Supervisor Hillary Ronen - 01012022 Newsletter

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January 1, 2022
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District 9 2021 Year in Review

Dear Neighbors,

2021 has been a whirlwind of a year.

We rang in 2021 with cautious optimism, wishing 2020 away like a bad dream. At the start of 2021, everyone was clamoring for the new vaccines that were limited in supply, and elected officials, myself included, were demanding answers on how everyday people could get vaccinated amidst a confusing process. As we close out the year, vaccines are widely available. More than 90% of San Franciscans over 5 years old have gotten their first vaccine shot, and 84% have completed their initial series.

2020 taught us how to respond to crises, and 2021 taught us how to be resilient. With the new Omicron variant, we are reminded that we may be living with this new reality for some time. It is more important than ever that we collectively take care of each other, and get our vaccines and booster shots to ensure we can forge forward a new future together.

Here’s an overview of what we’ve been able to accomplish this year:

Keeping Us Safe During COVID
Securing and Strengthening Affordable Housing
Reining In Misconduct and Abuse at the Department of Building Inspection
Helping Small Businesses
Fighting for Our Students, Educators, and Families
Addressing Homelessness and Mental Health
Protecting and Preserving Our Neighborhoods
Fighting for Youth and Immigrant Justice

We are available by email: ronenstaff@sfgov.org or by phone at 415-554-5144 (leave a message, and we will call you back-- we are checking voicemail frequently). Check for updates on my Twitter and Facebook.

A New Year, and a New District 9 Team!

From left to right: Santiago Lerma, Hillary Ronen, Nikita Saini, Ana Herrera, Amy Beinart, Jennifer Li

2021 came with many changes, and one of them is the retirement of Amy Beinart from our District 9 team at the end of this year. After 4 years serving District 9, our Chief of Staff is leaving us for a well-deserved retirement. She has worked to build and preserve affordable housing units in our district, written legislation to hold our government accountable to the people of San Francisco, improved and worked on transportation projects, and so much more. Amy Beinart has a brilliant mind, an unwavering moral compass, a deep commitment to equity and justice, and it was a privilege to work alongside her. She will be sorely missed.

The good news is that we will be welcoming Ana Herrera in the new year, joining our team after leading Dolores Street Community Services’ Deportation Defense and Legal Advocacy Program. Ana has worked closely with the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN) and the San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative (SFILDC) to develop and coordinate legal services for local residents facing deportation and immigration detention. We look forward to Ana joining the District 9 team in January 2022!

Keeping Us Safe During COVID

I am grateful that over 90% of eligible San Franciscans ages 5 and up have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, with the arrival of the fast-spreading Omicron variant, vaccinations and booster shots are more important than ever. Boosters are now recommended for everyone over 16 who’s already completed their initial vaccination.

With an uptick in COVID-19 cases statewide, it is especially important to make safer choices for you and your family. As you gather with loved ones, take these steps to stay safe and healthy.

If you haven’t already, get vaccinated. sf.gov/getvaccinated
Get your vaccination boosted. Schedule a free appointment at sf.gov/information/get-your-booster.
Mask up whenever you are indoors in public.
Get tested and stay home if you are sick.Get tested before travel, upon return, and 3-5 days later. If you start experiencing symptoms, isolate yourself and get tested as soon as possible. Find free testing sites at sf.gov/get-tested.

Keep gatherings small. Take all precautions, including vaccinations, boosters, and testing, if gathering with others without masks. Outdoor gatherings are safer than indoor gatherings.

SFDPH is coordinating a number of drop-in sites to make vaccines especially easy for families to access over these next few weeks. The vaccine is safe and effective in children. Drop-in Sites for Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccinations:

Mission: 24th Street and Capp Street, Saturday to Tuesday, 9am-3:45pm
Mission/Potrero: Zuckerberg San Francisco General Learning Center, 1001 Potrero Avenue., Blg 30, 2nd Floor, Monday-Friday 8am-4pm

Access to Testing and Vaccinations

During the past year, as COVID continued to rage throughout the world, we were able to roll out one of the most efficient and robust testing and vaccination efforts in the nation. My office coordinated with multiple city departments and community-based organizations to expand access to testing and vaccines in vulnerable and isolated committees in the Mission. As a result, the Mission – which initially had the highest infection rate of any neighborhood in the City – now has one of the highest vaccination rates.

