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City Hall Watch: Solar-panel plan would give green
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Related Topics: SAN FRANCISCO
The legislation, approved by the Board of Supervisors in a 7-4 vote, authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to hand out money to help defray the cost of installing solar systems. Between $2 million and $5 million would be doled out annually.
Supervisor Bevan Dufty, sponsor of the legislation, said the program would “accelerate solar in San Francisco” as The City lags behind other jurisdictions. Of The City’s 195,000 rooftops, only 740 have solar systems, Dufty said.
The program was opposed by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin along with Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi, Chris Daly and Jake McGoldrick.
“It’s public money,” McGoldrick said. “It belongs in public projects until we run out of public projects.”
Daly said the money should benefit low-income residents and nonprofit housing, not the well-to-do who may pay to install solar anyway.
On Monday, Mayor Gavin Newsom told The Examiner that opposition to the program is “outrageous” and that environmental groups statewide praise it. Newsom said progressive supervisors oppose it “purely for political reasons.”
The program was co-sponsored by Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, who led a task force that came up with it.
The board will take a second and final vote on the program next week.
IN OTHER ACTION
Wait to see: A vote on a contract to build a new fossil-fuel-burning power plant in order to shut down an older one was postponed until July 15.
Court vote: In a 7-4 vote, the board agreed to hold a hearing next week on whether to spend $500,000 to help fund Newsom’s plan to put a new kind of court in the crime- and drug-plagued Tenderloin.
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Examiner Reader said:
""The proposals ranged from firing highly paid managers to the elimination of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, which Daly called “a political extension of the Mayor’s Office,” the usefulness of which was replaced by the 311 call center."" Well if Daly's office would be responsive to my phone calls in District 6 for help then we wouldn't need this. But Daly's office feels helping people to deal with "quality of life" issues is their very last priority. Just remember whoever Daly endorses for his replacement when he is termed out I will vote against. Whatever November ballot initiative Daly endorses I will vote against, period the end!! You will reap what you sow.
8 agree | 2 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Budget approved and of the 1000 or so job positions proposed to be cut by Mayor Newsom, 30 city employees were actually laid off. Sounds like business as usual to me.
2 agree | 1 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Amazing, All of a sudden this meeting that was postponed, is again postponed to Wednesday because it wasn't published!!!! somethings fishy
3 agree | 2 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Yeah I'll join in a Daly D6 recall effort....anything is better than having him a minute longer.
16 agree | 5 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The Mayor and Supervisor McGoldrick wants to save money by replacing (institutional) police officers with flashlight cops. My husband caught a killer of 4 people there and the starbucks stabber was nabbed by another Institutional officer. Its a bad idea with all the crime that is thwarted there by these specialized forces. These guys never get credit for all they do. Their verbal judo is the finest and not once has there been an "accidental shooting." The doctors and nurses there save lives and will now be risking their lives as the new security can only call 911. I know the stuff that doesn't get in the papers would make your hair stand on end. Please help us keep the city from making this huge disastrous mistake to save a penny. You wouldn't replace the Oakland police force with flashlight cops and if you saw how many reports they do a day, you wouldn't have to be a fortune teller to see the future of General Hospital
8 agree | 5 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
""Supervisor Chris Daly, who is opposed to the plan, suggested instead using $5 million from The City’s operating budget reserve account, money set aside for unforeseen expenses to avoid contracting out for guards.'' No doubt whose pocket Daly's in. Hey my fellow D6 neighbors, anyone feel its worth it to try a recall of Daly even though he only has afew years before he is termed out? At least it will keep him distracted abit from this nonsense.
17 agree | 5 disagree
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Gretchen said:
I am one of the proud owners of solar panels installed on my roof and I encourage everyone to do the same. I heartily applaud the rebates for adding solar and I would go so far as to suggest that homes with solar panels be identified on the tax roles and that the property have a credit for having solar panels. Every one of the solar panels installed on homes and businesses is generating electricity during the day - the time when there is peak usage. SF planning and building codes should require that all new construction -- homes, condos, businesses, etc., must be built with solar (or wind) incorporated as part of the construction. Please, join me and the 749 other homeowners and have solar panels installed. Together we can make a difference! As for the idea that it is "public monety", what the h@ll do you think I am? I AM the public and I pay property taxes and when you help property owners with rebates you ARE helping the "Public".
