Nearly three months after Sen. Scott Wiener and Mayor London Breed announced the introduction of a California state bill that would have given police authority to ticket and even arrest people selling stolen goods, the legislation quietly died in the State Assembly.
SB 925’s path in Sacramento was cut short on Aug. 15 when it was held under submission, a term used when members of a committee want further discussion. Wiener said, however, in plain words this means his bill is dead.
The very next day, on Aug. 16, San Francisco took action by extending the Mission Street vending ban for another six months. The moratorium on street vending, which has been in place since Nov. 27, had been already extended early this year for six months and was set to end on Aug. 27.
“I was very disappointed. It’s a high priority bill and it’s a bill that is important for public safety in the Mission and other parts of San Francisco,” said Wiener. “It’s a bill that had extremely broad community support in the Mission and the Tenderloin. I’m committed to the issue and very open to pursuing the legislation again.”
Mission District supervisor Hillary Ronen had supported the bill. “We were hoping that we could lift the moratorium once that law passed,” she said. “Now that it hasn’t passed, we’re going to have to keep the moratorium going.”
Ronen said, however, that it was important for the city to keep its support for the vendors who have followed the rules.
Unlicensed street vendors in the Mission District have proliferated since the pandemic. Often clogging the two BART plazas, they became a major issue for City Hall, which responded at first by requiring vendors to obtain permits before selling on the sidewalks.
When that failed to curb the sale of stolen goods, the city then banned street sales completely. It opened up two city-owned sites, called La Placita and El Tiangue, for permitted vendors to move inside and hawk their wares, but those led to cratering sales.
Most recently, on June 21, the city began a trial program allowing permitted vendors back onto the street. Already 10 are allowed to set up shop between 23rd and 24th streets on Mission. On Aug. 26, the city moved ahead with phase two of the program to permit another 10 between 24th and 25th streets and one more between 23rd and 24th streets.
Manuel Soltero, the vice president of the Mission Street Vendors Association, is one of the vendors who has moved back onto Mission Street. His stall is located on the west side of the corridor between 24th and 25th streets and offers jerseys, perfumes and jewelry.
“It’s better and I’m really happy,” said Soltero about the chance to be back on the street. “I’ve already made $80 today. Most days at La Placita, I would make between $0 to $20.”
Ronen, for her part, said it was Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, the representative for the Salinas, Watsonville, Hollister and Gilroy area, who killed the bill. Rivas did not respond for comment before the publishing of this story.
Under SB 925, the Board of Supervisors would have created a list of items often obtained through retail theft. Any street vendor in possession of goods on the list would have needed a permit proving those items had been obtained lawfully. The bill would have also allowed police officers to directly interact with vendors without the presence of a Public Works employee, as is currently required following the passage of SB 946 in 2018, which decriminalized street vending.
The bill would have not applied to food vendors or vendors not selling items on the list.
Vendors in violation would have received an infraction after their first two offenses, and an infraction or misdemeanor plus up to six months in jail for the third.
Ronen called the actions taken in Sacramento “disappointing” and said the legislation would have given the city the proper tools to address unpermitted vending, especially for those suspected of selling stolen goods.
“It was a huge blow to us because we were depending on that [bill] to enforce the laws better,” said Ronen. In particular, she said, the bill would have bolstered enforcement after hours, between 8 p.m. and 9 a.m., when Public Works staff are off the job and the sidewalks become crowded with street vendors once again.
“We know that if there’s no presence out there of enforcers, then the street immediately becomes a massive fencing operation again,” said Ronen. “At night SFPD could enforce our permitting vendor laws and that would make it a lot easier to ensure that Mission Street is free of fencing operations. Unfortunately, the bill died.”
