I hope everyone is enjoying a safe and happy holiday season. I am honored to be re-elected as your District 7 Supervisor. With nearly double the first-choice votes of any other candidate, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve a second term on behalf of San Francisco’s West Side.

I look forward to working with continuing and new colleagues on the Board of Supervisors. Now more than ever, local government is critical for lifting up our communities and ensuring that no people are marginalized. At this moment in time, we face far larger threats than “moderate vs. progressive” or “Old San Francisco vs. new tech”.

My approach to leadership has always been about practical solutions and building bridges. While these qualities don’t always create sensational headlines, I believe they are critical for having an impact at City Hall and making the environment less divisive. I feel re-committed to my ethos of working with all, keeping an open mind, and assuming best intentions. I hope that all of our City’s leaders will also apply these approaches as we forge ahead into the future together–and I will ensure that District 7 residents continue to be part of that collaboration.

I pledge to continue the fight for the children and families of San Francisco. We will stop driving families away, but make it attainable and desirable for families of all income levels to stay and thrive. We will make room for growth in our City without destroying the things that give our neighborhoods their character and charm. We will make our streets and spaces safer and healthier. We will protect the rights and serve the needs of all our residents with compassion and dignity.

There is so much more left to do and I am honored that District 7 voters have entrusted me with another term to continue this work.

Included in this newsletter are updates on:

1. Participatory Budgeting – meeting Dec. 17
2. Proposed affordable senior housing in Forest Hill – meeting Dec. 15
3. Public Safety
4. Pedestrian Fatality on Monterey Blvd

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact me or my staff.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Norman

We are excited to announce the 4th year of Participatory Budgeting in District 7! This year YOU will have the opportunity to apply for and decide on how to allocate $550,000  ($300,000 for General Projects & $250,00 for Pedestrian Safety/Vision Zero)!

Please join me at the upcoming meeting to find out more about Participatory Budgeting, how to apply and get feedback from departments on your ideas and proposals.

D7 Participatory Budgeting Meeting with Departments
Saturday, December 17th
10:00AM to Noon
Ingleside Presbyterian Church
1345 Ocean Ave (b/t Granada Ave. and Plymouth)

Flyer and Application attached. Initial applications are due by Jan. 8, midnight.

Short Video about Participatory Budgeting

For questions on participatory budgeting, please contact Erica Maybaum at Erica.Maybaum@sfgov.org.

Due to their dwindling congregation size, Forest Hill Christian Church (250 Laguna Honda Blvd) has decided to allow Christian Church Homes (CCH) nonprofit housing developer to develop their site. From the beginning, I strongly urged the developer to be proactive in community outreach and garner support from the neighborhood. I support affordable housing, but I also want to ensure that whatever final project is approved, incorporates community input and has the strong support of the community.

You can read more about the project proposal and FAQs here.

Community Meeting
Forest Hill Christian Church
250 Laguna Honda Blvd.
Thursday, Dec. 15
7-9pm 
For questions about this project proposal, please contact Eden Powell at epowell@cchnc.org.

To more strategically and effectively leverage our police force to keep our neighborhoods and City safe, I introduced two resolutions pertaining to the Police Chief’s residency and staffing of the Department.

Car Break-Ins

To address the rise in car break-ins associated with rental cars being easy targets given their identifiable bar codes, I co-sponsored legislation with President London Breed requiring rental car companies to provide written disclosures advising customers not to leave valuables in the car and to lock the doors. President Breed and I are continuing to partner with the rental car companies in discussing the best ways to prevent car break-ins associated with easily identifiable rental cars. Property crime is a multi-faceted issue that requires solutions from multiple angles, so this legislation is just one proposed solution.

Police Staffing

Police residency 

As we await the Mayor’s naming of the new Police Chief, I introduced a resolution urging the Police Commission to require the new Police Chief reside in San Francisco. It unanimously passed yesterday at the Full Board.  This requirement previously existed until the mid-1980s and would allow the Chief to more expediently respond in the event of an emergency. Also the more officers that are able to reside in San Francisco, the more officers we will have that possess a deeper understanding and commitment to the neighborhoods they serve.

Task Force on Strategic Police Staffing and Deployment

I also introduced a resolution urging the Police Commission to form a Task Force to determine the best methodology for establishing staffing levels and deployment in the Police Department. The Budget and Legal Analyst Report published in January 2016 reported that Police Dept staffing should be based on a variety of factors, including studies on calls for service, workload, crime data, and deployment rather than solely based on population.

For questions on public safety legislation, please contact Jen Low at Jen.Low@sfgov.org.

