Here’s an overview of the City-wide and District 7 budget requests:

From District 7, I advocated for the below requests:

1. Continuation of Participatory Budgeting: D7 residents decide what neighborhood  projects to fund
2. Pedestrian Safety- Vision Zero improvements
3. Funding for D7 to reach our goal of 0 traffic fatalities
4. Neighborhood Safety Supports-
5. Expanding public safety services, crime prevention education and Neighborhood Watch supports.
6. Senior services- Expansion of services for D7 senior residents
7. Merchant corridor beautification and economic development programs
8. Streetscaping–Dorchester median and Rockaway Court lighting
9. Playground improvements
10. Ecoliteracy classes, workshops and urban gardening

City-wide, the Board of Supervisors put forth requests to support:

1. Early Childcare and Education
2. Youth engagement and employment training
3. HIV/AIDS prevention and services
4. LGBT support services
5. Senior and people with disabilities support services
6. Criminal justice reform
7. Food security
8. Public safety and violence prevention
9. Paid family leave support and outreach
10. Homelessness support services and housing
11. Environmental landscaping improvements
12. Utility undergrounding
13. Playgrounds and parks
14. Family and community festivals
15. Youth and family job training programs
16. Mental health services
17. Vision Zero pedestrian safety improvements

For questions about the budget process, please contact Erica.Maybaum@sfgov.org.

If you want to learn more about the budget process, check out the City and County of San Francisco’s Budget Challenge. This is a tool that aims to help people learn about the City’s budget by enabling residents to balance the City’s upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2016-17 and FY 2017-18 budget.

We invite you to send the Mayor’s Budget Office a message through the site, or email at budget@sfgov.org, with your thoughts and input on this year’s budget.

During the recession, the City was forced to reduce funding for trees in 2011 to save other more critical services.  It was the right decision then, but in retrospect, it also cost us. In addition to the growing frustration from property owners, we now have a weakened Urban Forest with trees damaged from poor care.

Currently the City only maintains about 40% of the 105,000 street trees in San Francisco. Following its original plan, the City is still gradually relinquishing the responsibility of approximately 24,000 of street trees to adjacent private property owners.

I want to acknowledge groups like the Friends of the Urban Forest and several of my colleagues of the Board of Supervisors who have been working on an Urban Forest Plan to maintain our existing trees and plant 50,000 new ones.  One of the recommendations is to return the responsibility of street trees back to the City so that property owners are no longer liable for care or maintenance.  This is a major step in the right direction, but how will we fund this important goal?

Several tree measures are moving towards the November ballot. One idea is to create a carbon tax, a tax on non-renewable energy sources, to help pay for the maintenance of trees.  The other proposal is to establish a parcel tax for trees and to mandate that the City set aside a minimum amount for a new dedicated fund for Trees.  While a parcel tax may seem nominal (the current proposal is estimated to cost roughly $35/year for a typical single family home and is based on linear frontage), all these new taxes add up. Special taxes help to pay for worthy causes, but at what point do we need to pivot the attention to City leaders to start making better financial decisions?  This year we have a $9.6 billion City budget to work with, yet trees still remain on the chopping block.

This week I introduced an ordinance as an interim solution to start taking care of this issue, sooner than later.  In an already unaffordable city, we seem to make it harder for working class and middle class families to stay in San Francisco. We have become too reliant on property owners to foot the bill for Citywide expenses. We are not in a recession now and we should start addressing this issue now instead of waiting until the November election.

If our residents believe that maintaining our trees is a critical community asset then we need we need to make it possible in our budget. Please join me in this effort. As my colleagues and I discuss some of these different funding proposals at the Board of Supervisors, I am curious to hear more from you.  What are your thoughts about how we can care for and grow our urban forest?

For your questions and ideas about trees, please contact Jen.Low@sfgov.org.

Earlier this month, another pedestrian was tragically struck and killed by a City-contracted Paratransit vehicle. Unfortunately this death marks the ninth pedestrian fatality this year. We are still a long way from achieving the City’s goal of zero pedestrian deaths by 2024. As Vision Zero committee chair and survivor of a near fatal collision, I introduced an ordinance to use Telematics technology to increase safety and have additional accountability measures for public dollars. My legislation requires the installation of telematics in a majority of the City’s fleet of vehicles by January 1, 2017 and was passed at the Full Board on June 14th.

