Supervisor Wiener's October 2012 Newsletter

October 2012 Newsletter

Office Phone: 415-554-6968

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Fundraiser for "Nuns Rock" Memorial Honoring Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

My office will be hosting a fundraiser for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to create a "Nuns Rock" in the National AIDS Memorial Grove, located in Golden Gate Park. Details for the event are as follows:

Date: Thursday, November 8th

Time: 5:30-7:00pm

Location: San Francisco City Hall, Room 274

Currently, there is no community altar to remember those Sisters that have been lost along the way. The Sisters are an invaluable part of our community and have been on the front lines of the HIV/AIDS fight since the beginning. We should do everything we can to support their irreplaceable efforts. If you can't make the fundraiser, please consider donating to honor the Sisters who have passed too early: The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc. (Federal Tax I.D. #:94-3032120) or the National AIDS Memorial Grove (Federal Tax I.D. #:94-3213100).

My New Legislative Aide: Jeff Cretan

I'm proud to announce the addition of my third legislative aide, Jeff Cretan. Jeff comes to us from the City Attorney's Office, where he worked as an investigator with many city departments on a variety of issues, including litigation and city employment matters. Previous to his work in the City Attorney's Office, Jeff worked as a journalist and in the tech industry. Jeff and his wife live in the Inner Sunset with their baby daughter.

Scott with District 8's newest legislative aide, Jeff Cretan

Policy Work

Maintaining Our Urban Forest: Hearing

Our urban forest is an essential part of our city's fabric, and we must do everything we can to protect it. Unfortunately, the maintenance plan for trees on our streets and in our parks isn't working. Recently, the Department of Public Works, which doesn't have adequate funds to maintain our street trees, began transferring maintenance responsibilities of street trees to property owners. This troubles me. I'm concerned that not all property owners have the desire, resources, or knowledge to take care of our trees. To address this, I requested a hearing set for October 25th to discuss options on how to best protect and maintain the trees on our streets, including whether we should identify a sustainable funding source, so the city can assume responsibility for overseeing and maintaining our urban forest. If you're interested in attending the hearing, please contact my office at (415) 554-6968 for details.

CEQA Reform Legislation

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) serves a vital purpose -- protecting our environment -- but at times, it can be used as a last minute sandbag tactic by opponents of projects, including important public projects. The purpose of CEQA is to measure the environmental impact of projects like housing developments, park improvements and transportation projects. Unfortunately, the way the law is written, opponents of projects can use CEQA appeals to cause dramatic delays and cost escalations having nothing to do with environmental protection.

On Tuesday, I introduced legislation at the Board changing the timing of CEQA appeals to prevent these abuses. Under the current law, a CEQA appeal can be filed up until a few weeks after the very last approval of a project, even if that occurs years after the CEQA determination was made. My legislation would change that timing so the appeal would have to be filed after the very first project approval is made. This will establish a clear and transparent time period for CEQA appeals so that those with environmental concerns about a project will have their concerns heard and examined in a timely and orderly way. This will prevent project opponents from using last minute CEQA appeals as a delay tactic that wastes time and money.

Community Safety Element Update Legislation

Protecting our citizens from disaster is an essential government responsibility that I take very seriously. This month, the Board passed my legislation updating the city's Community Safety Element of the City's General Plan. The Safety Element establishes policies to protect San Francisco from risks associated with natural and human-made disasters, and will facilitate community resiliency if and when disaster strikes. Because we are a city that is naturally vulnerable to earthquakes, the Safety Element focuses on problems that stem from ground failure. These updates are a necessary and important addition to ensure our city will be prepared when disaster strikes.

Business Week Names SF Top City

Business Week Magazine recently named San Francisco its top city to live in the United States. These rankings resulted from several factors, including education, leisure,nightlife, economic strength, and air quality. Business Week highlighted San Francisco's diverse entertainment and arts scene, including our restaurants, bars, food trucks and parks, and our music, literary and cultural fairs that take place throughout the year. I'm proud of our city's well-earned reputation, and that's why I've worked on issues like expanding food truck access, crafting a more nightlife-friendly atmosphere, and ensuring that our parks have proper funding.

