SF Reform Has a Benchmark Problem — June 17, 2026

SF Reform Has a Benchmark Problem — June 17, 2026

San Francisco’s reform debate is a benchmarking problem: SFPD staffing versus response times, a $15.9 billion budget facing a $1 billion-plus deficit by 2030, zoning rules residents can actually find, and ethics limits meant to keep City Hall clean. IN THIS EPISODE 1. [PDF] Police Staffing Benchmarking Report - Controller's Office | SF.gov [https://sfcontroller.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6508] — City and County of San Francisco Office of the Controller CITY & COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO Office of the Controller City Services Auditor, City Performance City Services Benchmarking: Police Staffing June 10, 2015 CONTROLLER’S OFFICE CITY SERVICES AUDITOR The City Services Auditor was created within the Controller’s Office through an amendment to the City Charter that was approved by voters in November 2003. Under Appendix F to the City Charter, the City… 2. Step Back — When San Francisco says the police department is short-staffed, short compared to what — 911 calls, response times, neighborhood patrol goals, or other cities? And how should residents tell the difference between a real staffing gap and a political number that doesn’t actually translate into safer streets? BACKGROUND SOURCES * SFPD Making Significant Progress on Hiring Sworn Officers 25-129 | San Francisco Police Department [https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/news/sfpd-making-significant-progress-hiring-sworn-officers-25] — San Francisco Police Department * Mayor Lurie Celebrates Faster 911 Response Times, Progress On Public Safety | SF.gov [https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-lurie-celebrates-faster-911-response-times-progress-on-public-safety] — SF.gov * SFPD sees biggest hiring surge in years after long recruitment slump [https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/san-francisco-police-officer-recruit-22085556.php] — David Hernandez * SF police take twice as long to respond to calls in these areas [https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/police-response-time-san-francisco-22278777.php] — Danielle Echeverria * Police union’s new contract may put San Francisco in a budget bind [https://sfstandard.com/2026/03/18/police-union-s-new-contract-may-put-san-francisco-budget-bind/] — Sfstandard * Report: SF police, fire contracts could deepen budget crisis [https://sfstandard.com/2026/03/18/police-fire-unions-negotiations-spur-report/] — Sfstandard 3. Blueprint – Fix San Francisco's Budget [https://www.sfblueprint.org/advocacy/fix-sf-budget] — Blueprint No items found.  # Fix San Francisco's Budget San Francisco has one of the largest and most complex local budgets in the United States. With a **$15.9 billion annual budget**, a **~34,000-person City workforce**, and spending of roughly **$19,000 per resident**, the scale of government… 4. Find My Zoning | SF Planning [https://sfplanning.org/resource/find-my-zoning] — SF Planning ## Utility Navigation  ## Main navigation # Find My Zoning Knowing the zoning of a property will clarify what limits may apply to a residential or commercial project. To find the zoning of a property: Type an address or Assessor's Block and Lot number (e.g., 0787/001) in the Search field below and Enter/Return on your keyboard, or click on… 5. city and county of san francisco office of the city attorney ... [https://sfethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Gifts-and-Holiday-Parties-2023-FINAL.pdf] — City Attorney's Office, City and County of San Francisco CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY ETHICS COMMISSION CONTROLLER’S OFFICE 1 November 29, 2023 In advance of the holiday season, the City Attorney’s Office, Ethics Commission, and Controller’s Office provide this reminder concerning gift rules and answer frequently asked questions concerning departmental holiday parties. (Last year at about this time we issued a Frequently… Daily TopFive for San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily. Links above go to the original articles. Follow and rate San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-san-francisco-daily-fix/id1895326420] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6uScs5q3MMu7ibci0cDq7M]. Feedback? Email sf-daily-fix@lanternpodcasts.com [sf-daily-fix@lanternpodcasts.com].

