Dan Kalb’s Response to Questionnaire

DAN KALB for Supervisor 5

912 Cole Street, #252
San Francisco, CA 94117
415/753-0137
dan@dankalb.net

www.dankalb.net

fppc #1265026

(1) The current proposal for the U.C. Berkeley Extension property, a 6-acre site located between Laguna, Haight, Buchanan and Hermann streets, calls for the development of 500 housing units, with 80-88% market-rate rentals and the remainder income-restricted rentals. Market-rate rentals that are not subject to rent control often have a high rate of turnover, attracting transient renters who are looking for a 'temporary' home. On the other hand, 'affordable' housing tenants tend to remain in their apartments for many years. Do you believe the proposed amount of affordable housing is appropriate? Further, do you believe that housing on this site should be entirely rental? If not, what will you do to negotiate housing opportunities for a wider mix of income levels or home ownership on the U.C. Extension property?

Since this property is owned by a public entity, we have a golden opportunity to design a large project with the public benefit in mind. I certainly support using the UC Extension property for housing. However, the currently proposed project is far from ideal. Since this is property owned by a public entity, I would like to see 50% the units be priced as affordable. I would also like to see about 25% of the units as owner-occupied—possibly a limited equity ownership cooperative.  

I would be happy to enter into negotiations with U.C. and the developer, and the nearby neighborhood. Successful negotiations require good-faith bargaining and some leverage on both sides. We--the neighborhood and the city--need to determine what our leverage is and how best to use it. I would work toward approval of a good mixed-use project with moderately high density housing, many new trees, and open space designed for the entire neighborhood. This development must fit neatly into the Market/Octavia Plan. 

(2) The Park and Rec Department seems particularly hard hit with layoffs and cutbacks. There will be a new director for Parks and Rec who will have to deal with these challenges. Explain how you will select and support this new director with these specific issues in mind:

A) voters repeatedly approve capital improvements funding for parks showing their support, but then the city cuts maintenance resulting in rapid deterioration of parks (in our community, the focal Koshland Park is one such example). What is your commitment to adequate maintenance budgets? What is your target level of financial support for parks (vs. current actual levels)? 

I am fully committed to putting sufficient funding in the budget for park maintenance. I also support the extensive use of community service and neighborhood park adoption programs to supplement Park maintenance. Funding for park maintenance will vary on a park-by-park basis--but most parks should receive an increase in their maintenance budget. 

B) another mission of Parks and Rec is children's programs. These have also seen severe cutbacks resulting in kids with little outlet for productive expression. The result is detrimental to the children and the community. The Western Addition, including Hayes Valley, is especially hard hit with its high concentration of at-risk children. How are you going to support Park and Rec restoring these programs?

As a former child care counselor, I fully appreciate the importance of youth programs at our parks and recreation centers. I want to make sure we have sufficient monies in the budget to fund the most productive after-school programs for our youth. I will also seek to supplement those monies with grants from private and public foundations. The new Director of the Recreation and Park Department must be someone with experience in working with tight budgets and an engaged community. (S)he must be someone who genuinely appreciate community involvement in the decision-making process.

(3) Part of the purpose of the recent chain store legislation spearheaded by Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association is that it will help to preserve San Francisco's cultural and architectural heritage from being replaced by the "formula" architecture and interiors of large national chain stores. There is also sentiment in Hayes Valley in favor of designating certain parts of the neighborhood as historic districts as a way of preserving neighborhood character. What is your position on Historic and Architectural preservation?

I fully support the 'formula retail' legislation passed the Board of Supervisors. I have been very supportive and sometimes active in opposing chain stores in key D5 business districts. I certainly support the historic/architectural preservation of truly old, historic buildings. The creation of small neighborhood historic districts should be done in conjunction with comprehensive and open planning for the entire HayesValleyneighborhood. 

(4) The replacement of the elevated Central Freeway with the Octavia Boulevard presents an opportunity for Hayes Valley to balance automobile traffic with other modes of travel, including public transit, walking and bicycling. What measures do you recommend implementing that would limit auto congestion and encourage the creation of a pedestrian-oriented community where residents can shop within walking distance of their homes?

I was/am a strong supporter of the Octavia Blvd.plan that we voted on multiple times. Designing pedestrian-friendly streets and attractive streetscapes should be key, not an afterthought by the planners. Firstly, the newly designed streets should have mixed use development with sufficiently wide sidewalks. Entrances to the buildings should be from the street. We should not be creating new parking lots--but rather creating ways for people to get to/from this neighborhood easily. I support additional bike lanes, more bike racks to safely lock up bikes, and upgrades in MUNI transit services. Bike lanes need to be clearly designated and painted to distinguish them from the rest of the street. 

