth annual humanitarian visit to Cuba on May 12-22. Annual visits have helped build relationships and community, as they meet with human rights activists, members of the LGBTQ community, politicians, artists, scientists, and leaders in many fields. Past visits have also included visiting schools and medical clinics, delivering medical and educational supplies, attending LGBTQ Pride events in Havana, and marching in solidarity in the Pride parade.

Tickets are available to take part in this journey. For more information:

https://tinyurl.com/436e6nje

2nd Annual Weaving Spirits Festival

Weaving Spirits Festival of Two-Spirit Performances is celebrating its second anniversary at Counterpulse Theatre; you can catch their second weekend on March 24-26. The festival brings together local and national Native American artists whose powerful performance offerings range from traditional song to modern dance and drag.

https://www.weavingspirits.com/

That’s it for this week. Please take time to be kind to others, and to yourself.

Joanie Juster is a long-time community volunteer, activist, and ally.

Published on March 24, 2022

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San Francisco this week was the last, and perhaps largest, city in the US to ban natural gas in new buildings.

In a meeting on Tuesday, the city’s board of directors passed a law that stipulates the construction of new residential and commercial buildings for the exclusive use of electrical energy, starting with projects that submit permits in the next year. This ordinance will cover about 60% of the city’s current development pipeline to reduce the city’s carbon footprint and tackle climate change, District 8 supervisor Rafael Mandelman said at the meeting.

“San Francisco has long been taking climate change seriously, and today – after another catastrophic fire season, record streak of unhealthy days, extreme heat waves, and even a day when the sun didn’t rise – we San Franciscans have the opportunity to do another incremental but important step to take to save our planet, “he told his colleagues at the meeting.

The board’s unanimous vote concludes nearly a year of deliberations with the Zero Emissions Building Taskforce, said Mandelman, which brought together affordable housing and mixed-use developers, architects and engineers, labor and construction trades and community officials to draft the legislation. It complements the approval of the city’s electrical preference ordinance passed last fall, which calls for higher energy efficiency standards for natural gas buildings, and an ordinance passed earlier this year mandating the all-electric construction of new municipal projects.

The vote also adds San Francisco to the growing list of nearly 40 California cities to enact such ordinances since Berkeley’s historic ban on natural gas infrastructure in July 2019. Experts say San Francisco’s move could carry enough weight to overturn similar laws from cities like Los Angeles, and could even push Governor Gavin Newsom, D, into nationwide action.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) is currently considering updates to its Title 24 building energy efficiency standards, Earthjustice Staff Attorney Matt Vespa said. As a former mayor, Newsom has a very special relationship with San Francisco, which could inspire him to follow suit with the city, Vespa said.

“We really expect the governor’s leadership on this issue,” said Vespa. “Hopefully San Francisco is signaling that San Francisco is doing this, the governor, that the time has come to really address this issue as part of their climate agenda.”

Arguments for fully electric construction in California

Residential and commercial buildings are responsible for approximately 25% of California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to the California Air Resources Board. Senate Bill 32 requires California to cut its statewide greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels over the next 10 years, and some argue that the building sector should be the primary target of those efforts.

Part of this argument is based on the flammability of natural gas. In an opinion piece for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mandelman and retired fire chief Joanne Hayes-White said there are more than 75 gas leaks or emergencies reported every hour in California, an incredible risk in a state that has seen some of the hottest temperatures.

“Firefighters and first responders know the incredible amount of effort it takes to contain even a relatively small incident. As we face a number of historic forest fires and heat waves, and on top of a global pandemic that is already weighing on our emergency response measures, the last thing we need to be is to add to the threats we face, “it says the contribution.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), the utility that supplies almost the entire state of California, is helping the move to all-electric new builds. In a June letter to the CEC, a PG&E executive said the utility “welcomes the opportunity to avoid investing in new gas facilities that may later prove underutilized as local governments and the state work together to set long-term decarbonization goals reach”.

With the CEC considering embedding an all-electric construction mandate in its 2022 update, Mandelman hopes San Francisco can serve as a model to overcome inevitable obstacles such as the transition of plumbers and pipe fitters in the gas industry. Mandelman said he worked closely with Local 38, the regional plumbers and pipeline builders union, to outline a just transition for these workers amid the San Francisco ordinance.

“This commitment will ensure our workforce can look forward to a future in which ongoing environmental initiatives are coupled with opportunities for good union jobs in San Francisco,” he said at the board meeting.

Mandelman also stressed how a move to all-electric building can be gradual to ensure industries don’t become overloaded. The San Francisco ordinance contains two provisions that specifically address concerns about the city’s gastronomy, which is particularly challenged at this time of “extraordinary uncertainty,” he said. These regulations allow projects, including a commercial kitchen space, to submit mixed-fuel building permits by 2022. The regulation also provides for an “ongoing waiver process” for new restaurant buildings where gas is essential or electrical alternatives are not feasible.

