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, 2019 through November, 2020.  The current HANC Board has made the following recommendations for officers and Board members for the upcoming term:

President:                                             Tes Welborn

Vice President:                                   Bruce Wolfe

Recording Secretary:                      Shira Noel

Corresponding Secretary:            Jim Rhoads

Treasurer:                                           Christin Evans

Nominating Chair:                           James Sword

Membership Chair:                         Richard Ivanhoe

Housing & Land Use Chair:         Calvin Welch

Recycling Chair:                                Karen Fishkin                          

                                 Members At Large:

Alex Aquino, Lisa Awbrey, Jaime Michaels, Christian Vaisse, David Woo

By Dennis Antenore, HANC Member and former Planning Commissioner

Editor’s note:  this article first appeared in 48 Hills on October 21.  We have reprinted it because UCSF’s plans will affect our neighborhood.

"Uh-oh -- the cat’s out of the bag now.”

That’s what a consultant was heard to say at the final meeting of the Community Working Group on the Parnassus Heights Re-Envisioning Process when it was accidentally revealed that UCSF is planning to add 1.5 million square feet to its Parnassus Height campus.

Despite claims to the contrary, the community has been left completely in the dark and the university has made all decisions on this behind closed doors, in violation of commitments made by the Board of Regents to carefully consult with neighbors and make efforts to reduce impacts before deciding upon major planning decisions.

Since 1976, the Parnassus Campus has had a space ceiling at 3.55 million square feet. The regents adopted that limit to settle a lawsuit brought by its neighbors. Since its adoption, the regents have repeatedly recommitted to the ceiling, most recently in the 2014 Long Range Development Plan, which is still in effect. With regard to the Space Ceiling Issue the plan provides:

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By Calvin Welch, HANC Board Member

HANC's monthly (except August) general membership meeting is usually held downstairs at the Park Branch Library, 1833 Page Street (between Cole and Shrader) on the second Thursday of the month, beginning at 7 pm.  Our meetinngs are open to the public and free to attend.

The Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) has announced its intention to seek qualifications from developers for the permanent 100 % affordable housing proposal at 730 Stanyan, the former McDonalds at Haight and Stanyan.  MOHCD has set November 29th as the date for its final "selection of the development team."

HANC will discuss the site, the City process and efforts of the Coalition for a Complete Community (CCC) to ensure a development of maximum benefit to our neighborhood at our October 10th monthly meeting. 

The September 10th "Request for Qualifications" for the development of the permanent affordable housing is the second time MOHCD has issued a "request" for the 38,000 square-foot  site. The first, a Request for Proposals (RFP) For Interim Uses, was issued on December 1st, 2018 after the completion of a January, 2018 environmental assessment in January, 2018. 

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By Richard Ivanhoe, HANC Board Member

On October 15, 1959, 200 neighbors met at the Dudley Stone School (now the Chinese Immersion School at De Avila) and unanimously decided to form the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council.  Times were different (the meeting began with the Boy Scouts presenting the colors and with the pledge of allegiance), but the meeting touched on issues that are still relevant—Schools, Housing, Health, and Recreation.

In March, 1960, HANC adopted bylaws “amid flaring tempers and rollicking laughter.” (Haight-Cole Journal, March 24, 1960)  HANC’s earliest work included planting trees, setting up tuberculosis screenings, clearing brush at Buena Vista Park, addressing overcrowding at neighborhood schools, and seeking supervision of play areas in the Panhandle and at the Dudley Stone School playground.  But we are probably best known for our opposition to the proposed Panhandle Freeway, which was defeated at the Board of Supervisors in a close vote in October, 1964, but needed to be defeated again, with another close vote at the Board in March, 1966.  In November, 1966, HANC incorporated as a non-profit corporation.

Here are some of HANC’s other accomplishments:

• Co-sponsored zoning legislation that protected 45 square blocks from high-rise construction, speculation, and resident displacement (1970)
• Key participant in Golden Gate Park Master Plan (1970 to present)

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By Christin Evans, HANC Board Member

HANC's monthly (except August) general membership meeting is usually held downstairs at the Park Branch Library, 1833 Page Street (between Cole and Shrader) on the second Thursday of the month, beginning at 7 pm.  Our meetinngs are open to the public and free to attend.

You probably have seen an onslaught of mail already about this controversial November ballot measure.  At our next meeting, HANC members will hear from both sides about Measure C which seeks to overturn the ban placed on e-Cigarette products by the Board of Supervisors earlier this year.

Voters had previously supported a June 2018 measure, proposition E, to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products seen as largely favored by younger users including teens.  That ban was passed by voters by more than 68% of the vote. And merchants were given 6 months to liquidate their stock before the flavor ban went into effect January 1 this year.

Emboldened by overwhelming support of E, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted in June to prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes also known as e-Cigs.  Our elected Supervisors cited their reasons for supporting the ban: e-Cigarettes are not yet approved by the FDA, they are relatively new products and the long-term effects on public health is largely unknown.

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By Rupert Clayton, HANC Land Use Chair

After a year of prototyping and planning, a team from the Exploratorium is close to finalizing their set of exhibits for a two-year display around Alvord Lake at the Haight St entrance to Golden Gate Park. The approach they have selected is based on “Pathways and Pauses”, with some experiences designed to engage people just passing through that area of the park and others intended to encourage a longer stay to focus on particular physical phenomena.

The Lake Dock area will contain two exhibits that reveal the microscopic organisms at work in and around Alvord Lake

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By Christin Evans, HANC Board Member

Facing steep rent increases and escalating payroll costs, long-time small business owner Massoud Badakhshan announced he’ll be liquidating stock and closing his doors in October.  The Haight Ashbury Music Center opened in 1972 and would qualify for the legacy business program but  Massoud says that with his 70th birthday coming up in a few months, he’s ready to slow his pace and is unable to continue with the necessary investments it would take to shift his business plan to be sustainable in the internet era. 

The board of the Haight Ashbury Merchants Association urged the city to nominate the business for legacy status nonetheless and has undertaken a search for a new owner.  The Haight should not be without a music store -- an independent community hub for the city’s musicians to brush up on their skills and outfit their bands.  

An analysis of the Music Center’s financials indicated that the business could be made sustainable with investments in new service lines such as classes & events, and with reduction in rent and overhead costs.   For that reason, HAMA has put out an open call for interested entrepreneurs and/or investors to contact the organization’s President, Christin Evans at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / cell 510-459-5451.