By Calvin Welch and Christin Evans, HANC Board

This month's general membership meeting will focus on the unprecedented series of unilateral actions taken by Mayor Breed during the longest period of "emergency powers" in recent San Francisco history. Specifically, three of Mayor Breed’s recent  actions will be discussed by our invited panel: the declaration of a SECOND emergency (and emergency declaration  within an existing declared emergency) regarding executive actions to be taken in the Tenderloin to "address  the  drug crisis"; the proposed charter amendments for the November, 2022 ballot to transform children services and funding by placing them all under the Mayor (see  BoS file 211284) and finally, to redefine "affordable housing" to be up to 140% of Median Income ($2850 a month rent) and make its development as a "matter of right"  with no public hearings (BoS file 211289).

Our panel will include three particularly experienced and knowledgeable participants: Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness will discuss the Tenderloin State of Emergency;  Margaret Brodkin, Director of Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth for 26 years and former Director of the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families and leader of the campaign that created the San Francisco Children's Fund will discuss the Mayor's children's charter amendment ; Joseph Smooke, coordinator of  Racial Equity in Planning (REP) a citywide housing coalition (of which HANC is a member) and former Executive Director of Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, former Program Director for the Housing Rights Committee and a past aide to two San Francisco Supervisors, will discuss Breed's "affordable" housing measure.

Read more ...

UCSF is proposing to construct a new giant hospital, nearly 300 feet tall, about one hundred feet taller than existing campus buildings. A new hospital is required by law, but this size reflects UCSF's desire to serve more well-paying patients. Construction would begin in 2023 and be completed by the end of 2030.

Please comment by February 14 on Environmental Factors such as Air Quality, Noise and Vibration, Geology and Soils, Transportation, as well as the three Alternative Proposals including a smaller hospital, approved in 2014 Plan.

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) analyzes potential environmental impacts that would result from implementing the NHPH. The Draft EIR is available at tiny.ucsf.edu/HospitalDraftEIR for a 60-day public review and comment period from December 16, 2021 to February 14, 2022. You can obtain a paper version of the Draft EIR by calling (415) 502-5952.

While UCSF will self-certify the EIR, we need to put neighborhood concerns on the record and for possible use in the three pending lawsuits against the giant hospital.

By James Sword, HANC Board

Back in September 2021 I wrote an article asking the organized-under-COVID parent political action committee (formerly Decrease the Distance) to use their loud and well connected voices to improve issues within the school system rather than push for status quo and take credit for efforts by communities long ignored by politicians. (https://www.hanc-sf.org/24-home/639-sfusd-under-covid-19).  While this group has mostly ignored this call to action, they have continued to focus on reforming San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) to better serve themselves and other already families already benefiting from the status quo (like mine). Two areas they have focused on are 1) helping raise nearly $1,000,000 for the recall of the Pacific Islander, Latina, and Black members of the Board of Education (BOE), and 2) increasing the power of the Mayor in influencing and controlling the BOE. As early as March of 2021 people closely connected to Decrease the Distance (DtD) began pushing a charter amendment to have the Mayor appoint the BOE rather than have it as an elected board – currently the only election where non-citizens are allowed to vote.

Fast forward to December 2021 when Mayor London Breed announced she was introducing a charter amendment, “Children First” ballot measure that will make San Francisco “a national model for how cities can improve the well-being for children. The measure will reform how the City delivers services to children and create accountability measures to ensure the San Francisco School Board focuses on kids, not politics.” The word salad announcement was dripping with irony, starting with the fact that DtD politicized SFUSD when they called for schools to reopen before teachers were vaccinated by leaning on the moderate politicians representing San Francisco to push the cause, and lobbying them to withhold money from an already underfunded school district.

Read more ...

By James Sword, HANC Board

There are many theories to policing. In 2010 HANC developed a community policing stance (https://www.hanc-sf.org/16-home/-sp-234/34-elements-of-effective-community-policing ) – in essence, work with the community and foot patrol = good, sitting in cars = bad. The key to community policing is community. Unfortunately, community policing is not how police seem to be deployed in the Haight as of late. More often than not police are seen selectively enforcing Sit-Lie and other “quality of life” policies.

Recently there were 6 police officers standing on the corner of Haight and Ashbury for an entire afternoon, six. One car was parked on the southeast corner, an SUV was parked the wrong way in the southbound lane at the northwest corner, six officers standing and talking. Neighbors asked if there had been a recent crime (in the last two years there’s been a shooting by an FBI agent and vehicle mayhem at this intersection. A month earlier there was a shooting resulting in death less than a block away). There was no crime; officers stated they were assigned to this corner by Captain Pedrini after a request for some police presence – “some,” not six.

Read more ...

By David Woo, HANC Vice President

Looking at the recalls here locally, around the state, and country, it’s an interesting piece of history and really an abomination of the original intent of the recall. Recalls were creatures of Hiram Johnson, the progressive era governor in 1911 when Southern Pacific ran California. Johnson ran on breaking the control that big corporations had on the state, with the state legislature controlled by these corporations.

The idea was if state legislators can’t be counted on to do the work of the people, then the people can do it themselves. So we can put an initiative on the ballot with signatures and we can pass our own legislation that the legislature is too corrupt to pass. And at the same time if the legislature (controlled by corporations) does something horrible, we can put a referendum on it, put it on the ballot, and get rid of it. Added to this was the recall.

Read more ...

By David Woo, HANC Board

HANC has taken the position that any proposal to close JFK Drive must be guided by maximum transit, access, and equity. To this end, HANC advocates for new MUNI service to Golden Gate Park, in addition to existing service, before any proposal to close JFK/Middle/MLK drives goes into effect, in order to address equity access issues and increase transit capacity for GGP. This must be in addition to increased shuttles and shuttle frequency within the park.

HANC also advocates for full vehicle access into the eastern end of the park for volunteers of the Dahlia Garden who have been blocked by the closure and require vehicle access to be able to care for and run the garden (at no cost to the city).

Read more ...

The Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council Board of Directors is taking a stance against politically motivated recalls. In the October Voice (https://www.hanc-sf.org/24-home/643-what-are-recalls-all-about) it was written recalls should be more difficult:

“It's expensive. It could be called an excess of democracy, and undermine the independence of elected officials. It can be abused. More recalls are organized by business than by ordinary citizens (the BOE recall has raised $1m from people who also supplied dark money in the last D5 Supervisor race), and often with less than a year before the next election... In SF, recalls can place even more power in the hands of the Mayor. The school board issues appear to be matters of policy, not rising to criminal acts.”

Read more ...

By Richard Ivanhoe, with help from Christin Evans, HANC Board

San Francisco could see as many as four elections in 2022.  The first is on February 15, 2002.  Joaquin Torres, who was appointed by Mayor Breed to replace Carmen Chu as assessor-recorder, is running unopposed to continue as assessor-recorder for the remainder of his term (through January, 2023).  The measures to recall school board members Alison Collins, Gabriela Lopez, and Faauuga Molina also appear on this ballot.  February 15 is also the date for the special primary election for Assembly District 17, for a replacement for David Chiu, who was appointed as City Attorney by Mayor Breed.  This is a special election for the remainder of the term, which ends in January, 2023.

If no candidate for Assembly District 17 receives a majority of the vote, there will be a special general election for the seat on April 19.  Only the top two vote-getters will appear on the ballot.

Read more ...