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Crosscurrents

Daily news roundup for Thursday, July 16, 2015

Laura Oda
Fred Blackwell, CEO of The San Francisco Foundation, calls up nonprofit and city government leaders before announcing a $34 million anonymous donation to the City of Oakland through The San Francisco Foundation during a press event at the East Oakland You

Here's what's happening in the Bay Area, as curated by KALW news:
Chair of California Housing Finance Agency Steps Down Amid Controversy Over Ellis Act Evictions//East Bay Express
"The chair of California's Housing Finance Agency Matthew Jacobs will not seek reappointment when his term expires at the end of September. Tenant activists are applauding Jacobs' announcement after waging a two-month long campaign to oust him from the board. "This is a tremendous victory for tenants," said Coalition for Economic Survival Executive Director Larry Gross in a press release issued by Tenants Together earlier today. "There is no doubt that the overwhelming outcry from tenants and affordable housing advocate across the state put Jacobs in situation that left him no choice but to step down."
"Concerning his decision, Jacobs wrote the Express in an email: "My term on the board of CalHFA ends in September, and I am not seeking reappointment. I am proud of the great progress the agency has made during the past three years."
"Several months ago, tenants in a rent-controlled Los Angeles apartment complex owned by Jacobs learned that they were being evicted so that Jacobs' company, Bulldog Partners, LLC could raze the buildings and erect million-dollar condos. Jacobs is using the Ellis Act, a law that allows landlords to evict tenants if the landlords plan to go out of business by selling the apartments as condos, or building condos or houses on the site. Housing activists have dogged Jacobs over the past several months, protesting at open houses held by his company, and calling on him to rescind the eviction plan, which is still moving forward."
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HIV cases, deaths fall to new low in SF//Bay Area Reporter
"The number of new HIV cases diagnosed in San Francisco decreased by more than 18 percent between 2013 and 2014, and deaths among people with HIV also fell during the same period, according to a recent progress report on the city's Getting to Zero initiative presented to the San Francisco Health Commission.
"The decline in new infections and deaths is very encouraging, and shows we are on our way to zero," Susan Buchbinder, director of Bridge HIV at the SF Department of Public Health, told the Bay Area Reporter. "We believe the decline comes from a strong base of community support, community organizations, and clinicians serving multiple HIV-affected communities in San Francisco."
"This chart shows the declining number of HIV cases in San Francisco. Photo: Courtesy SFDPH
Experts agree that the decline in new infections is due to a combination of factors including widespread testing, early antiretroviral treatment, and possibly pre-exposure prophylaxis -- although PrEP is probably too recent to have had a substantial effect yet."
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S.F. homeless population getting sicker, older, survey says- SF Gate
"The number of homeless people on San Francisco's streets has stubbornly remained nearly the same over the past two years -- and that population is now sicker, older and being shoved into different neighborhoods by gentrification, new city statistics show."
"The city's biennial homeless count, released Wednesday, shows there are 6,686 people without a place to live, or 3.8 percent more than the 6,436 tallied in 2013. That nominal change is no comfort to anyone appalled by the encampments that seem to never go away, or the never-ebbing tide of panhandlers in the center of town.
Thirty percent of the population is now aged 51 years or older -- up from 17 percent in 2013.
Because the homeless population is older and experiencing more problems with drug and alcohol abuse, mental and other health issues, it may be harder to help than in previous years. That has officials from Rhorer to Supervisor Mark Farrell concerned."
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Five breweries: Livermore's buzzing beer scene//Inside Bay Area
"Livermore Valley has long been known for its vineyards, but the past several years have brought a sudden surge of breweries to this wine country.
Billed as Livermore's first brewery since Prohibition, Altamont Beer Works (http://altamontbeerworks.com) was launched three years ago by Greg Robles and Stephen Sartori. Robles was a mechanical engineer and Sartori's experience lay in business, but the longtime Livermore residents were home brewers who wanted to create something local.
"Steve Sartori, left, and Greg Robles, both of Livermore, co-owners of the Altamont Beer Works, pour some beers at their facility in Livermore on July 24, 2012. The two are part of the craft beer movement that is thriving across the United States. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
They found a great space among Livermore's many local wineries, just two minutes from the Altamont Pass, at 2402 Research Drive. There, they brew five core beers on a 20-barrel brewhouse, along with at least seven specialty beers and three seasonal releases. You can sample all their beers in the Altamont tasting room, which is open Wednesday through Sunday, and fill a growler to take home, too."
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Oakland receives $34 million gift from anonymous donor to benefit underserved residents//Inside Bay Area
"An anonymous donor wanted to give $34 million to benefit underserved residents in Oakland. And the donor wanted that money "in the streets" by the summer.
The staffer at the San Francisco Foundation who answered the phone in February knew this was big -- for the foundation, but mostly for Oakland.
"A $34 million cold call to benefit the Bay Area's most embattled city was unheard of, said Fred Blackwell, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation, which was founded in 1948, has a $1.3 billion endowment and gives about $90 million annually in grants to nonprofits across the Bay Area."
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Live Action: A Measure to Stream Public Meetings Makes the Ballot// SF Weekly
"San Franciscans may soon be able to comment on public meetings from the comfort of their couches. In November, the city will vote on a ballot measure that requires live-streaming of public meetings, creates a system to allow public testimony via the internet, and lets people request that specific agenda items be heard at a predetermined time.
"At the real root of all of this is large segments of our community and population are not participating in the decisions that affect their ability to live in San Francisco," says David Lee, a political science professor at San Francisco State University and president of San Franciscans for Open Government. Lee assigned his 200-student American politics class the project that later morphed into the ballot measure. It's considered the first of its kind in a major American city."

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Crosscurrents HIV/AIDSOakland