Banning lockable butane lighters, legalizing home-based restaurants and ghost kitchens, and a push to reform police procedure on sex assault cases are on City Hall’s agenda this week. Other items include a hearing on the city’s readiness for a “super El Niño,” a public safety town hall with the police chief, and even another echo of the infamous Jeffrey Epstein case.
The Small Business Commission meets Monday to consider two measures: a ban on lockable butane lighters, and legislation allowing “microenterprise home kitchen operations,” or MEHKOs.
Board President Rafael Mandelman’s legislation would ban selling lockable butane lighters to anyone in San Francisco. Violations would bring a $500 fine for first offenses and $1,000 for subsequent offenses within a year. The fire chief would enforce the ban, and the City Attorney could pursue separate civil penalties. It wouldn’t prohibit using the lighters, including in commercial kitchens.
Mandelman introduced the bill Sept. 29, with colleagues Matt Dorsey, Alan Wong, Danny Sauter and Stephen Sherrill co-sponsoring. The Fire Department reports more than 30 suspected butane-related fires over six years, causing about $3.2 million in property damage. Lockable models can continue to fire without continuous pressure on a trigger, a feature useful to people smoking fentanyl and other drugs.
Vancouver banned sales of the devices in June 2024, with fines of up to $1,000. But a year later, firefighters found that 83 of 168 inspected retailers still sold them, and despite earlier reports that structure-fire incidents dropped shortly after the ban passed, the city had not seen a decline in fires. Drug user advocates and disability groups raised concerns during Vancouver’s debate. San Francisco’s Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee will also consider the proposal on Thursday.
Supervisor Jackie Fielder’s MEHKO ordinance, co-sponsored by Supervisors Myrna Melgar, Shamann Walton, Bilal Mahmood, Connie Chan and Chyanne Chen, would let residents prepare and sell meals from their homes. State law lets local governments authorize these businesses, but San Francisco has not opted in.
The proposal would require permits and inspections by the Department of Public Health, food-handler certification and, for renters, confirmation that their landlords allow the business. Operators could make and sell up to 30 meals daily and 90 weekly. The annual permit fee would be $828.
The bill is also connected to controversies over street vending. Rules adopted in March require most vendors selling hot or fresh food to use carts with washing stations and prepare food in licensed commissary kitchens, which can cost about $1,000 a month. Vendors warned the requirements could drive them out of business. Fielder then asked the Board’s budget analyst to study the cost of authorizing MEHKOs.
The presentation to the commission, prepared largely by the advocacy group COOK Alliance, says about 20 jurisdictions have authorized the businesses. It cites a five-year study finding that 97% of MEHKOs had never received a formal complaint and that 898 permitted operations recorded two foodborne-illness complaints from 2019 through 2024. Nevertheless, restaurants and neighbors will likely have different concerns about food safety, waste and competition.
The full Board of Supervisors meets Tuesday and, among other items, will likely pass a motion setting procedures for the official misconduct hearing involving William Palmer, former president of the Sheriff’s Oversight Board. Palmer is accused of abusing and sexually assaulting women, including allegedly giving a woman drugs and coercing her into sex while she was experiencing a mental health crisis, and a city investigation found he repeatedly misused his official position to seek special treatment from law enforcement.
On Wednesday, the Budget and Finance Committee will revisit a proposed $22.2 million loan to the Mission Economic Development Association (MEDA) to purchase a 39-unit affordable housing building at 2059-2065 Mission St. The committee first considered the loan last week on the same day the San Francisco Chronicle came out with a story reporting the nonprofit’s placement on a high-risk watch list over allegations of “self-dealing.” Representatives of the Mayor’s housing office still spoke in support of the loan, but Committee Chair Dorsey referred to the Chronicle story as “the elephant in the room,” and committee member Sauter said that the issue merited “a few more weeks” of review. The committee approved a motion to continue the item to the call of the chair, reflecting that the concerns about the item may not be resolved this week.
The Commission on the Status of Women will consider recommendations Wednesday for improving sexual assault investigations and a proposed letter seeking review of physicians named in the Epstein files.
The policing recommendations follow an Oct. 8 joint hearing with the Board’s Public Safety Committee. Melgar called the hearing after The Standard reported that SFPD cleared only 14% of rape cases the previous year. Survivors described slow responses and inadequate follow-up. Police Chief Derrick Lew acknowledged the importance of protecting survivors, and Melgar said she would seek to have the Police Commission enact reforms.
Recommendations include assigning cases within 48 hours, documenting steps before making a case inactive, requiring trauma-informed interviewing certification for investigators and publishing a dashboard of case outcomes. Commission President Diane Jones Lowrey questioned whether the targets were realistic given staffing constraints and whether the proposals would duplicate a review by the Mayor’s Office of Victims’ Rights.
The commission will also consider asking the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls to urge the Medical Board of California to review whether physicians named in the released Epstein files warrant scrutiny under existing professional standards. The proposed letter seeks review, not findings of wrongdoing.
Supervisor Wong will host a District 4 public safety town hall Wednesday evening at the United Irish Cultural Center, with Lew expected to attend. Topics include police staffing, retail theft, vehicle break-ins, fireworks and traffic safety.
The next morning, the Public Safety Committee will hold a special hearing, sponsored by Dorsey, on the city’s preparedness for extreme weather associated with El Niño. Agencies will address stormwater infrastructure, emergency alerts, protection of vulnerable residents and safeguards for homes, businesses and critical infrastructure.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Daniel Lurie have declared states of emergency. Forecasters warn that a potentially historic El Niño could bring California a wetter, stormier winter, with heavy rain, flash floods, mudslides, coastal flooding and erosion.
