S.F. local-hire law passes 1st 'test,' backers say

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Michael Means was about to abandon his plan for a job in the construction industry a few months ago, but now the 50-year-old Bernal Heights resident credits San Francisco's local hiring ordinance with giving him a career.

Means, who spent 15 years in the Army, had high hopes a year ago when he graduated from a city-sponsored construction training program. San Francisco was implementing a controversial local hiring ordinance that requires an increasing percentage of workers on city-funded construction projects to be residents.

The anti-market ethos lives in San Francisco.