Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.

Chayne Hampton is the manager at Santa Cruz Plumbing Inc., operating the company’s residential plumbing department.

Plumbing was prominent in Hampton’s life growing up in Santa Cruz. His father has been working for the UA Local 38 Plumbers & Pipefitters union in San Francisco since Hampton was born. Around age 20, Hampton began to work alongside his father. But that soon ended because of what Hampton calls “bad life choices.” Hampton struggled with a drug addiction that ultimately led him in 2016 to serve three years at San Quentin State Prison for burglary. After his release in 2019, he entered rehab and sought employment. He reached out to Santa Cruz Plumbing owner Jason Allison, who gave Hampton a chance. He started out as a shop hand, eventually working his way up to manager.

Transitioning from incarceration to the workforce is no easy feat. Hampton says people “have to learn how to operate in a world that’s not the world that you’ve been in.” Many will pass judgment, he says, but if someone is a hard worker their past shouldn’t hold them back. Hampton relishes the simplicities of life, having gone through losing his freedom while in prison. He prides himself on maintaining a job long term, something he struggled with in the past. He enjoys what he describes as “normal-people stuff,” like traveling, working out and spending time with his wife.

Hampton also shared stories on the “Ear Hustle” podcast, as well as narrating parts of the audio version of the book “This is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life” by Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods. He hopes to be able to progress in his career, either growing the residential plumbing sector or working for himself and beginning a family business.

Education:

• San Lorenzo Valley High School
• Cabrillo College: construction estimating, plumbing code, blueprint reading

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

Lookout: Can you walk me through how you became involved in the plumbing industry?

Chayne Hampton: My dad’s a plumber and he works for the [plumbing] union in San Francisco, and he’s worked there since before I was born. When I turned 20-something, I tried to join the union and I ended up getting in. I was commuting over the hill with my dad and that commute was just kind of a nightmare. I can see it now in retrospect how draining that drive is and just working in the city in general. They would pay you a lot but it’s a lot of time off your life. But that’s not why I left the union — I made some bad life choices that ended my career there.

I went to jail two times before I went to prison. Just little six-month stint[s]. I thought that would be the end of it, they would never send me away because I was such a petty criminal. The judge looked at what I was doing and saw that it was gradually getting worse and worse. I was taking bigger and bigger risks and that got me a prison sentence. I ended up going to prison for a little bit and when I got out I was in a rehab, New Life on the Westside.

I turned in an application [to] Anne Keating, who’s our HR person [at Santa Cruz Plumbing]; [she] got my application, showed it to [company owner] Jason [Allison]. One of my past employment [experiences] was at San Quentin, [at] the waste management plant. I was trying to make it look pretty without saying I’d been to prison. Jason, not being an idiot, put it together and gave me a call and he said, “I’m very empathetic to a guy in your position. Where are you at? I’m going to come talk to you.” So he came to where I was at. He was like, “All right dude, we’re going to start you at this [wage],” which in retrospect was exactly how much money I needed to make at that time. Now I make twice that.

I had minimal experience, at that point I think I was a [shop hand]. [Jason said,] “All right, we’ll get you digging some holes.” So that’s where I started, digging a little bit [and] organizing the truck, nothing too complicated because, I mean, I was like a baby. After a while, slowly more responsibilities [were] put on my lap. Jason is pretty hands-on and he saw where I had some strength, which was mostly relatability with people, deescalating situations [with] customers [or] other contractors, just general customer-service skills. My employment took a bit of a shift to more management, so I have guys working under me. I’ve been doing this now for about a year.

Lookout: What does a typical day look like for you?

Hampton: For me, I just started checking my emails. [But] whenever I get started I get parts [and] lay [it out for the] guys, like, “This is the job we’re doing today.” Then I’ll go to the job with them and get a material list for them so that they don’t have to drive back and forth to the supply house, kind of streamline things. [I’ll] check in with the customer to make sure they’re doing OK, no one is making a mess, everyone is parking where they should be parking, let them know if the water is going [to] be off. From there, I head back to the office [to] follow up on quotes that I had written and then from time to time I [find] myself in the field tying up loose ends, [like if] a customer needs to be walked through how their new tankless water heater works, then that’s the last thing I’ll do in the day.

Lookout: What was the experience of transitioning from prison back to the workforce?

Hampton: I mean, I didn’t think I had a snowball’s chance in hell. I’ve got tattoos. Even before going to prison I lived in a prison of my own making. Through lifestyle choices I created a very small world for myself, [it was] very limiting. I [could] never be too far away from the action. My life was confined to six or seven blocks in each direction. I was crippled by drugs and addiction, mentally and physically.

I didn’t have any proper skills. But Jason, once again, I [have] to give this guy all the props in the world. I don’t know what he saw in me, maybe he thought I’d only last a week or a year. I’ve never done anything [for work] for five years [and now] someone just took a shot on me. I have buddies who are in the same situation as me, and [it’s] “I can’t find work” and this and that. It’s not easy for a lot of dudes with tattoos on their face and a rough background or a record, but it’s not impossible. I also have a ton of friends who brought themselves into unions. You’ve just got to be willing to start from the bottom. I was trying to be very humble about it: You want me to dig holes? I’ll dig holes.

Lookout: What was it like working in the sewage treatment plant at San Quentin?

Hampton: So my sewage treatment job, when I first got it, I was like, “Cool, sewage treatment, I’m going [to have] a breaker and some chemicals, maybe some goggles.” Yeah, I had goggles, but my tools were a pitchfork and a hose. I would go into this thing they called the pit where all the sewage travels through it. I would have to unclog these drains with the pitchfork and the hose. When you make food in prison you make it in a spread bag [a plastic bag] and when you’re done with it guys will just tie it and then flush it. So when I’d be in there spraying off sewage, sometimes I’d hit one of those bags, it’d ricochet into my face. That’s why I was going to have the goggles and that’s when I stopped having a beard.

