By Joel P. Engardio -- A transportation system that serves the public well doesn’t greet riders with the stench of urine or ask them to climb broken escalators short-circuited by human feces. And it doesn’t paralyze an entire region by going on strike. Will voters hold BART accountable? Meet the two BART board candidates in an epic battle to represent riders.
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Joel Engardio speech on why moderates are the true progressives in San Francisco. Engardio was the guest speaker at the Golden Gate Breakfast Club in August 2014.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- Consider how Detroit went from being the nation’s most innovative boomtown a century ago – much like San Francisco and Silicon Valley today – to the bankrupt, abandoned shell of itself now. And what cautionary tales we can learn.
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- Is San Francisco segregated when a quarter of public schools have a supermajority of a single non-white race? Nearly half of San Francisco is white, but only 12 percent of public school students are. Where are the white students?
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- Lots of San Francisco voters skip school board elections. Maybe it’s because just 16 percent of The City’s households have kids. Nationally, the number is 44 percent. All of San Francisco's non-parents might care if they knew how much school board policies affect everyone.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- The short walk from Twitter's headquarters to Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu's office might as well be light years. Consider the 204,562 paper files that represent San Francisco's 204,562 properties. Keeping track of that many physical files means Chu never knows if the day will end in comedy, frustration or disaster.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- If we fear wealthy newcomers who drive up rents and alter neighborhood character, can we keep them out of San Francisco by making it difficult to build more housing? The problem with that strategy is that rich people, like water, always find their way. Without new housing supply, we risk losing residents like Brian Lee, 33, who grew up here and is married with a baby on the way. He's moving to San Mateo.
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Joel Engardio speaks about LGBT rights in relation to Title VII and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) at a panel hosted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in San Francisco. This was part of a celebration of 50 years of the Civil Rights Act. June 2014.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- There must be others like me in San Francisco who embrace liberal values but also crave a city that runs on common sense. Forward-thinkers who believe in progress and aren’t afraid of change. True progressives.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- For seven years, 64-year-old Janet Kessler has been voluntarily observing and photographing urban coyote behavior throughout San Francisco’s parks. She regularly logs six hours a day, taking up to 600 pictures. “People think coyotes are vermin, dangerous or the big bad wolf,” Kessler said. “But they’re wonderful animals we can live with if we treat them with respect and take the right precautions.”
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By Joel P. Engardio -- For a town full of original hippies and 1970s liberals, it’s amazing how many San Franciscans in their golden years have adopted William F. Buckley Jr.’s conservative mantra to “stand athwart history, yelling stop!”
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By Joel P. Engardio -- Elementary school graduations are cute, yet they hardly match the hat tossing euphoria of the U.S. Naval Academy or the pomp of an Ivy League procession. But don't tell that to the first-ever graduates of the Chinese Immersion School at De Avila this month. With the mythological phoenix as their mascot, they deserve a celebration fit for rising from the ashes of public education in San Francisco.
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- There are forces against change at the waterfront, especially projects that would increase height limits. But the fight over waterfront development shouldn’t derail E-line plans.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- There isn’t a millennial or hoodie in sight at GemShare. The app is great, but what really stands out is that most employees of the startup are over 40 and women lead them.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- What if a startup helped single moms find social services as easily as you pick a restaurant on Yelp? Rey Faustino is building an app to prove that San Francisco’s tech boom doesn’t just benefit the rich. "If Yelp was anything like the websites that poor people rely on for assistance, everyone would be up in arms about the crappy service,” he said.
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- The new Central Subway will inexplicably end in Chinatown without going two more stops to North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf. When it's completed in 2019, disappointed riders will wonder why it was built with such tunnel vision.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- Supervisor Katy Tang's approach to San Francisco's housing crisis is very different from her colleagues who are focused on stricter tenant protections without addressing the underlying supply problem. "I don't need to introduce quick-fix legislation five times a week," she said. "I'm trying to offer a different solution that addresses root causes."
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By Joel P. Engardio -- Keith Baraka left his family in Ohio for an easier gay life, but he said nothing was tougher than the decade he spent being a gay firefighter in San Francisco's Station 6.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- Supervisor Scott Wiener and I agree that Americans drink too much high-calorie soda, which contributes to our obesity epidemic and rising health care costs. So what’s the debate? We differ on how to persuade people to drink less.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- A tree war in the little-known San Francisco neighborhoods of Forest Knolls and Miraloma Park – out of sight and mind on the foggy Westside – could get citywide attention in a tight California Assembly race between David Campos and David Chiu.
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