08 May 2023

May 11th at HANC: The City Budget--More Money for Police is Certain, But What About Transit and Health Care?

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By Calvin Welch, HANC Board

This month HANC will focus its general membership meeting on the city budget. Three guests will join us to go through the key issues presented by this budget: Supervisor Budget Chair Connie Chan from District 1, Debbi Lerman, Director of the San Francisco Human Services Network, a coalition of some 50 faith and community based non-profit health and human services providers, and Tim Redmond, Editor and Founder of 48 Hills, who has reported on San Francisco politics, including budget politics for some 40 years.

In March, a Joint Report from the Controller, the Supervisors’ Budget Analyst and the Mayor’s Budget Director reported to both the Mayor and the Board that the City's revenue outlook had deteriorated from its initial January report of this year’s projected budget deficit of some $200 million to $290 million and the projected five year deficit to a whopping $1.3 Billion . Last year the Joint Report estimated an $80 million surplus for this year when the City passed its current $13.8 billion budget.

The expected shortfall was reported BEFORE the Mayor proposed and the Supervisors passed a$27 million supplement the Police Department’s current $713 million allocation to cover police overtime AND a new labor contract that will cost the City an additional $167 million over the next 3 years, providing a 10% increase in pay for the police. For every other department the Mayor has asked for a 10% CUT.

 

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08 May 2023

Update: 730 Stanyan Developer Meeting, April 4th

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By David Woo, HANC President

The developers of 730 Stanyan, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) and Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC), held their seventh public meeting about the project on April 4th, 2023. The project is expected to begin construction in June of this year, including the use of a crane.

Three Major Changes

There are three major changes that have happened to the project since the last developer update in September 2022. The first is that the number of housing units dedicated to Transitional Age Youth (TAY) has gone from 30 to 20. This is because the state of California, Governor Newsom, did not fund the project and San Francisco had to fill in with gap funding. This shift coincides with the addition of 32 units of Project Based Section 8 Voucher family units.

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08 May 2023

HANC Endorses HIV/AIDS Funding Package

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By Tab Buckner, HANC Board

At its April 20th meeting, the HANC Board voted unanimously to sign on to the letter from the HIV Advocacy Network (HAN) and HIV/AIDS Providers Network (HAPN) representing organizations in support of a funding set-aside for HIV/AIDS needs in the upcoming city budget.

Most San Franciscans living with HIV are now over 50 years old. As more people with HIV live longer, new challenges emerge. Individuals who are unhoused or marginally housed face a higher risk of HIV infection and a lower rate of viral suppression. The budget proposals address medical care, mental health service, harm reduction, subsidized housing and service organization support.

 

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10 April 2023

The City Can and Must Do Better Assisting Neighbors Displaced by Fire

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By Lisa Awbrey, HANC Vice-President

Am I the only one who thinks there’s been a marked increase in fires in our local neighborhoods? Here’s a partial list of recent fires and the number of people displaced by them:

  • 1/22/23 1:45 AM 1310 Hayes (Divisadero) 25 people and three dogs displaced.
  • 8/23/22 12 PM. 1604 McAllister (Divisadero) 13 residents and two businesses displaced. Three alarm fire, fought by over 100 firefighters.
  • 8/31/22 3:41 PM, 700 block of Divisadero (Haight). 12 people and one small business displaced. 
  • 4/5/22 8:39 PM 400 Upper Terrace over 50 people displaced. 
  • 2/18/19 3 PM 1230 Page Street. 14 people displaced.
  • 12/14/18 11 PM 24 unit building@ Hayes and Baker. 20 people displaced. 

How does our city respond to these life changing and tragic events and is there a coordinated process for assisting victims of fire when burned out of their homes? 

Short answer: currently, there is no single city department that is responsible for leading or coordinating assistance to fire victims. 

Is there a centralized data base where the city tracks residential fire incidents? Is the data organized to reflect incidents in specific districts or neighborhoods?  What is the city’s process for investigating the cause of residential fires?  Are we seeing patterns or trends in these recent fires? 

