Dear community members,

I wish everyone a happy fall and election season! This is a very important presidential election year and I encourage everyone to vote by or on Election Day, November 8. Here is more information from the SF Dept of Elections on voter registration deadlines, dates and in-person and by-mail voting. Here are the government links to all 25 local ballot measures and 17 state ballot measures.

In particular I’d like to highlight three local measures on the November ballot:

• Prop E–Street Trees: City to take back responsibility for street tree maintenance
• Prop I–Dignity Fund: creating dedicated funding for seniors and adults with disabilities
• Prop L–SFMTA split appointments: establishing more balance and diversity on the SFMTA Board

Included below are brief updates from my office about legislation going through the Board of Supervisors’ legislative process:

• Neighborhood Property Crime Unit
• Street Tree Supplemental
• Infant and Toddler Care Fund
• Family Friendly Housing

As usual included are updates on construction projects and community announcements.

Remember to vote by November 8, Election Day!

Best,

Norman

Neighborhood Crime Unit

My ordinance would require the creation of Neighborhood Property Crime Units in each local police district and is a proactive step to address the rise in property crimes before waiting until the November ballot (Prop R). Currently the SFPD has several different units which address neighborhood property crime together. My ordinance passed its first reading on October 18, 2016.

My ordinance would encourage community policing, instead of only focusing on specific types of crimes. It would allow local precinct Captains to more effectively and efficiently decide how to deploy their officers to foot patrols in response to changing trends in their communities, based on data and common sense. The units would also coordinate and share information with each other to better identify crime patterns and best tactics to combat crime.

A separate measure–Prop R–would centralize the neighborhood crime unit and if there was a need elsewhere in the City, could pull away neighborhood officers–who have gotten to know the local community members, small business owners and streets–from remaining in those communities. As District 7 Supervisor, I introduced this ordinance to make sure that the public safety needs of the Westside are prioritized within the Police Department and not decreased due to  competing needs elsewhere in the City.

If you have any questions, please contact Jen.Low@sfgov.org.

Tree Supplemental

To clarify regarding street tree legislation, my ordinance (introduced June 1, 2016) would start remitting funds as early as January 1, 2017 to the Department of Public Works to start buying equipment and hiring staff to help the City take back the responsibility of maintaining street trees beforeJuly 1, 2017 (if Prop E passes in November).

Prop E is a Charter Amendment on the November ballot which permits the City to maintain trees starting after July 1, 2017. Prop E would make it a requirement to invest $19 million annually in the Street Tree Maintenance Fund. The funding would come from the passage of the Luxury Real Estate Transfer Tax (Prop B)  that will grow the General Fund and provide the resources to sustain the program.

My ordinance makes funding available six months sooner (Jan 2017) to make sure the City’s Urban Forestry Team is ready to maintain street trees sooner rather than later.

If you have any questions, please contact Jen.Low@sfgov.org.

Infant and Toddler Early Learning Scholarship Fund

High quality and affordable childcare remains one of the most important issues facing families today.  San Francisco has always been a champion on children and youth issues, but the biggest gap in service for childcare is for infants and toddlers with more than 51% of the waitlist are children under the age of 3. Parents should not have to struggle to find quality care for the most important years of their babies’ lives.

This is why I introduced legislation to create the Infant and Toddler Early Learning Scholarship Fund which will allow the city to be intentional in investing  to expand access to quality infant and toddler care.  The Fund would provide financial grants to high quality child care providers that serve the 0-3 population. The intent of this fund is to increase child care services for parents and guardians who work or attend school in San Francisco, and have children age 3 and under.

If you have any questions, please contact Erica.Maybaum@sfgov.org.

Family Friendly Affordable Housing

As legislators, we often talk about affordable housing, but what about family friendly affordable housing? San Francisco has the lowest child population of any U.S. city–around 13%. Most U.S. cities are around 25-35%. Many people move to San Francisco when they’re young, but once they have children, they move out.  Family friendly housing considers three-bedroom apartments, child care centers, playground areas and parks, and walkable streets among many other features in their design plans.

An example of designing with families in mind would be a courtyard apartment building with apartments facing an inner courtyard where families can watch their children play. Family housing can also be achieved through “middle housing,” such as townhouses, duplexes and not just dense high rises.

Families and children are important to keeping a thriving, multi-generational city. I raised my two daughters in Westwood Park. This year I became a grandfather of two grandchildren.  I care about making the City amenable to families being able to live here.

This is why I requested the Planning Department write a concept paper on defining family housing and how to develop family housing in San Francisco.  I look forward to working with the Planning Department to explore next steps to use the white paper findings to inform family friendly housing development.

If you have any questions, please contact Jen.Low@sfgov.org.

Safe Streets – Speed Enforcement Campaign

Starting in October, every San Francisco supervisorial district will see strategic police speed enforcement on high-injury, high-speed corridors identified by data and community input. These corridors will include Sunset Boulevard, 19th Avenue, Alemany Boulevard and Sloat Boulevard in District 7. Please see the map.

