Greetings! 

Here is a summary of some of our work over the past few months:

San Francisco Budget For Fiscal Years 2012-2013  and 2013-2014 

We are very happy that our work and advocacy with many District 9 residents, organizations, and service providers resulted in a San Francisco budget that prioritizes many of our district's needs and goals. I want to thank the entire City family including Mayor Lee, the Mayor's Budget staff, the Board's Budget & Finance Committee, as well as the Budget Analyst for conducting an inclusive and thoughtful budget process. We won a budget that preserves our current social safety net including critical services in our neighborhoods serving families, youth, seniors, immigrants, workers and the LGBT community; prioritizes public safety including both the preservation of community based violence prevention programs and funding for new police academy classes; and funds critical infrastructure needs in the city including streetscape improvements and street repavement.    

Read more:  Board of Supervisors' Budget Page

Illegal Dumping on Bernal Hill   

Photo by Todd Lappin

Tower Car Wash Agrees to Pay $500,000 to its Workers to Settle Lawsuit  

I worked with City Attorney Dennis Herrera, our local Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, and La Raza Centro Legal to investigate worker underpayment of wages at Tower Car Wash in the Mission District of San Francisco. Tower Car Wash will pay one-half million dollars in back wages and interest to employees who, over the course of four years, were illegally subjected to unpaid waiting time while managers decided whether to allow workers to clock in for their shifts. Tower has now changed its policy to properly compensate workers for their time on the job. Next month my office will continue our work to eradicate violations of worker's rights by helping to launch the city's first ever Wage Theft Task Force.

Read more: Tower Car Wash pays $500,000 to settle wage theft lawsuit 

On July 19th the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury released a report entitled, "Surcharges and Healthy San Francisco: Healthy for Whom?," which details how the loophole that remains in our Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO) has allowed a small, but growing number of businesses, mostly restaurants, to profit off surcharges made in the name of employee health care but never used for that purpose. Last year I tried to close the loophole in the HCSO but unfortunately the Mayor vetoed my legislation. I have called a hearing in September on the Grand Jury's report so we can make plans to end any consumer fraud, ensure employees have access to the health care they earn, and protect responsible businesses that are currently forced to compete against the minority of employers that exploit the loophole to avoid their obligations under the law.  

Join us at the hearing on the Grand Jury Report at the Government Audit & Oversight Committee on September 27th at 1:00 p.m.

Read more: Civil Grand Jury Report

     S.F. civil grand jury slams restaurant health care       surcharges   

Our campaign to create a pilot project giving low-income San Francisco youth a free mode of transportation to and from school suffered a set back last month. The Metropolitan Transportation Agency, by a razor thin margin, denied our one time funding request for the program. I will not stop until we see this plan enacted. Our youth deserve a safe and free mode of transportation to access their education and this plan is a commonsense way to foster the next generation of transit riders in San Francisco. I am currently working on alternative strategies to ensure that Free MUNI for low-income San Francisco youth becomes a reality.  

Read more: Free Muni plan's defeat a setback for youths, city  

MTC votes 8-7 not to fund free-Muni plan    

I have been working with the Department of Public Works (DPW) to identify key infrastructure project needs in the District. Thanks to the 2011 Road Repaving and Street Safety Bond, we will be able to work on projects such as improving the 29th Street bike lanes between Tiffany and San Jose, traffic calming at Alabama and Mullen, streetscape enhancements at Crescent and Murray and Crescent and Putnam, intersection improvement at Mayflower and Bradford, opening of the crosswalk at San Jose and Dolores, creating the Bartlett Plaza living alley, and pedestrian improvements at Silver and San Bruno. We are excited to see District 9 continue to be safer for pedestrians and cyclist.   

I also wanted to take this opportunity to express my support for the Clean and Safe Parks Bond which will be on the November ballot. The City proposes a $195 million General Obligation bond to address outstanding capital needs in the city's parks. The proposal includes funding for specific neighborhood parks, including Garfield Park as well as long awaited investment in Golden Gate Park, McLaren, and Lake Merced, as well as renovations to the parks' support infrastructure.

Read more: 2012 San Francisco Clean & Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond Proposal 

 Implementing CleanPowerSF  

As Chair of the San Francisco Local Agency Commission we have been working closely the last few years with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to give people a choice of where they get their electricity. PG&E's energy sources are dominated by Fossil Fuel and Nuclear generation. The City is creating a program called CleanPowerSF that comes from 100% renewable sources. I have called a hearing at the Board of Supervisor's Budget and Finance Committee in September to discuss the status of this project and to ensure the timely implementation of this alternative energy program.

Exciting News for the San Francisco Day Labor Program & Women's Collective  

My office helped lead a process to find a new organizational home for the San Francisco Day Labor Program and Women's Collective. Both programs have been housed at La Raza Centro Legal, where they thrived under the organization's leadership for over a decade. After La Raza decided to shift its focus to providing first rate legal services to the Latino immigrant community, the programs looked for a new organizational sponsor with a strong record of serving low-income communities and protecting immigrant rights. The programs identified Dolores Street Community Services and my office has been working with the organizations to help achieve a successful transition. I am thrilled to say that the merger became official on July 1st! Dolores Street has welcomed the programs into the organization with open arms and is excited to expand its work in job development and worker's rights. There will be a community celebration to mark this historic transition on October 4th at 6:00 p.m. location to be determined. Please save the date.  

Also, if you need an extra pair of hands around the house to help with a painting job, gardening, childcare, housecleaning, or any other help, there are excellent workers available at the San Francisco Day Labor Program and Women's Collective. Please visit their website for details on hiring workers.  

Community Office Hours in the Mission 

Please join us for our next community office hours. It's an opportunity to bring your ideas, concerns and comments directly to Supervisor Campos, while supporting a local business. Thanks to those of you that joined us at our last community office hours in the Portola neighborhood.

Date: Friday, September 21st 

Time: 12:00 PM-1:30 PM

Location: L's Cafe, 2871 24th Street

Neighborhood: Mission