San Francisco’s Housing Math Gets a Reality Check — June 16, 2026

San Francisco housing fee reform turns on brutal project math: impact fees fund real infrastructure, but Terner, SPUR, city and state documents point to a pipeline where most projects still do not pencil out, with housing-element compliance looming over local control. IN THIS EPISODE 1. Staffing Analysis of the San Francisco Police Department 2025 [https://media.api.sf.gov/documents/PoliceCommission111925-_Report_2025_SFPD_Staffing_Analysis_vFinal.pdf] — City & County of San Francisco Police Department fNIU Staffing Analysis of the San Francisco Police Department 2025 June 30, 2025 City & County of San Francisco Police Department 2 SFPD Staffing Analysis About this report In November 2020, San Francisco voters approved Proposition E, amending the City Charter to remove the previously established Police staffing baseline and requiring the Police Department to submit a report and recommendation… 2. Step Back — San Francisco is talking about cutting housing fees to get more homes built — but what are those fees actually paying for, and are they really big enough to change whether a project pencils out? BACKGROUND SOURCES * Assessing the Cost of Impact Fees on Affordable Housing: An Analysis of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Projects in California - Terner Center [https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/research-and-policy/assessing-the-cost-of-impact-fees-on-affordable-housing-an-analysis-of-low-income-housing-tax-credit-projects-in-california/] — Carolina Reid * These Fees Make Affordable Housing More Expensive. Developers Want to Slash Them | KQED [https://www.kqed.org/news/12070650/these-fees-make-affordable-housing-more-expensive-developers-want-to-slash-them] — KQED * These Fees Make Affordable Housing More Expensive. Developers Want to Slash Them | KQED [https://stage.kqed.org/news/12070650/these-fees-make-affordable-housing-more-expensive-developers-want-to-slash-them] — KQED * Report Highlights the Math That Keeps Housing From Being Built in San Francisco | SPUR [https://www.spur.org/news/2026-06-01/report-highlights-math-keeps-housing-being-built-san-francisco] — SPUR * City-Imposed Costs on Housing Can Undermine the Public Benefits They Were Meant to Deliver | SPUR [https://www.spur.org/news/2026-04-06/city-imposed-costs-housing-can-undermine-public-benefits-they-were-meant-deliver] — SPUR * SF's tax and fee carrots don't stop its home building slide | Politics | sfexaminer.com [https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/politics/sfs-tax-and-fee-carrots-dont-stop-its-home-building-slide/article_507de3a3-172a-4f88-a850-62f15655fcf2.html] — Patrick Hoge | Examiner staff writer * Are development fees too high for CA affordable housing? | Sacramento Bee [https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article314440777.html] — HECTOR AMEZCUA 3. [PDF] Fact Sheet: Housing Fee Reform Plan - SF.gov [https://media.api.sf.gov/documents/6.26.23_Housing_Fee_Reform_Fact_Sheet.pdf] — San Francisco Mayor's Office OFFICE OF THE MAYOR LONDON N. BREED SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR 1 DR. CARLTON B. GOODLETT PLACE, ROOM 200 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94102-4681 TELEPHONE: (415) 554-6141 Fact Sheet: Housing Fee Reform Plan Mayor London N. Breed and President of the Board of Supervisors Aaron Peskin have proposed a Housing Fee Reform Plan that will unlock the housing pipeline and accelerate the planning, approval and… 4. [PDF] San Francisco Housing Policy and Practice Review [https://www.hcd.ca.gov/sites/default/files/docs/policy-and-research/plan-report/sf-housing-policy-and-practice-review.pdf] — California Department of Housing and Community Development San Francisco Housing Policy and Practice Review California Department of Housing and Community Development Housing Policy Development Division Released October 2023 Table of Contents Introduction ..............................................................1 Statutory Authority for this Review ..........................1 Why Review San Francisco? ...................................2… * > “> The City’s failure to implement the Required Actions will result in HCD initiating the process to revoke housing element compliance. Various consequences may apply if the City does not have a housing element in compliance with Housing Element Law, including ineligibility or…” — Hacker News (3 pts thread) [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38022749] Our take: That pull quote gets at why Housing Element compliance is not just planning-department paperwork. If Sacramento can threaten funding, the attorney general, penalties, or even local land-use authority, San Francisco’s old habit of slow-walking housing has a much higher price tag. 5. Housing Element: Implementing Programs | San Francisco General Plan [https://generalplan.sfplanning.org/I1_Housing_Implementing_Programs.htm] — San Francisco Planning Department ### Search the General Plan - GOALS, OBJECTIVES & POLICIES [Goals, Objectives and Policies](I1_Housing.htm)- IMPLEMENTING PROGRAMS [1. Affordable Housing Resources and Equitable Access](#HOU_IMP_1) [2. Stabilizing Tenants and Rental Housing](#HOU_IMP_2) [3. Preventing and Eliminating Homelessness](#HOU_IMP_3) [4. Redressing and Preventing Discrimination](#HOU_IMP_4) [5. Centering Equity… Daily TopFive for San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily. Links above go to the original articles. Follow and rate San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-san-francisco-daily-fix/id1895326420] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6uScs5q3MMu7ibci0cDq7M]. Feedback? Email sf-daily-fix@lanternpodcasts.com [sf-daily-fix@lanternpodcasts.com].