6 agree | 5 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Paving over front yard. Mr.Sandoval, thank you for your concern but I think you should concentrate to figuring out how to stop drug dealing, related crime, homelessness, safety such as getting robbed while you dine out at restaurant or get mugged going home after work.
7 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I worked at SF General. I caution all to stay away unless you are in need of trauma care. This hospital is really scary. It is not the UCSF medical staff that are the problem, it is the nursing care. It is some of the worst and most incompontent i have ever seen. The people running the place only hire cronies and family members to work in administrative positions, nothing is based on competence. Really, really scary place!! Very violent place for staff to work, nurses are frequently getting assaulted by patients.
11 agree | 6 disagree
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Seven said:
Here in the Sunset, it's all too common for homeowners to stuff their garages with renters/extended family, then cement over the front yard to compensate for the lost garage space. Happens all the time. My block is practically all cement, and even the sidewalks are too narrow for Friends of the Urban Forest to plant any trees (ADA compliance). It's all concrete and asphalt out here, and it sucks.
3 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
To the reader who wrote: "For environmental-wise paving over lawns . . . Your comment would should have been one of Mr. Sandoval's arguments for his proposal. However, his proposal seems to focused at homeowners in the Supervisor's district instead of residents near Lake Merced and Stern Grove. Maybe the "studies" you referenced in your post may lead to the crafting of a more reasonable and comprehensive proposal.
5 agree | 5 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
For environmental-wise, paving over where lawns and trees, and flowers once was does not help the aquafiers and underground streams that help the rain run-offs. Many parts of the City and County of San Francisco, and parts of Daly City have wells, that are used for irrigation or even drinking use as well as to help in the water reservoirs,come from these areas as well as Lake Merced, Pine Lake in Stern Grove to name a few recreational areas that are connected by aquafiers, underground streams to sustain its life. So far, studies have shown that some aquifiers and underground streams around the city and even in San Mateo County have disappeared because of the covering of the cement over the lawns, flowers and trees.
7 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I guess I understand that this proposal in fining homeowners in paving front yards takes away the "beauty" of a neighborhood but have there been proposals in cleaning up neighborhoods such as the tenderloin where walking through a person might observe people in the morning on the front steps of their apartment or in the park with a cup of coffee in one hand and a crack pipe in the other. Is there a blind eye to these activities in the SOMA, downtown/tenderloin areas? These areas are frequented by tourists which contribute to the economy of this city yet it seems that it receives the least attention. If beautifying this city is a priority of this bored of supervisors I suggest you start with the neighborhoods which are in "desperate" need of it. Perhaps, then it will justify the salaries you are being paid.
6 agree | 7 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I have sympathy for people who give up their front lawns/gardens in order to have some place to park. Wouldn't it be interesting to see a list of the supervisors and where they each park their car when at home? Maybe they don't know what it's like not to have a garage, just as they don't seem to know what it's like to ride the bus every day. (Plus, any supervisor who has neither a car nor car service deserves recognition.)
6 agree | 4 disagree
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Rachel Hernandez said:
I wouldn't like to have everyone pave over their front lawn, even as small as they are in SF, but its private property and the local bureaucrats just don't understand that. We really need to dismantle the existing City Government structure, disband the Board in favor of a small Board, and initiate elections based upon district. The bureaucrats have ruined our City with their stupid ideas.
7 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Unfortunately I reside in Mr. Sandoval's district and I disagreed with him when he first proposed this measure. I can't wait for him to be termed out of office. What a waste of paper and ink to print such unimportant nonsense. To the previous poster,I guess it is not in their "job description" as supervisor to address drug dealing and related crime, homelessness, and the city's infrastructure problems, or maybe these issues are not symbolic enough for their attention. Paving over front yards and issuing fines to businesses that leave their lights on are obviously more important.
6 agree | 5 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Dear Board of Supervisors please devote some of your time to figuring out how to stop drug dealing and related crime, homelessness, dirty streets, and fixing our City's infrastructure problems too. Thank you.
11 agree | 5 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
It would seem Ms. Alioto-Pier enjoys that sense of entitlement which so many politicians are quick to admonish the rest of us for contemplating as ours.
