Daily Brew: Control of San Francisco city government on the line

June 1, 2018

Progressives and moderates battle for control of San Francisco's city government; Analysis: Statewide car registration fees range from $8 to $225 in 2018   Progressives and moderates battle for control of San Francisco’s city government Control of the San Francisco mayorship and board of supervisors is on the line in June 5 special elections. The intra-party battle among politicians left-of-center is a localized manifestation of the battles playing out in national primaries. Divisions between moderates—who tend to focus on what they call business and development policies—and progressives—who look to increase the amount of affordable housing and strengthen restrictions on tech companies—are central to the races. Here’s how we got here and what to look for on Tuesday. The mayorship became open after the December 2017 death of Mayor Ed Lee, a moderate. District 5 Supervisor London Breed is the top moderate candidate to replace him. Former state Sen. Mark Leno and District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim are the top progressives. Polls have shown a close race between Breed and Leno. The moderates’ 6-5 majority on the board of supervisors is also on the line as District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, a nominal moderate, faces opposition from progressive Rafael Mandelman. Regardless of the outcome, regularly-scheduled elections for the board of supervisors will be held in November. At least three moderate seats and one progressive seat will be up for election. District 8 will also be up, and Sheehy and Mandelman have both filed to run again. Learn more         Analysis: Statewide car registration fees range from $8 to $225 in 2018 Ballotpedia has released a new study detailing car registration costs by state as of May 2018. Registration costs and title fees are closely-related, though each serves a distinct purpose. Registration is a process proving that you have paid to a state or other government authority all fees and taxes associated with owning the car in that state. A title fee is paid to claim a car's title, which shows who the legal owner of the vehicle is. Five facts to get caught up on the data: Of the 48 states with a fixed cost, Arkansas and Arizona both had the lowest registration costs in the country at $8. The highest registration fees were in Florida, which charged $225 to register a vehicle. The average cost to register a vehicle in the 48 states where costs were fixed was about $60. Two states—Colorado and Michigan—had variable costs based on either the MSRP or the age and weight of the vehicle. Maryland had the highest title fee at $100. View the report for a map and table with further information on the cost of car registration in the states. Learn more→ State attorneys drop felony computer tampering charges against Gov. Greitens St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced Wednesday that her office was dropping the felony computer tampering charges against Greitens. "It is time for us to move on," she said in a statement. "Sometimes pursuing charges is not the right thing to do for our city or our state." She disagreed with Greitens' statement that the allegations and investigations brought too much pain and difficulty: "Contrary to Mr. Greitens' past statements, there was no witch hunt, no plans to bring pain to him or his family. Quite the contrary, the consequences Mr. Greitens has suffered he brought upon himself by his actions, his statements, his decisions, his ambition and pursuit for power." Gardner's spokeswoman, Susan Ryan, told reporters that the prosecutor and Greitens' defense team struck a deal in which Greitens would resign if the charges were dropped. Greitens' attorney, Jim Martin, said the case would be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it could not be re-filed. Greitens’ resignation is effective today at 5:00 p.m. Special prosecutor Jean Peters-Baker said her review of the felony invasion of privacy charges would continue "until our work on the case is completed."   Learn more→