Telematics uses GPS and allows for tracking vehicles and reporting data on their location, history, speed, mechanical diagnostics, safety and other information. In addition to increasing driver vigilance, data collected from vehicle telematics devices will be used as a tool to correct and improve unsafe driving habits, inappropriate use of City vehicles, and missed vehicle maintenance.  This technology is proven in several other jurisdictions including  New York City, Riverside and Yolo Counties.

Telematics benefits are numerous and proven.  Vehicle telematics will improve safety, reduce operating costs, reduce vehicle emissions, and identify potential fraud and waste. This technology will be a tool to prevent future collisions and pedestrian injuries and deaths. Regardless of technology, all of us–whether we are driving, cycling or walking–must stay alert, obey all traffic laws and share the road with each other.

For questions regarding telematics, contact Erica.Maybaum@sfgov.org.

You’re invited to attend her Town Hall in San Francisco. This is your chance to ask her about the economy, public safety, civil rights, foreign policy, government spending or anything else that may be on your mind. There will be an open conversation for an hour at each event.

Saturday, July 9, 2016
10-11 am
City College of San Francisco
Multi-Use Building, Room 140
50 Phelan Avenue

Register here

WHEN:             Wednesday July 20 @ 1:00 and 6:00 PM
WHERE:           CPUC Auditorium
505 Van Ness Avenue

Every three years, PG&E is required to file an application with the CPUC called a General Rate Case requesting approval to increase rates to operate, maintain, and upgrade their electric distribution, gas distribution, and electric generation facilities.

The purpose of Public Participation Hearings is to document your comments about PG&E’s request to increase rates so that your input can be incorporated into the administrative record used by the CPUC to make its final decision.  In addition, PG&E customer service representatives will be present to assist with individual customer billing and service concerns.

CPUC President Michael Picker and/or Administrative Law Judge Stephen C. Roscow will preside over this hearing.  While there may be a quorum of Commissioners present, no voting will occur.  If special arrangements are needed, such as sign and/or foreign language interpreters, please contact the CPUC Public Advisor’s Office at 1-866-849-8391 or 1-415-703-2074 or email:public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov at least three days prior to the hearing.

The SFMTA is undertaking a comprehensive, data-driven evaluation of the Residential Parking Permit, or RPP, program.

The program, which provides residents with an exemption to parking time limits in their neighborhood, has been largely unchanged for 39 years, even as San Francisco has changed considerably. The SFMTA is seeking to update the program, align it with the agency’s overall strategic goals and improve customer service for permit holders.

A full program evaluation, including policy and process reform recommendations, will be presented to the SFMTA Board of Directors in fall 2016.

More info here: https://www.sfmta.com/projects-planning/projects/residential-parking-permit-evaluation-reform-project

Contacts: Kathryn Studwell, Program Manager at InfoRPP@sfmta.com or Pamela Johnson, Public Relations Officer at Pamela.Johnson@sfmta.com

Light rail tracks will be replaced along the entirety of Twin Peaks Tunnel. The new tracks will allow trains to move faster through the tunnel and improve travel times. To avoid future impacts to transit and the surrounding neighborhoods, additional work to the tunnel’s infrastructure will take place at the same time as the track replacement. These items include seismic upgrades, repairs to concrete reinforcements and cleaning and repairing the tunnel drainage system.

Construction noise may be expected in West Portal and Castro neighborhoods near the tunnel entrances. When the tunnel is closed, bus shuttles will be provided to bridge affected stations.

More info here: https://www.sfmta.com/projects-planning/projects/twin-peaks-tunnel-trackway-improvements

Construction schedule: (tentative) weekend shutdowns (closed late Friday night and reopening before start of regular serviceMonday morning)

Tentative start for tunnel construction: Summer 2016 (mid to late August anticipated)

Contacts: Kelley McCoy, Public Information Officer at Kelley.McCoy@sfmta.com or David Greenaway, Project Manager at david.greenaway@sfmta.com

Taraval Street is part of the City’s High Injury Network, with 46 pedestrian and vehicle collisions reported in the past five years. Taraval Street is also home to Muni’s L Taraval, which carries nearly 29,000 riders each day, 10,000 boarding in the Sunset alone. The SFMTA is proposing pedestrian safety and transit improvements along the surface portion of the route to improve safety for people walking along Taraval and those getting on and off the train, while also increasing the reliability of the L.

