HANC has agreed to be a co-sponsor of a Senior and Disability Mayoral Candidate Forum and Reception, which will take place on Thursday, April 12, from 1 pm to 4 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 1187 Franklin Street. The main sponsor is CARA (California Association of Retired Americans). We have a list of organizations that were also asked to co-sponsor this event, but we do not yet know which other organizations have agreed to do so.
Membership Meetings: 2nd Thursdays ~ 7-9pm
Park Branch Library, 1833 Page St, SF, CA 94117 (except August)
By James Sword, HANC Board Member
We recently received notice that the new Panhandle Playground design would not only include a sand element, but also would have a reduced "sand buffer" so as to enlarge the proposed sand play area.
We all did a brief jump for joy while lamenting what it's taken to get here and what still needs to happen. Below (shortened to fit this newsletter) is an example of a letter written to the SFRPD Commission upon the publishing of the latest design.
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.
As you probably know, Taking It To the Streets provides housing and other services to transitional-age youth (ages 18 to 27) who are ready to get off the streets. In exchange, the youth help clean the neighborhood with trash pickup, street sweeping and graffiti abatement. You have probably seen them wearing vests and carrying orange trash bags.
By Karen Fishkin, HANC Recycling Chair
There was a full house at the Park Police Station on Thursday evening, January 25, all gathered to hear the makeover plans the Rec and Parks has developed for park property along Stanyan, between Waller and Fell streets.
Having attended several previous meetings on this issue, I recognized both universally accepted changes, and those that split residents. For example, replacing the dirt path parallel to Stanyan with a fairly narrow, paved path, was well-received by all. The path will be lined by a knee-high fence running along the new pavement, and there opinions parted ways. The fence is admittedly designed to keep out shopping carts, and to herd visitors to the main entrance across from Haight Street. There will be additional fencing that may create the feeling that it is more difficult to get to the grassy spaces, but the grass is not completely walled off.
By Tes Welborn, HANC Treasurer
Ed Lee vs. The People of San Francisco
Calvin Welch gave a brief summary of development since World War II. While financial interests built office space until both resident displacement and a glut came to pass, community activists all over San Francisco worked to slow or stop displacement and to create a new model, community development. Community development focused on resident needs-- transit, neighborhood retail, housing, and the related struggle for local hire. The Haight struggled with hospital expansion and fought it back to retain housing.
Welch also presented much information on Mayor Ed Lee's legacy, which focused on large development and tech. Lee focused only on jobs while he ignored the need for housing for those new workers and the folks who would provide them services. His policies led to the greatest population transfer in San Francisco's history, with 400,000 people leaving San Francisco over his 6 year term, and 400,000 new, higher income residents arriving.
By Rupert Clayton, HANC Housing and Land-Use Chair
As this month's Voice went to press, a couple of articles appeared in the local media based on a misunderstanding of HANC's public comments about the project to replace the Haight and Stanyan McDonald's with affordable housing. This op-ed piece was submitted to the Examiner to clarify HANC's position and priorities.
Did you read that the Haight’s progressive neighborhood group opposes replacing a McDonald’s with a 7-story affordable housing development? Shocked? You should be, because that statement isn’t actually true. So, what’s the real story?
It’s no secret that a wave of evictions and San Francisco’s soaring rents have made it exceptionally tough for many people to find and keep an apartment. So, the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Council warmly welcomed the news that The City is buying the McDonald’s lot at Haight and Stanyan Streets to build a new 100%-affordable housing development.
By Tes Welborn, HANC Treasurer
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 Planning Department released its 2016 Housing Inventory December 21, 2017. The annual net gain in housing units--new construction less demolition--was 5,046 housing units, about double the 10-year average annual gain. Of these, over 800 units were “affordable,” an over 50% gain over 2016.
At our December meeting, the HANC members present unanimously voted to endorse a ballot measure informally known as the “No Eviction Without Representation Initiative.” The formal title provided by the City Attorney is “City-Funded Legal Representation for All Residential Tenants in Eviction Lawsuits.” Per the City Attorney’s summary, “This measure would require the City [through the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development] to establish, fund and run a program to provide legal representation for all residential tenants whose landlords are attempting to evict them from where they live.” The full summary can be read at http://sfgov.org/elections/sites/default/files/Documents/candidates/Title_Summary_Eviction_Defense.pdf.