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Wealth & poverty

Billy Bragg saved my life

Tim Kingston, The Public Press — Nov 10 2009 - 9:55am

There is something about being unemployed — or underemployed, as it is cutely referred to these days — that puts a crimp in one’s life. What is harsh is the loss of hope that comes with long-term unemployment. It is the constant effort to keep optimistic and on top of things while isolation grinds one down. Unemployment focuses the mind on individual survival, instead of collective solutions. Watching Billy Bragg perform recently at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco was, for me, a desperately needed injection of hope and a reminder that there is a lot more to life than getting by.

City finds millions to rehire laid-off nurses, clerical workers

Kevin Stark, The Public Press — Nov 4 2009 - 9:14pm

San Francisco city leaders have found an extra pot of $8 million they hope to use as a patch on the summer’s tattered budget, potentially rescuing more than 500 frontline workers already given pink slips or downgraded to lower-paying jobs.

Supes on: the budget -- Mar advocates ‘a people’s budget’

Patricia Decker, The Public Press — Sep 10 2009 - 2:40pm
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Although San Francisco’s city budget was passed in July, District 1 Supervisor Eric Mar says he believes taking a more fundamental process to passing it is in order.

He advocates having "a people's budget," in which the process would solicit more grassroots involvement at "the early levels as opposed to where you have people rallying and begging at the last minute ... when they can't have as much of an impact on the budget."

Public Press/KALW budget roundtable examines city’s fiscal crisis

Christopher D. Cook, The Public Press — Aug 24 2009 - 9:04pm

The Public Press and KALW (91.7 FM) teamed up for a budget roundtable that aired Aug. 17 on the “Crosscurrents” news program. A panel of local experts offered a lively and informative on-the-air discussion about San Francisco’s budget crisis and its impacts on residents and communities.

Mission Neighborhood Resource Center's 'Ladies’ Night' saved by supervisors

Monica Jensen, The Public Press — Aug 20 2009 - 3:20pm
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Supes on: the budget -- 'The lowest-income workers took the greatest hit in this budget,' Dist. 11 Supervisor John Avalos says

Hank Drew, The Public Press — Aug 4 2009 - 11:07am
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‘We wanted to make sure there was equity in how the budget was approved.’

Supervisor John Avalos, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, addresses coalition building, community organizing, his fight to save key social services, his closed-door agreement with Mayor Gavin Newsom and his frustrations with the budget process.

A tale of two zip codes

Christopher D. Cook, Race, Poverty & the Environment — Jul 7 2009 - 2:18pm

Recession worsens rights gap between rich and poor

At the corner of Turk and Hyde Streets in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, just a few blocks from the glittering commerce and bustling tourism of Union Square, lies a little slice of the Third World that visitors rarely see — unless they go to India or Africa.

In just a minute’s stroll, fashion stores and boutiques hustling Armani and Prada, and European-style cafes peddling panini, cappuccino and white wine give way to adult book stores, liquor markets, pay day loan stores, overnight SRO (single-room occupancy) hotels, drug rehab clinics and bargain-basement deals on crack.

Nestled in the heart of downtown between Union Square and Civic Center (the city’s house of government), the Tenderloin is a chaotic theater of suffering, struggle and survival, performed in the open every day yet eerily separate from nearby neighborhoods that rank among the nation’s wealthiest.

Shanty towns rise in the Central Valley as poverty levels climb

Thea Chroman, Mar 2 2009 - 10:51pm

Fresno, Calif. has the highest levels of concentrated poverty in the nation. In some neighborhoods, nearly half of all residents are living below the federal poverty line. Over the past year, many of those poor residents have slipped out of housing completely. Now shanty towns are springing up along the railroad tracks, an image that recalls shanty towns of a different era: the so-called Hoovervilles of the Great Depression. KALW's Thea Chroman reports.

The return of Hooverville: car and tent cities on the rise in San Francisco

Thea Chroman, The Public Press — Feb 10 2009 - 6:13pm

San Francisco’s per capita homeless rate has long been the highest in the country. But in the past year, it has shot up 40 percent, by some measures. The increase came as foreclosures put pressure on the rental market, the budget crisis slowed aid, and the job market tightened up.

Proposition B: 'Chump Change' or 'Massive Budget Hole'?

Tim Kingston, The Public Press and Newsdesk.org — Oct 24 2008 - 11:18pm

The battle over public power and the hospital bond have vacuumed up much of San Francisco's attention and political capital this season. But there's an equally significant, if under-the-radar, item up for grabs: Proposition B. The "Establishing [an] Affordable Housing Fund" measure mandates that 2.5 cents out of every $100 in property taxes go to create what is essentially a dedicated San Francisco affordable housing account. Proponents and opponents alike agree that it would raise roughly $2.7 billion over its 15-year lifespan -- in fact, that's about all they agree on.

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