By Richard Ivanhoe, HANC Board
As anyone who has lived in the neighborhood for more than a few months knows, changes to the Haight Street commercial corridor occur frequently. Here are a few updates:
Membership Meetings: 2nd Thursdays ~ 7-9pm
Park Branch Library, 1833 Page St, SF, CA 94117 (except August)
HANC Membership Meeting - May 2026
By Calvin Welch, HANC Board
We should have a pretty clear picture of the outcome of the San Francisco vote by our November 14th meeting. God only knows what will be happening at the national level. Tim Redmond will join us and discuss his understanding of the impact of the November election. I will prepare a report on How the Haight Voted in all the key races and propositions. Join us Thursday, 14 November at 7:00 pm at the Park Branch Library. (See below article to join online).
SFMTA is planned a public hearing on the Oak Street Bike Lane (aka the Oak Quick-Build Project) on November 8, after the Voice has been sent out for printing, but before the HANC meeting on November 14. Per SFMTA, “no decisions are made at the public hearing. Afterward, the City Traffic Engineer will review all comments and decide whether to advance the project to the SFMTA Board of Directors for their consideration. We will inform you of the SFMTA Board meeting date in advance, which will also include an opportunity for public comment joined by a staff report and presentation.”
Nominations for the HANC Board are open through the election at our November Meeting. All current HANC members are eligible to nominate other members. Those who have been members for at least three months are eligible to serve. If you would like to nominate someone, you can do so before the vote at the November meeting. The term is from December, 2024 through November, 2025. The current HANC Board has made the following recommendations for officers and Board members for the upcoming term:
President: Richard Ivanhoe
Vice President: Nate Horrell
Recording Secretary: Bruce Wolfe
Corresponding Secretary: James Sword
Treasurer: Christin Evans
Nominating Chair: Lisa Awbrey
Membership Chair: Karen Fishkin
Housing & Land Use Chair: Calvin Welch
Members At Large:
Tab Buckner
Danielle McVay
Alice Mosely
Jim Rhoads
Christian Vaisse
David Woo
By Tab Buckner, HANC Board
HANC held its most recent general membership meeting on October 10. President David Woo explained the criteria for HANC’s Board elections in November. He announced a slate the board is nominating and stated that other HANC members are eligible to run for a position. Someone needs to be a HANC member for at least one month to qualify for voting. David introduced the candidates from the mentioned slate.
The rest of the meeting focused on the upcoming November Election including several ballot measures HANC has endorsed.
Carla Gonzalez represented California’s Proposition 33 that would reform the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act which banned cities and counties from enacting new rent control ordinances. Prop 33 would remove the state ban, allow cities and counties to expand rent control and allow local communities to stop predatory corporate landlords from charging unfair and unaffordable rents. The measure has significant community support but a huge amount of money has funded advertising from its opponents that include the California Association of Realtors and the California Apartment Association.
Doug Engmann spoke against Prop D (which HANC also opposes) and for Prop E. Prop D would cut down the number of city commissions to 65 and eliminate ones that include Health, Human Rights, Environment, Juvenile Probation, Small Business, Library and Arts. The mayor would acquire additional power including more control over department heads. Prop D has been heavily funded by billionaire Michael Moritz and is promoted through TogetherSF. Prop E would create a public process with a citizen’s task force to review the city’s commissions over an 18 month period. The task force would then present their findings to the Board of Supervisors and request they create ballot measures addressing recommended changes. The task forces positions can also be implemented at the ballot box through signature gathering without the Board’s involvement.
If the turnout at the September Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council General Membership meeting District Supervisors forum is any indication, there is wide and attentive interest in the local races here in the Haight-Ashbury. Over 200 people attended, either in-person or online. The event had all candidates for District 5 Supervisor and was moderated by Chronicle columnist and editorial writer Nuala Bishari.
This month for HANC’s October general membership meeting, we have invited speakers in support of local Propositions E, L, and G, and California Proposition 33. We have also invited Ryan Khojasteh who is running for San Francisco District Attorney to speak (DA Brooke Jenkins was also invited but declined to join). The Board of the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council voted to endorse all four propositions that will be discussed at our October meeting. Below are refreshers on what Propositions E, L, G, and 33 are and their importance.
Proposition E: Creating a Task Force to Recommend Changing, Eliminating, or Combining City Commissions
Prop E was put on the ballot as a transparent alternative to the billionaire / TogetherSF funded Prop D which seeks to significantly restructure our local government and strengthen mayoral power. Prop E acknowledges that the City does likely have too many commissions, mainly because many are created for specific time-sensitive purposes and then linger on beyond their initial purpose. Prop E. creates a taskforce to publicly evaluate the city’s commissions, and then make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors and the voters to ultimately take action, if action is needed.
|
Measure |
Description |
|
|
|
SAN FRANCISCO | |
|
B |
Community Health and Medical Facilities, Street Safety, Public Spaces, and Shelter to Reduce Homelessness |
YES |
|
C |
Inspector General |
YES |
|
D |
City Commissions and Mayoral Authority |
NO |
|
E |
Creating a Task Force to Recommend Changing, Eliminating, or Combining City Commission |
YES |
|
F |
Police Staffing & Deferred Retirement |
NO |
|
G |
Funding Rental Subsidies for Affordable Housing Developments Serving Low Income Seniors, Families, and Persons with Disabilities |
YES |
|
H |
Retirement Benefits for Firefighters |
NO |
|
I |
Retirement Benefits for Nurses and 911 Operators |
YES |
| J | Funding Programs Serving Children, Youth, and Families | YES |
|
L |
Additional Business Tax on Transportation Network Companies and Autonomous Vehicle Businesses to Fund Public Transportation |
YES |
|
M |
Changes to Business Taxes |
YES |
|
N |
First Responder Student Loan and Training Reimbursement Fund |
NO |
|
O |
Supporting Reproductive Rights |
YES |
|
|
CALIFORNIA | |
|
3 |
Constitutional Right to Marriage. Legislative Constitutional Amendment |
YES |
|
4 |
Authorizes Bonds for Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, and Protecting Communities and Natural Lands from Climate Risks |
YES |
|
5 |
Allows Local Bonds for Affordable Housing and Public Infrastructure |
YES |
|
6 |
Eliminates Constitutional Provision Allowing Involuntary Servitude for Incarcerated Persons |
YES |
|
32 |
Raises Minimum Wage |
YES |
|
33 |
Expands Local Governments’ Authority to Enact Rent Control on Residential Property |
YES |
|
34 |
Restricts Spending of Prescription Drug Revenues by Certain Health Care Providers |
NO |
|
35 |
Provides Permanent Funding for Medi-Cal Health Care Services |
No Position |
|
36 |
Allows Felony Charges and Increases Sentences for Certain Drug and Theft Crimes |
NO |
Early voting for the November election has begun inside City Hall. Vote-by-mail ballots have been mailed. Mail-in ballots can be returned through Election Day, November 5, but we suggest mailing in ballots sooner.
In addition to voting by mail, you can drop off your ballot at the ballot drop box in front of the Park Branch Library at 1833 Page Street, the only drop box within the Haight-Ashbury. The location of other drop boxes is available at https://www.sf.gov/return-your-ballot. Drop boxes are available through 8:00 p.m. on November 5.
And, of course, you can vote at your polling place from 7 am to 8 pm on November 5.
HANC, as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, cannot endorse candidates. We can endorse or oppose ballot measures, and have endorsed the above ballot measures
Whatever your position, we encourage you to vote in the November election.