By Richard Ivanhoe, HANC Board

The two panel members at our April meeting, Chris Arvin and Jason Henderson, were a wealth of information.  Unfortunately, nobody from SFMTA was in attendance.

Chris Arvin began with a number of reasons why MUNI is slow at restoring service post-Covid:  operating funding for MUNI has decreased from $200 million to $50 million; the Mayor’s position is no new taxes on transportation, MUNI has difficulty finding drivers because Prop G (2010), a union-busting measure, lowered wages for starting operators, and increased the time for their wages to rise. 

Measurements have shown that it takes the 7-Haight longer to travel the length of Haight Street since stop signs were replaced with traffic signals.  The 43-Masonic is scheduled to return to its full route through the Presidio and to Fort Mason in July.  The 21 is also scheduled to return in July, but will only run to Market and Grove.  The 6-Parnassus is now also scheduled to return in July, but only after voices were raised about SFMTA's failure to schedule its return.

Citywide, MUNI is at about 54% of its pre-Covid boardings.  The 7 is at 74% (this higher percentage could be due to the suspension of the 6).

Jason Henderson spoke about congestion in Hayes Valley—Haight Street transit is often stuck behind double-parked vehicles, and the transit lane stops shy of Buchanan.  The State has billions of dollars, but no transit plan or push from transit agencies.  Octavia is backed up both from Citywide and regional traffic (which is more than a local issue) as well as by gig traffic (Uber, Lyft, delivery vehicles, UCSF shuttles). 

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Here are the final maps for San Francisco and for District 5 approved by the San Francisco Redistricting Task Force:

Although the City Charter seems to indicate that these new districts go into effect with the next Supervisorial election (which will be in November), the City Attorney and the Board of Supervisors have taken the position that they went into effect immediately.

We plan to discuss Redistricting, and its effect on the Haight-Ashbury, at our June meeting.

By Richard Ivanhoe, HANC Board

Like San Francisco, California has a Redistricting Commission, whose function is to redraw the State’s political map based on the 2020 census.  Unlike San Francisco’s Redistricting Commission, the State’s final maps and report were issued in December, 2021. These affect San Francisco.

The boundaries of our Federal Congressional district remain the same, but because California lost one representative in the last census, we are now in Congressional District 11, and no longer in District 12.  We remain in California Senate District 11 (not to be confused with Federal Senators—our two Federal Senators represent the entire State).

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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.

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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 ).

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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. 

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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.

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