A funny short story about going to the dentist and fielding a flood of interview requests from the New York Times, AP, Reuters, Forbes, Wired, CNN, NPR, BBC, CBS radio, ABC Channel 7 News, the local papers and news outlets from Australia to Sweden.
Read MoreInstead of an outright ban, a moratorium would have been more appropriate. There are problems with facial recognition ID technology and it should not be used today. But the technology will improve and it could be a useful tool for public safety when used responsibly and with greater accuracy. We should keep the door open for that possibility. Especially when facial recognition technology can help locate missing children, people with dementia and fight sex trafficking.
Read MoreThe uglier national politics get, some seek solace in local matters. But what happens when local concerns end up feeling as divisive as the national ones? Two women trying to beautify San Francisco’s West Portal neighborhood offer some inspiration and cautionary tales.
Read MoreAmending legislation is a messy process of horse-trading words. One of the amendments in San Francisco’s new video surveillance law is still missing a vital word. Police can receive private security video, but will they be able to use it to solve crimes? Words matter when we have the highest rate of property crime among the nation's largest cities.
Read MoreIf presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg can pick a running mate as well as a husband, America will be in good hands. It’s just one of many impressions from my lucky dinner with Pete and Chasten Buttigieg.
Read MoreFighting Big Brother and Big Tech might feel good when privacy is a concern. But a proposed law to ban facial recognition and severely impede San Francisco’s use of security cameras is full of unintended consequences that won’t keep us safe or free.
Read MoreIf a defendant is re-arrested awaiting a court appearance, the sheriff needs to know. Yet she often doesn’t because San Francisco lacks a fully interconnected criminal justice database that shares information in real time. After 20 years and tens of millions spent, will City Hall ever get it to work?
Read MoreMerchant corridor doctor Vas Kiniris has a prescription for San Francisco’s historic West Portal: Embrace the future. “Millennials run the world now. But the rest of us can still be active participants in contemporary life. We can be perennials — always growing and blooming.”
Read MoreRiding a bike in San Francisco can be perilous. There are speeding cars and potholes. Then there is the politics of cycling, which can be as unforgiving as the road. Consider what Brian Wiedenmeier faces as director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.
Read MoreCan a Paris streetscape inspire us to create 10,000 new homes for middle-income families? Dom-i-city is a bold idea that solves land creation, financing, affordability and neighborhood quality of life in ways never considered in San Francisco.
Read MoreSmashed glass on curbs and sidewalks is the new normal in San Francisco with tens of thousands of car break-ins reported annually. Our criminal justice system needs the right incentives for offenders to change their behavior. Lawbreakers need to know they will be held accountable if they violate the terms of probation. And judges need to know citizens are watching. Read the full OpEd published in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Read MoreTwo generations of Iranian-Americans never gave up on the American dream even when they weren’t always welcome. Nima’s parents accepted discrimination as a cost for being here. But in the age of Trump, Nima isn’t buying it. How the young lawyer keeps fighting despite defeat.
Read MoreExactly 42 years after the San Francisco Police Officers Association declared gay people unfit to serve, Tony Montoya became the police union’s first openly gay president. Yet Montoya’s temperament is just as groundbreaking — when compared to the take-no-prisoners approach his predecessors took in local politics. “Our bombastic style doesn’t work anymore. It turns people off,” Montoya said. “I’ll be more thoughtful.”
Read MoreAfrican Americans arrested for being in a Starbucks and the Supreme Court deciding if businesses can deny LGBTQ customers. Today’s news reminds Angelic Williams of The Green Book that helped her grandparents travel safely in Jim Crow America. So she created an app that tells LGBTQ people of color where they’re welcome.
Read MoreWith all the challenges the world faces today, why do we need a $40 million memorial to World War I? Because today’s great grandchildren are still fighting it. And we still haven’t learned “what is past is prologue.”
Read MoreDistrict Attorney George Gascon and police Captain Robert Yick discuss the property crime epidemic in San Francisco with Stop Crime SF vice president Joel Engardio on a public safety panel. Solving this complex problem will require every part of the criminal justice system working hard together. Gascon answered many engaging questions from the Westside audience.
Read MoreThe Westside has good reason to fight an overreaching state law that aims to put apartment buildings next to single-family homes. But what about train corridors like West Portal Avenue and the empty parking lot behind Stonestown Mall? It’s time to build middle-income housing there — if we want to keep families in San Francisco.
Read MoreHeroin needles and broken glass from car break-ins litter San Francisco streets. Property crimes and housing prices continue to soar. Perhaps our city should turn its lonely eyes to Assessor Carmen Chu: "Think of me as your neighborhood assessor."
Read MoreThe community meeting I organized for Stop Crime SF led the local TV news on ABC. The epidemic of car break-ins was the topic and state Assemblymember Phil Ting spoke about legislative solutions. Stop Crime SF is a group of San Franciscans working together to reduce and prevent crime in our neighborhoods while holding public officials and the criminal justice system accountable. Join us at www.stopcrimesf.com
Read MoreRiding a tech bus to Silicon Valley has nothing to do with hepatitis B, but there's a good chance some of the passengers have the virus and don't know it. Why? Major risk factors include being millennial and Asian & Pacific Islander (APIs comprise nearly half of tech jobs and a quarter of the population in the Bay Area). Inaction can lead to death by liver cancer. That's why Arcadi Kolchak and Richard So are fighting to save their generation — and yours.
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