The proclamation Friday was reminiscent of Breed’s bold claim in 2021 that the city would crack down on the “bulls— that has destroyed our city,” which she said in announcing an emergency plan to address the drug and overdose crisis in the Tenderloin.

That effort brought together multiple city agencies to ramp up enforcement of dealing, clear sidewalks and offer new public health responses to drug use such as opening what became a supervised consumption site called the Tenderloin Center.

The facility closed at the end of 2022, a few months after Newsom vetoed legislation that would have allowed San Francisco, Los Angeles and Oakland to pilot safe consumption sites. Breed said the plan was only meant to be temporary and, on Friday, added the center “didn’t quite work out.”

Residents wait in line to get into the Tenderloin Linkage Center (also known as the Tenderloin Center), a now-defunct safe consumption site in San Francisco, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

After the closing of the Tenderloin Center and the emergency plan’s winding down, overdose rates have again increased in 2023, data from the Office of the Medical Examiner shows.

Meanwhile, public safety advocates applauded the governor’s decision to increase law enforcement around the issue, at a time when the San Francisco Police Department is struggling to recruit and retain a full workforce.

“Just the mere presence of our officers we believe will help deter and disrupt criminal activity,” Duryee said.

Newsom said that his plan “will not seek to criminalize those struggling with substance use and instead focus on disrupting the supply fueling the fentanyl crisis by holding drug suppliers and traffickers accountable,” according to a press release on the plan.

But addiction experts and advocates for people who use drugs say the move could nonetheless have unintended consequences, and negatively affect people who struggle with addiction and lack access to housing, health care or other support systems.

The post Newsom Faucets California Freeway Patrol, Nationwide Guard to Combat San Francisco’s Fentanyl Disaster appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

With almost any project, interior designer Stewart Allen likes to incorporate extraordinary surprises. Think of it as artistic Easter eggs tucked within a home, but of the Faberge quality.

A table with a base carved to look like driftwood. Chairs meticulously crafted for the express comfort of the client. A bronze sink inset into a floating countertop so the bronze pedestal can be seen like the work of art it is.

Not everything needs to be preciously bespoke. But a few carefully planned pieces created only for you and your space, Allen maintains, can elevate an interior from attractive to transcendent. Allen taps into a rich well of favorite local artists, artisans and craftspeople to help bring his sketches to life.

“As an interior designer, we are expected to come forth with some really unique items and furniture pieces to create a beautiful environment for people,” he said.

But there are limitations to what can be found in design showrooms, he added.

Allen may start with clay, paper or Styrofoam — “whatever I can get my hands on” — to play with the shapes and forms he is envisioning. Then he takes his concept to the right artist or artisan to fabricate it. The process inevitably involves a lot of creative collaboration to get it just right.

“They always have these amazing skills and ideas,” Allen said of the creative people he works with. “I always try to add a little bit of Sonoma County to my projects, whether it’s a painting, a sculpture or a piece of furniture. There are a lot of creative, amazing people in this county, and I’ve been here long enough to figure out who these people are.”

He’s learned to let go and trust that they are going to bring into fruition his ideas in a way that is “unique and beautiful.”

Making the world more beautiful

From a very young age, Allen was influenced by exceptional, even over-the-top design.

He grew up in a midcentury-modern home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr., and set on a 6-acre ranch in the pastoral Pauma Valley in San Diego County.

“It was life-changing, living in this incredibly detailed architecture and space that captivated me, with a built-in sofa and built-in planters and flat roofs and double-height ceilings with clerestories,” Allen said. “There was a cabana and a pool. It was absolutely fantastic, and it caught my imagination for interior design.”

He was also inspired by his maternal grandmother, the flamboyant Thareen Auroraa , a burlesque dancer who lived with her lover, Mimi Reed, in a colorful, swanky home in Studio City.

“They had taken such pride in that house. They had a bar that had been a bedroom. They literally put in a green avocado Naugahyde bar. It was garish and fantastic. And their little powder room was the most wild gold baroque, kind of crazy with a crystal chandelier hanging in there. It was over-the-top and delicious. I used to love to go into their space. It was so opulent,” he recalled.