Timeline
2016: Review and approve the project at the SFMTA Board of Directors
2018-2020: Construction

More info here: https://www.sfmta.com/projects-planning/projects/l-taraval-rapid-project

Contacts: Sean Kennedy, Muni Forward Program Manager at sean.kennedy@sfmta.com or
Michael Rhodes, Muni Forward Transit Planner at michael.rhodes@sfmta.com

FINDING NEMO (2003), Saturday, July 23rd, Union Square
THE GOONIES (1985), Saturday, August 13th, Dolores Park
LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003), Saturday, August 27th, Wash.Sq. Park
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006), Saturday, Sept. 10th, Union Square
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015), Saturday, Sept. 24th, Dolores Park
West Portal Library

Event: Laughter Yoga 
For Ages 12 and up
Date: Tuesday July 5,2016
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Event: Meet your National Park Service Ranger
For ALL Ages
Date: Tuesday July 12,2016
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Event: San Francisco Village (Enabling Older San Franciscans to Stay in Charge of Their Lives) 
For Ages 18 and up
Date: Sunday July 17,2016
Time: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Event: Fire Engine Visit 
For Children of All Ages
Date: Tuesday July 26, 2016
Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Event: Poets 11 is Back! 
For Ages 18 and up
Date: Friday July 26,2016
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Check out www.friendssfpl.org for more event listings!

Merced Library

Event: Lizard Lady
Ages 3 and up
Date: Friday July 1,2016
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Event: Goofball the Magician 
For ALL Ages
Date: Wednesday July 6,2016
Time: 3:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Event: Paper Airplanes: Exploring Flight Science
For Ages 5 and up
Date: Tuesday July 26,2016
Time: 3:00 pm -4:00 pm

Ingleside Library

Event: Reading Help
For 1st Graders – 5th Graders
Date: Tuesdays July 5 – 26, 2016 / Thursdays July 7 – 28,2016
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Event: Cookie of the Month Club
For Ages 18 and up
Date: Wednesday July 6,2016
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
For more information please call: 415-355-2989

Event: DIY build a Terrarium 
For Ages 18 and up
Date: Thursday July 21,2016
Time: 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Event: It’s Yoga Kids 
For ALL Ages (specifically for Children)
Date: Friday July 22,2016
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Please call 415-355-2898 to reserve your spot.

Event: Bootcamp at Parkmerced
For Ages 18 and up
Date: Every Tuesdays & Saturdays
Time: Tuesdays 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm / Saturdays 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Location: The Field – Juan Bautista Circle, San Francisco, CA 94132

Join instructor Casey Westbrook and Parkmerced twice a week to explore your personal wellness and strength at our bootcamp style classes.
Event: Family Overnight
For Ages 6 and up (Ages 6-18 must be accompanied by an adult)
Date: Saturday, July 2, 2016 – Sunday, July 3, 2016
Time: Saturday 5:30 pm – Sunday 10:00 am
Fees: SFSZ Members: $90 per person ($80 per person if registering 5 or more people)
Non-members: $100 per person ($90 per person if registering 5 or more people)
Pre-registration required.

Event: Admission-Free Concerts
For ALL Ages
Date: Sundays June 19,2016 – August 21,2016
Time: Concerts start @2:00 pm
Location: 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, San Francisco

Join us every Sunday starting June 19 for a free concert! Artists include Janelle Monae, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Hieroglyphics, San Francisco Symphony, Joan Osborne’s’ Soul Revue and many more.

For more information check out http://www.sterngrove.org
Event: Healthy Parks, Healthy People Trail Walks
For ALL Ages
Date: Second Saturday Every Month / July 9, 2016 – Ongoing
Time: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Location: Lake Merced Boathouse at 1 Harding Park Road

For more information please contact: lisa.mchenry@sfgov.org

Citywide Events

Event: Discover the Animals at the Asian Art Museum 
ALL AGES
Date: Every Thursdays
Time: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Location: Civic Center, Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St., San Francisco, Ca

Event: Do an Artful Dance at Friday nights at the De Young      
ALL AGEs
Date: Every Friday
Time: 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Golden Gate Park, de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., San Francisco, Ca