8 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Oh for crying out loud! Doesn't MAP have another day job to do instead of taking up City space? Really wasting time to argue a moot point? How about solving the City's problems? What is she going to do next? Sue us in the courts since she's "entitled" to another term?!?!? She is getting to be pretty annoying.
8 agree | 7 disagree
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Seven said:
Of course, we all know that if Ms. Alioto-Pier doesn't get what she is "entitled" to, she'll threaten to sue the City.
11 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I think Mrs. Pier is mistaken. She may be entitled to RUN for another term in office. She is certainly not entitled to SERVE another 4 years. She has to actually run first. She sure doesn't seem to accomplish much in the way of legislation or anything. She does however enjoy pulling stunts and saying "me me me" and all the while rarely shows up to work and has an Ed Jew problem with her residency. I guess by shoving the name "Alioto" like Joe Veronese did, she can avoid anyone challenging her too much.
11 agree | 7 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Sean Elsbernd replaced Tony Hall when Hall went to Treasure Island, and Elsbernd won that Fall November Election to become District 7 Supervisor to keep the position; and likewise for Carmen Chiu, who was appointed to replace Ed Jew, the disgraced supervisor, and has to run in this November 2008 Election to keep the position for the Sunset/Parkside. So will this be the same argument for both Elsbernd and Chiu, which I know neither one will make this argument, but if the City Attorney is in favor for Alioto-Pier then those two should have the same treatment as Alioto-Pier. What does the City Charter say? If the City Charter is clear than Alioto-Pier should leave it be, and allow the appointments (if needed) and the election process to continue as is. This city is silly.
9 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Doesn't this woman have a set of ears. No one likes you Mrs. Pier - remove your self and slink back to Napa where you live. You can't even be bothered to show up to meetings. You have done nothing for your district
9 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
great comments here about what a waste of time and money this is and focus. we need to clean up the tenderloin long before we spend any money trying to house the poor. close all 8 liquor stores and check cashing places. start checking id's for actual residents vs east bay drug dealers loitering around. get drug sniffing dogs at bart and muni stations to stop the inflow of drugs into the tenderloin. all that housing is full of addicts. you wonder why?
80 agree | 82 disagree
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Attack on the Middle Class said:
Although I'm a big supporter diversity and affordable housing, I just feel that this measure is another hit on the middle class - and what we get is a city of the rich and the poor. That's not my definition of DIVERSITY. This measure is also EXPENSIVE, running 15 years long. Frankly, it seems foolish to spend and commit to this much at this time, mainly on the backs of the middle class taxpayers, which on the whole, it seeks ignore. As I see it, this is a measure that aims to attack the struggling middle class (cops, teachers, nurses). How it got on the ballot, frankly, seems rushed and pressured. I will be REJECTING this measure, in hopes that someone can research and propose a better solution, that honors cultural diversity, includes the middle class (for a change), and is more fiscally responsible. I feel SF deserves better!
87 agree | 81 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Lets see, huge budget shortfall for the city, I know, lets spend more and more money. Good plan, its great that the city supes are so free and easy with other people's money.
83 agree | 79 disagree
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bees said:
he may be the only supe to write his own laws, but he does have a good point. when you're in high places, some people think they can get away with a tryst, however sloppy the outcome should the public finds out. look at how many women willish brown has scored the coop and is paying bigger than bucks for the illegit kids he's bringing into the world, and, of course, he's a black man with a loud and uncontrolable wanker. because gavin is a pretty white boy, it doesn't mean there's much of a difference in scoring and putting points on the board.
91 agree | 101 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Supervisor Daly, Please spend your time to try to fix the out of control Club scene on the 11th Street corridor. These clubs are the "big box retail" equivalent of the City entertainment scene. They are regional serving land use that the "gates and tunnel" kiddies use. These clubs do not serve people that live in the city, do not let the Late Night Coalition fool you!! The kiddies come to the city to do things they know they cannot get away with in their hamlets. Last week another shooting at 11th and Mission. Over the last 3 years 2 dead and many wounded...this is worse than Iraq on a per capita basis. Do not just sit there and cater to the money grubbing Big Block regional serving clubs. Heck, lets encourage more leather bars at least they are local serving and peaceful. We like to party as much as anyone but party mean having fun not shooting people.
127 agree | 116 disagree
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