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Office Highlights
Response to San Francisco Housing Crisis
We are currently experiencing a housing crisis in San Francisco as confirmed by a report I commissioned from the Budget and Legislative Analyst on tenant displacement in San Francisco. The report details a dramatic upswing in the number of evictions in San Francisco with a particularly large increase in Ellis Act evictions. The report shows a relationship between the increase in Ellis Act evictions and the increase in the market value of residential properties in San Francisco. The average home price in San Francisco today is $897,338. The median rental rate in June 2013 for all types of apartments in San Francisco was $3,414.
If you are evicted today in San Francisco, you will most likely be forced to leave the city. And we are not just talking about low-income residents. Even middle and higher income residents cannot afford these rental rates or housing prices. The diversity and vibrancy of our city is disappearing by the day. We must act to ensure that more than just the ultra rich can live here.
I am taking the housing security of our residents very seriously. I am working with housing advocates on a series of concrete steps to keep San Franciscans in their homes. Last week I introduced legislation addressing the widespread practice of landlords trying to harass tenants into self-evicting from their homes. Today, I am asking the City Attorney to draft legislation doubling the amount of relocation assistance that landlords must pay to tenants when they evict them using the Ellis Act. Next week, I am holding a special meeting of the Neighborhood Services & Safety Committee in order to examine the Budget & Legislative Analyst report on displacement. I will use this report to build consensus around these pieces of legislation and other concrete steps I will be rolling out to address this crisis.
Please join me at the hearing on displacement in San Francisco next week at the Neighborhood Services & Safety Committee on Thursday, November 14th at 2:00 p.m. I want to hear your ideas about how to ensure that San Francisco remains a City for all of us.
16th & Mission
When redistricting took place in January, the 16th
and Mission area became a part of my district for the first time. Since then, I have been working closely with multiple city and regional agencies, community organizations and residents to increase the safety and cleanliness of this area. Hopefully some of you have noticed improvements in the last few weeks! Here is a list of some of our accomplishments and works-in-progress:
1) Increasing community policing in the area: We have secured 2 additional food beat police officers who are in the plaza daily, as well as two additional police radio cars who work along the mission corridor during high crime hours. SFPD is also now increasing the foot patrol of Capp Street and along Mission Street towards 17th since receiving reports that drug activity is moving to these areas.
2) Ensuring regular cleaning of the plaza. We have been in regular communication with BART to ensure that steam and power cleaning occurs at the BART Plaza daily. DPW is also cleaning 16th street daily.
3) Improving the climate and bathroom access at the plaza. We are working with Mission Neighborhood Center to create two stipended positions for peer navigators to monitor the use of the public bathroom in the plaza and help de-escalate conflicts.
4) Increasing services and housing access for homeless and disabled people who spend time in the plaza. We are working with Bevan Dufty, the director of The Mayor's Housing Opportunity, Partnerships & Engagement (HOPE) to increase the engagement of SF HOT Team workers in this area, and to secure at least 15 stabilization rooms for homeless people who spend time at 16th and Mission.
5) Improving conditions in the surrounding SROs. We are working with the City Attorney's office, HOPE and SRO advocates to develop strategies to improve conditions in the surrounding SROs.
While we continue to work on these above issues in partnership with many agencies, we are also cognizant that we need to keep the pressure on the city so the safety and cleanliness of 16th and Mission remains a priority. We need the support of city agencies in order to continue to make positive changes in this area of our district. We also want residents, business owners, community members and advocates to have the opportunity to share their concerns and thoughts regarding the area. Towards this end, I called for a public hearing earlier this month on the 16th and Mission BART Plaza. I have requested that SFPD, HOPE, BART, Recology, DPW, the District Attorney's office and the City Attorney's office report on current conditions and work to improve 16th Street BART Plaza. Stay tuned for the date of the hearing.
Townhalls on the Affordable Care Act
New health coverage options are available now under the Affordable Care Act - also know as Obamacare. You are currently able to purchase health insurance on the Covered California exchange and many previously ineligible individuals will be able to enroll in Medi-Cal.
The great news is almost every resident in San Francisco is eligible for coverage under the Affordable Care Act or the Healthy San Francisco program.
Confused about what your options are? I am very excited to be helping organize two townhalls where you can get information about how to get the best and most affordable health coverage for you and your family.