About the author
Daniel Lurie leads after strange and terrible election night: Analysis
It’s a shame that San Francisco’s fascinating election results can’t be viewed in isolation from the strange and terrible returns that propelled Donald Trump once more to the presidency. But the luxury of ignoring the bigger picture is something San Francisco no longer gets to do. As of a shade before 1 a.m., every last in-person vote was tabulated — 37,345 of them (20,000 provisional votes are pending). In-person voting is a bit like shaving with a straight-edge razor or knitting your own pot-holders: You could do it if you wanted to, but hardly anybody does. At present, 234,453 votes have been counted; a shade under 45 percent. The Department of Elections expects around 157,000 more votes to trickle in (including those 20,000 provisional ballots). That would result in perhaps a 75 percent turnout; San Francisco voters show up at an average […]
Gov. Tim Walz will face new era of divided government in Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz faces a new era of divided government when he returns home from the presidential campaign trail, now that Republicans appear to have broken the Democratic trifecta that helped put him on Kamala Harris’ radar.While Democrats will keep their one-seat majority in the Senate, leaders on both sides agree that Republicans gained enough seats in the election to tie control of the House at 67-67.According to a tally by The Associated Press, the chamber stood at 65-65 Wednesday afternoon. It would end in a 67-67 tie if the leaders of the last four undeclared races remain ahead. Two of them are so razor-thin that automatic recounts have been triggered unless lawmakers waive them.The last time the House was tied was in 1979, and the history of that legislative session suggests that power-sharing will be contentious.In […]
Election 2024: See results across San Francisco
See below for full election results from across San Francisco, including precinct-level maps and ranked-choice votings results. A total of 44.9 percent of ballots have been counted as of Nov. […] Election 2024: See results across San Francisco Source: missionlocal.org
Kremlin aide says Germany car industry plight shows green transition risks
By Vladimir Soldatkin SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russian industry may suffer the fate of car makers in Germany, which have shed tens of thousands of jobs, if it moves too fast to replace fossil fuels, a Kremlin adviser said on Wednesday. "The Russian Federation supports a gradual transition, a gradual transformation, so as to avoid shock scenarios on the energy markets, industrial markets," Kremlin climate envoy Ruslan Edelgeriyev told a conference in Sochi, southern Russia. "Miscalculated ambitions damaged Germany's auto industry," he said, speaking five days before the next U.N. climate change conference begins in Baku, Azerbaijan. Russia is the world's biggest exporter of natural gas and number two exporter of oil. It is one of the world's top carbon dioxide emitters along with China, the United States and India. Russia joined the Paris climate change pact in 2019, which […]
Live updates from San Francisco November races
Follow along for Mission Local’s live updates for Election Day from across San Francisco. For updates in the run-up to the election, click here, and to learn more about the candidates and measures on the ballot, go to our election dashboard. If you like our coverage, consider supporting Mission Local. It’s a heck of an effort, today and every day. Election analysisTuesday, Nov. 5: Today is Election Day in San Francisco. Here’s what to expect.Imagine a political campaign is like a ski ramp, with candidates gaining momentum before soaring off into the unknown. If so, that would render Mark Farrell the Vinko Bogataj of the 2024 San Francisco mayoral campaign. You probably don’t know this name, but you probably do know who this is: He’s the Yugoslavian skier whose horrifying ski-jump-gone-wrong for many years defined “the agony of defeat” in […]
China’s J-35A Stealth Fighter Officially Breaks Cover
China has publicly unveiled the Shenyang J-35A, a land-based stealth fighter that has been under development for some time but which had previously only been seen in unofficial and frequently poor-quality imagery. While we now have a good look at the aircraft, many questions remain, especially about the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) plans for it, since the base design was previously understood to be under development primarily for export and latterly also for carrier-based service with the PLA Navy.The first official photo of the J-35A was released today, ahead of its planned debut at the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition, better known as Airshow China, held at Zhuhai Airport in Guangdong province, in southern China. The show opens on November 12.The front three-quarter view of the jet, seen taxiing, reveals several new details and sheds more light […]
