Facts, Gig work, and the SF way

Good afternoon!

“If you’re going to supposedly get into the nitty gritty to explain how San Francisco fails, facts matter.” Joe Eskenazi fact-checks Michael Moritz’ recent New York Times op-ed, dissecting the venture capitalist’s claims that business taxes, ranked-choice voting, the Board of Supervisors, and a mayor “stripped of much authority” are to blame for San Francisco’s troubles. Joe debunks that last assertion at length, reminding readers of the mayor’s power: “[London Breed] was able to appoint new department heads after the FBI swooped in and arrested her longtime allies. That led to her being able to appoint a new City Attorney. She also appointed the District Attorney. And three school board members (voters retained two of them.) And the Public Defender…”

Have some sympathy for Moritz, who perhaps hoped a Times opinion piece would bolster his stature as a pundit-slash-player more than the $11 million he’s made in political donations over the last decade and a half. But if you’d rather understand your dysfunctional, poorly-governed, beloved city through the work of dogged reporters who actually cover it, and who believe in facts, keep reading Mission Local.

Yujie Zhou, for example, has been reporting on the gig economy in depth. Her story today cites a new study based on an 800-person survey by the Asian Law Caucus and Rideshare Workers United showing widespread discrimination, bias, harassment, and retaliation against drivers for Uber and Lyft. Yujie reports a driver saying that “a rider told me to go back to my country, that I am taking jobs from Americans;” another was sexually assaulted by a masturbating customer, and one driver said a passenger threatened to kill him after the rider urinated in the car. Rideshare companies often sided with the alleged harasser by ignoring drivers’ complaints, and even deactivating them from the app; the survey showed racial disparities in the drivers being deactivated.

Is this The SF Way?

More soon,

Sara