Sale of the century

This was not what the city intended when it banned single-use plastic bags and told people to bring their own reusable shopping bags. The video earlier this year of a man filling ... Read More

Former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom with former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008. Photo: Jay Walsh

Politics as Usual

Everyone’s a winner

What if Newsom loses the recall vote?

By John Zipperer

Doing even some light research into recent California gubernatorial politics dredges up a wealth of famous names. Take Gray Davis, for example. He was succeeded in the governor’... Read More

A 1910 photo of vagabond author Harry A. Franck. Photo: unknown

Politics as Usual

Vagabonding through a changing America

The modern flirtation with authoritarianism isn’t new; Americans have long felt an attraction to the dark side

By John Zipperer

One can easily imagine Harry A. Franck in San Francisco. I expect he’d have felt right at home hanging out in a North Beach bar, swapping tales — many of them true — with lo... Read More

In the early nineties, weary of crime and homelessness, frustrated New Yorkers elected a law and order mayor. Photo: Dietmar Rabich/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Politics as Usual

A Rudy awakening

San Francisco is not becoming Berkeley; it is becoming Manhattan, circa 1993

By John Zipperer

He was a homeless veteran, suffering from mental health and drug problems. And he was a danger to his neighborhood. Arrested time after time for assault and public nuisance, he he... Read More

Politics as Usual

The face behind the mask

With reopening and unmasking now in full swing, how wisely will we spend our time and money?

By John Zipperer

We might all have gone through this pandemic together, but we neither experienced the same things nor will our lives be the same afterward. On June 15, a month after the Center... Read More

Caitlyn Jenner is just one of what is likely to be a cavalcade of celebrities and other nonpoliticians seeking to replace Governor Newsom, Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Web Summit via Sportsfilea

Politics as Usual

The clown car starts to fill up

Now’s your chance to buff up the resume for the low, low price of $4,000

By John Zipperer

On Jan. 1, 2021, the government should have just issued one big trigger warning for the year. Everything is going to upset you. Case in point: The recall election. Former Olymp... Read More

Politics as Usual

San Francisco after Covid

Once things return to normal, we’ll discover what normal will be

By John Zipperer

Hugging. Apparently there will be a lot of hugging. That’s the answer given by many people when asked what they are most looking forward to once the sheltering-at-home phase of ... Read More

Politics as Usual

Peak woke

Has San Francisco reached the high tide of its progressive resurgence?

By John Zipperer

San Francisco is the new Berkeley,” said KCBS Radio reporter Bob Butler in a recent political discussion. “Remember all the times when we talked about how wacky Berkeley was f... Read More

Gov. Gavin Newsom at the site of the September North Complex Fire. Photo: Office of the Governor of California

Politics as Usual

The trials of Gavin

Local boy makes good — then hits turbulence

By John Zipperer

In Nov. 2018, Gavin Newsom was elected governor of California, a liberal Democrat winning with a landslide 24-point margin in one of the bluest states in the Union. It was as if h... Read More

Politics as Usual

Heart trouble

Small business is the heart of the economy and the community, and it’s in trouble

By John Zipperer

Small Business Saturday has been a post-Thanksgiving tradition for a decade, drawing people to neighborhood commercial corridors to fulfill their holiday shopping lists. This year... Read More

Politics as Usual

All I want for Christmas is 2021

Looking forward to a better new year

By John Zipperer

Like Charlie Brown being duped into trying to kick a football only to have Lucy take it away every time, I approach January with the optimism that it will herald a much better yea... Read More

Politics as Usual

Thanksgiving-ish

Is there anything to be grateful for after this bonkers year?

By John Zipperer

“1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.”—Queen Elizabeth II Nearly three decades ago, the British monarch demonstrated her countrymen’s ... Read More

Politics as Usual

The human race

Reasons to rekindle your optimism

By John Zipperer

He looked intimidating, like he could punch his fist through a brick wall without straining himself. Tall, beefy, bald; he spoke forcefully and directly, just like the ex-Marine h... Read More

Politics as Usual

Bonds, city bonds

You’re being asked to vote for nearly $1.6 billion in bond financing. Just how do municipal bonds work, anyway?

By John Zipperer

When you open up your ballot for the March 3 election, two of the choices you’ll be asked to make involve issuing hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds to fund various project... Read More

Politics as Usual

2020 vision

The year in review: Putting 2019 in the rearview mirror

By John Zipperer

A wise man once said, “You never realize what a good memory you have until you try to forget something.” That was journalist Franklin P. Jones, and I’ll never forget the 12.6... Read More

Politics as Usual