by Richard Ivanhoe, HANC Board

We last reported on the Park Branch Library in the August issue of the Voice.  The article is also available on our website at https://www.hanc-sf.org/24-home/632-park-branh-library-s-reopening-plans .  At that time we reported that the library had moved from “SFPL to Go” pick up service to full in-person library services, with the hours remaining 10 am to 5:30 pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

As of November 13, Park Branch revised its hours as follows:

Sunday:         1 pm to 5 pm

Monday         12 noon to 6 pm

Tuesday         10 am to 8 pm

Wednesday   12 noon to 8 pm

Thursday       10 am to 6 pm

Friday             1 pm to 6 pm

Saturday        10 am to 6 pm

The community room remains unavailable for HANC meetings on Thursday night, and we are continuing to meet online.

The San Francisco Library has plans for further reopening in early 2022, although we do not yet know the details.  Park Branch has scheduled some daytime activities for January, which can be found here:  https://sfpl.org/events/#!/filters?field_event_location_target_id=47 . 

We will keep you updated as we learn more.

Nov 11 2021

To: Everyone at the HANC meeting on Nov. 11'21 including Dean Preston

From: Louise Dunlap, Senior Working Group

I was cut off the meeting right after Calvin made his comments about the hold up on 730 Stanyan.  I couldn't get back on the phone site.

So, here are the comments I have about the hold ups:

1) The Senior Working Group needs access during the interim use period in order to help seniors sign up for any units when the building opens;

2)This access would be a  necessary part of  MARKETING units to seniors. A point Calvin brought up in his comments just before I lost my phone connection.  Thank you, Calvin!

3)Someone ask Dean Preston if the building construction could start earlier since no interim use is scheduled. 

The problem is the Developers need to set up providers for the ground floor uses (such as the Senior Center) before construction.  However, as Bo Han informed me, no organization applied to run the senior center for various, logical reasons.  So the  Developers are going to restart the application process [for on-site  senior services] next March.  I dont know if the same problem arose with either child care and or the cafe.  If so,it would have been for the same reasons as happened with the Senior Center.

I any  case, the selection delay prevents starting construction earlier than the exisitng time frame.

If you have any questions for me feel free to call:

            Louise Dunlap

            Senior Working Group

            415 346-3195

By Lisa Awbrey, HANC President

The most important sentence in the Brown Act is: “all meetings of the legislative body of a local agency shall be open and public, and all persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting of the legislative body of a local agency except as otherwise provided.”

Now more than ever, especially during a global pandemic, transparency and accountability to the Public by our decision makers is essential. The People’s business and policy making must be done in the open air and sunlight. And the Public’s access to government meetings where decisions regarding complex quality of life issues (like local public transit, public space, street use, land use, and future development) are made and implemented is critical. Recently, when the SFMTA and its directors revealed a plan for the termination of local neighborhood serving bus lines, HANC joined with residents, numerous neighborhood organizations and community leaders to push for full restoration of ALL MUNI lines. At public hearings, through public comment, emails and demonstrations, the People called on the SFMTA to fully restore MUNI to pre pandemic levels. As of this writing, it appears SFMTA is changing course and listening because the public organized and spoke against the plan; none of this would have been possible without the Brown Act or without public engagement and public comment. The same could be said regarding recent public hearings on the controversial expansion of the UCSF Parnassus Campus, on various local D5 projects before the SF Planning Department and Commission and on decisions that impact our unhoused neighbors. 

The COVID-19 global pandemic has resulted in many changes to how local governments conduct business, including significant changes to open meeting rules and the Public’s access to local officials. 

Read more ...

By Bruce Wolfe and David Woo, HANC Board

The Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council has joined the Race and Equity in all Planning (REP) Coalition, a citywide coalition of neighborhood and community-based organizations that are working to ensure that land-use and city planning is directed by racial and social equity as defined by the working class, people of color, and marginalized and impacted communities. Made up of over 30 organizations spanning the city, including the South of Market, Chinatown, Bayview, Mission, and Richmond, among others, REP is challenging the top-down market-driven focus of land use and planning that has guided and ushered in successive waves of gentrification and displacement in San Francisco.

REP’s vision statement reads “The Race and Equity in all Planning (REP) Coalition's purpose is to create an entirely new race and equity framework for self-determination of marginalized communities. We are working together collectively and with the City to dismantle the prevailing racist and oppressive systems of planning, land use, cultural and economic development that have resulted in redlining, gentrification, displacement, and extreme inequality, and replace them with new systems that support, nurture, and prioritize the dignity, health, stability, and aspirations of American Indian people, people of color, people with low incomes and immigrants.”

Read more ...

Supervisor Dean Preston has declared District 5 and Eviction-Free Zone, and has provided these important messages for renters:

Know your Rights!

• If you are asked to move, don’t do it. You have protections to stay in your home.
• If you are behind in rent, don’t wait – apply for rental assistance at com. Your landlord cannot evict you if you have a pending application for rent relief.
• If you get an eviction notice, you can get a free attorney to help keep you in your home. Contact the Eviction Defense Collaborative 415-659-9184 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Stay in your home!

If you have questions about your housing, tenant counselors and legal assistance groups are available to help:

Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco

415-703-8644 (English, Spanish, Chinese)

415-947-9085 (Russian)

Open Door Legal

415-735-4124

Visit in person at 1113 Fillmore Street

For more, visit sfadc.org/help

For more information visit sfadc.org/rent

Contact Supervisor Dean Preston:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

October was a newsworthy month in the Haight-Ashbury.  We learned that the planned interim use for 730 Stanyan has been abandoned.  A shooting at Haight and Central and another at Haight and Buchanan have raised safety concerns.   MUNI has announced the return of the 6 and 21 bus lines (although only part of the 21’s former route is being restored) and restoration of other bus  lines in February.

These are the most visible news stories from October.  Supervisor Dean Preston will join us for our November meeting, and will provide updates on these and other issues that affect the Haight-Ashbury.

November is also the month that we elect the HANC Board for the next twelve months.

Accompanying articles on this website provide additional details about the Board election and how to join the November meeting.

Join us on November 11 at 7:00 pm for information you won’t hear anywhere else.  Bring your questions and bring a friend.

By Calvin Welch, HANC Board

Haight-Ashbury voters, according to the latest "preliminary" vote count from San Francisco Department of Elections ( Preliminary Report 11) , cast the highest percentage of its vote against recall of any of the 23 "neighborhoods" reported by the Department of Elections: of the 10,177 votes cast in the neighborhood 9,652 (94.85%) were NO on the recall. Just as San Francisco cast the highest percentage of no votes in the state (86.1%) , the Haight-Ashbury cast the highest in San Francisco, showing once again we are the most "San Franciscan" voters in the City.

Read more ...

By Tes Welborn, HANC Board

California, and mainly other western states, have three tools of direct democracy that allow a majority of ordinary citizens to directly make or change law and to recall elected officials. The Recall allows CA voters to remove from office any statewide elected official at any time, and for any reason.

A recall must provide signatures from registered voters equaling at least 12% of the total number of ballots cast in that elected official's last election. The Initiative and the Referendum can be discussed in a future newsletter.

Read more ...