This great statistic is in large part due to the efforts of Unidos En Salud and the Latino Task Force on COVID-19’s fierce advocacy and organizing skills. This is a team made up of doctors, nurses, nonprofits, and an army of volunteers who love their community.

Without the extraordinary and compassionate work of the members and volunteers of these two groups, more people would have suffered and died. We confront this next Omicron wave in a strong position, with easy and free access to vaccinations, boosters, testing, science-based information, and support systems in place.

Right to Recover

The Right to Recover program remains one of our most effective tools in the fight against COVID-19. Created and designed by my office, Right to Recover offers two weeks' wages for any San Franciscan who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and has no access to paid time off or sick leave. This ensures that low-wage workers won't have to make the hard choice to stay home and not earn money or go to work and risk infecting co-workers and others in the communty. The program has helped nearly 6,000 San Franciscans and distributed over $7 million to help people isolate, quarantine, rest, and recover from COVID.

Securing and Strengthening Affordable Housing

On our Road to the Marvel in the Mission

At the end of the year, we took a major step in a nearly decade-long effort that affordable housing advocates led, with the strong support of the District 9 office under my predecessor Supervisor David Campos and myself, to make the Mission Marvel a reality.

The parcel that wraps around the BART Plaza at Mission and 16th Streets was the subject of a long and hard-fought effort by community housing advocates to create a project that would respond directly to the community’s most urgent need, affordable housing.

When the investment team that owned the parcel put it up for sale, it took creativity and cross-district solidarity for advocates to support a plan that would allow the City to own the 1979 Mission site and pave the way for the Marvel to be built. The Marvel will be the kind of development that the whole city is proud of – tall, dense, green, architecturally beautiful, sitting right on top of a local and regional transit hub, and 100% affordable -- a true 21st century response to our climate and affordability crises.

The Board's resolution authorizing the City to accept ownership is a major milestone. In 2022, we will be engaging the community in planning for both interim use and the full development plan. Congratulations to the Plaza 16 Coalition and all those who played a part in this amazing affordable housing victory!

District 9 Affordable Housing Update

Closing Gaps in Affordable Housing Requirements

In November, the Board passed my legislation to close significant loopholes and gaps in our Planning Code’s affordable housing requirements. San Francisco's Inclusionary Housing Program – requiring for-profit developers to mitigate the impact of new market-rate housing by including affordable housing – is a critical part of our overall affordable housing strategy, and we offer developers several ways to fulfill their obligations.

This year, I became aware of projects where developers were asking to change their commitments, causing confusion and long delays in delivering on their promises. My legislation clarifies the requirements, adds transparency and accountability to the process, ensures that changes after project approval remain true to the program goals, and sets clear timelines and enforcement mechanisms for timely marketing and occupancy of the affordable units.

Reining In Misconduct and Abuse at Dept of Building Inspection

The Department of Building Inspection has been plagued by an entrenched web of corruption that is both undermining public trust and endangering residents across the City. Surely, there are many developers and contractors who are doing good, honest work and following our codes. But, there are also bad actors who are looking to take advantage of any loophole to make a quick buck.

I passed legislation this year, with unanimous support of the rest of the Board, to rein in repeat bad actors who’ve been exploiting the DBI permitting and inspections process. My new legislation requires that DBI track and publicly report those who engage in significant Code violations, and apply expanded scrutiny and controls to all projects associated with them.

I have signed on to co-sponsor a major DBI and Building Inspection Commission reform measure to be on the June 2022 ballot, sponsored by my colleague Supervisor Melgar, while also working to introduce my own legislation early next year to tighten compliance with our Planning and Building Codes.

I am committed to rooting out wrong-doers, reassuring city staff that they don't have to go along to get along, and enforcing rigorous responses that send a clear signal that SF has zero tolerance for developers who break laws and endanger the public.

Helping Small Businesses

First Year Free is a one-year pilot to waive first-year permit, license, and business registration fees for new, small, storefront businesses. The Board of Supervisors passed my legislation creating the program, and we were able to include funding for it in the 2021-22 budget.