They tell you this is your job then you show up for it and if you [try] to refuse it, it’s going to be bad. There’s this weird illusion of free will [that] people think is so necessary, but after being incarcerated, I’ll tell you what, I miss sometimes having someone tell me when to do things. Like, sure, you’re free, but at the same time, that’s a lot of thinking, decision-making, responsibility [and] accountability.

When I applied for the job [at Santa Cruz Plumbing], of course with Jason I was all-in. I was in the union but I don’t necessarily want to tell this guy I’ve been to prison. I’m just going to be honest, but also say, I worked in the sewage treatment plant in San Quentin. San Quentin is not just a prison, I’m pretty sure it’s a town. He took one look at that and was like, “mm-hmm.” So he figured it out.

Lookout: What do you love most about your job?

Hampton: I like interacting with people. I like getting people set up and stoked. Maybe changing the narrative a little bit that you can’t trust your mechanic, you can’t trust your plumber. Everybody is trying to sell you something extra. It’s like no, man, I’m really not. You just have this active water leak I’m trying to get taken care of. My wife called me from the mechanic and she’s just, “Oh, they’re trying to sell me this fluid. I don’t know if I need it.” I was like, “Maybe you need it.” Everyone’s so scared and I get it. One of the things I like doing is [to] just surprise people by giving them what they want and maybe telling them what they need.

I’ve been able to hire guys too, Jason has allowed me to have that responsibility. There’s been guys that were like me, I’m like, “Let’s give you a chance.” Not all of them have worked out but like one of them did, [and] that’s great. Who doesn’t like a comeback story?

Lookout: What have been your biggest challenges in your career?

Hampton: Realizing what a lack of proper education I had going into this, whether it’s spelling, mathematics, writing an email properly, talking to people [professionally]. Those are these huge hurdles I’m working on every day. Those are things I’ve had to adapt to. Also being kind of a self-starter, my days aren’t always laid out for me. I’ve got to keep myself busy and productive.

Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

Lookout: What advice would you give to someone who is interested in this type of career?

Hampton: Just be humble and ready to show up. I mean, just because you got paid $25 an hour under the table by Jimmy Jams Plumbing in Boulder Creek doesn’t mean you’re necessarily going to get that somewhere else. And that’s OK, then you go and you learn. I’ve taken classes at Cabrillo that correlate with my career: construction estimating, plumbing code, blueprint reading. Those weren’t things I asked my boss to pay for, either. It’s not his responsibility, it’s your responsibility. If you want to get paid more, be worth more. I know that’s a tough thing. The trades are riddled with guys that have problems showing up on time or attitudes. Just be stoked you got a job, show up a little early, stay a little late. Don’t look [at] your time clock, [or write] every email like, “I actually [finished] work at 3:05, [so] I should get paid for those five minutes.” You should get paid for those five minutes but my dad always told me, “If you got to stay a little late to fix your mistake, don’t make Jason pay for it.”

Lookout: Who is the best person suited for the job?

Hampton: I mean, anybody. Man, women, [or] whoever, a worker [is] a worker. Maybe you’re working with a guy who doesn’t speak any English, but plumbing’s like a universal language, like mathematics. You watch YouTube videos on silent on how to cook things, you could watch a plumbing tutorial in Spanish while you only speak English and still learn something. Just bust ass, move fast and don’t make too big of a mess.

You have to be able to work with dispatch, guys who are ordering parts and you have to have some degree of communication skills and traveling up on your own. It’s a team effort.

Lookout: What can someone expect to be paid when they’re going into this career field?

Hampton: I don’t know, maybe $20-ish if you have a license? You’re not only getting a job but you’re also getting hands-on training that translates to other places. You could probably get a job for more starting at a restaurant, for example. It’s like, what’s your intention?

If you’re really good you can make like $75 an hour. If you’re doing your own thing you could charge $125 an hour, you could charge whatever you feel like you’re worth, as long as you’re being fair with the customer and honest. If you’re new to a company but you’ve done plumbing for 15 years, they may start you off at a certain dollar amount and then once you’re able to prove yourself then your price will go up.

Lookout: What’s the difference between a union and non-union plumbing?

Hampton: A lot, it’s a big question. [In a] union, there’s guaranteed work. It’s hard to say, because some people prefer the union, but you have to pay dues to the union. You’re not allowed to really strike out on your own, like your knowledge is essentially theirs. Prevailing wages, some projects are only union, like this is a union plumber job and it’s prevailing wage. That could be upwards of $75 an hour, but that prevailing wage job doesn’t necessarily last forever.

Lookout: What is something that most people misunderstand about your job?

Hampton: There’s a lot more to it than you think. It’s not just unclogging toilets, it’s also opening up walls, installing new plumbing systems [and] knowing how hot water works. I understand it’s just water, but [it’s] temperatures, also gas and gas pressure. Like what size should your gas line be if it’s servicing these three different fixtures? I’ve got to find out what’s on the fixtures and this degree of math to size something correctly because it’s going to go underground. I don’t think it’s a trade you would see depicted in a movie. Like I’m Mario and Luigi and we just got these plungers. There’s a lot to it. There’s a complement of electrical and HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems]. They all culminate into one.

Lookout: What kind of jobs do you think there will be out there in the plumbing field?

