By Richard Ivanhoe, HANC Board
Although we’ve used this phrase before, 2022 was a year like no other. We had four elections, Federal, State, and local redistricting, and the Covid pandemic entered its third year. Still, HANC managed to have 11 monthly meetings, and we printed 12 issues of the Voice.
In January, with recall elections on the horizon, Tim Redmond provided a lesson on the history of recalls in California and Supervisor Aaron Peskin discussed his recall reform ballot measure for the June election. Unfortunately, the measure was defeated in a low turnout election. In February, we discussed the Mayor’s declaration of a second emergency (while the first emergency declaration was still in effect). We also discussed other ways the Mayor’s Office has used and extended its powers. February also saw the year’s first election, the release of UCSF’s draft EIR for its new Parnassus hospital and the Coalition for a Complete Community’s first one-day demonstration that interim uses for 730 Stanyan are both possible and popular.
In March, we began discussing redistricting, unaware of how seriously it would ultimately affect the Haight-Ashbury. The final map, released near the end of April split HANC’s boundaries, previously almost entirely within District 5, into three separate districts—Districts 5, 7, and 8 (a small slice of our northwest boundary had been placed into District 1 with the 2010 redistricting). April saw the year’s second election. Our April meeting focused on transit, as we were still waiting for the 6 and 21 bus lines to be restored, and we advocated for additional bus service to Golden Gate Park to offset the effects of the closure of JFK Drive.
Our May meeting occurred between two elections. We discussed how the Haight voted in April and also discussed propositions for the June election. In May the Coalition for a Complete Community held its second one-day event at 730 Stanyan, again demonstrating that interim use for the site is both possible and popular. Our June meeting was devoted to the effects of redistricting, where we wanted to ensure our neighbors moving out of District 5 that they are still a part of HANC, and to welcome the neighbors (outside of HANC’s boundaries) who were joining the newly constituted District 5. June also saw the year’s third election, and the postponement of the first Haight Ashbury Street Fair since 2019.
San Francisco Heritage and artist-in-residence Stanley Mouse joined our July meeting. Calvin Welch presented how the Haight voted in June. The 6 and 21 bus lines were restored in July (although the 21 came back with a shortened route) and the 43, which had been running a shortened route, was extended. Also in July, Park Police Captain Chris Pedrini transferred to the Airport, and Jack Hart became Park Station Captain. As is our custom, we did not meet in August, but we did start discussing the November election in the August Voice.
We continued discussing the November election at our September meeting. We also discussed Governor Newsom’s curious investigation into San Francisco’s housing policy—wondering why he would be investigating policies that were in effect when he was Mayor, and how it is not the slow approval process, but developers’ reticence to build that is really slowing down the production of housing. The September Voice also discussed the crisis at Laguna Honda Hospital and (less seriously) the lights being installed on Haight Street. The November election was continued as a topic of our October meeting. The October Voice also presented an overview of Urban School’s plans to convert the existing St. Agnes gym to a performing arts and community center. October also saw the return of the Haight Ashbury Street Fair.
San Francisco’s fourth election of 2022 was held in November. At our November meeting (two days after the election), we discussed bike share plans, and David Hartsough discussed his career as an activist for peace and non-violence. HANC also elected two new Board members. Later in the month, the Coalition for a Complete Community held an in-person meeting regarding 730 Stanyan, with approximately 45 attendees. HANC closed out the year with a presentation from Phil Ting, who will be representing the Haight Ashbury in the State Assembly and with a presentation on how the Haight voted in the November election.
This summary has likely missed some things that happened in the Haight Ashbury in 2022. Write to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and let us know what we missed. We look forward to seeing you in 2023.