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Liam McCarthy

Liam McCarthy is a Richmond District native who recently earned a Master’s of Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He concentrated in urban and social policy. 

Big Real Estate and the Abundance Network

Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s Abundance made a splash after its March release, earning a spot on the New York Times’ best seller list, a rarity for a book steeped in political wonkery. As weeks passed, it earned its share of critics — the Phoenix Project, among them — who rightly

Lurie’s Bet on Big Business

San Francisco’s newest mayor, Daniel Lurie, swept into office on a campaign centered around his outsider status. He presented his lack of experience in public service as an asset, distancing himself from a broken, crooked City Hall. Given San Francisco’s recent history with public corruption, specifically the Public

Joel Engardio’s Prop K Fiasco

In 2022, when Joel Engardio unseated incumbent Gordon Mar, he made the claim that Mar did not “represent the will of the voters.” The allegation came in response to Mar’s refusal to back the reactionary school board recall of 2022 which launched the careers of many of the “moderates”

The So-Called Death of a Great American City

About a year ago, the “San Francisco Doom Loop” was all, but inescapable. Local news outlets and even national media (including the New York Times), painted a picture of a city on the verge of implosion. Office vacancies — and the declining tax revenues that came with them — forced the city

Right-Wing DINOs Parading as Moderates

In my last blog post, I looked at Marie Hurabiell’s dubious claims of being a moderate Democrat rallying others around a centrist agenda. Hurabiell isn’t the only one playing this game. In San Francisco,“moderate Democrat” or just “moderate” should be considered code for Republicans pushing far-right policies