San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily
San Francisco’s Reform Math: Cops, Homes, and Fewer Fees
Tuesday, June 9, 2026 · 13 min
San Francisco SFPD staffing crunch, state housing mandates, and Mayor Daniel Lurie’s small-business fee waiver push all point to the same question: whether City Hall can turn reform promises into faster responses, more homes, and easier storefront openings.
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Show notes
San Francisco SFPD staffing crunch, state housing mandates, and Mayor Daniel Lurie’s small-business fee waiver push all point to the same question: whether City Hall can turn reform promises into faster responses, more homes, and easier storefront openings.
In this episode
- Staffing Analysis of the San Francisco Police Department 2025 — City & County of San Francisco Police Department
fNIU Staffing Analysis of the San Francisco Police Department 2025 June 30, 2025 City & County of San Francisco Police Department 2 SFPD Staffing Analysis About this report In November 2020, San Francisco voters approved Proposition E, amending the City Charter to remove the previously established Police staffing baseline and requiring the Police Department to submit a report and recommendation…
- Step Back — If San Francisco can’t hire its way out of the police staffing crunch overnight, how should the city decide what SFPD stops doing, does less often, or handles differently — and what would residents actually notice in response times and neighborhood safety?
Background sources
- SF police take twice as long to respond to calls in these areas — Danielle Echeverria
- SoMa residents press San Francisco police on slow response times — Sarah Hopkins
- Balancing Trade-Offs | SPUR — SPUR
- Police union’s new contract may put San Francisco in a budget bind — Sfstandard
- S.F. to hire retired police officers to ease staffing shortage — David Hernandez
- Has S.F. made West SoMa into a crime containment zone? — Sarah Hopkins
- Why (and Where) San Francisco Needs to Allow More Homes: A Housing Element Primer | SPUR — SPUR
[Older Post](/news/2025-03-18/yes-measure-sales-tax-increase-help-oakland-close-its-budget-deficit) [Newer Post](/news/2025-04-15/clean-heating-all-possible-targeted-public-programs) # Why (and Where) San Francisco Needs to Allow More Homes: A Housing Element Primer #### By Erika McLitus, Housing and Planning Policy Manager ![San Francisco Needs to Allow More Homes: A Housing Element Primer…
- [PDF] San Francisco Housing Policy and Practice Review — California Department of Housing and Community Development
San Francisco Housing Policy and Practice Review California Department of Housing and Community Development Housing Policy Development Division Released October 2023 Table of Contents Introduction ..............................................................1 Statutory Authority for this Review ..........................1 Why Review San Francisco? ...................................2…
“> The City’s failure to implement the Required Actions will result in HCD initiating the process to revoke housing element compliance. Various consequences may apply if the City does not have a housing element in compliance with Housing Element Law, including ineligibility or…” — Hacker News (3 pts thread)
Our take: That pull quote is the whole reason state oversight matters here: HCD is not just scolding San Francisco, it is spelling out consequences that could actually take power away from City Hall if the city keeps slow-walking housing approvals.
- SF mayor backs extending program to waive fees for small business startups, expansions - Local News Matters — Local News Matters
 ##  [Local News Matters](https://localnewsmatters.org/) Connecting audiences with quality, local news # SF mayor backs extending program to waive fees for small business…