By Lisa Awbrey, HANC President
The HANC Board recently heard from Dan Miller, Head of Urban School on an upcoming construction project to convert the old St. Agnes gymnasium on Page Street to a Performing Arts Complex and Community Center. Urban School has been talking about this project for 20 years; permitting was completed in 2015. Urban School’s current student body of 420 students requires a larger space, and currently has no formal assembly space for students and teachers. They use the old Gumption Theater building on Page, with a maximum capacity of 80, which is completely inadequate for 420 students. The new performance space will host theatrical productions, musical theatre, jazz, classical and chorale performances, along with school assemblies. Construction is set to begin some time after Thanksgiving/December/January 2023. Dan has hosted three community meetings with immediate neighbors attending.
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By Tes Welborn, HANC Board
The Elections Commission is holding some meetings to review the recent Redistricting process and consider what, if any, changes may be needed for the next Redistricting in 10 years. Changes proposed may come in the form of a ballot proposition, sponsored by the Elections Commission or the Board of Supervisors.
I attended the Elections Commission’s September meeting in which they devoted about an hour to Q&A with three former task force members from the last three redistricting processes.
Cynthia Dai, Asian American, who served on the state's redistricting commission, is the Elections Commission’s point person for Redistricting. New commissioner Renita LiVolsi, appointed by the Public Defender, and is African American, volunteered to work with Ms. Dai on future Redistricting discussions. [FYI, other commissioners appeared to be white.]
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