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10 April 2023

Board of Supervisors Hearing on Reparations

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By Tes Welborn, HANC Board

Reparations Meeting

The March 15th Board of Supervisors hearing on the draft Reparations Plan and Dream Keeper Initiative was an amazing event!  The chair and vice chair, Eric McDonnell and Tinisch Hollins, briefly presented the 60 page report of  the San Francisco African-American Reparations Advisory Committee [AARAC] detailing 111 recommendations. The entire Board made statements of support, including disclosures that two supervisors' own relatives had received reparations from Germany which had helped their families, and voted unanimously to accept the report. The BOS hearing chamber, room 250, was packed with supporters of the Reparations recommendations, nearly all African American, and of all ages. In addition, large numbers of Black residents and allies filled the phone lines to support the AARAC recommendations.

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10 April 2023

April 13th at HANC: Where's the Accountability?

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By Danielle McVay and Tab Buckner, HANC Board

HANC’s next general membership meeting will occur on Thursday, April 13 at 7:00 PM in a hybrid format at the Flywheel Café at 672 Stanyan Street (see accompanying article for online access). Guest speakers will address accountability deficiencies at City Hall and community efforts to counter such shortcomings. The panel will include San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness (COH) Executive Director Jennifer Friedenbach, Hospitality House Executive Director Joe Wilson, and Lydia Bransten, Executive Director of the Gubbio Project.

The COH filed a lawsuit last September against the City & County of San Francisco and Mayor London Breed in response to police sweeps of homeless encampments as a violation of people’s constitutional rights. On December 23, U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu granted a preliminary injunction to halt aggressive policing against the unhoused by means of enforcing certain laws against sitting, lying and sleeping on sidewalks. The injunction also prohibits confiscation and destruction of their personal property. The ruling stated that the City was violating its own laws as well as federal precedent by displacing and destroying encampments without offering a stable shelter alternative. The court’s decision was based on expert witness findings that reviewed three years of enforcement data, declarations from 25 impacted unhoused individuals and the observation of three former City employees. The findings indicate that the City’s forced displacements expose the illusion of a “services-first” program in place. The City has appealed the preliminary injunction and moved to stay the injunction pending the appeal.

 

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10 April 2023

Haight-Ashbury Scores on Homeless Oversight Commission Appointments

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By Calvin Welch, HANC Board

Christin Evans, Booksmith owner, former President of the Haight-Ashbury Merchants Association, and current HANC Board member, and Katie Albright, Senior Advisor of Safe and Sound (formerly The Child Abuse Prevention Center), which has been located in the neighborhood since 1987, were appointed this month by the Board of Supervisors to oversee the City's homeless programs, formerly under the sole direction of Mayor Breed.  Evans, nominated by the Board of Supervisors and Albright, nominated by the Mayor, will serve on the Commission created in last November’s election, when 67% of San Francisco's voters favored Proposition C, rejecting Mayor Breed's objection to the measure.  A whopping 74% of the Haight- Ashbury's voters favored the creation of the Commission.

No other neighborhood has as much representation on the Commission and the appointments can only be seen as recognition of the creative advocacy and skillful program creation that exists in our community in meeting and seeking solutions to the City's most vexing problem. Both Evans and Albright are members of the Coalition for a Complete Community which, along with HANC, successfully advocated for permanently affordable housing and non-profit service space to meet the needs of families, seniors and youth facing homelessness at the vacant McDonald’s site at 730 Stanyan.  Construction at the site is due to start this summer, and will include 100% affordable housing for families and "transition aged youth" with an affirmative marketing program for seniors.

It is a rare victory for advocates and non-profit service providers in today's San Francisco.  It is especially sweet for our two stalwart community workers to receive the recognition for their work.  HANC congratulates Christin and Katie and looks forward to working with them in their new positions.

10 April 2023

A Successful Haight-Ashbury Town Hall

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By Richard Ivanhoe, HANC Board

Room Filling Before the Town Hall

 Supervisor Dean Preston held a Haight-Ashbury Town Hall on March 29 in the Community Room of the Park Branch Library.  He was joined by Christin Evans, representing (in one of her many roles) the Haight Ashbury Merchant Association (HAMA), David Woo, representing HANC, as our President, and Jesse Jones, Team Lead Ambassador for the City Ambassador Program.

Town Hall Panel

 

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  1. District 5 Affordable Housing Opportunity Sites
  2. Update On Medicare Privatization
  3. Plans For a Public Bank Released For Community Feedback
  4. San Francisco Residential Rental Registry and Commercial Vacancy Tax Implemented
  5. Pedestrian Safety Concerns
  6. March 9th at HANC: A Plan for Reparations

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