Podcast
SFNext: Fixing Our City
Hosted by San Francisco Chronicle · EN
Like any big city, San Francisco has big problems. Rampant homelessness, an opioid epidemic, widening income equality and deep political divisions. What’s stopping the city from fixing itself? Where are the creative solutions? And what happens when one person’s solution is another’s root of the problem? Host Laura Wenus and producer Cintia Lopez are on a quest to find out, one San Francisco story at a time.
SFNext: Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle's SFNext project.
Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod.
Twitter: @sfnext
Got a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
‘No Moderate or Progressive Potholes’: Board President Aaron Peskin Says Now is the Time to Come Together
Jun 20, 202300:25:32Tap to summarizeAaron Peskin, president of the Board of Supervisors, has spent the majority of the last 23 years in office in San Francisco, representing District 3. His district includes North Beach, Chinatown and the Financial District, but the role of president means he must broker compromises between his colleagues and the mayor. On complex crises like the coronavirus pandemic, fentanyl use, and homelessness, he says he also helps coordinate siloed city departments. And with so many crises at hand, Peskin says, this is no time for divisive politicking — which is why he collaborated with Mayor London Breed on legislation easing restrictions on building use downtown. “There are no moderate or progressive potholes,” he says. “There are potholes and they need to be filled.” | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/podFixing our City is coming to a close, but we’re not done pursuing solutions and having important conversations about San Francisco’s future! To keep listening, follow the Chronicle’s flagship news podcast, Fifth & Mission. The SFNext initiative is also continuing! Find more reporting on how San Francisco can tackle its toughest challenges at sfchronicle.com/sfnextGot a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Soup With the Supes: Ronen Says Local Solutions Ignore Root Causes
Jun 13, 202300:27:41Tap to summarizeSupervisor Hillary Ronen represents the Mission, the Portola and Bernal Heights, but she has been trying to tackle problems in those neighborhoods since before she was elected. Now, she’s termed out, and she says she’s conflicted about trying to address the fallout of national issues with a municipal toolkit. While San Francisco’s government has its shortcomings, she says, it’s grappling with effects of poverty and inequality around the country — from homelessness to drug dealing to the housing crunch — that are more visible than ever. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/podSFNext: Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext ProjectGot a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Soup With the Supes: Catherine Stefani on Police and Public Safety
Jun 6, 202300:25:50Tap to summarizeSupervisor Catherine Stefani represents a part of San Francisco that does not have a reputation for violent crime — District 2 includes the Marina, Pacific Heights, Cathedral Hill, Laurel Village and NoPa. But shortly before SFNext: Fixing Our City interviewed her, a violent assault in the Marina made headlines, though it wasn't yet apparent that there was allegedly more to that story. Stefani describes how she would like to handle challenges with hiring cops, what we expect police officers to do, and why public safety is such a critical issue for San Francisco. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/podFixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext ProjectGot a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Soup With the Supes: Matt Dorsey Lays Out His Drug Policy
May 30, 202300:25:14Tap to summarizeDistrict 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who lives in the Mid-Market area and represents downtown as well as SoMa, Mission Bay and Treasure Island, expresses some hope that the city’s economic engine is coming back to life. The former police spokesperson has experience with drug and alcohol abuse and talks about his own setbacks during the pandemic. One reason he ran for office was to represent people in recovery. Now, he has ambitious plans for the police department and its role in addressing drug dealing. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/podFixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext ProjectGot a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Soup With the Supes: Connie Chan Is a Budget Wonk and Chowder Enthusiast
May 23, 202300:24:18Tap to summarizeSupervisor Connie Chan keeps a decorative sign in her office that says “I’ll be nicer, if you’ll be smarter.” She is chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and has made it a point to call for hearings about department overspending or inefficient spending. As part of our Soup With the Supes series, Chan tells the story of how she was introduced to clam chowder in a bread bowl and shares her vision of San Francisco’s economic future. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/podFixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext ProjectGot a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Overdoses Have Spiked. How Will San Francisco Respond?
May 16, 202300:28:45Tap to summarizeSan Francisco has consistently seen more than 600 overdose deaths a year, and the rate of fatal overdoses has recently spiked. Dr. Jeffrey Hom, director of the city’s Office of Overdose Prevention, is optimistic that the city can turn the tide on overdoses, but acknowledges a long road ahead. The health department released a plan last year to reduce fatal overdoses, which calls for expansions in medication treatment and Narcan distribution as well as establishing safe consumption sites. Despite opposition in some quarters, opening safe consumption sites has broad support in city government, but they are against federal law. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/podFixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext ProjectGot a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →The Cases For and Against Safe Consumption Sites
May 9, 202300:24:43Tap to summarizeHundreds of people are dying from drug overdoses every year in San Francisco, and the rate of deaths has spiked. In the same time frame, thousands more overdoses are reversed. Public health and harm reduction workers battling the opioid crisis are calling for the creation of safe consumption sites, which offer a place to use while trained staff are on duty to intervene if someone overdoses. Critics fear they would attract crime and open drug use and enable addiction, but city leaders have almost universally supported establishing a site in San Francisco. Despite that support, plans to establish them appear stalled. In this episode, we explore why that is. Advocates Madeleine Sweet, an overdose survivor in recovery, and Ellen Grantz, with the group Mothers Against Drug Addiction and Death, delve into the controversy around safe consumption sites. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/podFixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext ProjectGot a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Housing Wonks on a Mission to Shorten S.F.'s Permitting Process
May 2, 202300:27:17Tap to summarizeSan Francisco has a unique system of “discretionary review,” and YIMBY advocate Bilal Mahmood (with the pro-development Yes In My Back Yard group) and California Assemblymember Matt Haney see this process as a major roadblock to new housing. Mahmood went down the rabbit hole to suss out exactly how tangled this bureaucracy is for a Chronicle opinion piece. Haney has crafted two pieces of state legislation intended to make the process of getting new housing or office conversions approved a little more predictable, and thus faster. They explain how that could spur housing construction and how all this could help reshape downtown. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/podFixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext ProjectGot a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →How to Help Homeless People? Outreach Worker Uses “Radical Hospitality”
Apr 25, 202300:18:30Tap to summarizeWhen Castro neighbors see Erica McGary doing outreach, they sometimes assume she’s a volunteer. But McGary works for the Department of Public Health, and it’s her job to get to know people in the neighborhood — whether they’re unhoused, working or have a home or apartment there. Building relationships with chronically homeless people and newcomers alike helps foster trust in city services, which can be a major obstacle to accessing services. The approach has already helped several people find a path to housing, shelter or treatment, and the city intends to replicate it in other neighborhoods. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/podFixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext ProjectGot a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Soup With the Supes: Rafael Mandelman
Apr 18, 202300:26:48Tap to summarizeSupervisor Rafael Mandelman wonders whether a local government needs a system of checks and balances and, over matzo ball soup, explains why he thinks certain controversies have been exaggerated. Mandelman represents District 8, which includes the Castro, Diamond Heights and Twin Peaks. He says San Francisco government has too many checks and balances for its size. He describes the huge fight over “killer robots” as blown out of proportion and says San Francisco is not failing to solve homelessness, but rather, is failing to manage public spaces. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/podFixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext ProjectGot a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →