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State and city officials are pushing for bills and ballot measures to address the shortage of space at facilities for those struggling with mental health issues and substance abuse disorders and improve treatment options for those who need it.

Why it matters: The state faces a shortage of 6,000 beds to care for patients with mental health disorders, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Meanwhile, mental health and addiction cases accounted for one-third of all inpatient hospitalizations and one-fifth of emergency department visits, according to the office of California Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco).

What's happening: Gov. Gavin Newsom this week proposed a 2024 ballot initiative that would raise at least $3 billion through a bond to build new mental health facilities and create housing for unhoused veterans.

The ballot measure would also redirect $1 billion from an existing income tax on wealthy people to operate those facilities.

Newsom, in a press release, said the initiative would create thousands of new beds in residential facilities, calling this "the next step in our transformation of how California addresses mental illness, substance use disorders, and homelessness."

By the numbers: The number of psychiatric beds per 100,000 people in California decreased 31% from 1998 through 2017, according to the California Health Care Foundation.

California's need for psychiatric beds is expected to grow by 1.7% by 2026, according to a 2022 study in the National Library of Medicine.

In San Francisco, 52% of unhoused people suffer from mental health issues and/or substance use disorders, according to the city's 2022 homelessness count.

Last month, Haney introduced a bill to improve staffing for mental health and addiction emergencies at general facilities.

The bill, AB 1001, would mandate each general emergency department have at least two registered nurses with experience providing psychiatric care and one staff member licensed to provide psychiatric care.

There would also need to be at least one other staff member, such as a licensed clinical social worker, who can respond to the psychosocial needs of someone experiencing a mental health crisis.

What they're saying: "California is experiencing a mental health and addiction crisis and the first place people come to get help is our hospitals," Haney said in a press statement, noting that hospitals often don't have enough staff to care for those patients.

"Instead of treating people with mental health and addiction issues, we’re pushing them back onto the street," he said.

Zoom in: San Francisco District Supervisor Rafael Mandelman supports Newsom and Haney's proposals.

Over the weekend, Mandelman tweeted that Newsom's proposal is "a significant step toward more direct State responsibility for the humanitarian crisis of untreated mental illness and addiction unfolding on our streets."

At yesterday's Board of Supervisors meeting, Mandelman introduced a resolution supporting AB 1001.

What's next: Newsom's office plans to work alongside lawmakers to get the measure on the November 2024 ballot. Before it appears on the ballot, the measure would need the approval of each chamber of the state legislature.

As for Haney's bill, it needs to go through the full legislative process in the state legislature.

California proposals seek to address mental health crisis

The state faces a shortage of 6,000 beds to care for patients with mental health disorders.

Illustration of the California State Capitol with lines radiating from it. 

Mental health

State and city officials are pushing for bills and ballot measures to address the shortage of space at facilities for those struggling with mental health issues and substance abuse disorders and improve treatment options for those who need it.Why it matters: The state faces a shortage of 6,000 beds to care for patients with mental health disorders, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="the Los Angeles Times reports" data-vars-click-url="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-03-19/newsom-mental-health-housing-bond-measure-services-counties-substance-use-treatment#:~:text=Gov.%20Gavin%20Newsom%20is%20asking,and%20treatment%20facilities%20throughout%20California." data-vars-content-id="0bc763f7-f4b7-441f-9d83-1e10015caff8" data-vars-headline="California proposals seek to address mental health crisis" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-03-19/newsom-mental-health-housing-bond-measure-services-counties-substance-use-treatment#:~:text=Gov.%20Gavin%20Newsom%20is%20asking,and%20treatment%20facilities%20throughout%20California." target="_blank">the Los Angeles Times reports</a>.

News

Politics

A biennial quilt show is returning to San Francisco after going on hiatus during the pandemic.

What's happening: The San Francisco Quilters Guild is hosting Quilt San Francisco at St. Mary's Cathedral tomorrow from 10am-6pm and Saturday from 10am-5pm to show off the work of its members.

Barb Strick, the guild's featured artist, will display 26 quilts at the show, including some from her "explosions" series.

"They're just these bursts of colors," Strick told Axios. "I have no idea what they're going to look like when they're finished. I just pull fabrics that I find interesting or that work well."

Of note: Strick's "Bullseye" quilt recently won the best-in-show award at QuiltCon 2023 in Atlanta.

Why it matters: Quilting has long been part of San Francisco's culture, and drew even more interest during the pandemic.

"A lot of people who started by making masks ended up making quilts." Peggy Cleary, president of the San Francisco Quilters Guild, told Axios. "So it saved a lot of people's sanity."

Flashback: In the late '80s, human rights activist Cleve Jones began the AIDS Memorial Quilt in San Francisco, in honor of his friend Marvin Feldman. Last June, San Francisco hosted the largest display of the historic quilt in Golden Gate Park.

Over the years, the city's de Young Museum has featured a number of quilting exhibits, including quilts made by Amish girls and women dating back to the 1880s.

What they're saying: "San Francisco has been one of the places that was in the forefront of displaying quilts as art," Cleary said.

The bottom line: The guild, founded in 1981, currently has about 200 members. The aim of the guild is to provide community through quilting workshops, lectures and more.

Cleary said that if someone joined who "had never put scissors to fabric or didn't have a sewing machine, they would be welcome and we'd love to share what we know."

One goal with the event is to inspire other people and show them that "this is not your grandmother's quilt that's just laying on a bed," Strick said. "Though, there are a lot of those as well."

Quilt San Francisco is back after pandemic-driven hiatus

Barb Strick's "Bullseye" quilt. Courtesy of Barb Strick 

A biennial quilt show is returning to San Francisco after going on hiatus during the pandemic.What&#x27;s happening: The <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="San Francisco Quilters Guild" data-vars-click-url="https://www.sfquiltersguild.org/" data-vars-content-id="60216b27-cca4-42fc-adfc-869aaaea762f" data-vars-headline="Quilt San Francisco is back after pandemic-driven hiatus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.sfquiltersguild.org/" target="_blank">San Francisco Quilters Guild</a> is hosting <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Quilt San Francisco" data-vars-click-url="https://www.sfquiltersguild.org/show/" data-vars-content-id="60216b27-cca4-42fc-adfc-869aaaea762f" data-vars-headline="Quilt San Francisco is back after pandemic-driven hiatus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.sfquiltersguild.org/show/" target="_blank">Quilt San Francisco</a> at St. Mary&#x27;s Cathedral tomorrow from 10am-6pm and Saturday from 10am-5pm to show off the work of its members.

Things to Do

Reproduced from USAFacts; Chart: Axios Visuals

Car thefts in San Francisco increased from January 2019 to December 2022 while overall crime in the city dropped.

What's happening: San Francisco saw car thefts increase by about 42% from 2019 to 2022, according to data from the San Francisco Police Department.

In December 2022, 13% of car thefts involved Kia or Hyundai vehicles compared to vehicles from those two automakers accounting for just 3% of car thefts in December 2019, according to USAFact's analysis of data provided by SFPD.

Of note: Overall crime dropped about 7% from 2019 to 2022, according to SFPD.

Data: San Francisco Police Department crime dashboard; Chart: Axios Visuals

The big picture: Major cities throughout the country saw a rise in car thefts from 2019 to 2022, according to new data from USAFacts. And some are pointing to a recent TikTok trend as a reason.

The data comes from 500 police departments with the most vehicle thefts in the last five years. About one-fifth of those departments had data for 2022. USAFacts combined the data with data from the FBI, as well as statewide data for 10 states.

Last June, a group called the "Kia Boyz" posted viral videos on TikTok showing how to start some Kia and Hyundai vehicles using a USB charger.

By the numbers: There were 468,821 total thefts reported in 2022 across all the cities reviewed by the USAFacts data.

That's much higher than in 2021 (411,935 reported thefts), as well as in 2020 (361,550) and 2019 (318,467).

Across the bridge in Berkeley, 38% of all stolen vehicles since December have been Hyundais or Kias, NBC Bay Area reports.

That's more than triple the amount of stolen Hyundai and Kia vehicles the department has previously seen, Byron White, a public information officer with the Berkeley Police Department, told NBC Bay Area.

Between the lines: San Francisco supervisors will vote today on an ordinance that would put an additional $27.6 million toward police overtime.

Meanwhile, the city is considering giving raises to police officers to address the city's dwindling number of officers.

What's next: Kia and Hyundai both released new "theft deterrent software" for more than 8 million vehicles in response to the trend.

TikTok said in a statement to the Washington Post that it "does not condone this behavior, which violates our policies and will be removed if found on our platform."

San Francisco Police Department crime dashboard

Car thefts in San Francisco rise while overall crime declines

In December 2022, 13% of car thefts involved Kia or Hyundai vehicles.

Crime

Car thefts in San Francisco increased from January 2019 to December 2022 while overall crime in the city dropped.What&#x27;s happening: San Francisco saw car thefts increase by about 42% from 2019 to 2022, according to data from the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="San Francisco Police Department" data-vars-click-url="https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/stay-safe/crime-data/crime-dashboard" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/stay-safe/crime-data/crime-dashboard" target="_blank">San Francisco Police Department</a>.

Salary transparency in job postings has become much more commonplace, increasing the fastest in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area, according to a recent analysis by job platform Indeed.

Driving the news: A new state law went into effect in January requiring employers with 15 or more employees to include salary ranges in job postings.

Why it matters: The increase shows the pay transparency law has had an immediate effect, especially in San Francisco and its surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, it suggests the power balance is beginning to shift in California, giving job candidates access to information that employers have historically kept obscured.

By the numbers: In February 2022, just 22.4% of job postings in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley listed salary ranges. That number had jumped to 63.8% in the SF Bay Area as of last month, Indeed found.

Salary transparency in Silicon Valley (San Jose, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara) grew from 17% to 62.5% in that time period.

Nationally, there was pay transparency on 43.7% of job postings last month.

What they're saying: "Pay transparency is key to eliminating wage gaps, and to reaching equal pay for equal work," Kristen Shah, Indeed's career trends expert, wrote in a statement. "It not only empowers job seekers, but it plays an important role in holding employers accountable."

Yes, but: Just 61.1% of tech employers are complying with the law in California, according to an analysis by compensation management startup Comprehensive.io.

Companies that don't comply could be subject to penalties assessed by the state's labor commissioner's office ranging from $100 to $10,000 per violation.

Anyone can file a retaliation complaint against an employer not in compliance with the law here.

Zoom out: Similar pay transparency laws exist in Washington state, Colorado, New York and others.

What to watch: How useful pay transparency is to potential candidates and current employees alike.

Salary transparency is now more common in San Francisco Bay Area

The increase in salary ranges in job postings shows a new pay transparency law has had an immediate effect.

Illustration of a hundred dollar bill being revealed behind a help wanted sign

Pay equity

Salary transparency in job postings has become much more commonplace, increasing the fastest in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area, according to a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="recent analysis" data-vars-click-url="https://www.hiringlab.org/2023/03/14/us-pay-transparency-march-2023/" data-vars-content-id="cfafb908-ece7-4609-bff4-59869b8bc917" data-vars-headline="Salary transparency is now more common in San Francisco Bay Area" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.hiringlab.org/2023/03/14/us-pay-transparency-march-2023/" target="_blank">recent analysis</a> by job platform Indeed.Driving the news: A <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="new state law" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/09/28/pay-transparency-to-further-empower-workers" data-vars-content-id="cfafb908-ece7-4609-bff4-59869b8bc917" data-vars-headline="Salary transparency is now more common in San Francisco Bay Area" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/09/28/pay-transparency-to-further-empower-workers" target="_self">new state law</a> went into effect in January requiring employers with 15 or more employees to include salary ranges in job postings.

