Editorials

Yes, it’s election time. And yes, many publications enjoy assuming they have a bully pulpit and telling their readers how to vote. The days of the resolutely independent editorial staff are over, if they ever existed. Today’s “news outlets” are even more dependent on real estate and developer money than they ever were, and their copy reflects this.

Certainly today’s San Francisco Hearst-owned print outlet is about like the old Examiner under W.R. Hearst, still leading with bleeding and boosting building everything everywhere—the only difference is that at least the Hearst family supported beautiful buildings, whereas today the local Hearst outlet tries to convince readers to love the Big Ugly Boxes which developers claim are the only buildings which “pencil out”, i.e. produce generous profit margins.

Currently the pages of dailies, not just here but everywhere, are full of speculation about why the downtown boom, initially office towers, is turning into a bust. It’s simple, folks. Just as Bruce Brugman, my first real editor, claimed, it’s the Manhattanization, Stupid. Tell me why anyone would choose to spend their days in what was once called the cool grey city of love, which is now the cold dank canyons of commerce. Berkeley, or at least the old Berkeley of vegi gardens and tree-lined backyards, is much more pleasant. As are, for example, Vallejo and Oakland and expensive Orinda and yes, even Tracy. And the pandemic has taught us that many can work there instead of in The City.

The working folks that I know who do the long commute in from Tracy and Stockton don’t just live there for the lower rent. It’s also the backyard barbecues on the weekends, which, sorry, they can’t enjoy in the stack’um and pack’um apartment houses which have been lining developers’ pockets in the Bay Area.

But this is all a rant you’ve heard from me before. You can hear similar diatribes on 48hills.org with a San Francisco focus. Since most of legislation which enables the bad stuff emanates from Sacramento, we can’t do much about it. It’s authored by Scott Wiener, yes, but also by Nancy Skinner and especially Buffy Wicks. Those two are our fault.

Lately I’ve been getting emails asking if the Planet is making any election endorsements. Or, flatteringly, if I’m the author of any of the excellent essays which have appeared in our ELECTION category. No,Virginia, I am not Isabel Gaston or Justin Lee or Margot Smith or Abe Cinque or Jim McGrath or any of the other esteemed parties who have contributed their opinions here. Some of these I know and like, and others I don’t know, but everyone is welcome to express themselves.

If you'd like to read all of these fine essays, click on the Search the Planet tab above, which will produce a Google-generated form. Type in the word ELECTION ( yes, all caps) and you'll see a list of election-related pieces. Most of them make good points; they don't all agree.

In District 8, where I live, I will be happy to vote against the candidate endorsed by the Yimby incumbent, so I'll be voting for Mari Mendonca, a lifetime local activist. If I lived in District 1 I’d vote against the thoroughly Yimbyfied incumbent there, ranking the other two fine candidates 1 and 2. That’s as far as I’m ready to go today.

I still haven’t made up my mind about most of what’s on the ballot. If and when I do, I might let you know. 

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