Membership Meetings: 2nd Thursdays ~ 7-9pm
Park Branch Library, 1833 Page St, SF, CA 94117 (except August)
By Tes Welborn, HANC President
The developers of the 730 Stanyan site (Chinatown Community Development Center and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation) held their third public meeting on October 29th, and provided much new information. They have completed a massing study, which shows the approximate shape of the planned development, and how many housing units they plan.
By Christin Evans, HANC Board
The 2018 Yes on Proposition C, Our City Our Home (OCOH) campaign, just reached another milestone. Following the court victory which unlocked approximately $300 million annually in funds for homeless solutions, the Controller allowed the OCOH Oversight Committee to commence its meetings.
On the September agenda were introductions of the committee appointees. The Oversight committee is composed of 4 appointees by the Board of Supervisors and 4 appointees by the Mayor and 1 additional appointee from the Controller’s office. The committee elected two members -- both women of color -- to serve as the Chair (Shannell Wililams) and Vice Chair (Julia D’Antonio).
By Lisa Awbrey, HANC Board
On May 29, 2020, the temporary safe sleeping village (also known as CAMP) at 730 Stanyan Street opened. The village contains 39 spatially distanced sites. The City chose the site mainly because it could be quickly activated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, there were 55 residents living at CAMP with 8 vacancies. Since the village opened, 22 people have transitioned forward, and 33 formerly unhoused campers remain stable for the time being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 22 campers who have exited the site, five people moved to Shelter-In-Place (SIP) hotel rooms; five people have been moved to permanent housing; eight people have left town to return to live with family members or to work; and one person transitioned to a treatment program. Three people were asked to leave because they did not cooperate with the village’s rules.
On Sunday afternoon, October 18th, a contingent of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and friends, known as the Squeaky Clean Gutter Queens descended on Haight Street to pick up trash and seep clean the streets and sidewalks. The Sisters have a strong historical connection to the Haight-Ashbury. Shortly after their founding, the original Convent was located for several years in the early 1980s on Ashbury Street near Fell, and another cadre of the drag nuns filled a house know as Babylon around the corner on Fell at Masonic.
We have added an option to pay for HANC membership by credit card to our website. Follow this link https://www.hanc-sf.org/join-us . Membership dues remain $15 annually or $5 for low income. Simply enter your credit card information and billing name and address, which is encrypted by Stripe before it is sent to us.
We also continue to accept membership payments by check or money order through the mail. Make checks payable to Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council and mail to HANC, PO Box 170518, San Francisco, CA 94117
Nominations for the HANC Board are open through the election at our November Meeting. All current HANC members are eligible to serve and to nominate other members. If you would like to serve, or would like to nominate someone, you can do so before the vote at the November meeting. The term is from December, 2020 through November, 2021. The current HANC Board has made the following recommendations for officers and Board members for the upcoming term:
President: Lisa Awbrey
Vice President: David Woo
Recording Secretary: Bruce Wolfe
Corresponding Secretary: Jim Rhoads
Treasurer: Christin Evans
Nominating Chair: Tes Welborn
Membership Chair: Richard Ivanhoe
Housing & Land Use Chair: Calvin Welch
Recycling Chair: Karen Fishkin
Members At Large: Alex Aquino, Jaime Michaels, Shira Noel, James Sword, Christian Vaisse
By Christin Evans, HANC Board
As we develop a better understanding of how the virus is spread, health officials are offering guidance to more and more businesses on the ways they can re-open. On September 14th, hairdressers, nail salons, piercing & tattoo parlors, massage businesses, gymnasiums and fitness studios were all authorized to re-open so long as they followed certain safety guidelines such as the completion of a safety protocol plan, providing masks & hand sanitizer and taking other industry-specific measures to lower the risk of the virus spread.
However, just because some businesses can re-open, that doesn’t mean they will open. Small business owners who don’t want to assume the risk for their own health, their employees or their customers may still elect to do business online or outdoors through the city’s Shared Spaces program.
Most businesses have limited the number of customers inside at a time, and placed hand sanitizer throughout their businesses encouraging customers and staff to liberally apply the virus-killing alcohol-based liquid, foam & gel. Stores have also shortened hours and limited the number of staff working and many customers still elect for curbside pickup even though in store browsing is now an option.
By Jaime Michaels, HANC Board
On August 18, a combination of extreme conditions, including a heat wave, a dry thunderstorm, and parched landscapes throughout the State, resulted in a series of fires in northern and central California. To date, almost 800,000 acres have been affected in multiple counties and none of the fires are yet fully contained. The effects include poor air quality and related impacts on health even for those living away from fire epicenters. Consequently, local authorities have recommended limiting outdoor activity for individuals with respiratory disease, pregnant women, the elderly, and children.
For those working or needing to be outside, be aware that you still need to protect yourself from both the bad air and from Covid-19. This article from UCSF - https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/08/418276/what-know-about-wildfire-smoke-and-covid-19 - recommends wearing an N-95 mask and covering up the exhalation valve (N-95 masks with the valve should be reserved for health care workers treating Covid-19). We understand that disposable KN95 masks (which do not have valves) may be more readily available, but there are some concerns with the KN95 masks—these masks were developed and distributed in China, and some of these masks do not meet expected filtration performance.
Additionally, it is important to understand air quality conditions, which can change dramatically on any given day depending on fire status, immediate weather patterns and topographical features, and one’s proximity to instruments measuring and reporting pollutants using the Air Quality Index (AQI). Current science-based information on air quality and different levels of risk related to exposure is readily available to the public. The City of San Francisco hosts one official air monitoring sensor on Potrero Hill, which is operated and maintained by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and data collected is available at https://www.baaqmd.gov/ . Although a reliable source of information, reporting times for this sensor do lag throughout the day, and data best reflect conditions at or near the sensor’s location. (An additional source of information linked to official sensors is https://fire.airnow.gov/ .)