Traffic deaths and severe collisions plague our city. But they’re preventable. That’s why the city launched its new Safe Speeds SF campaign as part of San Francisco’s Vision Zero initiative – the goal of zero traffic deaths for all road users, achieved through educating the public, engineering safer roads, and enforcing traffic laws.

Neighborhood Empowerment Network

The NEN Awards return to City Hall’s rotunda on the evening of Friday, January 27th, 2017.  The Awards celebrate the amazing work of community leaders and organizations in San Francisco’s neighborhoods. As is the tradition with the NEN Awards, the winners are nominated by the community, and I need your help to make sure that the heroes in our district will be considered for an award.

Categories include: Comeback Neighborhood of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, NERT/Alert Leadership, and many more. To see a complete list of the NEN Award categories, and register to attend, visit: http://empowersf.org/nenawards/

The nomination window closes at 5pm on Friday, December 2nd, so don’t delay – submit your nominations today!

Disaster Recovery 2016-2017 Community Outreach Workshops

The Office of Resilience and Recovery along with a host of partners is holding year-long, all-neighborhood, and citywide community outreach effort aimed at making our communities more resilient at the neighborhood level. We will present the current disaster recovery efforts of each department, present elements of the City’s new Resilient San Francisco strategy, and engage with residents directly about disaster readiness and recovery preparedness. Our interactive program will last about 2 hours in the evenings, drawing community input as well as collecting invaluable asset mapping data and presenting a host of existing city programming to residents in their own neighborhoods. Onsite child care is also being provided. If you are able to attend any of these events to assist as a volunteer please email Stacey.Lee@sfgov.org.

View the schedule here. Space is limited, so rsvp here.

CCSF Facilities Master Plan workshops

Please join us for the next series of Facilities Master Plan (FMP) workshops, all of which are part of a 10-year process to modernize CCSF campuses across the city. These will provide you with an opportunity to review all of the diagrams developed during the first phase of the project, identify preferences, and discuss alternatives.

Review the resulting designs from the Options Workshops developed to date

Tuesday, November 1, 2016, 6:00pm – 9:30 pm
Ocean Campus, Multi-Use Building, Room 140

OR

Wednesday, November 2, 2016, 1:30pm – 5pm
Ocean Campus, Multi-Use Building, Room 140 CCSF

CCSF Ocean Campus Map

To get more details, visit here.

SFMTA is wrapping up its evaluation of the Residential Parking Permit program and wants your input.  Based on their extensive research and the input they have received through their many meetings with residents, neighborhood and business groups, they have developed a set of proposed policy changes that will address the problems within the existing program.

If you weren’t able to attend any of the SFMTA meetings please visit the Residential Parking Permit Evaluation & Reform Project page to learn more and complete this  RPP Program Evaluation Survey so SFMTA can include your input. If you have any questions about the survey or the RPP Evaluation and Reform Project, please send an email to InfoRPP@sfmta.com

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

TWIN PEAKS TUNNEL TRACKWAY IMPROVEMENTS

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 details here.

Earliest construction date would start Jan. 2017

Schedule change: The initial proposed schedule on 21 weekends of work has changed to 5 9-day construction blocks. These extended work blocks would avoid impacting Muni train service on continuous weekends and allow for more work to be completed during each shutdown. Project staff are currently finalizing the construction schedule.

Contacts: Kelley McCoy, Public Information Officer at Kelley.McCoy@sfmta.com or Wahid Amiri,
Project Manager, wahid.amiri@sfmta.com

TRANSIT LINE PLANNING

L – TARAVAL

On Tuesday, September 20, the SFMTA Board of Directors voted to approve the L Taraval Rapid Project. This project is focused on improving pedestrian safety and transit reliablity along the surface portion of the route on Taraval Street. View updates here.

*The SFMTA Board requested staff further evaluate the removal of the 17th inbound stop. If it is determined the stop should be retained, a boarding island would be installed at the existing stop location.

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

Ingleside Library

Event: Halloween Storytime with Lynn Bali
For All Ages
Date: Tuesday,  October 25, 2016
Time: 10:30 am – 11:15 am

Event: Halloween arts and crafts
For All Ages
Date: Monday, October 31, 2016
Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Merced Library

Event: Spooky Halloween Celebration
For All Ages
Date: Saturday, October 29, 2016
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Event: Toddler Tales & Halloween Party
For Ages 16 months to age 2 and their caregivers
Date: Monday, October 31, 2016
Time: 10:15 am – 10:45 am

Scaregrove, our annual family-friendly Halloween event at Sigmund Stern Grove, happens on Friday, October 28, from 3-9 p.m., featuring costume contests, haunted houses, hay rides, carnival rides, giant inflatables, food for sale and live entertainment. $8 per person; children under 2 years old are free.