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The Problem of Fibromyalgia is Solved:...

San Franciscans disagree on many issues, but a near consensus exists that the city’s approach to affordable housing is broken and must be repaired. On one side are those unhappy with the lack of cost accountability for nonprofit housing, and on the other are those upset that current city affordable housing laws shortchange those most in need. As the Board begins a nearly three week recess, there is a perfect opportunity for Supervisors to create consensus legislation that could meet both of t...

A group of senior, youth, family and housing advocates demanded more funding for affordable homes in San Francisco yesterday. Declaring themselves part of the nascent Housing Justice movement, activists blasted Mayor Gavin Newsom for a recent goal he set for new affordable units to be built in the city, a goal opponents argue sits far below the current need and fails miserably to meet the City's goals outlined in its General Plan. Should the Mayor fail to raise his sights higher, they argued,...

San Francisco is submitting a request to HUD next week for the acquisition and rehabilitation of a well-maintained 84 unit SRO that has long been marketed to tourists. The total price tag is $17.5 million, or over $200,000 per unit for a room without kitchen. In the Tenderloin, a 2-3 bedroom family housing project nears completion at a per unit cost of $500,000-$600,000. This is more than double the cost of an upscale condo. Since nonprofit and most market-rate projects both pay prevailing wa...

A warning to short-term real estate speculators and tenancy in-common (TIC) buyers: Your housing bubble is due to burst. So predicts Ted Gullickson of the San Francisco Tenants Union. According to Gullickson, the current boom of low interest rates coupled with the inflated real estate market is not going to last much longer. In fact, it soon will crash in the way that the stock market did in 1929. His caution comes after the San Francisco Rent Board reported for May of this year 80 Ellis Act ...

On August 4, 2005, Arcata Ca., at the homeless task force meeting, the last two homeless representative resigned in disgust. Facilitator Reverend Tim Dotty insisted that the task force would vote “to endorse” the “Arcata Emergency Shelter and Homeless Services Plan” conceptualized by, social engineers, Dr. Jane Holschuh and Dr. Betsy Watson of the Humboldt State University's Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, without any discussion of the plan. The plan which promises to make life ...

Accompanying Mayor Newsom at his Wednesday press event trumpeting his “HOME 15/5” housing goal was the President of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the CEO of the SF Association of Realtors. How fitting. After all, by the Mayor’s own statistics, nearly 10,000 of the projected 15,000 new units will be purchased by those earning over $115,000 per year. Thousands of these new units will sell for over $1 million, and while many will serve as quasi-hotels for the international elite, the...

Oakland Tenants Accuse Local Non-Profit Housing Developer Of Being A Slumlord!...

Longtime activist Damu Smith is the founder of Black Voices for Peace. He has fought for war and racism for decades. Now he’s fighting for his life. He has colon cancer. We speak with Damu Smith about his struggle with cancer and for equitable healthcare in this country....

Marc Norton 01.AUG.05 (The following opinion piece was submitted to the SF Examiner in response to an article on Muni. The Examiner did not print my piece. -MN)...