By Calvin Welch, HANC Board

The broadly supported push to close Kennedy Drive to cars  attempts to address the concern over access to and within the park by suggesting various auto ( opening the deYoung parking garage to park visitors) and shuttle bus "solutions"- both dependent on greenhouse gas producing  internal combustion engines -that only partially address the issue.  Not discussed is a public transit solution which in a transit first city oddly places transit  not last but so far, not at all.

As a "front line" neighborhood to Kennedy Drive, the Haight-Ashbury has a special interest in the issue.  Unless an effective solution for non-car access is created the great bulk of non-local visitors to the park will drive their cars, especially from other parts of the City and the wider Bay region as they do now.  What a "car free JFK" will mean for us in the Haight-Ashbury (and Inner Sunset and Inner Richmond) given no effective non- car access alternative, will be  a "more car" neighborhood, as cars will circle our streets looking for parking.

We need a transit alternative to car visitors to Golden Gate Park.

Currently there are seven transit lines that go to Golden Gate Park: the 5, 7, 18, 28, 33, 44 and 66.  An additional line, the 21, while slated to return from Covid shutdown, still has not yet begin service to the north side of the park. That sounds like a lot, but closer inspection shows just how underserved the Park is by public transit. Five of the seven lines (and eventually the 21) only serve the edge of the park- the 5,7, 18, 33 and 66, and only one, the 5,  goes the entire length of the Park on the north side. The 7 turns south at 25th Ave., the 33 turns north at Arguello and the 66 has but one stop that borders the park, its last, at Haight and Stanyan.

Only 2 lines, the 28 and 44, actually enter the park, but only the 44 actually has stops inside Golden Gate Park as the 28 travels though the park without a stop.

By Richard Ivanhoe, HANC Board

HANC’s April meeting will focus on MUNI:  When will the 6 and 21 lines be restored?  What are MUNI’s long range plans to address both its budget needs and the reduction in downtown activity?  With the closure of JFK Drive, how can MUNI get people from other parts of the City out of their cars and into Golden Gate Park?

Approximately two years ago, MUNI shut down most of its bus and streetcar lines due to the Coronavirus pandemic, reducing service from approximately 70 routes to 17.  Service restoration has been incremental. 

In July, 2021, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution calling upon SFMTA to “reinstate all transit lines and restore pre-Covid service hours by December 31, 2021 and release by September 30, 2021, a written plan for the restoration of all lines and service.”  (We wrote about this in the August 2021 Voice:  https://www.hanc-sf.org/24-home/630-we-must-fight-to-save-the-6-and-21-muni-lines ). 

In December, 2021, the SFMTA Board of Directors approved a plan for restoring most MUNI routes (https://www.sfmta.com/project-updates/2022-muni-service-network-approved-plan#Details ).  But within a few weeks, SFMTA wrote about the service changes “We had hoped to implement them all in early 2022, but unfortunately, our operator staffing has not increased as quickly as we had estimated when we started the public outreach process for these changes.”  The latest plan tentatively restores the 21 Hayes (to part of its former route) in June 2o22, and gives no projected date for restoring the 6 Parnassus (https://www.sfmta.com/projects/2022-muni-service-network ).

HANC submitted a ballot argument in support of the Recall Timeliness and Vacancy Process ballot initiative that will be Proposition C in the June election.  We will provide more extensive coverage (including our endorsements) of the June election in the May—we do not want to divert attention from the April 19 election—remember to vote if you live in Assembly District 17.

Here is our argument in support of Proposition C:

Stop Letting Billionaires Buy Our Government. 

Vote Yes on C.

We’re outraged that a handful of bitter billionaires have raised millions of dollars to buy back elections that they lost.  Even the recallers themselves admit that 3 out of 4 signature gatherers were well-paid professionals, not San Franciscans.

This isn’t democracy.  This isn’t accountability.  This creates chaos.

Regular San Franciscans agree – Yes on C is a vote for democracy.

Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council. 

By Lisa Awbrey, HANC President

A few weeks back I attended a peace rally, concert and benefit for the People of Ukraine in Golden Gate Park. My mom and I are travel pals and avid hiking buddies; we made a date to go together but her 88 year old ankle is deteriorating so I fired up a newly purchased wheelchair for its maiden voyage. My task: navigating the sidewalks, streets and pathways from Hayes and Clayton to the Golden Gate Park Band Shell with my mom in a wheelchair. This journey turned out to be more difficult than anticipated, and I learned that accessing Golden Gate Park from a wheelchair is much more challenging than it ought to be.