Hampton: I think the technology around plumbing is always changing, new applications, making it so jobs can be done quicker. There’s all kinds of routes that you want to take [because] plumbing is not just water and poop. It’s also gas [appliances]. There’s new water heaters that are electric — in California, we’re trying to go in that electric direction. That means your old gas water heaters have to go, and your new electric ones have to go in.

Lookout: What does the trajectory of your job look like?

Hampton: For me, I would like to grow [into] the service department and have more guys. Jason, the owner, is responsible for over 100 guys. If I could have my little department where I’m doing that in my own way, that’s the goal. Maybe one day be competent enough to do something on my own or have my dad involved and keep it in the family. Jason started his company from the ground up, out of his garage. I do more residential stuff at people’s houses, if I were able to grow that. Right now we have five guys. When we have 10 guys, we’d really have a thriving service department along with [a] thriving construction side.

Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

Lookout: What would be your advice to someone who is getting out of jail or in a position where they ask, “What’s my next step?”

Hampton: Apply, apply, apply. Just apply and be forthcoming. I genuinely believe there are business owners out there [who] want to be that person that gave that dude [a] chance and he just crushed it. Understand though, too, other guys have come before you and they let people down. Understand that people are going to pass judgment. Don’t lie, be forthcoming. The bottom line is, none of that [stuff] will matter if you’re a really good plumber or you’re a really good hand [or] worker.

Lookout: What motivates you every single day to continue on considering all the hurdles you’ve gone through?

Hampton: Personally, it’s the security of having something to do every day. I know that idle hands [are] like the devil’s playground. Too much idle time, either you’re just on social media or you’re distracting yourself in one shape or form. At least this way, I’m driving around on this side of the hill. That’s the great part. I could be on the Westside, in Aptos or Felton all in the same day and that just keeps me busy. I also have a wife now, she works here cleaning vacation rentals. We’re a DINK [couple], dual income, no kids. So we like to go out to dinner, travel or whatever and those things cost money.

Lookout: What does the future look like for you?

Hampton: I would like to get a dog. Me and my wife want to go to Italy. It’s a lot of normal-people stuff that maybe to the average person is like, “Yeah, that [stuff] is cool.” But understand I came from a place where, like I said, I’ve never done anything for five years. I don’t know how else to describe it, I’ve had a job for five years, like I’ve been fired from everywhere I ever worked. The second I got off drugs and started trying, I was able to keep things. I think that was a pretty big constant in my life before, I was always losing things. Whether it was something as simple as losing the money I had in my pocket for the drugs, losing this and losing that, and losing my freedom. Now I try, and I genuinely put in the effort. It’s just my belief that when you put in the effort you get gifts.

The post How I Bought My Job: After spending time in jail, plumbing supervisor Chayne Hampton discovered goal in a profession within the trades appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the single toilet is costing the city $1.7 million. It will be located near 24th Street in Noe Valley’s main commercial corridor.

Supervisors said they got the funding from the state budget to build the restroom per requests of families in the area.

In a joint statement issued to the newspaper, the Park and Rec Department of Public Works said there are several reasons for the costs, including the cost to build in the city and the rising construction costs for materials.

“It’s crazy. It’s just sort of an artifact of everything going crazy in the city,” said former San Francisco resident, Michael Papanek. “How could it possibly be 1.7 million dollars?”

There was supposed to be an announcement by state and local public officials Wednesday, proclaiming their success in securing the funding from the state.

But they abruptly canceled it once word of the price tag got out.

Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

“It sounds so fishy,” said Dalia Martinez, former San Francisco resident. “And given that they were gonna announce it today and they just bailed, it’s just, so suspicious.”

The only elected official who has responded to any of our questions about the project, and the price tag, is assembly member Matt Haney. He was able to get the $.17 million from Sacramento.

“I’ll defer questions about the cost for the bathroom to Rec and Park,” he said in a statement. “The cost also seemed shockingly high to me. They told me they couldn’t build it for less, so if I wanted a public bathroom there, that’s how much I had to deliver.”

NBC Bay Area reached out to Park and Rec for a breakdown of costs but have not heard back.

The restroom would be completed until 2025.

NBC Bay Area’s Sergio Quintana gives us a closer look at San Francisco’s plan to construct a $1.7 million bathroom.

The city already operates a whole bunch of free public restrooms, some of them even available 24 hours a day and fit within the 150-square-foot footprint at Noe Valley.

The cost to the city is nothing.

According to the San Francisco Department of Public Works, it has a deal with the company JC Decaux to provide the self-cleaning public potties for free in exchange for advertising revenue made from the units.

By the end of this year, brand new ones will be getting installed throughout San Francisco to replace the aging ones — all for free.

The post San Francisco is Spending $1.7M on a Public Rest room – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the single toilet is costing the city $1.7 million. It will be located near 24th Street in Noe Valley’s main commercial corridor.

Supervisors said they got the funding from the state budget to build the restroom per requests of families in the area.

In a joint statement issued to the newspaper, the Park and Rec Department of Public Works said there are several reasons for the costs, including the cost to build in the city and the rising construction costs for materials.

“It’s crazy. It’s just sort of an artifact of everything going crazy in the city,” said former San Francisco resident, Michael Papanek. “How could it possibly be 1.7 million dollars?”

There was supposed to be an announcement by state and local public officials Wednesday, proclaiming their success in securing the funding from the state.

But they abruptly canceled it once word of the price tag got out.

Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

“It sounds so fishy,” said Dalia Martinez, former San Francisco resident. “And given that they were gonna announce it today and they just bailed, it’s just, so suspicious.”

