Publication: San Francisco Magazine

San Francisco magazine is proud to be a participant in the fourth annual SF Homeless Project headed by the San Francisco Chronicle. We asked Assemblyman Phil Ting about his efforts to address this epidemic and his thoughts on the causes and possible solutions.

As Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, what have you been able to do and/or work on to alleviate this growing problem?

Addressing our homeless crisis has been one of my top budget priorities these last few years. Our FY 2019-20 Budget makes a historic $1 billion investment to tackle homelessness, including $650 million in emergency aid for cities and counties to build shelters and permanent supportive housing, fund rapid rehousing programs and more. Allocation of funding will be based on the pending 2019 federal point-in-time homeless count, with San Francisco estimated to receive nearly $40 million. This builds upon our work from last year’s budget, which provided $500 million to local governments for homeless supportive services. San Francisco’s $27.6 million allocation has gone towards both adult and youth navigation centers and rapid rehousing projects, including the city’s newest proposed navigation center at 1925 Evans. Other major programs funded in recent budgets include rental housing payment assistance through CalWORKS and student rapid rehousing through California Community Colleges, CSU, and UC to prevent homelessness in the first place.

Publication: KCBS Radio

Gilroy police are evaluating how and when they will comply with a state law that requires the department to release officers' body camera footage from Sunday’s deadly shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.

Investigators said 19-year-old Santino Legan fired into the crowd at random, killing three people. Three officers who were patrolling the festival responded within one minute and engaged Legan who was shot and killed.

Under a new California police transparency law that went into effect this month, law enforcement agencies are required to release footage from any incident where a police officer seriously injures a person or fires a gun within 45 days, unless they can demonstrate that releasing the footage would hinder an investigation.

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“The video that we’ve released previously to California Public Records Act requests has required us to go through and redact uninvolved parties out. And quite frankly for a department of our size I don’t know how we’re going to do that yet," Smithee said. 

That echoes complaints raised by police unions and law enforcement agencies throughout California before the law went into effect, with many officials calling it an undue burden. But supporters – including the bill’s author San Francisco Assemblyman Phil Ting – say the bill is necessary to hold police accountable and increase transparency and trust. 

Publication: Fox 2 KTVU

Investigators say Santino Legan purchased the assault weapon used in the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting Sunday nearly three weeks earlier from a firearms dealer in Fallon, Nevada. 

The owner of Big Mike's Gun and Ammo confirmed in a post on his Facebook page that the Gilroy High graduate purchased the AK-47 style weapon over the internet and came to pick it up at the business about 60 miles east of Reno.

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California state lawmaker Phil Ting says he currently has a proposal to expand firearm restraining orders. 

"To expand it to people who are employers as well as people who you go to school with, to expand it from currently just law enforcement and family members," said Ting.

Publication: The Press-Enterprise

Millions of Californians who ran afoul of the law could have their criminal records automatically expunged – potentially clearing hurdles to jobs and housing to help them move beyond their past – under a bill being considered in Sacramento.

AB 1076 would automatically erase the criminal records of those who successfully finished probation after serving a county jail sentence. Those arrested but never convicted of a crime also would have their records cleared without having to petition the court.

As many as 8 million Californians have criminal convictions “that hamper their ability to find work and housing, secure public benefits, or even get admitted to college” and “find themselves in ‘paper prisons’ for life due to their criminal record,” read a fact sheet on the bill from its sponsor, Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco.

“Permanently blocking people from opportunities to move forward in their lives after they’ve completed their sentence and paid their debt is bad policy,” said Jay Jordan, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, in a news release. “It is undermining public safety and the health of families and communities across California.”

Publication: San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco officials are eyeing a Caltrans-owned parking lot in the Bayview district as the site for a 200-bed Navigation Center intended to help address the escalating homelessness crisis on the city’s southeast side.

The lot, at 1925 Evans Ave. near Interstate 280, is in District 10, a historically industrial enclave that includes the Bayview-Hunters Point, Potrero Hill and Dogpatch neighborhoods. The district’s pockets of open land tracts have made it the target of intensive development in recent years, but a rising homeless population there has easily eclipsed the number of available shelter beds.

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The proposed Bayview facility would be the third San Francisco Navigation Center built on Caltrans property. That’s largely thanks to state legislation introduced by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, directing Caltrans to give the city the first chance to lease parcels near freeways for little cost.

The center’s anticipated 200 beds will replace the 125 overnight mats that Providence Church has provided for years. Kositsky said the church originally planned to offer the mats for a single year — but that was nearly two decades ago.

Publication: The Sacramento Bee

A gunman killed three people, including a 6-year-old boy, at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday. Police said they’re investigating whether a second person was involved in the attack. Twelve other victims are wounded.

The mass shooting has drawn attention from President Donald Trump, and several California lawmakers are calling for stricter gun laws, declaring that “enough is enough.”

Here’s how some California leaders are responding:

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Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco

"No more thoughts and prayers. Time to take more action so we can go to work, school and festivals in peace without fear of getting shot."

Publication: KRON 4

Several state lawmakers are demanding federal action following a deadly shooting at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival.

Police revealed Monday the shooter purchased an AK47-style rifle legally from Nevada.

Though California has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, some say the state’s laws are only as good as those of its neighbors.

“No more thoughts and prayers. time to take more action so we can go to work, school and festivals without fear of getting shot,” Bay Area Assemblyman Phil Ting tweeted in part.

Publication: Diablo Magazine

Millions of teens across the country are packing their bags, buying shower caddies, and preparing to embark on a new adventure: college. For most, this moment has been a long time coming.

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While this fall’s incoming freshmen were checking the mail for acceptance letters, national headlines revealed that dozens of parents had collectively paid about $25 million to The Key, a private college-counseling company, to get their children into elite universities—including Stanford; University of Southern California; University of California, Los Angeles; and University of San Diego—based on fraudulent academic and athletic achievements. The Key’s CEO, William “Rick” Singer, author of a book about college admissions called Getting In, helped students cheat on the SAT and ACT, staged photos of the teens engaging in sports they did not actually play, and bribed exam administrators and university coaches. Singer’s scheme targeted the wealthiest families, from actors and fashion designers to 13 Bay Area parents (including executives, entrepreneurs, and an oncologist) from Marin County, Palo Alto, and a handful of other cities in the South Bay and on the Peninsula that rank among the region’s 15 most expensive zip codes.

“The scandal across the country really shook at the complete foundation of higher education, because ultimately there is a sense that you earn admissions to these institutions based on merit,” says State Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco).

Ting introduced state bill AB697 to reform college admissions in the wake of the scandal.

Publication: CleanTechnica

California Assemblymember Phil Ting (D — San Francisco, District 19) recently introduced AB 1046, which if passed would triple the EV rebate in California from $2500 to $7500. It would also change how the incentive is funded. (Ting has also worked on AB 1424 a bill related to EV charging station access.)

Ting owns and drives an EV as well — find out which one below. He generously agreed to answer some questions about the proposed legislation for CleanTechnica.