By Christin Evans, HANC Board

Before the pandemic started Haight Street was already at a record high 21 storefront vacancies.  Rising costs including skyrocketing rents, payroll and other costs coincided with 4 years of disruptive street construction making it a tough go for many shopkeepers.  Notable closures in that time included the 40 year old Haight Ashbury Music Center, Carlos’ Shoe Repair, and Kids Only. 

So when the pandemic forced doors closed and the plywood went up, there was a period when it looked like many more Haight businesses wouldn’t survive.  By March 2021, a year from the first shelter-in-place order, there were 32 storefront vacancies (about a fifth of the storefronts between Stanyan and Central).  Many of the pandemic closures were clothing stores such as Haight Ashbury T-Shirts, Static and Crossroads Trading Company, which struggled to meet rent obligations with a significant drop in sales. 

But as local retail is inching out of its pandemic funk, and restaurants and bars are expanding service, vacant storefronts are beginning to fill in.  Here are some notable new businesses:

In April 2020, after the Bay Area was officially in lockdown in response to the pandemic, Food Runners San Francisco found a temporary home at 1525 Waller Street (where the weekly food pantry operates) to cook, pack, and store meals for distribution to those in need throughout the City. Presently, staff and volunteers are preparing between 12,000-15,000 meals each week. The non-profit organization created in 1987 aims to alleviate hunger by using excess food that otherwise would be discarded and in doing so helps prevent waste and sustains the community-at-large. 

Because occupation and use of the Waller Street space was planned as short-term only, the operation needs to relocate in September 2021. According to Food Runners staff, its new location needs: a catering or restaurant kitchen; equipment (e.g., large cold storage, flat top, grill, ovens, burners, ice machine, dishwasher); area(s) for food packing; office space; and parking (a minimum of six (6) vehicle spaces and area for food delivery drivers and trucks). 

Any neighbors or friends who know of a space for lease that meets these criteria should contact Ashlee Thompson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Enrollment at City College of San Francisco dropped from approximately 39,000 in Fall, 2019 to approximately 27,000 in Fall, 2020.  City College faces its next accreditation review in 2023.

HANC has been concerned about cuts in available classes and about cuts in faculty.  HANC is also concerned about the change in focus at CCSF from being a community college for all segments of San Francisco’s population to becoming a junior college, directed at those planning to transfer to four-year colleges and universities.

The main argument in support of these damaging changes is that belt-tightening is necessary to ensure City College’s fiscal survival.  Regardless of whether you agree with this argument, one of the best ways to increase City College’s income is to increase enrollment.

By David Woo, HANC Board

In June we have celebrated both Pride month and Juneteenth. While participating in or celebrating these events, we must connect them to ongoing struggles.

Pride Month

Pride month seeks to honor the LGBTQ+ community and the struggles for justice within the queer community. While Pride Month has been folded into the corporate mainstream divorcing it from the radical roots of the queer liberation movement - with Bank of America and SFPD floats at the SF Pride Parade - some of the current struggles for the queer community are more visible when viewed along class lines. A disproportionate number of homeless residents in San Francisco identify as LGBTQ+ (27% versus 12% citywide), and that is especially true for homeless youth (46% of homeless youth identified as LGBTQ+)*. With a historical presence of homeless youth in the Haight, it’s important to remember that being pro-LGBTQ ultimately means supporting and fighting for the rights, well-being, and dignity of our houseless neighbors.

Juneteenth

Juneteenth commemorates the day on June 19th, 1865 when Union troops entered Galveston, Texas and announced that slavery had ended. It recently became a federal holiday. The historical and ongoing displacement of the Black community in San Francisco serves as a reminder of how the struggle for justice for the Black community is ongoing. For past and current administrations in San Francisco, the city is being built for new wealthy and disproportionately white populations. While San Francisco is only 5-6% (or less) African American, African American’s make up 37% of the homeless population in the city (and 24% of homeless youth).