I was averse to navigating a wheelchair across the Panhandle through Fell and Oak’s multi-laned treachery with speeding bicycles and cars to the 7 Haight bus. And even though I’m fit and strong, the prospect of pushing my mom two and a half blocks up hill in a wheelchair to the 5 Fulton was also daunting. For two and a half years service to our local reliable 21 Hayes bus line has been suspended. 

By Tes Welborn, HANC Board

Every ten years, the boundaries of San Francisco's Supervisor Districts are redrawn to ensure that each district maintains approximately equal numbers of residents. Members of the public are encouraged to participate in the redistricting process.

Why does Redistricting Matter? Redistricting directly impacts communities' access and ability to voice their goals, ideals, and objectives. This process helps ensure that Communities of Interest are kept intact and with meaningful representation to access funding for schools, hospitals, parks, community resources and services.

Because of all the population growth and housing approved in Districts 6 and 10, they have to reduce in size, and most other districts have to grow and/or change shape. And D5 is right in the middle of all these changes!

The Redistricting Task Force [RDTF] has the ultimate authority to create a city-wide map and we have the opportunity to influence the result. Their map must be finished by April 15.

Calvin Welch and others have been working with San Francisco Rising to develop a Community Unity Map. Because the boundaries of any given district affect other districts, SF Rising has been working with dozens of community organizations to identify and address issues, seeking a map for the whole city that large numbers of people can support. San Francisco Rising builds the political power of working-class communities and communities of color in San Francisco to lead the way for democratic governance that prioritizes racial, economic and environmental justice.

Bulletin Board

 On Saturday, February 26, HANC and co-sponsors (Coalition for a Complete Community, Senior Working Group, Cole Valley Haight Allies, Coalition on Homelessness, Homeless Youth Alliance, Larkin Street Youth Services, Acrosports, Booksmith, and Institute on Aging) held an event at 730 Stanyan to demonstrate that the space can and should be used pending the start of construction of permanent affordable housing.

The housing planned for 730 Stanyan will use public funds and is required to use part of the construction budget to fund art that will be visible from the street.

Artists who are interested should submit their qualifications by April 28 (this is not a deadline to submit proposals for the artwork).

There is a related series of five free online workshops Thursdays from 5:00 to 6:30 pm from March 17 through April 14, which cover "site analysis, stakeholder considerations, community engagement, RFPs vs RFQs, funding opportunities, contracting, and insurance."   Registration for the workshops ends on March 10.

Here is the announcement from the project developers:

PUBLIC ART RFQ + FREE WORKSHOP

730 Stanyan 100% Affordable Housing Development team, a partnership of Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC) and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC), is releasing the Public Art Request for Qualifications (RFQ) (https://www.dropbox.com/s/5o7ikik73w58zcc/730%20Stanyan%20PUBLIC%20ART%20RFQ_2022.02.17.pdf?dl=0) on February 17, 2022 for responses from artist applicants by April 28, 2022.

By Tes Welborn, HANC Board

Calvin Welch introduced the meeting topic, What's Up with the Mayor?  He asked, “Why is the Mayor seeking more control in a second Emergency Declaration, when she already has enormous Emergency powers?”  There are 34,000 city employees, 75 departments, and some 40 boards and commissions, and most are under the Mayor, even in non-emergency times.  The Mayor proposed two charter changes that were discussed.

 Jennifer Friedenbach, Coalition on Homelessness, tackled the Tenderloin Emergency 90 day Declaration.  The Mayor called a meeting of the Board of Supervisors on Christmas Eve that lasted to midnight!  The Mayor did not appear, and her representatives didn't have many answers. The vote was 8 yes, 2 no, Aaron Peskin absent. Ms. Friedenbach said that the Mayor already had the power to take action.

  1. Redistricting Community Unity Map
  2. February 10 at HANC: Unprecedented Executive Power Sought by Mayor Breed
  3. Comment on UCSF Draft EIR by February 14
  4. "Children First," a Nice Way to Say "Hand More Power to the Mayor"
  5. Haight Ashbury Policing Observations
  6. January Meeting Recap: Tim Redmond's Presentation on History of Recalls