Tragically there was another hit-and-run on Dec. 3 on Monterey Blvd and Valdez Ave, which injured an elderly man and killed an elderly woman.  I have been advocating for safety improvements at this location as well as other neighborhoods throughout District 7. I’ve asked San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to re-evaluate the intersection to see what improvements can be made and I’ve called on the SFMTA to implement immediate changes to prevent any further tragedies. The Friends of Monterey Blvd and the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association have been actively engaged to bring change to this corridor and I encourage everyone to continue contacting our office and SFMTA regarding your observations and suggestions. As Vision Zero Chair, I will not stop fighting until we achieve zero traffic-related deaths in SF.

For questions on the Monterey Blvd evaluation, please contact Neal Patel at neal.patel@sfmta.com.

For questions on Vision Zero and pedestrian safety initiatives, please contact Erica.Maybaum@sfgov.org.

Cooking for the holidays? Don’t dump that oil in the sink!

Whether you are cooking for the holidays, or just enjoying meals with your friends and family, don’t pour the used cooking oil down the drain. Clogged sewers can result in back-ups, overflows onto streets, foul odors, and costly damage to sewers. As we enter the holiday season, we urge you to recycle your used cooking oil at one of our convenient drop-off locations in SF, year-round, listed at sfgreasecycle.org. We’ll turn it into biofuel for use in vehicles like MUNI buses.

The Rainy Season is Here! Have You Adopted a Drain Yet?

Are you familiar with Adopt a Drain? By pledging to keep your drain clear of leaves and debris, you are joining your neighbors in helping to protect the environment, manage stormwater, and minimize neighborhood flooding. With the SFPUC’s Adopt a Drain Program, everyone can take small and easy steps and get involved in taking care of the city we all love, so join us by adopting your own drain today at adoptadrain.sfwater.org.

Free SFPUC Treatment Plant Tours!

Register yourself and a friend for a free tour of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant to track down where wastewater goes after you flush. If you are interested, please visit SFPUC’s webpage and sign up today for one of their amazing upcoming tours:  http://www.eventbrite.com/o/san-francisco-water-power-sewer-sf-public-utilities-commission-3260970114

Library Fines Forgiveness Program Jan 3. – Feb. 14

Reconnect with the San Francisco Public Library by returning all overdue items, fine free. For six weeks, We Want You Back! a fine forgiveness program, will waive the late fees on all returned books, CDs, DVDs and other materials, regardless of how long overdue. Return your overdue items, clear your record and begin enjoying all of the fabulous resources that SFPL has to offer.

The Library wants to hear from you! Drop-off your items in person at any neighborhood branch to enter a raffle to win a special fine forgiveness prize, and share your #fineforgiveness experience with us on social media.

For more information about the program, visit here or contact us at (415) 577-4400. Many happy returns!

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.

Construction is currently on hold. The tentative start date for construction is April 2017.

Schedule change: The initial proposed schedule on 21 weekends of work has changed to a series of multi-day shutdowns that would utilize both weekdays and weekends for construction. 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 finalizing the construction schedule.

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

1. Text START to 741741 from anywhere in the USA, anytime, about any type of crisis.
2. A live, trained Crisis Counselor receives the text and responds quickly.
3. The volunteer Crisis Counselor will help you move from a hot moment to a cool moment

Want to help someone in crisis?
Become a volunteer Crisis Counselor – we’re 200 strong in the Bay Area! Apply atcrisistextline.org/volunteer.

If you’d like to connect Crisis Text Line to local organizations, schools, and government, please contact Libby Craig at libby@crisistextline.org.

If you have questions regarding your eligibility to donate blood, please call 1866-236-3276. ID require to donate blood.

Age & Disability Friendly San Francisco is a collaborative and citywide effort with the goal of ensuring that San Francisco is accessible to all residents, regardless of age or ability. To achieve this, San Francisco needs to plan ahead, thinking about existing policies and plans while also providing recommendations for future efforts. We need as much community input as possible to achieve this!

Age & Disability Friendly SF (a project of the Long Term Care Coordinating Council) is convening a task force to help drive this process. The task force will include 25 or so members representing a broad range of folks, including local nonprofits, city departments, universities, businesses, and community members.  Meeting monthly for 12-15 months beginning in January 2017, the task force will cover a different topic each month, such as employment, transportation, public space, etc. The goal is to develop a baseline assessment and from that, offer recommendations for an action plan on how our city can move towards an age and disability friendly San Francisco.

We are looking for task force members! We’re looking for older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers that are interested in being on the task force – the work will be highly collaborative, engaging, and meaningful, so if you have members, partners or constituents that may be interested, please let them know. The deadline to apply is Friday, December 16th. 

Celebrating Lemonade’s grand opening on West Portal Ave

Celebrating Philz Coffee Grand Opening on Ocean Ave

Honoring SFSAFE on their 40th Anniversary