Business

San Francisco has a dearth of real women in its public art sculptures, contributing to the broader trend of it being easier to find a sculpture of a mermaid than of any real-life, American-born woman.

Why it matters: Monuments have historically represented our values by putting concepts and people on literal pedestals, then enshrining them with protective status and decades-long upkeep, Axios' Chelsea Brasted reports.

But public art in the U.S. has long presented a lopsided view that can leave the impression that American history is all horses and white male military veterans.

State of play: San Francisco passed an ordinance in 2018 requiring at least 30% of public art projects to depict real women.

In 2020, the representation of real women depicted in public art pieces in San Francisco was just 19%, according to the San Francisco's Department on the Status of Women.

Yes, but: There are just two publicly owned statues depicting real women, one of former mayor and current U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and the other of Florence Nightingale, according to the Department on the Status of Women's 2020 report. Meanwhile, the city owns 62 statues or monuments depicting real men.

Of note: The city has other statues depicting women, but they are of fictional women, like the ones in "Comfort Women's" Column of Strengthand Pioneer Mother. 

The big picture: Of the top 50 historical figures represented nationally in nonprofit Monument Lab's data, only three are women, and only five are Black or Indigenous. Half are people who enslaved others.

Meanwhile, only 6% of American monuments nationwide feature real women as their subjects, according to research by Sierra Rooney, assistant professor of art history at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

What they're saying: "When we don't see people on pedestals that look like us or tell our stories, that tells us that we don't belong within veneration, we don't belong within honor, and often that we don't belong within that space," says Sue Mobley, director of research at Monument Lab, who co-authored the organization's 2021 audit of women represented in public art.

In San Francisco, the arts commission says it "remains committed towards reaching that goal of increasing the representation of women featured in San Francisco's Civic Art Collection," Coma Te, a spokesperson for the arts commission, told Axios San Francisco via email.

Between the lines: Nothing is permanent. In 2020, nearly 100 Confederate monuments were removed as the nation grappled with police violence against Black people, and public officials are starting to back projects to improve representation.

In San Francisco, the arts commission sanctioned the removal of a Christopher Columbus statue near Coit Tower.

Back in 2018, the city removed a statue depicting "the degradation and genocide of Native American peoples," using stereotypes used to depict Indigenous people that "are now universally viewed as disrespectful, misleading, and racist," the arts commission wrote in a report.

What's next: Later this year, the San Francisco Arts Commission plans to unveil a statue of Maya Angelou outside the main public library on Larkin Street, Te said.

Angelou's statue will be the first in the city to depict a Black woman.

San Francisco has few statues depicting women

In 2020, the representation of real women depicted in public art pieces in San Francisco was just 19%.

A statue of Florence Nightingale in front of Laguna Honda Hospital. Photo: Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Women's History Month

San Francisco has a dearth of real women in its public art sculptures, contributing to the broader trend of it being easier to find a sculpture of a mermaid than of any real-life, American-born woman.Why it matters: Monuments have historically represented our values by putting concepts and people on literal pedestals, then enshrining them with protective status and decades-long upkeep, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Axios&#x27; Chelsea Brasted reports" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/08/women-history-month-us-monuments" data-vars-content-id="de533870-5c1b-4d0f-bc48-c0f257405d6c" data-vars-headline="San Francisco has few statues depicting women" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/08/women-history-month-us-monuments" target="_self">Axios&#x27; Chelsea Brasted reports</a>.

Megan Rose Dickey

Featured stories

Quilt San Francisco is back after pandemic-driven hiatus

California proposals seek to address mental health crisis

Car thefts in San Francisco rise while overall crime declines

San Francisco has few statues depicting women

Salary transparency is now more common in San Francisco Bay Area