Thursday, November 7th
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
San Francisco Community Empowerment Center
2798 San Bruno Avenue
Portola Neighborhood (Presentations will be in Cantonese with English translation)
Saturday, November 16
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Buena Vista Horace Mann School
3351 23rd Street
Mission District (Presentation will be in Spanish with English translation)
Please attend these forums to learn:
- What coverage is available
- What premium assistance you and your family may get
- Hear from experts about Covered California, Healthy San Francisco, the new Medi-Cal expansion, and changes to medicare
If you cannot make one of the townhalls, do not worry. There is help available. Please visit: http://sfmayor.org/index.aspx?page=961 or call Covered California at (800) 300-1506 or visit SF BenefitsNet at 1440 Harrison Street (M-F 8 am-5pm).
LGBT Connect
My office helped organize and recruit volunteers for the first-ever LGBT Connect event in San Francisco, a multi-service one-stop event for homeless and low-income LGBT community members. The event, put on by Project Homeless Connect and HOPE, took place on Monday October 7th at the LGBT Center. Hundreds of volunteers gave their time and 427 participants were able to access a wide range of services ranging from prescription glasses and dental services to foot massages and city ID cards. THANK YOU to everyone who contributed time, resources and money to this great event!
Keeping the Dialysis Center at SFGH
Last month I held a moving hearing at the Neighborhood Services & Safety Committee on the decision of the Department of Public Health to move its dialysis center at General Hospital to Laguna Honda Rehabilitation Center and contract out the operation of the Center to a private company. Dozens of dialysis patients and their families came to testify about the hardship this change would create in their lives as Laguna Honda is not as readily accessible to the patients. They also talked about the far inferior care that they would receive if the center was operated by a private company instead of UCSF. As a result of the hearing, the Department of Public Health suspended its request for proposals to operate the dialysis center and is working to keep it at SF General and run by UCSF.
Homeownership SF
It was wonderful to participate in last month's SF Housing Expo that provided foreclosure prevention resources, housing counseling, and other valuable financial capability workshops to San Franciscans looking to remain in their homes or purchase for the first time. Given the affordability crisis we are facing, keeping current homeowners in the City is a priority for me. Hundreds of San Franciscans participated in the day long event hosted by HomeownershipSF.
SFPD Investigations of Vehicular Accidents Involving Pedestrians and Cyclists
Earlier this month Supervisor Jane Kim sponsored a hearing at the Neighborhood Services and Safety Committee to examine SFPD protocol for investigating cyclist and pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries resulting from traffic collisions. I have called for a follow-up to that hearing, because of the urgency and the seriousness of this issue. Dozens of people have died over the course of the past 3 years in pedestrian and cyclist-related traffic collisions. This follow-up hearing will be a joint meeting of the Police Commission and the Neighborhood Services and Safety Committee and will focus on officer training.
Stay tuned for the date of the hearing.
Hearing on the Jail Replacement Project
My office has called for a hearing on the proposed Jail Replacement Project which has been proposed by the Sheriff's Department as a part of the City's Capital Plan. The primary goal of the hearing is to examine whether the current jail construction plans are the most cost-effective way to meet the short and long-term needs of inmates --with regards to safety, security and access to social services. As many of you may have heard, the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant must be rebuilt. It is seismically vulnerable and must be torn down, for the safety of all staff, visitors and inmates. Jails 3 and 4 that exist within the Hall of Justice are not only in deplorable condition, they represent an outdated model of incarceration that research shows is less humane, less rehabilitative and less effective. However, as we move forward with the overall Hall of Justice rebuild, many questions remain about whether or not we need to replace Jails 3 and 4 with a new facility- one that will cost 290 million dollars. A number of community organizations, advocates and residents have also approached my office asking for an opportunity for public dialogue regarding the jail construction.
The hearing date is December 5th at the Neighborhood Services and Safety Committee.
Meeting on Potrero Streetscape Options
After receiving your comments and suggestions, DPW has reshaped the proposed designs for Potrero Avenue between 17th and 25th streets so that it removes less parking. Option A, which includes sidewalk widening and a planted median, removes 58 parking spaces. A new Option C removes 28 parking spaces, with strategically placed bulb outs and median islands. Both options have the potential to recover some parking spaces on nearby streets. Please join us for an open house to learn more about these proposed designs.
When:
Thursday, November 7, 2013; 6 to 8 pm
Where:
San Francisco General Hospital cafeteria: 1001 Potrero Ave. (near 23rd Street), second floor
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