Related
Daniel Lurie leads after strange and terrible election night: Analysis
It’s a shame that San Francisco’s fascinating election results can’t be viewed in isolation from the strange and terrible returns that propelled Donald Trump once more to the presidency. But the luxury of ignoring the bigger picture is something San Francisco no longer gets to do. As of a shade before 1 a.m., every last in-person vote was tabulated — 37,345 of them (20,000 provisional votes are pending). In-person voting is a bit like shaving with a straight-edge razor or knitting your own pot-holders: You could do it if you wanted to, but hardly anybody does. At present, 234,453 votes have been counted; a shade under 45 percent. The Department of Elections expects around 157,000 more votes to trickle in (including those 20,000 provisional ballots). That would result in perhaps a 75 percent turnout; San Francisco voters show up at an average […]
Election 2024: See results across San Francisco
See below for full election results from across San Francisco, including precinct-level maps and ranked-choice votings results. A total of 44.9 percent of ballots have been counted as of Nov. […] Election 2024: See results across San Francisco Source: missionlocal.org
Live updates from San Francisco November races
Follow along for Mission Local’s live updates for Election Day from across San Francisco. For updates in the run-up to the election, click here, and to learn more about the candidates and measures on the ballot, go to our election dashboard. If you like our coverage, consider supporting Mission Local. It’s a heck of an effort, today and every day. Election analysisTuesday, Nov. 5: Today is Election Day in San Francisco. Here’s what to expect.Imagine a political campaign is like a ski ramp, with candidates gaining momentum before soaring off into the unknown. If so, that would render Mark Farrell the Vinko Bogataj of the 2024 San Francisco mayoral campaign. You probably don’t know this name, but you probably do know who this is: He’s the Yugoslavian skier whose horrifying ski-jump-gone-wrong for many years defined “the agony of defeat” in […]
Jury shown video of Nima Momeni’s stabbing motions
In a win for the prosecution, jurors today were shown a video in which alleged killer Nima Momeni made distinct stabbing motions, which prosecutors say match those that killed Cash App founder Bob Lee. The video was shown over objections from Momeni’s defense team. The jury was also shown images of the exact locations of Lee’s stab wounds, during testimony from Assistant Medical Examiner Ellen Moffatt. The video was recorded by San Francisco police Sgt. David Goff, who was tracking Momeni’s movements in the days after the stabbing in April 2023. When he captured Momeni on video, the defendant was talking to Brian Hedley, a private investigator who worked for Momeni’s former defense attorney, Paula Canny. In the video, Hedley and Momeni are standing in the parking lot at Canny’s office and the video shows Momeni making three arm movements — two to […]
A mural defaced, restored and its evolution
This weekend, a sharp resident noticed on Saturday morning that Marta Ayala Minero’s mural on the northeast corner of 24th and Valencia streets had been vandalized. When I contacted Ayala on Saturday, she said she would be out the next day to restore it. And indeed she did just that. Restored by the artist Marta Ayala Minero on Sunday, November 2.2024. Courtesy of the artist. Marta Ayala Minero’s mural on 24th and Valencia Street. Restored on Sunday. Photo by a community contributor. When I mentioned that the mural had been somewhat different earlier, she gave me a lesson on its evolution. First painted in 1992, thanks to a grant from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, Roots and Frequencies Basic to Our Education “had a lady speaking the phrase for “nonviolence” in a few languages.”The mural was based on a dream […]
On Día de los Muertos the Mission ‘remembers with beauty’
Sign up below to get Mission Local’s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won’t find elsewhere. Surrounded by altars, marigolds, and candlelight, Marco Ruiz stood out from the crowd. In lieu of an elaborate memorial, Ruiz simply hugged a large framed photo of his brother Martin, who had died two days after his 19th birthday.Ruiz was stoic, taking in the scene. When asked about his brother, however, he smiled. “He thought he was the best dancer,” Marco grinned. In reality, “he was so bad — but he didn’t care.” After Martin was killed in a car accident years ago, 1,000 people attended the funeral, Marco added. Now, only the oldest kids remember him. On Día de los Muertos on Saturday, the Mission, like the Ruizes, was focused on celebrating the past. Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? […]