Legislation to Restrict Public Nudity to Appropriate Venues

This month I introduced legislation to restrict public nudity to appropriate venues, like parades, street festivals, and beaches, while prohibiting the display of genitalia in other public places including city plazas, parklets, sidewalks, streets and public transit. This proposed ordinance came about as a result of a sharp increase in public nudity in the Castro, most notably in Jane Warner Plaza at Castro and Market. What was once an occasional sighting has turned into a near-daily nudist colony in what is essentially the Castro's town square. I hadn't planned on pursuing this ban, and I'd hoped this issue would resolve itself, but sentiment in the community, from gay and straight residents, small business owners, and others, has turned against this obnoxious behavior. The goal of this legislation is not to punish people, but to get them to put their clothes back on while in our neighborhoods so that everyone can enjoy our public space.

Noe Valley Voice Reviews My Term in Office

The Noe Valley Voice published an overview of my first two years in office.

Click here to see a review of my work in the neighborhood, the district and citywide.

Scott and Supervisor Cohen speak at the Salesforce Volunteer Event
at McLaren Park.

Official Misconduct Vote on the Sheriff

On October 9th, I voted to remove Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi from office as a result of his conviction for false imprisonment relating to a domestic violence episode. The vote on the Board was 7-4 in favor of removing the Sheriff, but because 9 votes were required, the Sheriff kept his position. The office of Sheriff is larger than any one individual, and the actions taken by the Sheriff against his wife and in the ensuing months were beneath the standard of conduct that the office and our city demand and deserve. It's highly problematic for our chief elected law enforcement officer to have been convicted for domestic violence and to be on probation. While I do believe in the value of restorative justice, I also believe that actions must have consequences. I know that people have varying views on this issue, and I respect other perspectives. I simply want to make sure people understand mine.

Board Approves Purchase of New Muni Buses & Upgrades to Aging Fleet

Muni needs a lot of help in a number of areas, and many of these problems require long terms fixes. However, there are some fixes we can make in the short run to improve Muni service, including upgrading our aging fleet. I'm happy to announce that the Board passed my legislation to buy 45 new low-floor hybrid diesel buses and to upgrade 80 biodiesel buses in Muni's current fleet. By getting older coaches that require constant maintenance off the streets and making structural upgrades to other coaches, we will reduce breakdowns and improve on-time performance. Also, the low floors of the new coaches will allow for quicker boarding. Funding for these improvements will come from federal, state and local funds. Muni service will not be affected during the maintenance work.

Efficiency Legislation Update

As a response to our city-wide housing shortage, I proposed legislation to reduce the minimum size of a studio apartment to 220 square feet, including no less than 150 square feet for the living area plus a kitchen, bathroom, and closet. The vote on this legislation is scheduled to take place in November. This legislation will help meet the housing needs of those who can't afford more space, or don't need it. These reduced minimums will still adhere to state requirements and will be in line with those of other cities like San Jose. We need to be more flexible in our approach to housing in order to meet the needs of our population.

Click here for an op-ed I wrote on this issue.

Solar Panels on Alvarado Elementary

Last Spring, the Board of Supervisors approved my legislation to authorize the PUC to install solar panels on top of Alvarado Elementary School. The panels have now been installed and I've now introduced further legislation to turn the switch on so that the solar panels on top of the school will start running. This is a wonderful step in the process of providing clean, sustainable energy to our schools. It also is a great tool for teaching our children about the importance of sustainable energy by having them see its effects every single day. I will continue to work to expand this program to other schools in the district and throughout the city.

Community Updates

Glen Park Canyon Tree Update

I'm a huge advocate for our urban forest, and I'm proud to represent Glen Canyon, one of our most majestic parks and forests. I'm also thrilled that we are about to improve the Canyon's recreational offerings, specifically, improvements to the tennis courts and an expansion of the playground. As part of this project -- which resulted from an extensive community process -- 58 trees will be removed, some of which are in the way of the project and most of which are either hazardous, dead, or well on their way toward being hazardous or dead. Several of these trees recent fell over in the Canyon. These removed trees will be replaced by 163 trees, that is, almost 3 new trees for every tree removed. This project is not part of the controversial Natural Areas Program, which will come to the Board next year.