The program launched on October 1, and already more than 200 new small businesses have enrolled!

Small businesses are the lifeblood of our neighborhoods and employ hundreds of thousands of workers. San Franciscans are stepping up to shop local and help keep beloved neighborhood businesses alive. As we build back, First Year Free will remove a significant financial barrier that City fees create for prospective small business owners, even before they ever open their doors.

Helped Massage Businesses

At our last meeting this year, the Board passed my legislation to permit massage businesses where other health services are currently allowed to operate. Unfortunately, massage establishments have been caught in restrictive zoning controls based on outdated stigmas that associate their work with human trafficking activities. Massage was hit especially hard by the pandemic, and businesses and individual practitioners are now struggling to reestablish themselves.

The changes in this legislation serve lawful massage businesses and their customers, while retaining the integrity of controls put in place to prevent human trafficking, and will ensure that San Francisco remains a welcoming and supportive environment for massage, health services, and small businesses.

District 9 Legacy Businesses

Congratulations to three long-lived and beloved District 9 institutions that made it to the Legacy Business registry this year, Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, Lyon-Martin Community Health, and Flowercraft Garden Center!

Fighting for Our Students, Families, and Educators

Schools Reopened Safely

Throughout the year, I have been laser-focused on how the pandemic has hit San Francisco public schools. At the start of the year, I worked closely with United Educators; SFUSD; the Board of Education; the Department of Children, Youth & Their Families; the Department of Public Health; the Mayor; and many others to safely reopen schools as soon as we could and drafted legislation to ensure that educators would have priority access to vaccines when they were first becoming available.

SF RISE: Planning for Future SFUSD Recovery

I worked with my colleague Supervisor Myrna Melgar and School Board member Kevin Boggess to create a city workgroup called SF RISE (Students and Families Recovery with Inclusive and Successful Enrichment) to develop post-pandemic recovery strategies for schools, help increase SFUSD enrollment, and expand academic enrichment for our students. We must take this moment of crisis and turn it into an opportunity to make our excellent public school system even better.

Board Committee on Youth, Young Adults, and Families

This year, we created the Youth, Young Adults, and Families Committee of the Board of Supervisors. This new committee allows us to focus and effectively legislate to support the needs of children, youth, and their families, and I am using my position as Chair of this committee to give a voice to students and parents and educators. The Committee – myself and Supervisors Melgar and Safai – meet on 2nd Fridays at 10 am.

Summer Together SF

Last spring, Supervisors Chan and Melgar and I worked with the Department of Children, Youth, & their Families and Rec & Park to create Summer Together SF, which provided free City summer programs for more than 20,000 public school students at Community Hubs and Rec & Park summer camps. My staff and I helped eligible families enroll, giving exhausted parents and children a nine-week reprieve and helping to make up for a hard year of learning loss and social isolation.

Improving Buena Vista Horace Mann School Conditions

In October, I held a hearing on the dangerous condition in our beloved Buena Vista Horace Mann's K-8 Community School's (BVHM) facilities. For years, BVHM faculty and parents filed countless complaints regarding exposed radiators, rodent infestations, water-damaged floors, temperatures reaching 90 degrees in December, lack of toilet paper, ceiling tiles falling in classrooms, faulty wiring, and more.

Three major life-threatening safety incidents happened in this year alone, including a gas leak that was dismissed by the District and left unattended for more than a week until PG&E ordered a mandatory evacuation.

After I held the hearing, later that month, the San Francisco School Board unanimously approved School Board Commissioner Matt Alexander’s proposal to redirect $40 million in unspent bond funds to address these urgent health and life safety repairs.

At the hearing, the Buena Vista Horace Mann community demanded to have the school facilities assessed by a non-SFUSD inspector. Therefore, I asked Public Works to do a facilities needs assessment of the school and introduced legislation to redirect funds so that can happen without delay. Public Works has already started on the initial steps to go through with this assessment.

Thank you to the Buena Vista Horace Mann community of parents, teachers, and students who advocated tirelessly and shined a light on school conditions. Our community is tired of unfulfilled promises, and my office will monitor and legislate as needed to ensure that BVHM is a safe learning and teaching environment.