How well the new portions of the neighborhood are designed will go a long way in creating a truly pedestrian-oriented community. I am a supporter of most traffic calming tools. For example, I strongly support having landscaped medians on selected streets, and making sure most streets are not inordinately wide. Barriers can be added on some streets to make them 'not through streets' to cars. Bulb-outs from the sidewalk can also provide a calming effect as well as help make the street more transit-friendly.  

(5) Define "Community Policing" in three sentences or less. How many times in the last year have you attended the Northern District Police/Community Relations Forum?

Community policing is supposed to be a collaborative effort between the police and the people in the community—residents, business owners, schools and community centers—aimed at identifying problems of potential and actual crime. The emphasis is on problem-solving and crime prevention with police officers engaging people in the community on a frequent basis. It also should involve patrols using different modes of transport—walking the beat, cops on bikes, etc. 

I have 10 years experience as a community mediator with Community Boards. I look forward to working with the police and community-based organizations to reduce crime and make ‘community policing’ more than just a buzz word.

(6) The Market/Octavia Plan creates a blueprint for a high-density, pedestrian-oriented, urban neighborhood where owning a car is a choice rather than a necessity. Please describe the elements of this Plan that you consider most important in determining the success of the Hayes Valley neighborhood. Please also identify any elements you think should be changed, and explain why.

The City's Market/Octavia Plan is part of the Better Neighborhoods planning effort by the Planning Department. The following elements must be part of the plan in order to receive my active support:

• It must focus on the creation of permanently affordable housing.
• It must design the neighborhood to encourage and provide alternatives to private automobile use.
• It must create/enhance streets so they are inviting places to walk, bike and hang out.
• It must offer convenient neighborhood services/amenities for nearby residents.
• It should be open to allowing for reduced parking requirements in order to make it more feasible to have a lot of affordable housing. 
• It should maintain and improve the HayesValleyneighborhood as a vibrant neighborhood mixed-use neighborhood.
• It should not ignore the south Van Ness area in terms of housing and retail. Neighborhoods are not isolated from other nearby neighborhoods. Planning should be comprehensive. 
• It should design streets to accommodate residents and those who don't use or don't want to use cars. This would include extensive streetscape and traffic calming measures.
• It must include new public green spaces, lots of newly planted trees, and at least one new park.         I would like to see more green space and parks in this plan. But overall, it's a very good plan. As a Board member, I would fulfill my responsibility to make sure the plan implemented wisely and with substantial community input. 

(7) Name the key crime areas in the Hayes Valley area. Name some individuals, groups, and community based organizations located in the HayesValleyarea that are currently working on reducing crime and improving the quality of life in our neighborhood.

The area near Fultonand Laguna/Octavia is one area that comes to mind, but really much of the small neighborhood is susceptible to serious crime problems. There are a handful of groups and organizations that work within the community to address crime and quality-of-life issues. Obviously, the HayesValleyNeighborhood Association is a key one. Others include the HayesValleyMerchants Association, The Oak/Fillmore and the Western Addition Neighborhood associations, and the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Parks group. Also, the EllaHillHutchCenteris obviously very concerned about crime issues in the community. I'm aware that Richard Johnson of HVNA is involved in coordinating others in the neighborhood on crime and public safety issues. 

(8) Please comment in detail on the recently passed chain store legislation.

I strongly support the 'formula retail' legislation put forth by Supervisor Gonzalez that includes a prohibition on chain store development in the Hayes-Gough Neighborhood Commercial district. I have always been a strong and vocal supporter or keeping chain stores out of most neighborhood business districts. 

Hayes Valley has dozens of small, locally-owned businesses that could be overwhelmed if chain stores are allowed to open up in this neighborhood. I will work to see that the legislation is implemented wisely to benefit the community. 

(9) The Octavia Boulevard Project includes the creation of a new neighborhood park on Octavia Street, between Fell and Hayes. We expect this park to be an important gathering spot for the neighborhood and the performing arts community. The Octavia Boulevard Project does not include any funding for the maintenance of this park. The Recreation and Parks Department has no funding to maintain this park. How do you propose obtaining funding for the maintenance and upkeep of this very important park? 

Maintenance of our parks—new and previously existing—is a high priority for me. Parks serve a number of tangible and intangible functions for residents and families in the community. I support a full audit of the Recreation and Park Department. I've heard way too many complaints about their spending habits to ignore. This audit may bring to light inefficiencies and force them to spend their monies more wisely and based more on community concerns. 

I also support finding some private foundation funds to supplement the Department's budget for park upkeep. Further, I am a big supporter of using community service opportunities to assist with park maintenance (although this is not a substitution for the city doing its job). 

