How has life in the Bay Area changed over the last 20 years? These stories straight from our Bay City News archives capture news of the day from 5, 10, and 20 years ago – as originally published at the time. Explore these history snapshots and ponder how today’s news compares to that of years past.
JULY 28, 2021
San Francisco’s inclusionary housing rules only work when below-market homes are delivered and occupied as promised. The proposed ordinance sought clearer deadlines and enforcement after affordable units in one development remained empty for years.
Bay City News Reported:
“Supervisor Moves To Close Affordable Housing Loopholes”
San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen on Tuesday proposed legislation that aims to close loopholes that she says exist within the city’s Planning Code — impacting desperately needed affordable housing.
Currently, market rate home developers in the city are required to choose one of several options under the city’s Inclusionary Housing Program to mitigate the impacts on the housing market, including paying an affordable housing fee, building on-site or new off-site affordable units, or dedicating land for affordable housing constriction.
For on-site below market rate units, or BMRs, developers must typically match the tenure of the rest of the building, with rental BMRs in rental buildings and ownership BMRs in condo buildings.
Ronen said, however, recent examples where developers sought to change the tenure of the main project has created confusion about developers’ inclusionary obligations.
In one instance, a project at 600 South Van Ness Ave. approved by the Planning Commission in 2015, the developer initially sought to create units for ownership but after construction was completed in 2017, the developer tried to change the market rate units to rentals but keep the BMRs for ownership.
“The reality is however that having a small number of affordable condo ownership units in a market rate rental building isn’t feasible because banks won’t finance their purchase,” Ronen said at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
The developer’s request was ultimately denied by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.
“The upshot is that the developer received sign-off from the Department of Building Inspection on his completed project in July of 2017 and has been renting out market rate units while the BMR units have been sitting empty for nearly four years. This project failed to meet its obligations. This is four years of real impact on people who are struggling to stay in San Francisco,” she said. “The city and my district lost and we cannot allow this to happen again.”
Ronen’s proposed ordinance would establish procedures and requirements in regard to inclusionary housing tenure and address changes by a developer in elected inclusionary options after a project’s approval. The ordinance would also set a clear timeline and establish enforcement to ensure that BMR units are marketed and occupied in a timely manner, Ronen’s office said.
Planning Department Director Rich Hillis said in a statement he supported Ronen’s proposed ordinance.
“It’s our responsibility to adjust San Francisco’s Inclusionary Housing Program over time so that it can continue to efficiently provide critical below market rate units. This ordinance create additional predictability and transparency to help protect BMR households while reconciling state and local law to get affordable units on-line faster,” he said.
JULY 28, 2016
Transit stations work best when riders can reach them safely on foot, by bicycle and through reliable local connections. The federal award supported upgrades at Oakland’s 19th Street station and improvements in the surrounding Uptown district.
Bay City News reported:
“Federal Grant Supports BART Station And Street Upgrades”
Officials from the office of Congresswoman Barbara Lee announced that Bay Area Rapid Transit received a large grant Wednesday from the Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration.
A total of $6,321,668 was granted to BART to use for upgrades to the 19th Street Station, house officials said.
“BART is a critical part of our public transit system and these funds will help ensure safe and green transit for its riders, in the East Bay and throughout.” Congresswoman Barbara Lee said in a statement.
Additionally, funding will also be used to enhanced bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in the uptown area connecting to the BART station.
JULY 28, 2006
Civil liberties remain vulnerable when security agencies monitor lawful political organizing without a clear criminal basis. The report documented Northern California surveillance and infiltration while pressing the state to strengthen limits on intelligence gathering.
Bay City News reported:
“ACLU Report Warns Of Police Surveillance Of Political Groups”
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer is committed to protecting citizens’ civil liberties even though law enforcement officials are cracking down on potential terrorism activities, a spokesman said today.
Reacting to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union that says state and local police agencies have spied on political groups and events from 2001 to the present, Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for Lockyer, said the Attorney General “has been a champion of civil liberties throughout his career.”
Dresslar said Lockyer “will not countenance intelligence-gathering that’s not justified by reasonable suspicion of criminal activity or the monitoring of groups based on their political and religious views.”
The ACLU said in a report released Thursday that in the last five years “multiple peaceful political organizations have been targeted for monitoring or infiltration by law enforcement agencies in Northern and Central California.”
The report, written by the ACLU’s Mark Schlosberg, says, “Tactics have ranged from compiling and disseminating information about planned protest activities to undercover officers posing as organization members, even leaders, to gather information or influence decisions.”
The report specifically refers to two Oakland police officers who infiltrated and helped direct an anti-war rally at the Port of Oakland on May 12, 2003.
The report says, “Infiltrating the protest would have been highly inappropriate in and of itself, Officers taking leadership roles and helping direct the protest is even more invasive, approaching the tactics used by law enforcement during the 1960s.”
Oakland police spokesman Roland Holmgren said Deputy Police Chief Howard Jordan, who espoused the benefits of police infiltration in a statement to the department’s board of review, wasn’t available for comment today and neither was Police Chief Wayne Tucker.
Holmgren said the Police Department implemented a new crowd control policy in November 2004 after consulting with the ACLU and other groups.
One of the ACLU’s recommendations is that the California Attorney General should issue specific guidelines to local law enforcement and actively encourage their adoption by sheriff’s and police departments throughout the state.
Dresslar said Lockyer in fact issued such guidelines in September 2003 and updates them periodically, most recently last December.
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Lockyer established the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center to help local police agencies fight terrorism.
The ACLU report says the center posted an alert about an April 7, 2003, protest at the Port of Oakland at which Oakland police fired non-lethal ammunition at protesters.
Dozens of activists and longshoremen were injured and victims have won nearly $2 million in legal settlements from the city.
Dresslar said, “The people of this state deserve on one hand an effective anti-terrorism effort by law enforcement but also deserve to have full respect of their civil liberties and the constitutional rights.”
Dresslar said the Attorney General’s office “has made strides” in protecting those liberties and rights but is willing to work with the ACLU “to make any needed improvements.”
Editor’s Note: All the reporting, writing, and editing of this content was done by human journalists at the time of initial publication. AI tools were used to surface these stories from our internal Bay City News archives and provide the introductory context.