Addressing Homelessness and Mental Health

Shelter In Place Hotels

The City's use of vacant hotel rooms to offer shelter-in-place (SIP) rooms for people experiencing homelessness was and remains a vital and effective tool in San Francisco’s COVID response.

Not only did the SIP hotels provide a respite from the streets for more than 4,000 unhoused neighbors, but also helped keep our streets safe and clean while protecting public health by flattening the infection curve.

Last spring, as the City moved to close down the hotels, I fiercely opposed this plan, knowing that the streets would be flooded with tents and all the progress we have made would be lost. My colleagues and I fought to make sure the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing has a plan for every individual as they exit these safe spaces and to stagger the closure of the SIP hotels to ensure there would be ample time to find alternatives for everyone.

With the help of the federal FEMA funding extension, the SIP program will continue into the new year, giving us the time we need to make sure no one cycles back to the street.

Supportive Housing for Transitional Age Youth

As part of our post-COVID response to homelessness and with additional funds from the state, the City has purchased the former Eula Hotel on 16th Street to provide affordable housing for transitional age youth (16-24). The program will bring a resource-intensive program to address severe trauma and help get youth on a path out of homelessness and on to recovery.

Mission Community Ambassadors

As a member of the Budget & Finance Committee this year, I was able to secure funds for five new community ambassadors to support the Northern Mission. The Community Ambassadors program is operated by the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs.

The program hires people from the community to be present on the street in high-traffic or troubled corridors to offer help when needed. Trained in conflict resolution, the ambassadors are now on the streets, building respect and trust with neighbors and merchants, monitoring the area and assisting parents walking their children to and from Marshall Elementary School.

Their presence has already shown results in making the area feel safer and welcoming. The added presence will do even more to improve the conditions in the Northern Mission.

Protecting and Preserving Our Neighborhoods

Landmarking Casa Sanchez Building

I introduced the ordinance last month to designate the Casa Sanchez Building at 2778 24th Street as a San Francisco Landmark. Newly arrived immigrants Roberto and Isabel Sanchez first opened Casa Sanchez nearly 100 years ago as a family-run restaurant, a Mexicatessen, and a tortilla and chip production facility.

Located in the heart of Calle 24, Casa Sanchez helped to establish the strong presence of Latinx-owned businesses along that corridor and throughout the Mission. The fourth generation of the Sanchez family is now leading the operations, with the expectation that the fifth will be joining soon.

It is vital that we identify and protect sites that carry the history and legacy of cultural districts such as Calle 24. I am grateful for the work of the San Francisco Latino Historical Society, in particular Anne Cervantes, for doing the background research and for leading the charge to recognize and protect the historical contributions of the Latinx community to San Francisco's rich culture.

More Safety Resources to the Portola

Earlier this year, in response to safety concerns about gun violence in McLaren Park, my office worked with the SFPD Bayview Station and SF Rec and Park, SFMTA, the Fire Department to coordinate the temporary night closure of John Shelley Drive along Mansell and Cambridge. The temporary night closure proved to be successful in deterring gun violence, and SFPD’s shot spotter data showed a major decrease in shots fired after the night closures, so we have continued the night time closure at John Shelley Drive along Mansell and Cambridge.

I am horrified and disgusted by the rise in racist attacks against Asian Americans. SFPD Bayview Captain Maron increased patrols in the Portola, which has a large Chinese population. The SFPD Portola Substation also reopened this year, and Cantonese speaking beat officers (Officers Ng and Gong) are present in the neighborhood.

We were thankful for this proactive step in keeping people safe in their neighborhoods. In addition, the new Coalition for Community Safety and Justice -- a partnership of Community Youth Center and Street Violence Intervention Program -- are walking San Bruno Avenue weekly to serve as safety liaisons for Portola residents and merchants, providing culturally and linguistically competent victim support services while building cross-racial solidarity.

Fighting for Youth and Immigrant Justice

Domestic Workers Equal Access to Paid Sick Leave

At our final meeting this year, the Board and my colleagues approved my legislation creating the first-in-the-nation portable benefits system to allow domestic workers to access and use paid sick leave.

All workers in San Francisco are legally entitled to sick leave, which accrues based on hours worked. Because most domestic workers - nannies, housecleaning, and elder caregivers -- have multiple employers, many never receive or can not access their accumulated earned sick leave.