The only elected official who has responded to any of our questions about the project, and the price tag, is assembly member Matt Haney. He was able to get the $.17 million from Sacramento.

“I’ll defer questions about the cost for the bathroom to Rec and Park,” he said in a statement. “The cost also seemed shockingly high to me. They told me they couldn’t build it for less, so if I wanted a public bathroom there, that’s how much I had to deliver.”

NBC Bay Area reached out to Park and Rec for a breakdown of costs but have not heard back.

The restroom would be completed until 2025.

NBC Bay Area’s Sergio Quintana gives us a closer look at San Francisco’s plan to construct a $1.7 million bathroom.

The city already operates a whole bunch of free public restrooms, some of them even available 24 hours a day and fit within the 150-square-foot footprint at Noe Valley.

The cost to the city is nothing.

According to the San Francisco Department of Public Works, it has a deal with the company JC Decaux to provide the self-cleaning public potties for free in exchange for advertising revenue made from the units.

By the end of this year, brand new ones will be getting installed throughout San Francisco to replace the aging ones — all for free.

The post San Francisco is Spending $1.7M on a Public Rest room – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

San Francisco politicians will gather at the Noe Valley Town Square Wednesday afternoon to congratulate themselves for securing state money for a long-desired toilet in the northeast corner of the charming plaza.

Another public toilet in a city with far too few of them is excellent. But the details of this particular dresser? They’re mind-boggling, maddening and encapsulating so much of what’s wrong with our city government.

The toilet — just one loo in 150 square feet of space — is projected to cost $1.7 million, about the same as a single-family home in this wildly overpriced city. And it won’t be ready for use until 2025.

Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) secured the $1.7 million from the state for the toilet after hearing “loud and clear” from the community that families needed a bathroom. The plumbing is already there, added when the plaza was constructed six years ago, but there was never money for the actual bathroom. Until Haney stepped in.

The former San Francisco supervisor said the Recreation and Parks Department told him the going rate for one public bathroom was $1.7 million so he secured the full amount, not questioning the pricetag.

“They told me $1.7 million, and I got $1.7 million,” Haney explained. “I didn’t have the option of bringing home less of the bacon when it comes to building a toilet. A half a toilet or a toilet-maybe-someday is not much use to anyone.”

True, but instead we have a toilet-maybe-in-more-than-two-years that could have paid to house a family instead. So why is a public bathroom so insanely expensive, and why does it take so long to build? A joint statement from Rec and Park and the Department of Public Works, which will work together to build this extravagant bathroom, pointed to several reasons.

For one thing, the cost to build anything in San Francisco is exorbitant. The city is the most expensive in the world to build in — even topping Tokyo, Hong Kong and New York City. We’re No. 1! Even for places to go no. 1.

Like everywhere, construction costs have risen 20% to 30% in the past couple of years due to global supply chain issues and the rising costs of fuel, labor and materials. But like always, there’s a certain preciousness to the process in San Francisco. (Just look at the years-long, ongoing quest to design and manufacture bespoke city trash cans.)

“It’s important to note that public projects and their overall cost estimates don’t just reflect the price of erecting structures,” the statement said. “They include planning, drawing, permits, reviews and public outreach.”

For a toilet? Apparently so.

An architect will draw plans for the bathroom that the city will share with the community for feedback. It will also head to the Arts Commission’s Civic Design Review committee comprised of two architects, a landscape architect and two other design professionals who, under city charter, “conduct a multi-phase review” of all city projects on public land — ranging from buildings to bathrooms to historic plaques, fences and lamps.

The web-page describing that process states the point is to ensure “that each project’s design is appropriate to its context in the urban environment, and that structures of the highest design quality reflect their civic stature.”

sorry kid I know you’ve got to go, but have you considered the context of the urban environment?

The project will then head to the Rec and Park Commission and to the Board of Supervisors. According to the city’s statement, it will also be subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act. Then, the city will put the project up for bid.

“Once we start the project, we’ll have a clearer timeline, but we expect to be able to complete the project in 2025,” the statement read.

The city said the $1.7 million estimate “is extremely rough” and budgets “for the worst-case scenario due to the onerous demands and unpredictable costs levied by PG&E,” the possibility code requirements could change during the project and in case other unexpected circumstances come up

The city is in a legal battle with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. over the city’s claim that the utility has slowed projects and forced them to be more expensive unless they obtain electricity directly from the utility instead of the city’s Public Utilities Commission.

José Segue (center), San Francisco resident, occupies a table for himself and a friend at Noe Valley Town Square on Tuesday, October 18, 2022 in San Francisco, Calif. Noe Valley Town Square will be the site of the construction of a toilet stall that will cost $1.7 million and take more than two years to build.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

The bathroom will be built by unions whose workers will “earn a living wage and benefits, including paid sick time, leave and training.”

“While this isn’t the cheapest way to build, it reflects San Francisco’s values,” the statement read.

I’m a union member myself, and of course the majority of our public projects should be union built. But does a $1.7 million single bathroom really reflect San Francisco’s values? I don’t think so.

The supervisors in 2019 approved a Project Labor Agreement between the city and unions that requires union labor for all “covered projects” — but this bathroom isn’t one of them because it’s not worth $10 million and it didn’t come from bond funding.

There are other, much cheaper options. I e-mailed Tom Hardiman, executive director of the Modular Building Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, and asked him to guess what San Francisco was spending to build one toilet in 150 square feet of space.

“I’m going to guess high, I think, and say $200,000,” he wrote back.

I seemed to nearly give him a heart attack by telling him the actual figure in a subsequent phone call.

