Economist.com Cities Guide: San Francisco Briefing - November 2005

News this month

Not going away

Two recent crimes were grisly reminders of San Francisco's chronic homelessness problem. In October, a schizophrenic homeless woman threw her three young sons into the San Francisco Bay. The mother, Lashuan Harris, had been living with her children in an Oakland shelter, and had stopped taking her medicine because she believed she was cured. But voices, she later told police, told her to throw her sons into the water. Relatives told the press that they had sought custody of the boys, but that social workers had failed to act. Less than two weeks later, a homeless man, Johnell Kirk junior, died after being set on fire by another drifter, who was said to suffer from schizophrenia.

San Francisco has struggled to deal with the many homeless people who come to the city for its temperate climate and generous welfare programmes. Gavin Newsom, San Francisco’s mayor, has made the issue a priority. His controversial “Care Not Cash” initiative, which offers homeless people services rather than welfare cheques, took effect in May 2004, and there are signs of success. The programmes have reduced the street population by 28% and housed nearly 1,500 people. And on November 8th, Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, met a number of homeless people in San Francisco, along with Mr Newsom and his homelessness-policy managers, to trade programme tips. (Homelessness is one of the prince's pet causes.) But the city has a lot more work to do.

Raiding the bank

Oakland’s residents have good reason to resent their hometown football team, the Raiders: an agreement between the government and the team is costing taxpayers up to $20m a year. In early November, Oakland officials and the Raiders struck a new deal to keep debt in check. But the scheme is unlikely to erase the $180m the city and county already owe for the team's stadium.

The trouble stems from ten years of mismanagement. In 1995, local officials, desperate to lure the Raiders from Los Angeles to their former home in Oakland, agreed to spend $200m renovating the city's stadium. To raise the money, they sold bonds they hoped to pay back by selling seat licenses to fans to be held for a decade. But with prices ranging from $250 to $4,000 a pop, not enough fans bought them. This failure, combined with the Raiders’ inability to sell out home games, forced local officials to redirect money from the city’s coffers to pay the interest and principal on the bonds. Under the new deal, local officials and the Raiders have agreed to scrap the plan to sell personal seat licenses, which would have cost taxpayers an extra $3m next year. Still, taxpayers have little reason to celebrate: officials say the public subsidy for the Raiders is not expected to dip below $15m a year, and the team may not stay in Oakland after their lease expires in 2011.

To ban, or not to ban

A controversial measure to regulate farming was defeated on November 8th, when citizens of Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, voted against a ban on genetically modified crops. The ban, Measure M, had been hotly contested in a county that is home to some of California’s finest vineyards and produces some $525m in crops each year. Opponents and supporters spent more than $800,000 to sway voters, making the battle over the measure one of the most costly in Sonoma’s history.

On one side were owners of wineries and small organic farms, who say “wholesome” growing methods yield grapes and other crops that are more nutritious and more attractive to the discerning consumer. On the other side were vintners, ranchers and corporate farmers, who say that bioengineered crops cut labour costs and are safer in the long run because their higher resistance to pests means farmers use fewer pesticides. Furthermore, they claimed, the ban would merely put local farmers at a disadvantage to farmers in neighbouring counties. Only three counties in America—including Marin, just across the bay from San Francisco—have banned the cultivation of genetically modified crops, and all three are in California.

A royal visit

Prince Charles—a noted opponent of genetically modified crops—and his new wife, Camilla, ended their first American tour together with a visit to the Bay Area in early November. The couple had begun their trip in New York, then visited Washington, DC, and hurricane survivors in New Orleans before landing in California. During their stay, Charles and Camilla hobnobbed with the local elite, including: Gavin Newsom, San Francisco’s mayor; Jerry Brown, Oakland’s mayor; Maria Shriver, the wife of California’s governor; and Alice Waters, the area’s reigning chef.

But the couple generated the best press—the kind that once belonged exclusively to Charles’ late wife, Diana—when they chatted easily with the locals. They charmed the area’s environmentalists by touting climate control and sustainable agriculture during trips to two farmer’s markets, an organic farm and an “edible” school garden in Berkeley. That most English of passions, gardening, is just as popular in the sunshine state.

Friends in high places

The University of California’s provost and second-in-command, M.R.C. Greenwood, resigned on November 4th amid allegations of favouritism. The University of California (UC) is investigating whether Ms Greenwood improperly promoted a friend, and whether her staff helped her son land a well-paid internship at the UC’s new campus in Merced.

Ms Greenwood came under attack after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that she had owned rental property with Lynda Goff, the vice provost at UC Santa Cruz whom Ms Greenwood promoted to a prestigious new post. Ms Greenwood is also being criticised for receiving $125,000 from UC last year to move from Santa Cruz to her new provost position in Oakland. UC has denied any wrongdoing, saying that such payments are typical for top administrators. But papers such as the Chronicle have charged that the compensation violated university policy. Ms Greenwood's lot isn't helped by the fact that UC is in a fiscal crunch: any talk of wanton payment will come under intense scrutiny, given that the university has raised student fees.

Catch if you can

November 2005

Sandow Birk’s Divine Comedy

Until January 8th 2006

If Dante Alighieri were writing today, he might set his inferno in an American traffic jam—at least that is the conceit of this exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Art. Sandow Birk, an artist from southern California, has created a visual interpretation of “The Divine Comedy”, Dante's 14th-century masterpiece. In a series of paintings and prints, Mr Birk re-imagines Dante’s tale as a witty, politically provocative, American narrative. Viewers experience Dante's journey through the circles of hell, purgatory and, ultimately, heaven in a world filled with freeways, strip malls, behemoth SUVs and police helicopters descending on Los Angeles.

San Jose Museum of Art, 110 South Market St, San Jose. Tel: +1 (408) 271-6840. For more information, visit the museum’s website.

More from the San Francisco cultural calendar