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*Data is from the 2019 SF Homeless Point in Time Count.

By Lisa Awbrey, HANC President

In the Spring of 2020, during an unprecedented chain of events relating to the COVID-19 shut down and Shelter In Place orders, bold action by San Francisco’s leaders and electeds, neighbors and residents was required. On April 14, 2020, the Board of Supervisors passed unanimous emergency legislation mandating (by an 11-0 vote) that by April 26, the city obtain 8,250 hotel rooms, with 7,000 earmarked for unhoused folks living on the streets and in congregate shelters. But the emergency legislation was never put into effect by the Mayor who quietly refused to fund it. 

On a national level, the CDC (along with global and local level UCSF physicians) continued to caution against the health dangers of congregate living settings (like indoor shelters). UCSF doctors also warned against moving too slowly in obtaining hotel rooms for the City’s most vulnerable: our unhoused people. Medical workers and first responders staged a street demonstration (dubbed a “die in”) in front of Mayor Breed’s home to underscore the crisis in an attempt to spur her to swift action. 

By Tes Welborn, HANC Board

Community members have been fighting UCSF's unilateral decision to break the Space Ceiling limits agreement  of a maximum of 3.55 million square feet, established in 1976 and written into state law.  The coalition, of which Calvin Welch and I are members, supports retaining the Space Ceiling and the 2014 Long Range Development Plan's smaller new hospital.

Community Feedback Reduces Hospital Size

Community Feedback Reduces Hospital Size 2

By Calvin Welch, HANC Board

In a surprise move, Mayor Breed ordered a halt to the community planning process being done by the non-profit developers the city selected for the 100 % affordable housing development at 730 Stanyan Street.

Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC) and the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) had conducted a pre-application meeting and a series of  community planning  meetings since June 2020, and were poised to hold their fifth and seemingly last meeting with the community which was to present the modifications to the design gathered from the community.

But Mayor Breed seems to have other plans for the site.  While no official announcement has yet been made to the community in over a month since the April 29 meeting was cancelled, the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) did respond to an Examiner op-ed drafted by the co-chairs of the Coalition for a Complete Community (CCC) which called upon the Mayor not to delay the development of the proposed 120 unit development (The op-ed piece can be found at: https://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/city-should-stop-foot-dragging-on-critically-needed-affordable-housing-in-haight-ashbury/).   

By Christin Evans, HANC Board

“How do we make our community safer for all?” was the opening question for our panelists at HANC’s May meeting.  Police Commissioner John Hamasaki kicked off the discussion, “Last year, before George Floyd, the Police Commission adopted a resolution to transfer homeless related calls away from SFPD. That’s something we all should agree about because police should be reserved for serious criminal activity, danger [and] violence….  Across the country and San Francisco, for too long we’ve relied on the police to fill in all the gaps in social services, in mental health and substance abuse.  And that has been an abysmal failure putting a burden on police they don’t have the training for and the negative implications of that for the community.” 

Last year, the city launched a pilot initiative of Street Crisis Response teams (SCRTs). Each team includes a Fire Department paramedic, a behavioral health clinician, and a peer counselor. The SCRTs have primarily responded to 911 calls (rated Priority B or C) where a person is experiencing a mental health crisis.  The teams have already alleviated call volumes from police response.   Recently Mayor Breed announced an expansion of the concept and said she would propose in her 2021-22 budget that the city add Street Wellness Response teams (SWRTs) who would respond to priority B and C “wellness check” calls. 

  1. HANC Continues to Advocate for an Interim Use for 730 Stanyan
  2. April Meeting Recap - Joe Eskenazi on City Corruption
  3. April Meeting Recap - Tenant Protections
  4. April Meeting Recap - HAM Radio in San Francisco
  5. Turn on the Lights! PG&E and City Dispute Delays New Haight Street Lights
  6. Budgetin and Parks Oversight - HANC March Meeting Recap