Happy Lunar New Year

Happy Lunar New Year as we celebrate the start of the year of the snake.

You might have plans to attend the amazing Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown on Feb. 15. I hope to see you there. I also want to encourage you to attend the wonderful New Year celebration in the Sunset on Feb. 9 at the Outer Sunset Farmers Market.

The Sunset Chinese Cultural District hosts a neighborhood Lunar New Year Celebration with Sunset Mercantile that includes a lion dance, music and lots of activities for families and kids along with everything we love about the regular Sunday farmers market. Don’t miss it: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 37th Avenue and Pacheco Street. There will be a formal program at noon with guest speakers.

2025’s year of the snake brings with it opportunities for positive transformations and new beginnings. In early January, I welcomed five newly elected members to the Board of Supervisors and supported the election of Rafael Mandelman as our new board president. Mayor Daniel Lurie is already proving himself to be a willing, collaborative partner to help cut through San Francisco’s notorious bureaucracy, promote greater accountability over public spending and help make it easier for our small businesses and communities to thrive.

I was appointed to serve on the Budget and Finance Committee, alongside Supervisors Connie Chan and Matt Dorsey. A majority of the important budget committee is governed by two westside supervisors, representing the Sunset and Richmond districts. We need to turn our fiscal focus and attention toward local commercial corridors and communities. I am committed to work with my colleagues to ensure San Francisco’s overlooked residential neighborhoods get their fair share of city services and resources.

As City Hall kicks off a new legislative cycle, I’ve welcomed some new staff into my office to help serve our neighborhoods.

Sophie Shao joins my team after recently working in Mandarin and English media and communications. She’ll be responsible for parks, education, youth and families, public safety and housing assistance constituent services. Sophie works in tandem with Vindy Chan, our public safety liaison with Taraval Police Station. Sophie can be reached at hshao@sfgov.org.

Sammi Ma is a proud Outer Sunset homeowner and fluent in Cantonese. Over the past decade, she has served as a program manager, working in local and state government on community quality-of-life issues. Sammi is responsible for managing constituent services overseeing streets, environment and small business concerns. Sammi can be reached at Sammi.Ma@sfgov.org.

Jonathan Goldberg continues to serve on my team as chief of staff. He manages our legislative and public policy efforts. I have asked Jonathan to use his extensive experience in San Francisco’s public and private sectors to work on legislation that could directly benefit Sunset residents and address their core concerns. Jonathan can be reached at Jonathan.Goldberg@sfgov.org.

Vindy Chan also continues to serve on my team as our public safety community liaison with Taraval Police Station. I created her role to exclusively work on public safety and homeless issues in the Sunset. She is employed by the police department as a civilian staffer and spends all her time in the Sunset neighborhoods. She assists residents and merchants affected by crime. She also helps educate people on how to avoid being a crime victim. Vindy is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. She can be reached at Vindy.Chan@sfgov.org.

My husband Lionel (who grew up in Taipei) wants to remind everyone that this new year of the snake is about accepting opportunities for personal growth. With support from our new Mayor Lurie, we can also think of the opportunities to create our best Sunset and San Francisco.

Joel Engardio is the District 4 representative on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He can be reached at engardio.com/contact.