City Hall Integrity Meets San Francisco’s Reform Reality — June 15, 2026

San Francisco public integrity reforms get a hard look alongside the city’s housing roadmap and SFPD staffing math, sharpening one question: where have audits, plans, and mandates actually changed outcomes before scandal or service failures force the issue? IN THIS EPISODE 1. Step Back — San Francisco has had a string of corruption scandals and now a stack of “public integrity” reforms — so what actually changed in how contracts, permits, and gifts are monitored, and who has the power to catch problems before the FBI does? BACKGROUND SOURCES * Nuru prosecutor named SF’s first public corruption czar [https://sfstandard.com/2025/10/28/san-francisco-alexandra-shepard-inspector-general-corruption/] — Sfstandard * She prosecuted corruption as a fed. Now she’s taking on S.F. City Hall [https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/federal-prosecutor-corruption-city-hall-21305169.php] — Michael Barba * March 13, 2026, Agenda Item 6 — Audits Division Update – San Francisco Ethics Commission [https://sfethics.org/ethics/2026/03/march-13-2026-agenda-item-6-audits-division-update.html] — Sfethics * October 10, 2025 Meeting Agenda Item 06 – Discussion & Possible Action Regarding Behested Payment Waiver Legislation – San Francisco Ethics Commission [https://sfethics.org/ethics/2025/10/october-10-2025-meeting-agenda-item-06-discussion-possible-action-regarding-behested-payment-waiver-legislation.html] — Sfethics * Former SF Human Rights Chief Is Arrested on Felony Charges After Corruption Scandal | KQED [https://www.kqed.org/news/12078050/former-sf-human-rights-chief-is-arrested-on-felony-charges-after-corruption-scandal] — KQED 2. Housing Element: Goals, Objectives and Policies | San Francisco General Plan [https://generalplan.sfplanning.org/I1_Housing.htm] — San Francisco Planning Department ### Search the General Plan - INTRODUCTION [Introduction to the Housing Element](#HOU_INT)- GOALS & OBJECTIVES [Goal 1: Recognize the right to housing as a foundation for health, and social and economic well-being.](#HOU_GOAL_1) [Goal 2: Repair the harms of racial and ethnic discrimination against American Indian, Black, and other people of color.](#HOU_GOAL_2) [Goal 3: Foster racially and… 3. [PDF] San Francisco Police Department Staffing Analysis - SF.gov [https://www.sf.gov/sites/default/files/2024-01/PoliceCommission2724-STAFFING%20PRESENTATION%202023%20-%2020240108.pdf] — City & County of San Francisco CITY & COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO Police Department San Francisco Police Department Staffing Analysis Safety with Respect SFPD 2 BACKGROUND & CONTEXT Matrix Consulting Group Staffing Task Force SFPD Staffing Analysis Proposition E 2017 – 2019 Per BOS Resolution No. 63-17, SFPD forms Task Force on Strategic Police Staffing. 2020 Matrix releases report. Voters approve Proposition E. 2021 Police… 4. [PDF] Public Integrity Review: Report Recommendations and Actions [https://www.sfenvironment.org/media/11783/download?inline=] — SF Environment Public Integrity Review: Report Recommendations and Actions Tyrone Jue, Acting Director Controller's Report (Link) Assessment Recommendations 1. The Commission on the Environment should ensure that SF Environment establishes a strong, ethical tone at the top, modeling the importance of compliance with ethics laws. 2. Policymakers should revise the refuse rate-setting process and procedures to… Daily TopFive for San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily. Links above go to the original articles. Follow and rate San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-san-francisco-daily-fix/id1895326420] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6uScs5q3MMu7ibci0cDq7M]. Feedback? Email sf-daily-fix@lanternpodcasts.com [sf-daily-fix@lanternpodcasts.com].

San Francisco’s Reform Bottleneck: Homes Legalized, Permits Still Hard — June 12, 2026