“This is to build one public restroom?” he asked incredibly. “What are they making it out of — gold and fine Italian marble? It would be comical if it wasn’t so tragically flawed.”

He then said he’d do some research and found a cheaper option within minutes. He said Chad Kaufman, CEO of Public Restroom Company, just delivered and installed seven modular bathrooms in Los Angeles for the same price San Francisco will spend to build one. These are not Porta Potties, but instead have concrete walls with stucco exteriors and nice fixtures with plumbing.

“There will be some onsite labor which absolutely can be union,” Hardiman said, pointing to crane operators, laborers and plumbers.

And, he said, they could be delivered in eight months.

Phil Ginsburg, director of the Recreation and Parks Department, said many park systems around the country use pre-fabricated restrooms, which are much cheaper — and he hopes San Francisco will become more politically open to them too. The department has occasionally used them in the past — including at the Redwood Grove playground in McLaren Park — and it’s unclear why one seems off the table for Noe Valley.

“Given how much the public values ​​and needs public restrooms, I would hope these could be more common features in our parks that don’t currently have restrooms,” he said. “Our parks continue to need investment and every dollar saved by installing one allows us to make additional improvements elsewhere in our parks.”

Rudy Gonzalez, secretary treasurer of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, said that the $1.7 million pricetag sounded just plain unbelievable and asked how the city came up with that figure.

Unions have pushed back on modular housing, and only a few projects in San Francisco have advanced despite being faster and cheaper to build. Gonzalez said he’d want to know more about the pre-fabricated bathrooms and whether workers on those projects would be paid prevailing wages.

Haney, a staunch labor supporter, said he’d be open to modular bathrooms if they didn’t violate the Public Labor Agreement.

He’ll be at Wednesday’s toilet celebration along with State Sen. Scott Wiener and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. All three seemed to have their enthusiasm for the project somewhat flushed when told of the details. Wiener said it pointed to the city’s “self-inflicted wounds” that make every project take way too long.

Mandelman said he appreciates Haney’s efforts and is glad the plaza will eventually have a bathroom, but he said the price and timeline exemplify how the city’s project management process is broken.

“We seem to be all tied up in knots in a thousand different ways and I don’t know which of those knots is responsible for this particular example,” he said.

An example of one such knot emerged this week when the city’s Human Resources Department acknowledged it takes an average of 255 days to hire one city worker. But, in fairness, city departments are working to tackle the problem. Why haven’t San Francisco leaders addressed the high costs of public projects?

Todd David, a Noe Valley resident who pushed for the creation of the town square, said neighbors are delighted they’ll eventually have a toilet after pushing for one for many years. But he’s getting lots of questions about why it costs so much.

“The pricetag’s a shocking number,” he said. “Oh my god, this s—’s expensive.”

In this case, quite literally.

Heather Knight is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf

The post Why San Francisco is spending $1.7 million on one public bathroom appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

San Francisco plans to spend an “inexplicable” $1.7 million for a single public toilet that will not be finished until 2025, an assemblyman said.

The lavatory is being built in the town square of the city’s Noe Valley neighborhood. The plumbing infrastructure for the toilet already exists, but funding for the restroom had not been allocated when the town square was constructed in 2016.

When Assemblymember Matt Haney, who represents the Noe Valley neighborhood, secured the funding after the urging of residents, he asked for and received $1.7 million.

He did not question the price tag given to him by the city’s Recreation and Parks Department.

“They told me $1.7 million, and I got $1.7 million. I didn’t have the option of bringing home less of the bacon when it comes to building a toilet,” Mr. Haney told the San Francisco Chronicle, but added he now considers the price “inexplicable.”

The city’s bureaucrats defended the price tag.

“It’s important to note that public projects and their overall cost estimates don’t just reflect the price of erecting structures. They include planning, drawing, permits, reviews and public outreach,” a joint statement from the San Francisco Department of Public Works and the Recreation and Parks Department read, according to Fox News.

Other cost factors include the city’s Public Labor Agreement that mandates hiring unionized workers and paying them benefits, as well as “onerous demands and unpredictable costs levied by [Pacific Gas & Electric],” city officials explained to Fox News.

City officials have also noted that the eventual final cost of the toilet may be less than $1.7 million.

“In the end, the project may well be delivered for far less, with leftover funding put toward further improvements or maintenance,” the Recreation and Parks Department told KPIX-TV, a San Francisco CBS affiliate.

Private experts, on the other hand, were perplexed by the city’s cost calculation.

“This is to build one public restroom? What are they making it out of — gold and fine Italian marble? It would be comical if it wasn’t so tragically flawed,” Tom Hardiman, executive director of the Modular Building Institute, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Prefabricated, modular bathrooms, which are made of concrete and have plumbing, are one cheaper option the city could have used, Mr. Hardiman explained.

Residents are also baffled.

“It shouldn’t cost that much, that’s ridiculous. I mean it just seems exorbitant. Ten times exorbitant,” said Richard Andronaco, who also told KPIX-TV that he enjoys spending time at Noe Valley Town Square.

When Mr. Haney learned of the reasoning for the toilet’s cost from the aforementioned San Francisco Chronicle article, he canceled a press conference intended to celebrate its planned construction.

Mr. Haney also plans to send a formal letter to Recreation and Parks Director Phil Ginsburg asking why the toilet costs so much and why it would not be completed until 2025.

“I’m glad that Noe Valley will at some point get a bathroom, but it shouldn’t cost this much and it shouldn’t take this long, and I’m angry about it. It’s not something I want to celebrate right now,” Mr. Haney told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The post San Francisco spending $1.7 million on single public rest room that won’t be open till 2025 appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

San Francisco politicians will gather at the Noe Valley Town Square Wednesday afternoon to congratulate themselves for securing state money for a long-desired toilet in the northeast corner of the charming plaza.