Today, Allen pays homage to Thareen and Mimi with their glamorous black-and-white studio portraits hanging in the foyer of his Healdsburg home. It’s a 1920s cabin on Fitch Mountain that has been enlarged and remodeled over many years into multilevel living spaces. He and his husband, Thomas Pope, a psychotherapist, have filled it with intriguing pieces gathered over time.

Although he was exposed to high-quality design at an early age, it took many years before Allen found his way to design as a profession.

After completing a liberal arts degree at Sonoma State University, Allen tried out several different occupations.

“I was trying to make furniture, but I didn’t know what I was doing. I made Adirondack-style pieces out of redwood. I had a little company called Twigs and Digs,” he said, laughing. He toyed for a time with becoming a psychotherapist but dropped that idea.

“I floated around. I did landscaping and the furniture. I did housecleaning. I was just miserable, not knowing what to do,” he said. That changed when he came to know a man named Marshall, who was dying of AIDS.

“He was a lovely guy with a real aesthetic. Whatever he touched was golden. He could stop on the side of the road and grab a bunch of grasses and wildflowers and make the most exquisite bouquets you have ever seen,” he said.

On his deathbed, Marshall expressed one regret — that he had not created enough beauty in the world.

“It literally rocked my core and just resonated as so true,” Allen said. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh. I have to pivot here.’”

So Allen went back to school, commuting by bus from Sebastopol to San Francisco to earn a second degree in architecture and design from the Academy of Art College.

The post Healdsburg designer faucets native artisans for singular touches appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The Biden administration nominated Ismail Ramsey as US Attorney in the Northern District of California, a post that has not had a Senate-approved leader for nearly two years.

California attorneys say the former Keker, Van Nest & Peters and founding partner of Ramsey & Ehrlich will breathe new life into the firm since US Attorney David Anderson, now a partner of Sidley Austin in San Francisco, left in February 2021. Stephanie Hinds, Anderson’s first assistant U.S. attorney, has headed the firm since March 2021.

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By Emilie Ruscoe (October 20, 2022, 4:06 PM EDT) — Reed Smith LLP has added a partner who spent three years in enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the agency’s earliest days, the firm has announced….

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The post Reed Smith Faucets Ex-CFPB Enforcement Professional In San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

“When you execute a plea deal, it needs to be one that’s responsible. Right? It needs to be one that’s proportionate to your criminal history and your current crime, and it needs to also put you in a position not to reoffend,” she said.

Jenkins also found fault with what she saw as Boudin’s rigid adherence to progressive policies.

“Much of the issue with Chesa that I see is that refusal to change course, even when he sees policies aren’t working,” she said. “Even when the public is screaming out, ‘Hey, we support reform, but this type of reform is not effective in balancing public safety.'”

Jenkins now inherits an office she once called “a sinking ship.” On Thursday, she acknowledged that lingering instability, vowing to “restore office morale to a much higher place,” and pledging equal treatment for DA prosecutors hired before and after Boudin’s arrival.

Breed emphasized that Jenkins, like Boudin, is committed to criminal justice reform. “This is not just about locking people up and throwing away the key,” she said. “This is not what we’re about in this city. This is about striking a balance and doing what’s right.”

Of the numerous candidates Breed interviewed for the job, Jenkins “stood out” as someone who not only recognized the need for compassion and understanding in the prosecutorial process, but also prioritized accountability and justice, the mayor said. “That balance of fairness is what made her stand apart.”

Jenkins, 40, was born and raised in the Bay Area and worked in private practice before joining the DA’s office in 2014 as a prosecutor in the misdemeanors unit. She worked her way up to the general felonies unit, where she prosecuted hate crimes for nearly two years, and then served in the homicide unit until her resignation in protest last fall.

Brooke Jenkins, Mayor London Breed’s pick for district attorney, enters a press conference at City Hall on July 7, 2022. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

Set to be sworn in Friday, she will take over an office that has seen more than its share of turnover in recent years. Former DA Kamala Harris left the position to become California Attorney General in 2011, and her replacement, George Gascón, resigned in 2019 to run for Los Angeles DA.

Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of the progressive Prosecutors Alliance of California, and a Boudin supporter, said the new DA’s first task should be preventing a mass exodus of attorneys.

“It’s better for victims and survivors of crime to not have a lot of turnover of their case from one lawyer to the next and one advocate to the next,” she said.

Jenkins, however, won’t have much time to get comfortable in the job. In November, voters will decide whether she or another candidate fills out the remaining year in Boudin’s term. If she wins, Jenkins will face voters again in 2023 if she decides to seek a full four-year term.

According to a source familiar with the process, the mayor has spent “every day” since last month’s recall election thinking about this appointment, and held more than a dozen meetings at City Hall with community groups, former DA office staff, judges and various law enforcement officials. She also met with advocates for crime victims, as well as supporters and opponents of Boudin’s recall, the source said.

Breed reportedly asked potential appointees for their take on issues such as how to prosecute domestic violence, drug arrests and weapons charges. According to the mayor’s office, Breed wanted someone with prosecutorial experience who also was a supporter of criminal justice reform.

Although Breed did not take a formal position on Boudin’s recall, she had openly criticized his leadership, and it was evident she supported his removal from office, two-and-a-half years after he edged out her handpicked appointee, Suzy Loftus, in a very close election.

New San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins listens to Mayor London Breed introduce her during a press conference at City Hall on July 7, 2022. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

In addition to Jenkins, the mayor also reportedly considered Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Nancy Tung, who ran unsuccessfully for the job in 2019. Other potential candidates included SF Superior Court Judge Eric Fleming, a former prosecutor in the DA’s office, and Supervisor Catherine Stefani , who endorsed Boudin’s recall.

Efforts to recall Boudin, a progressive reformer, began not long after he took office in 2020, just as the pandemic began turning life upside down. San Francisco’s courts were included in the mass shutdown of in-person government operations, resulting in much slower prosecutions and resolutions of pending cases.

Boudin’s tenure also coincided with a sharp rise in anti-Asian hate crimes — both in San Francisco and across the country — as well as viral videos of organized “smash-and-grab” incidents at upscale stores in Union Square that fueled a general but often unfounded perception that crime was rising and Boudin was to blame.

“I think people being alone, people being isolated and existing through social media kind of led to a heightened sense that our city wasn’t safe, and [Boudin] took the blame for it,” said former police commissioner and recall opponent John Hamasaki. “He took the fall for it.”

Hamasaki, who was a strong critic of the San Francisco Police Department while he served as commissioner, noted that although the recall was framed by national media as a referendum on Boudin’s progressive policies, “within the recall crowd, there was never any specificity as to what they wanted — just that Boudin is doing a bad job and needs to be recalled.”

Indeed, shortly after the election, Breed insisted that she was not looking for a DA who would turn away from criminal justice reforms, which are broadly popular in San Francisco.

That sentiment was echoed by DeBerry.

The post Breed Faucets Boudin Critic Brooke Jenkins as New San Francisco DA appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

by: WFXRtv.com Digital Desk

Posted: Mar 12, 2021 / 9:27 PM EST
/. Updated: March 12, 2021 / 9:28 p.m. EST

(Courtesy Photo: Rail Yard Dawgs Facebook)

ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Members of the Rail Yard Dawgs ice hockey team and Wisler Plumbing volunteers volunteered at Total Action for Progress (TAP )’s Oliver Hill House on Friday.

Oliver Hill House is the current home of TAP’s Super Hero Kid’s Mentoring Program, which is focused on healing trauma and restoring hope and connection for youth in the local community.

The volunteers cleaned, moved furniture and performed repairs around the Oliver Hill House.

The work was made possible by a work grant from Wisler Plumbing and the Rail Yard Dawgs ice hockey team.

Get the latest news, weather and sports on your smartphone with the WFXR News app, available on Apple and Android.

The post Rail Yard Dawgs, Wisler Plumbing make repairs across the TAP’s Oliver Hill Home appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

San Francisco has hired a permanent director for its Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, a challenging and crucial position in a city that has long struggled to serve its most vulnerable.

