San Francisco has about 8,500 pieds-à-terre — homes and condos purchased by wealthy out-of-town owners or investors who visit occasionally but do not live here and often do not rent the units out. These owners contribute little to the community or economy and do nothing to expand the city’s effective housing supply.

San Francisco’s Empty Homes Tax focuses on multi-unit rental vacancies, but nonresident homeowners should also be taxed. This would create an incentive for absentee owners to sell to full-time residents or place them in the long-term rental market.

Meanwhile, disputes like the one in the North Beach story scrutinize families who actually live in their homes, while a much larger stock of lightly used properties remains largely outside the public conversation.

San Francisco’s housing shortage is not just a matter of supply; it’s also a matter of true occupancy and actual use. Subjecting a family occupying a home to public opprobrium while ignoring multi-home absentee owners misses the mark.

S. Lucia Kanter St. Amour, San Francisco

Newsom has led California with fellow Democrats holding majorities in the state Assembly and Senate. After two terms, California is in shambles: the cost of living is astronomical, kindergarten through 12th-grade education is abysmal despite high per-pupil funding, the number of homeless people is disproportionate despite generous government spending, etc., etc., etc. 

Newsom is certainly a gifted speaker, but actions speak louder than words.

However, I was equally moved by Liu’s earlier short program, which ended with tears streaming down her face — not due to errors, but because she was so swept up in the emotional arc of her beautiful skating and its musical accompaniment. 

Liu has said publicly that she loves feeling all emotions, and her display of laughter and tears in these moments of great artistry is testimony that she is living up to her ideal vision of herself. 

Let’s hope that her newfound fame leaves her the space to continue her reign of enchantment and emotional depth.

Donald Arbitblit, Berkeley