San Francisco Planning Department materials spotlight the city’s core reform bottleneck: turning Housing Element promises into actual homes and making small-business permits easier to navigate when zoning, financing, fees, and approvals still stand between policy and results. IN THIS EPISODE 1. Housing for All | SF Planning [https://sfplanning.org/housing] — San Francisco Planning Department ## Utility Navigation  ## Main navigation # Housing For All #### [Housing for All](https://sf.gov/news/mayor-london-breed-launches-housing-all-plan "external website") – launched by the Mayor's Office – aims to make the recently certified Housing Element a reality. The San Francisco Planning Department is working with City agencies in… 2. Step Back — When San Francisco says it’s rezoning for “housing for all,” what does that actually change on the ground — and why doesn’t legalizing more apartments automatically mean those homes get built? BACKGROUND SOURCES * San Francisco Family Zoning Plan | SF Planning [https://sfplanning.org/sf-family-zoning-plan] — SF Planning * Mayor Lurie's signature housing plan is now under attack from both sides of S.F.'s housing wars [https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/mayor-luries-signature-housing-plan-190000159.html] — Yahoo * Everything You Need to Know About San Francisco’s Family Zoning Plan | KQED [https://www.kqed.org/news/12065204/everything-you-need-to-know-about-san-franciscos-family-zoning-plan] — KQED * New report says SF Family Zoning Plan will fall short of state housing mandates [https://sfstandard.com/2025/10/29/family-zoning-report-housing-construction/] — Sfstandard * Panicked over rezoning? SF officials say don’t worry — nothing is getting built anyway [https://sfstandard.com/2025/11/20/rezoning-capacity-tenant-fears/] — Sfstandard * YIMBY Groups Sue San Francisco, Arguing Upzoning Doesn’t Go Far Enough | KQED [https://www.kqed.org/news/12073193/yimby-groups-sue-san-francisco-arguing-upzoning-doesnt-go-far-enough] — KQED * Report Projects Weak Housing Production Under San Francisco Zoning Plan Over Next 20 Years | KQED [https://www.kqed.org/news/12062042/report-projects-weak-housing-production-under-san-francisco-zoning-plan-over-next-20-years] — KQED 3. Small Businesses | SF Planning [https://sfplanning.org/small-businesses] — SF Planning ## Utility Navigation  ## Main navigation # Small Businesses Where do I start? **If you are planning to start, renovate, expand a small business, or change the type of business operating at an existing business location, you may need a permit.** Depending on the business type and zoning district of the property, your project may be approved… Daily TopFive for San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily. Links above go to the original articles. Follow and rate San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-san-francisco-daily-fix/id1895326420] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6uScs5q3MMu7ibci0cDq7M]. Feedback? Email sf-daily-fix@lanternpodcasts.com [sf-daily-fix@lanternpodcasts.com].

San Francisco’s Reform Test: Build Homes, Open Shops — June 11, 2026

San Francisco housing reform is moving from political veto points toward state-driven approvals, while small-business relief runs into the harder problem of permitting delays, no-bid tech fixes, and charter-level bureaucracy. IN THIS EPISODE 1. San Francisco’s old housing policy regime was a world-historical failure. What comes next? [https://benjaminschneider.substack.com/p/san-franciscos-old-housing-policy] — The Urban Condition # [The Urban Condition](/) # San Francisco’s old housing policy regime was a world-historical failure. What comes next? ### The city is stepping into the urban planning unknown, with the rest of California following close behind. [Benjamin Schneider](https://substack.com/@urbenschneider) Nov 28, 2023 The proposed tower at 530 Howard, which would be the fourth-tallest in San Francisco, will… 2. Step Back — City Hall is pitching business tax reform and fee waivers as ways to make San Francisco easier for small businesses — but for a neighborhood shop, what are the biggest government-imposed costs and delays between idea and opening day, and which reforms would actually move the needle rather than just sound pro-business? BACKGROUND SOURCES * S.F. relaxes parts of permitting process for restaurants [https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/restaurant-permitting-lurie-health-department-21091330.php] — St. John Barned-Smith * Mayor Lurie Unveils PermitSF Portal, Speeding Up the Permitting Process to Drive Economic Recovery | SF.gov [https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-lurie-unveils-permitsf-portal-speeding-up-the-permitting-process-to-drive-economic-recovery] — SF.gov * 5 takeaways from The Standard’s investigation into Lurie’s permit project [https://sfstandard.com/2026/05/13/san-francisco-daniel-lurie-permitsf-opengov-takeaways/] — Sfstandard * San Francisco Prop C - Small Business Tax Cuts | SPUR [https://www.spur.org/voter-guide/2026-06/sf-prop-c-small-business-tax-cuts] — SPUR * Streamlining San Francisco’s Permitting Process: Q&A With Annie Fryman | SPUR [https://www.spur.org/news/2026-06-08/streamlining-san-franciscos-permitting-process-qa-annie-fryman] — SPUR * These SF neighborhoods are rejecting city plan to speed permitting [https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/lurie-business-permits-groups-said-no-20405086.php] — Aldo Toledo Daily TopFive for San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily. Links above go to the original articles. Follow and rate San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-san-francisco-daily-fix/id1895326420] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6uScs5q3MMu7ibci0cDq7M]. Feedback? Email sf-daily-fix@lanternpodcasts.com [sf-daily-fix@lanternpodcasts.com].