The program, run out of the Office of Workforce and Economic Development, will track and aggregate paid sick time among various employers so make it available to the worker when needed.

This is just the beginning in the fight to make sure all domestic workers are paid what they are owed and have peace of mind to know they can seek treatment, rest, and recover if they or their families are ill.

Right to Speedy Trial

Our San Francisco criminal justice system is broken. Over the past 21 months, our courts have failed to adhere to one of our most important constitutional rights – that of a speedy trial. During this time, the court has cited the pandemic as an excuse to continue cases past their statutory trial deadline. As a result, 218 people, who are presumed innocent, are sitting in a cage often waiting eight months to a year past their statutory date.

In December, I held a hearing inviting the San Francisco Superior Court, the District Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, and the Sheriff's Department to find solutions to deal with this crisis. Unfortunately, the Court declined to attend, but nevertheless, the hearing yielded a productive discussion of alternative venues and safety protocols.

At our final meeting of 2021, the Board passed my resolution urging the San Francisco Superior Court to prioritize assignment of criminal trials and safely open more courtrooms to ensure that the speedy trial rights of both defendants and victims are upheld.

I will continue to fight to safely open additional courtrooms and make sure that our fundamental rights are being protected. The administration of justice cannot come to a standstill.

Ensuring Justice at Juvenile Delinquency Cases

Earlier this year, we learned that the San Francisco Police Department transferred a juvenile case to a different county for prosecution without first consulting with the San Francisco District Attorney.

In San Francisco, thanks to the amazing work of advocates and city policies, we have one of the best and most successful juvenile treatment and diversion systems in the country.

I wrote and passed legislation to ensure the District Attorney will now review all of SFPD juvenile cases and assess whether it is better to adjudicate in San Francisco or send them to a different county. This will make sure that all justice-involved kids in San Francisco have access to the therapeutic experiences already available that will help them heal and get onto a more positive path.

Supporting Immigrant Families and Children

This summer, I went to the border with San Francisco Latinx leaders of Caravana por los Niños / Caravan for the Children. Board President Shamann Walton, Supervisor Matt Haney, and I visited the San Diego detention center where more than 1,000 unaccompanied minors were being held. I crossed into Mexico to witness the refugee encampment in Tijuana and brought clothing, supplies, PPE, and our solidarity and support. But what is most needed is legislative and executive action on the federal level.

Title 42 is a section of federal code from 1944 that allows the US to limit nonessential travel in order to reduce transmission of communicable disease. Last year, the Trump administration -- continuing its inhumane attacks on immigration, and contrary to scientific and medical advice -- invoked Title 42 to block asylum-seekers at the Mexico border, unleashing chaos, confusion and pain for migrants who are fleeing violence and persecution in their own countries.

I authored a resolution urging the Biden Administration to lift restrictions and allow all those seeking asylum to safely enter the country as they wait for their applications to be processed. We must uncage, reunify, and heal.

Resources and Announcements

New Legacy Business Grant for Active Legacy Businesses

The San Francisco Office of Small Business has created a new Legacy Business Grant with grant awards based on business type and property ownership. The grant application is due at 5:00 p.m. PST on Friday, January 14, 2022. All active Legacy Businesses between November 15 and January 14 are eligible to apply.

Click here for the online application.

Camp Mather Lottery Now Open

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department is excited to announce the reopening of Camp Mather! The lottery is now open and will be held through Thursday, January 6. Family Camp will run in week-long sessions from June 5 through August 20, with Inclusion Week from July 31 to August 6, while Senior Week will take place from August 21 to 25. We hope that you will consider entering the lottery for a chance to visit us in the High Sierra during the summer of 2022.

Proof of vaccination will be required for all vaccine-eligible guests and no priority will be given to reservation holders from previous years. Only one lottery registration per household is allowed.

For more information, click here or email at matherreservations@sfgov.org.

Redeem FREE Meals Through HelpKitchen

HelpKitchen connects San Francisco community members with local restaurant partners to provide free meals to those experiencing economic hardship. Simply text "Find a meal" or "Comida" to 415-599-8727 to get connected with a location restaurant for a free meal!