Brightline Defense Publications
LITTLE ROOM TO BREATHE: EVALUATING AIR QUALITY & HEALTH IMPACTS IN SAN FRANCISCO’S SINGLE ROOM OCCUPANCY (SRO) BUILDINGS
Emerging from the pandemic and 2020 wildfire season, nonprofit Brightline Defense releases a first-of-its-kind report studying climate change impacts upon tenants living in some of the nation’s densest and poorest housing conditions. As wildfire risk escalates with a deepening drought and historic heat waves in 2021, Single Room Occupancy (SRO) communities are disproportionately affected due to little access to indoor air filtration, personal protective equipment, preexisting health conditions, and crowded living conditions.
TRANSITIONING TO A GREEN ECONOMY: OFFSHORE WIND
As California begins the transition to a green economy, Brightline addresses equity concerns for environmental justice communities and highlights the opportunities of renewable energy through our newly published policy report. In the midst of a global pandemic and changing climate, offshore wind offers a silver lining for California’s frontline communities in need of economic recovery and cleaner air.
Toward Empowerment: Community Representation & Governance in San Mateo County
Expanding its grassroots reach throughout the Bay Area, Brightline releases its first-ever policy report beyond San Francisco: “Toward Empowerment: Community Representation and Governance in San Mateo County.” Representing twelve months of on-the-ground research and in-person interviews, this policy report blends policy and legal expertise to analyze the needs and governance of three San Mateo County communities: East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, and North Fair Oaks.
PUtting Local Hire to Work: Community Driven. Quality Jobs. Strong Policy.
The success and efficiency of our campaign proves that community-driven policy advocacy is sustainable and that a small community-based justice organization can have local, regional, and national impact. As we invest in ensuring that San Francisco’s local hiring law translates into quality jobs for disadvantaged communities, we are also expanding our capacity to meet the demand for technical assistance in other jurisdictions seeking to learn from these tools and to expand this approach into non-construction sectors.
Local Hiring Hits the Road: Guidance on US Department of Transportation’s Local Hiring Pilots
On March 6, 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) initiated an exciting one- year experimental pilot program to create job opportunities for communities impacted yet often ignored by local development projects. Until March 6, 2016, any Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funded projects, if approved, will now be able to require local hiring. This represents a significant departure from past anti- local hiring directives issued during the Reagan Administration, as USDOT had previously prohibited recipients and subrecipients from contracting stipulations on local and state bidding not immediately relevant to the bidder’s performance of work.1 The program will enable grantees to use social and economic contracting requirements and USDOT will use the collected data to ultimately evaluate their effects on competitive bidding.
Local Hiring Policy for Construction Now Recognized as a “Wild Success”
After decades of "good faith efforts" to achieve a 50% local hiring goal, local hiring in San Francisco had dipped to an all-time low of 20% in 2009-2010. Frustrated by the failure of good faith, an unprecedented grassroots coalition united to pass San Francisco’s landmark Local Hiring Policy for Construction and set mandatory minimum percentage requirements for local hiring. Alongside key community and labor allies, public policy nonprofit Brightline blended different skillsets ranging from legal analysis, policy advocacy, and community organizing to make mandatory local hiring possible.