Another public toilet in a city with far too few of them is excellent. But the details of this particular dresser? They’re mind-boggling, maddening and encapsulating so much of what’s wrong with our city government.

The toilet — just one loo in 150 square feet of space — is projected to cost $1.7 million, about the same as a single-family home in this wildly overpriced city. And it won’t be ready for use until 2025.

Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) secured the $1.7 million from the state for the toilet after hearing “loud and clear” from the community that families needed a bathroom. The plumbing is already there, added when the plaza was constructed six years ago, but there was never money for the actual bathroom. Until Haney stepped in.

The former San Francisco supervisor said the Recreation and Parks Department told him the going rate for one public bathroom was $1.7 million so he secured the full amount, not questioning the pricetag.

“They told me $1.7 million, and I got $1.7 million,” Haney explained. “I didn’t have the option of bringing home less of the bacon when it comes to building a toilet. A half a toilet or a toilet-maybe-someday is not much use to anyone.”

True, but instead we have a toilet-maybe-in-more-than-two-years that could have paid to house a family instead. So why is a public bathroom so insanely expensive, and why does it take so long to build? A joint statement from Rec and Park and the Department of Public Works, which will work together to build this extravagant bathroom, pointed to several reasons.

For one thing, the cost to build anything in San Francisco is exorbitant. The city is the most expensive in the world to build in — even topping Tokyo, Hong Kong and New York City. We’re No. 1! Even for places to go no. 1.

Like everywhere, construction costs have risen 20% to 30% in the past couple of years due to global supply chain issues and the rising costs of fuel, labor and materials. But like always, there’s a certain preciousness to the process in San Francisco. (Just look at the years-long, ongoing quest to design and manufacture bespoke city trash cans.)

“It’s important to note that public projects and their overall cost estimates don’t just reflect the price of erecting structures,” the statement said. “They include planning, drawing, permits, reviews and public outreach.”

For a toilet? Apparently so.

An architect will draw plans for the bathroom that the city will share with the community for feedback. It will also head to the Arts Commission’s Civic Design Review committee comprised of two architects, a landscape architect and two other design professionals who, under city charter, “conduct a multi-phase review” of all city projects on public land — ranging from buildings to bathrooms to historic plaques, fences and lamps.

The web-page describing that process states the point is to ensure “that each project’s design is appropriate to its context in the urban environment, and that structures of the highest design quality reflect their civic stature.”

sorry kid I know you’ve got to go, but have you considered the context of the urban environment?

The project will then head to the Rec and Park Commission and to the Board of Supervisors. According to the city’s statement, it will also be subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act. Then, the city will put the project up for bid.

“Once we start the project, we’ll have a clearer timeline, but we expect to be able to complete the project in 2025,” the statement read.

The city said the $1.7 million estimate “is extremely rough” and budgets “for the worst-case scenario due to the onerous demands and unpredictable costs levied by PG&E,” the possibility code requirements could change during the project and in case other unexpected circumstances come up

The city is in a legal battle with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. over the city’s claim that the utility has slowed projects and forced them to be more expensive unless they obtain electricity directly from the utility instead of the city’s Public Utilities Commission.

José Segue (center), San Francisco resident, occupies a table for himself and a friend at Noe Valley Town Square on Tuesday, October 18, 2022 in San Francisco, Calif. Noe Valley Town Square will be the site of the construction of a toilet stall that will cost $1.7 million and take more than two years to build.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

The bathroom will be built by unions whose workers will “earn a living wage and benefits, including paid sick time, leave and training.”

“While this isn’t the cheapest way to build, it reflects San Francisco’s values,” the statement read.

I’m a union member myself, and of course the majority of our public projects should be union built. But does a $1.7 million single bathroom really reflect San Francisco’s values? I don’t think so.

The supervisors in 2019 approved a Project Labor Agreement between the city and unions that requires union labor for all “covered projects” — but this bathroom isn’t one of them because it’s not worth $10 million and it didn’t come from bond funding.

There are other, much cheaper options. I e-mailed Tom Hardiman, executive director of the Modular Building Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, and asked him to guess what San Francisco was spending to build one toilet in 150 square feet of space.

“I’m going to guess high, I think, and say $200,000,” he wrote back.

I seemed to nearly give him a heart attack by telling him the actual figure in a subsequent phone call.

“This is to build one public restroom?” he asked incredibly. “What are they making it out of — gold and fine Italian marble? It would be comical if it wasn’t so tragically flawed.”

He then said he’d do some research and found a cheaper option within minutes. He said Chad Kaufman, CEO of Public Restroom Company, just delivered and installed seven modular bathrooms in Los Angeles for the same price San Francisco will spend to build one. These are not Porta Potties, but instead have concrete walls with stucco exteriors and nice fixtures with plumbing.

“There will be some onsite labor which absolutely can be union,” Hardiman said, pointing to crane operators, laborers and plumbers.

And, he said, they could be delivered in eight months.

Phil Ginsburg, director of the Recreation and Parks Department, said many park systems around the country use pre-fabricated restrooms, which are much cheaper — and he hopes San Francisco will become more politically open to them too. The department has occasionally used them in the past — including at the Redwood Grove playground in McLaren Park — and it’s unclear why one seems off the table for Noe Valley.

“Given how much the public values ​​and needs public restrooms, I would hope these could be more common features in our parks that don’t currently have restrooms,” he said. “Our parks continue to need investment and every dollar saved by installing one allows us to make additional improvements elsewhere in our parks.”