In recent weeks, I've received numerous emails from residents expressing concern about the tree removal. Unfortunately, some have received misinformation about the project, including that the project will result in "deforestation," that "most" of the trees in Glen Canyon will be removed, and that 300 or "hundreds" of trees will be removed. These inaccurate statement have caused unnecessary anxiety about our wonderful Canyon and forest. In order to ensure accurate information for the community, in June, I worked with the Glen Park Association and Diamond Heights Community Association to convene a large community meeting with presentations by Rec & Park, the Forest Alliance, and others. Discussion and dialogue is the best way to ensure that everyone receives accurate information. People then can form their opinions.

I will continue to work closely with the community on this and other tree issues.

Trees that had been marked for removal fell over
in Glen Canyon on October 2nd.

Glen Park Vandal Caught on Tape

For the past two weeks, a vandal has been attacking businesses in Glen Park. After midnight on last Tuesday morning, video cameras from a local business recorded a man spraying a viscous oil on shop windows on the 2900 hundred block of Diamond Street. Glen Park Cleaners, Viking Sub Sandwiches, Osha Thai and the nail salon were all hit by vandal. You can see a link to the video posted by the Glen Park News here, as well as more details on the recent vandalism in the neighborhood.

SFPD officers have viewed the video and interviewed business owners. If anyone has any information on the vandal or witnesses any more acts of vandalism, please contact Ingleside Police Station by calling 404-4000 or emailing SFPDInglesideStation@sfgov.org.

Upper Market Development Status

As you've probably noticed, a lot of development is occurring in the Upper Market area, from Octavia to Castro. A number of these projects were approved in 2007 and 2008, but because of the financial crash, projects weren't able to receive funding. As a result, quite a few projects are moving forward at the same time, now that the financial markets have recovered. The Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association has an excellent overview of the developments in its newsletter. Click here and go to page 5 for the most recent news.

Bike Plan Project: New Left Turn at Market and Valencia

SFMTA will be narrowing the sidewalk at Market and Valencia to accommodate a bicycle bay that will serve as a protected left turn area from Market onto Valencia. The 38 foot wide sidewalk will be reduced by 5 feet to make room for the queuing area, and a new dedicated bicycle signal phase will control the right of way between through and left-run vehicles and bicycle traffic. Construction is slated to begin late this month and be completed sometime in November.

Click here for more information about this project, as well as other Bike Plan projects.

Grant Opportunity: California Council for the Blind

The San Francisco Chapter of the California Council for the Blind is offering a $2,500 Alice Chavez Pardini Education Advancement Grant. This grant is available to a legally-blind student in grades 3-12, college, graduate school, or a certificate program who lives in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin or San Mateo counties. The grant will be given to the person who can best demonstrate the need to improve his or her educational or employment opportunities. The application must be postmarked by October 31, 2012. To request an application and instruction form or for further details, contact: Charlie Dorris: 415-775-0487, tyreedorris@aol.com or Ellie Lee: 415-378-6079, ellieleesf@yahoo.com.

Be a Voter!

The Department of Elections encourages all eligible San Franciscans to be a voter on November 6. To vote on November 6, you must be registered by October 22. Find a wealth of voting information at sfelections.org -- including an online toolkit where you can look up whether or not you are properly registered to vote, the location of your polling place, how to vote by mail, and what's on your ballot. You can also call the Department of Elections telephone help line with any voting question, even on Election Day, at (415) 554-4375. Be a voter by voting early at City Hall beginning October 9, voting by mail, or voting at your polling place from 7:00 am to 8:00 am on November 6. Be a poll worker! Help the community and earn money by serving as a poll worker on Election Day. To apply, click here.

Community Spotlight

Naomi Akers

Entertainment Commissioner, Public Health Representative

I was honored to swear Naomi Akers in as a member of the San Francisco Entertainment Commission. Naomi is the Executive Director of St. James Infirmary, where she has worked to provide services and healthcare for male, female and transgender sex workers. By combining this public health background with her experience as a nightlife advocate and enthusiast, Naomi will bring an invaluable viewpoint to the Entertainment Commission. I look forward to working with her to bolster our entertainment industry so that it continues to thrive.

Scott with newly sworn in Entertainment Commissioner Naomi Akers

Upcoming Events to Remember

Glen Park Association Meeting
Thursday, October 18th
7:00pm
Glen Park Recreation Center, Auditorium, 70 Elk Street
The Glen Park Association promotes the community interests of the neighborhood. The GPA lobbies for improvement funds, publicizes neighborhood concerns and strives to speak as one voice on neighborhood and city issues.