“I believe this limited restaurant waiver will allow the continued use of gas in new buildings in the future where appropriate and necessary for a particular restaurant, while ensuring that we are clear and determined about the move in San Francisco start with natural gas. ”said Mandelmann.

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The Racial and Social Justice Commission in South San Francisco last month approved an action plan to ensure ongoing oversight and accountability for racial and social justice, focus on eradicating racist practices in the criminal justice system, and targeting resources to reduce inequalities .

“The commission was created to bring community members together to set our priorities because we understand that there is a lot of racism, inequality and bias that has created injustice and pain,” said Councilor Buenaflor Nicolas, chairman of the commission. “We have created this Racial and Social Equality Commission to ensure that we continue our efforts and take concrete steps to achieve the desired outcome and to ensure that with this supplement we are committed to reform and justice in all aspects of life here . “In the south of the city.”

It consists of 14 members from the community leadership, city administration, education, social welfare, youth and public security.

One of the action steps that have already been implemented from the plan is that a behavioral medicine person accompanies the police in answering calls about mental health problems as part of the district’s pilot program.

It will offer an economic mobility program with support from the county for disenfranchised parishioners, working with JobTrain and the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center to provide vocational training and help for small businesses.

“We’re renting a space in the middle of the city to make sure it’s accessible, especially to the people who come from the underserved or vulnerable areas of our city, so that this can be the resource for them,” said Nicolas.

And there will be a pilot guaranteed income program, approved by the city council last month, that will provide $ 500 per month to more than 135 eligible families for 12 months.

An office of the Equity and Inclusion Officer has also been established, a special staff position in the City Manager’s Office that will institutionalize accountability, equity and oversee gender outcomes across South San Francisco.

“He or she will do a gap assessment and make sure all departments have the right training and procedures and actions to ensure that everything we do is trying to eradicate inequality in the city,” she said.

It is planned to transform the Youth Advisory Board into a Youth Commission in order to give young people between the ages of 13 and 21 the same rights and duties as the Commission on Race and Social Equality. Contributions from the Youth Commission will be asked for programs that are about to be launched, especially when it concerns the city’s youth, said Nicolas.

The action plan will continue to be reviewed and improved if necessary, she said.

Leading this commission and combating racial inequality is personal to Nicolas. She immigrated to the United States in 1988 with two young children. And she ran for office in 2018 to make a difference.

“As the first Filipina on the city council, it’s a very big responsibility that I have to show. I love this city. I love the country. I’m American, my children, my grandchildren are American now, ”she said. “For me it is very personal that we are on the right path for the future of this country.”

A final report and action plan will be presented to the city council for review and approval at the August 25, 2021 session.

The commission was established by the city council in 2020 to tackle racial injustice in public safety, barriers to economic and educational opportunities, and access to quality health care. It was inspired to be founded after the murder of George Floyd. Its four overarching goals and accompanying strategies are to create oversight and accountability on inequality issues, identify and eliminate racist practices and strategies in the criminal justice system, fill resource gaps for colored and other disenfranchised communities, and address equitable land use planning to reduce development Displacement of colored people and citizens from low-income communities.

Members of the commission are Edith Arias; Jeff Azzopardi, South San Francisco Police Chief; Gladys Balmas, San Mateo County Elderly and Adult Services Norm Faria, City Manager Mike Futrell; Cheska Ibasan, the youth council; Vanessa McGovern; Hermes Monzon; Pat Murray, member of the Board of Trustees, South San Francisco Unified School District; Vice Mayor Mark Nagales, Councilor Buenaflor Nicolas as Commission Chairman; Kayla Powers; Liliana Rivera from Change SSF; Bobby Vaughn; and Andrea Fernandez as a replacement. The two Management Fellows Tamiko Huey and Amy Ferguson will support the implementation of the action plan.

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HVAC work between the Washington Avenue, Leeds Avenue and North Main Street schools will cost $ 4.2 million, according to a report by Remington and Vernick. The roof overhauls at the high school and Washington Avenue School will cost approximately $ 500,000.

About 100 people marched from Pleasantville High School to Veterans Park in …

Both Chestnut-Lee and board chairman Julio Sanchez, who was elected to the board this year, criticized previous administrations for making the problems so bad, and state observer Constance Bauer for failing to urge the school board to make the necessary repairs in recent years 10 years.

“I was upset but not surprised,” said Sanchez. “Minimal effort has been made to defuse the situation. That is disheartening. “

Chestnut-Lee said she was in contact with Governor Phil Murphy regarding the mold and HVAC issues in Pleasantville. This was confirmed by Murphy’s press officer Alyana Alfaro.

“The governor continues to encourage all schools to open to face-to-face teaching as soon as it is safe to do so,” Alfaro said. “In August, the governor donated $ 100 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to help districts reopen. His budget for FY22 provides an additional $ 75 million for urgent needs through the SDA. “

Meanwhile, the district-wide remediation of the mold is waiting for the approval of Bauer, who is reviewing the expenditure.

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