Rudy Gonzalez, secretary treasurer of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, said that the $1.7 million pricetag sounded just plain unbelievable and asked how the city came up with that figure.

Unions have pushed back on modular housing, and only a few projects in San Francisco have advanced despite being faster and cheaper to build. Gonzalez said he’d want to know more about the pre-fabricated bathrooms and whether workers on those projects would be paid prevailing wages.

Haney, a staunch labor supporter, said he’d be open to modular bathrooms if they didn’t violate the Public Labor Agreement.

He’ll be at Wednesday’s toilet celebration along with State Sen. Scott Wiener and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. All three seemed to have their enthusiasm for the project somewhat flushed when told of the details. Wiener said it pointed to the city’s “self-inflicted wounds” that make every project take way too long.

Mandelman said he appreciates Haney’s efforts and is glad the plaza will eventually have a bathroom, but he said the price and timeline exemplify how the city’s project management process is broken.

“We seem to be all tied up in knots in a thousand different ways and I don’t know which of those knots is responsible for this particular example,” he said.

An example of one such knot emerged this week when the city’s Human Resources Department acknowledged it takes an average of 255 days to hire one city worker. But, in fairness, city departments are working to tackle the problem. Why haven’t San Francisco leaders addressed the high costs of public projects?

Todd David, a Noe Valley resident who pushed for the creation of the town square, said neighbors are delighted they’ll eventually have a toilet after pushing for one for many years. But he’s getting lots of questions about why it costs so much.

“The pricetag’s a shocking number,” he said. “Oh my god, this s—’s expensive.”

In this case, quite literally.

Heather Knight is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf

The post Why San Francisco is spending $1.7 million on one public rest room appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Top Democrats abruptly postponed an expected House vote on Friday on their $ 1.85 trillion ten-year social and environmental measure as the struggle between progressives and moderates re-emerged as the pillar of the president’s domestic agenda Distracted Joe Biden.

To give him the victory he needed, leaders were still preparing to push an accompanying package of $ 1 trillion in road and other infrastructure projects through the chamber and to his desk. But even the fate of this popular bill designed to create jobs in all states was questionable.

The messed up plans put a new face on a party that has been struggling for weeks to take advantage of its control of the White House and Congress by advancing its top priorities. That was difficult, in part because of the low Democratic majorities as bitter internal divisions are forcing House leaders to miss several self-imposed deadlines for voting.

“Welcome to my world,” House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Told reporters, adding, “We are not a lock-step party.”

TO UPDATE: House of Representatives Approves $ 1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by the Senate

Democratic leaders had hoped the House of Representatives would approve both measures on Friday, bringing double triumphs to a president and a party that recover from this week’s deflationary elections and want to show they can rule.

The party’s gubernatorial candidates were defeated in Virginia and squeaked through in New Jersey, two blue-leaning states. Democrats can hardly afford to be in disarray a year before the midterm elections, which could result in Republicans regaining control of Congress.

The president and first lady Jill Biden delayed their plans to travel to their home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Friday night so he could try to break the traffic jam. He spoke to House leaders, moderates and progressives, said a White House official, who described the talks on condition of anonymity.

Instead of approving the Infrastructure Bill to give Biden a chance at a winning lap, a group of progressives threatened to vote against it. They have long been calling for the two bills to be voted on jointly in order to put pressure on the moderates to support the larger, more expansive social measure.

With the Democrats only losing three votes and able to prevail in the narrowly divided house, Pelosi said she would move forward anyway, saying she “felt pretty good” about the support.

Pelosi has refused to vote on bills for years unless she had any certainty that they would go through to avoid embarrassing defeat.

Democrats’ day shattered when, after hours of discussion, half a dozen moderates insisted they would vote against the massive package of health, education, family and climate initiatives unless the congressional bipartisan budget bureau first put forward its cost estimate for the measure.

Democratic leaders said it would take days or more. With Friday’s delay and legislators’ plans to leave town for a week-long hiatus, it could mean budget estimates are ready by the time the vote is taken.

Adjusted the party’s timetable for the final passage of the $ 1.85 trillion measure to reflect political reality, Pelosi said that once the CBO numbers are in, “we will have a Thanksgiving present for the American people” .

In a letter to her colleagues announcing the new voting plan, she wrote: “The agenda we are advancing is transformative and historic, and therefore challenging.”

The infrastructure move smoothly cleared the Senate in August with bipartisan support including support from Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. The package would allocate huge sums to each state for freeway, mass transit, broadband, airport, drinking and sewage, power grids, and other projects.

But it became a pawn in the long struggle for leverage between the progressives and moderates of the Democrats. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Who heads the 95-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, said the bipartisan joint White House and Congress tax committee provided all the tax information lawmakers needed to draft the sweeping bill.

“If our six colleagues still want to wait for a CBO score, we would give them this time – after that we can vote on both bills together,” she wrote. That strongly suggested that at least some progressives would vote against the infrastructure bill on Friday.

Early Friday, when Biden met reporters to present a strong monthly job report, he said he would “make some calls” to lawmakers. He said he would ask them “to vote yes to these two laws now”.

The House’s approval of Biden’s larger measure would send her to the Senate, where she would face certain changes and more democratic dramas. This is mainly due to the demands of Sens. Joe Manchin from West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona to contain the costs of the measure and to curb or stop some of their initiatives.

Pelosi met with Hispanic lawmakers late Thursday who wanted the immigrants to stay in the US as much as possible. However, your chances of taking bold action are limited by the strict regulations of the Senate. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, DN.Y., said Friday that they had discussed other bills to move the issue forward and saw Pelosi as an ally.