Mayor London Breed announced Thursday that Shireen McSpadden, the current Executive Director of the Department for Disability and Aging, will take over May 1st and fund a department with around $ 600 million to help the city’s more than 8,000 homeless .

McSpadden’s leadership team will include two new employees: Noelle Simmons, the current Assistant Director of the Human Services Agency, and Cynthia Nagendra, the executive director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, a research institute at UCSF that studies homelessness.

McSpadden will take over a department that has struggled to make progress since its inception under Mayor Ed Lee in 2016 – even if the budget has increased in recent years. An August city report found the department was understaffed and unprepared to serve the city’s most vulnerable. It’s also one of the few large departments in town with no formal oversight committee.

The Homeless Department spends more than $ 300 million, and an election for 2018 is expected to raise an additional $ 250-300 million per year for the department starting this year. Additional one-time funds of $ 500 million tied up in court until last fall were also raised.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health is spending hundreds of millions more to tackle mental health and drug addiction, often among the same population.

“Our response to homelessness is one of the most important, urgent and complex problems this city faces as we emerge from this pandemic,” McSpadden said in a statement.

Homelessness is one of the biggest problems in San Francisco, and elected officials have long vowed to address it. But promises, plans and new programs have been neglected and the tragedy on the city streets has worsened. The department has been without a permanent head since early 2020, when former director Jeff Kositsky resigned just before the pandemic began.

Interim Director Abigail Stewart-Kahn resigned last month after leading the department through what had been a tumultuous year.

Running the homeless section was a difficult task even before the pandemic squeezed city budgets and forced emergency shelters to reduce capacity. It is a position often entangled in City Hall politics, which must balance the needs of the city’s homeless with the demands of residents, businesses and lawyers.

“It’s a meat grinder of a job,” supervisor Rafael Mandelman previously told The Chronicle.

A major cause of the city’s homelessness problem is the lack of affordable housing. However, many people on the street also have mental health and drug use issues, which can make it difficult to get people into the house.

A record number of people died last year from drug overdoses, many of whom lived in the city’s single occupancy units or in rented hotel rooms. The increase is largely due to fentanyl, a dangerous opioid that is flooding the streets.

“Anyone walking around our city can clearly see that the city’s response to homelessness is failing,” said supervisor Matt Haney, one of the city’s most staunch critics of the city’s homelessness department. “We need a transformation leader who can effectively guide our response to homelessness.”

Breed said she chose McSpadden because it “has made innovative and effective efforts to care for some of our most vulnerable residents”. During the pandemic, McSpadden was running the food security division at the COVID Command Center when hunger skyrocketed.

Simmons will serve as McSpadden’s chief deputy and Nagendra will help implement the division’s long-term goals. These two new positions were created specifically to assist the new director.

McSpadden – who was unavailable for comment Thursday – will take over as the city emerges from the pandemic and struggles with the economic fallout. Before the pandemic, there were more than 8,000 homeless in the city. Experts say the number has likely increased as more people were pushed into poverty.

Last year, the department had to completely revise its homeless response. The shelters had to be thinned out and no new residents had to be taken in, which meant that the number of tents in the tenderloin increased. This led to a lawsuit from UC Hastings, businesses and residents, which the city settled a few months later by promising to find temporary shelter and shelter for those living in the tents.

The city sought to rent more than 2,000 hotel rooms for the homeless and created several “safe” campsites. While these locations have helped many off the road, they are temporary measures that the city will need to reassess over the next year.

In her new role, McSpadden will oversee the mayor’s homeless recovery plan, which includes a promise that anyone who has moved into hotel rooms will be offered shelter when they move out. If the plan doesn’t work, people could end up on the streets again at the end of the program, probably in the fall.

The mayor’s plan also envisages the largest expansion of the city’s permanent housing stock in 20 years.

Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the city’s Coalition for Homelessness, said the advocacy group is pleased to have an “experienced administrator who can breathe new perspectives and expertise at a time when we desperately need it.”

Mallory Moench, Chronicle contributor, contributed to this report.

Trisha Thadani is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani

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