(10) What is your position on green space as a requirement for any UC Extension development plan? Please provide as much detail as you can on what you feel adequate green space would be in this major site.

I strongly support requiring that the UC development project include substantial green space. This would include a park, well-landscaped streets and sidewalks, and hundreds of new trees. Moreover, this park space should be accessible to all the residents of the neighborhood, not just the residents of the new development. 

(11) A payroll tax exemption has been proposed for biotech companies while existing small businesses have recently been saddled with a new gross receipts tax. Do you support an exemption for biotech companies? Why? Do you support the new gross receipts tax? Why? How do you propose to help independent, locally-owned and operated businesses thrive in San Francisco?

I am not in favor of the new 7 -1/2 year tax preference for biotech companies. I believe it will mostly be a windfall for companies that will locate here anyway. However, since the votes were there for its passage, I would've offered an amendment that would deny the tax preference for biotech companies that do not meet selected socially and environmentally responsible screens. After all, we don't want companies that are damaging the environment to get a special tax break. 

I do support the gross receipts tax—at least on a temporary basis or alternate year basis—because we need additional funds to pay for vital public services. However, I would want to make sure that the smallest businesses pay a relatively low percentage (i.e. it should be a progressive tax that focuses on larger businesses). 

The City can and should create an environment that will allow locally-owned businesses to thrive assuming the demand exists for those given businesses. As a Supervisor, I will make sure that we focus on reducing crime, cleaning the streets, and keeping chain stores out of our neighborhoods—in addition to other things that will keep our business districts inviting for residents and tourists. Beyond that, it's obviously up to the store owners to market their product(s) successfully.

(12) In order for our commercial districts to thrive we need to encourage many more customers to visit our shopping areas than can arrive by personal automobile. What creative ideas do you have for encouraging shoppers to travel to shopping districts by walking, biking, public transit or taxi?

I support experimenting with Shuttle vans from selected BART stations to key neighborhood commercial districts. Obviously, we need to upgrade MUNI services. I therefore support the creation of a Transit Assessment District to provide a dedicated source of funding for MUNI operating expenses.  

Merchant associations may want to brainstorm as to what incentives they might consider offering to customers who travel by means other than private automobile. I would propose that the City should assist in implementing good ideas that are developed by the local merchants groups. 

(13) When you become supervisor how do you propose to reduce crime and improve the quality of life for residents who live within the H.V.N.A. boundaries? Please give specific examples.

My anti-crime platform focuses on expanding and providing support to our various anti-violence and anti-recidivism programs. Most serious and violent crimes are committed by people who have committed crimes previously. We have some successful programs in the Sheriff's office (including the nationally-recognized Resolve to Stop Violence Project), Public Defender's office and the D.A. office. As a Supervisor, I will fight to fully fund and expand the programs that work and search for additional programs around the country that have been proven successful.  

I support community policing and want to take a hands-on approach in bringing the police together with the neighborhood activists in the community. 

(14) Our performing arts center often has performances that draw many more patrons than can be accommodated by personal automobile. What creative ideas do you have that would encourage patrons to use public transit? What other suggestions do you have for effectively transporting patrons to and from the performing arts center? Do you support the construction of additional parking garages, or the expansion of existing garages in the Civic Center vicinity?

I do not support the construction of additional parking facilities in the HayesValleyarea--although if some CivicCentergarages want to modestly renovate their existing parking facility, I will consider that on a case-by-case basis. 

Since most performances are subsidized by City monies (e.g. hotel tax fund), we should figure out some way to reward those who take transit or walk or bike to the facility—possibly with a discount on the ticket price. A Shuttle van from Powell and 16th StreetMissionBART stations may also be a good incentive for those patrons coming in from out of town. 

(15) Funding for the traffic calming/pedestrian safety portions of the Octavia Boulevard Project's "ancillary projects" has been budgeted at $5 million. A large portion of this money will likely be spent on enhancing the livability of the South of Market neighborhood located near the touchdown ramp. This South of Market area will require a great number of amenities to maintain any reasonable quality of life.

Spending the majority of the "ancillary" project money on South of Market, leaves very little money to spend north of Market on traffic calming or on developing "living streets" on the alleyways crossing the Boulevard. Pedestrian safety and the enhancement of the livability of our alleyways are key elements to the success of the overall Octavia Boulevard Project. How do you propose funding these improvements?

Pedestrian safety is one of my top priorities. This is a serious budget allocation problem. As a Supervisor, I would fight to put money in next year's budget to better fund these important livability measures. Local businesses may choose to create a one-time assessment to partially fund these beneficial measurers as well. I would also support an additional impact development fee on the private developers who will be benefiting most from the additional housing developments.