Pelosi’s strategy seemed to be geared towards getting the most robust social and climate legislation possible, leaving it to the Senate to change or drop parts that its members disagree with. Because of Manchin and Sinema, the 2,100-page size was cut to about half the original $ 3.5 trillion.

Republicans reject the measure as too expensive and harmful to the people.

The package would help large numbers of Americans pay for health care, child-rearing, and home care for the elderly. There would be lower prescription drug costs as Medicare would be able, for the first time, to negotiate lower prices for some drugs with drug companies, a long-term Democratic priority.

The package would provide about $ 555 billion in tax breaks to promote cleaner energy and electric vehicles. The Democrats added important provisions in the last few days and re-established a new program of paid family vacations and work permits for immigrants.

Much of the cost of the package would be covered by higher taxes for wealthier Americans and large corporations.

Manchin has planned the new family vacation program, which is expected to include four weeks of paid time off, less than the original 12 weeks.

The Senators are also likely to remove a just-added immigration rule that would allow 7 million immigrants in the country to apply for up to two five-year work permits.

© Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

The post Pelosi Delays Social Spending Invoice; Plans Vote on Infrastructure – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

By Brandon Miller, CFP–

As a kid, I loved a board game called Stratego, which is different every time you play it. You are trying to protect your flag while exposing the other person’s. This requires that you move your stones just right to avoid the obstacles your opponent puts in front of you (miners can disperse bombs, for example).

I find retirement planning a bit like playing Stratego. They have many pieces of different values ​​- IRAs, 401 (k) s, social security, etc. – that you can move around in different ways. There are hidden bombs, like rampant inflation or serious illness, that can blow up part of your wealth. But there are also strategic ways to avoid or circumvent these challenges.

The first step in setting up your retirement plan is to determine how much money you will need. For this article, let’s say you’ve already calculated that total. Now you need to think about where that money is coming from every month.

A good rule of thumb is to spend your taxable accounts and savings first. Then turn to tax-privileged vehicles like IRAs and 401 (k) s and finally, tax-free Roth accounts. In this way, the tax advantages are retained for as long as possible.

Here are some other steps to consider:

Be strategic in taking social security income.

There is more to apply for SSI than we have room here, but these are some key points: By the age of 62, those of you who are eligible may begin to claim your benefit, although it is significantly less as if you were waiting. This reduced amount will last for the rest of your life. At full retirement age – 67 or 66 and a change for those born in the 1950s – you will receive your full benefit. Wait until 70 to take SSI and your monthly payment will be 32% higher.

Health, savings, marital status, and other factors all influence your timing. But in general, if you have additional sources of income to bridge the gap, waiting as long as possible to start earning SSI is a good move.

Install financial guard rails.

One tactic is to recreate your paycheck by bundling all of the income you get from various sources into one bucket and then taking out what is needed every month or two weeks. This provides the discipline and structure to help you spend what you should.

Also, knowing the market is volatile, you can create a shock absorber by funding an emergency account with expenses for 1 to 2 years. Use this account in ugly years instead of selling assets at a loss and then replenish the fund when the market recovers. Repeat this over and over and you can help ensure that your plans are not ruined when the market collapses.

Watch out for taxes.

Your retirement income can have a significant impact on your healthcare costs. Unlike tiered income taxes, Medicare spending is a steep cliff. For example, individuals earning $ 88,000 or less in 2021 ($ 176,000 or less for co-filing couples) will pay the standard $ 148.50 per month premium for Medicare Part B. Earn more than half / three quarters of a million for individuals / Pairs and now you’re paying $ 504.90 every month for the next calendar year – nearly 3.5 times that. So if you buy a large inheritance or sell your home, it can lead to significantly higher healthcare costs.

Also, at 72, Uncle Sam gets impatient and demands that you withdraw some money from tax-privileged instruments. These Minimum Payouts Required (RMDs) are based on your account balance and life expectancy. Note that tax-free Roth money will not have RMDs in your lifetime – since the government already has their money – although your beneficiaries may have to pay RMDs to avoid penalties.

RMDs for high balance IRAs could put you in an expensive tax bracket. Instead, you could convert to a Roth IRA or significantly reduce your traditional IRA before deploying RMDs. Those planning to donate pots of money to charities can use Qualified Charity Payouts. This will give all or part of your RMDs to charities you designate. You will not count the gift as taxable income and your charity will not pay any tax on it. Win win!

In a nutshell, Stratego is a game; Your retirement isn’t. But in either case, smart planning can help protect what is most precious – your flag on the board and your dreams in real life.

Brio does not provide tax or legal advice, and nothing in these materials is to be construed as such. The opinions expressed in this article are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or any particular security. It only serves to educate people about the financial industry. To determine which investments might be right for you, consult your financial advisor before investing. Past performance discussed during this program is not a guarantee of future results. All benchmark indices are not managed and cannot be invested directly. As always, remember that investing involves risk and the potential for loss of capital. Please seek advice from a licensed specialist.

Brio Financial Group is a registered investment advisor. The SEC registration does not constitute endorsement of Brio by the SEC, nor does it indicate that Brio has achieved any particular level of skill or ability. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients for whom Brio Financial Group and its agents are properly licensed or exempted from approval. Brio Financial Group is not allowed to provide advice unless there is a customer service agreement.

Brandon Miller, CFP®, is a financial advisor with Brio Financial Group in San Francisco specializing in helping LGBT people and families plan and achieve their financial goals.

Published on September 9, 2021

The post Methods to Create a Retirement Spending Technique – San Francisco Bay Occasions appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.