On June 15, more than 50 seniors – with four dressed as iconic characters Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion – protested the mayor’s proposed $8.9 million in budget cuts to senior and disability programs. While singing a parody of “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz, Hene Kelly, dressed as Dorothy, led protesters to each supervisor’s office and asked them to “have a heart,” “use your brain” and “show some courage” to say no to senior cuts.
A resolution to extend APE’s contract with the Recreation & Parks Department for three more years, with an option of extending it out further to 2035, was approved by the Budget and Appropriations Committee in June and will go before the full Board on July 14.
Ask any parent in the Sunset what the most stressful months of the year are, and many will give you the same answer: the months between submitting their public school application and finding out where their child got placed. It is a strange thing to put families through, and stranger still that it has not changed.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors decided to begin the process of creating an Irish cultural district centered in the neighborhood. The St. Patricks’ Day vote expressing the intent of the City to create a Sunset Irish Cultural District was unanimous. District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong called it, “an important first step.”
The five candidates seeking to represent District 4 at the Board of Supervisors appeared at a forum on March 4 at the United Irish Cultural Center. While they expressed similar points of view on public safety, education and the Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), there was disagreement about the Upper Great Highway’s (UGH) transformation into Sunset Dunes, as well as Mayor Daniel Lurie’s family zoning legislation.
Candidates rounding out the race for District 4 supervisor, small business owner Albert Chow and local school coordinator Jeremy Greco are both longtime Sunset neighborhood residents.
In the Richmond District, a group of 22 students are helping bring youth perspectives to their leaders. The District 1 Youth Council (D1YC) was founded in February and aims to help young San Francisco residents, aged 13 to 18, get involved in local politics.
San Francisco voters will decide on a $535 million bond measure in June, part of which will fund the expansion of the Emergency Firefighting Water Supply System (EFWSS), although two neighborhood groups oppose the current plan.
With a 2-1 vote, the SF Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee dropped an amendment to the Family Housing Plan aimed at protecting rent-controlled housing in buildings of one or two units from upzoning.
With a 2-1 vote, the SF Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee dropped an amendment to the Family Housing Plan aimed at protecting rent-controlled housing in buildings of one or two units from upzoning.
Furthermore, if we still had at-large elections, there would have been no recall – whom would you recall? The whole Board? Those board members who voted to put this on the ballot?
When I gave the commencement speech for political science graduates at San Francisco State University last year, I told the class:
“You are charged with analyzing and navigating some of the world’s most intractable issues. But if you want to practice your skills for the State Department or the United Nations, go to any neighborhood association meeting in San Francisco and ask the following questions: ‘Should the Great Highway be a highway for cars or a park for people? Where should we build housing? How high can the buildings be?’”
Investigating the financial implosion of the San Francisco Parks Alliance has a lot of people pointing fingers and laying blame, yet so far the Board of Supervisors’ Government Audit and Oversight Committee inquiries have only raised more questions.
Subpoenas are on the way to former leaders of the San Francisco Parks Alliance (SFPA) after they found themselves in hot water once again. This time, instead of responding with defiance, the private non-profit completely dissolved itself, leaving about 80 community groups high and dry.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation 8-3 at its April 22 meeting requiring tenants, businesses and property owners to be notified about zoning changes proposed for parts of the City’s west side.
