HVNA

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: 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)? 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 HayesValley, is especially hard hit with its high concentration of at-risk children. How are you going to support Park and Rec restoring these programs?

The Parks and Recreation Department is the target of budget cuts in both good and bad economic times. The Department has come to depend on bond measures, a funding source that is uneven and which costs the City in interest payments. To increase funding, we need to increase the priority of parks funding within City government. We also need to find new sources of park funding, such as public benefit development, which would require developers to help fund parks in return for permits. We also need to make the available dollars go farther by removing the inefficiencies we currently have in the parks system and management. Part of the problem with the park system is the lack of accounting of funds. It is difficult for the public or even other parts of City government to keep track of funds are being spent in parks. One way to do this is to create legislation that would require the Recreation and Parks Department to overhaul its accounting system to provide oversight, which could be provided by the City Treasurer’s office. Recreation and Parks could be required to give regular progress reports to the Board of Supervisors. Lack of maintenance is a continuing problem that ends up costing more to replace dilapidated facilities. Maintenance needs a higher priority in the Department’s budget. Too often the Department spends it’s funds on new capital projects at the expense of maintenance.

Part of the problem is the lack of overall parks planning. The City uses a piecemeal approach that ignores the . For instance, there are currently dozens of capital parks projects that are now on hold. We should direct the new parks director to implement a city-wide planning process. Cleaning up the budgeting and accounting process will also help here. Of course, funding can restore children's programs, but we can look beyond the staff-driven programs of Rec and Park. Community-based programming has the potential to bring new programming into the parks system. Since the pool of skills in the community is larger than the number of staff members, it is likely that the community could bring new ideas, new programs, as well as volunteers to run them. We should look around for models in other cities and in other programs in San Francisco. For instance, sports programs for young children are often run by parent volunteers who work as coaches and as support. We should also provide Rec and Park with funds to conduct user-needs surveys to improve recreation programming. I would also like to hear what the public has to say through public workshops.

3) Part of the purpose of the recent chain store legislation spearheaded by HayesValleyNeighborhood 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?

Neighborhood character would be very difficult to retain if it weren't for Historical and Architectural preservation. I would seriously consider supporting designating certain parts of Hayes Valley as historic districts as long as the consequence of this classification doesn't induce displacement of tenants or reduction of rental housing stock...I've lived in cities such as Newport, Rhode Island and St. Louis, Missouri, where I've seen neighborhoods run-downed by neglect and crime, restored to reflect its architectural and historical splendor; both residents and merchants became quite pleased. I also know that such a designation brings a higher standard of compliance and with it, potential inflexibility to landlord and tenant.

4) The replacement of the elevated Central Freeway with the Octavia Boulevardpresents an opportunity for HayesValleyto 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?

As a legislative aid for Supervisor Terence Hallinan ten years ago, I was the point person on the Central Freeway Task Force. The demolition of the Central Freeway was suppose to be deliberated and ratified in City Hall and not on the ballot. I would implement the concept of a “bicycle boulevard,” which puts a priority of moving bikes and pedestrians over the moving of cars. This means required stops for cars, as well as design aspects that slow traffic, such as the narrowing of lanes near stops and the use of signs at the center of the street at pedestrian crossings.

I would add color pavement for bike lanes.
Apply the lessons of the Oregon Bicycle Bill to use street improvement funds toward bicycle improvements too.

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 involves working with neighborhood residents to prevent crime. This means creating partnerships between law enforcement and the community, so that trust, communication and results are improved. Community Policing is companion to the goal of addressing the larger causes of crime - joblessness, youth, housing, and more.

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 HayesValleyneighborhood. Please also identify any elements you think should be changed, and explain why.

In the mid-1990s, I fought for the removal of the Central Freeway and aspired to demolish it without resorting to a ballot campaign. Today, we can see improvements in the look and cohesion of the Hayes Valleyneighborhood, and in the upkeep of the buildings. Of course, the removal of the freeway is the most important factor in restoring and uniting Hayes Valley. Now the design needs to be implemented to make Octavia Boulevard a safe and inviting place for pedestrians and bicycles. The plan separates the freeway traffic from slower, local traffic, and calls for trees to planted at the separations. This separation also makes it a safer thoroughfare for bicycles. Another important element is the Hayes Green Parkthat the plan creates.

With the proposed benches, grass, and kids’ play structure, it can become a place for pedestrians from both sides of the neighborhood to congregate. That said, there are design changes that I would have made. I would not have extended the freeway ramp structure to Market Street. It would be better to have the freeway ramp come down further back, in the commercial district (and further away from the residential neighborhood of Hayes Valley), so that the Octavia Boulevard would cross Market Street. This would make it safer for the many pedestrians and cyclists on Market Street, and would have more time for traffic to slow before entering Hayes Valley. I also would not allow a right turn onto the freeway ramp from Market Street. This would create an unsafe situation for pedestrians and cycles, and could cause more traffic Finally, I would hold of on any sale of parcels of land previously occupied by freeway until all of the issues surrounding the sale and the design were worked out with all of the stakeholders, including the neighborhood groups.

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

The orbit of crime in Hayes Valleyalmost centers right in front of my front door (Webster at Grove). Webster Streetbetween McAllister and Hayes (north/south); between Buchanan and Webster, plus the ally streets, is the quadrant of crime. Good work in reducing crime is being done by a handful of amazing people and organizations such as: Carmen Johnson at MLK-Marcus Garvey Coops along with Mattie Scott (whom I saw both was at the past Tuesday meeting); The Safety Network Program, Karen Fishkin, Judy Edmonds, Ella Hill Hutch Community Center, and the African American Cultural Center, Hayes Valley Neighborhood Coalition, Hayes Valley Merchant Association, among others, are all to be praised for their enduring efforts.

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

I'm a strong fan of this legislation. Both community groups and Supervisor Matt Gonzalez are to be complimented on its passage. This legislation enables neighborhoods to decide for themselves what their merchant preferences are. The public notification process is a good place to start, to enable districts in advance to determine its merchant planning goals. Let's off-set what we're trying to prohibit (chain stores) by compensating with vigorous pursuit of recruiting and protecting small business.

9) The Octavia BoulevardProject 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 BoulevardProject 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?

I propose that we interpret and declare the desired park a "public benefit development" feature -- this requires developers to earmark funds for public amenities such as parks.

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 am opposed to the UC Extension development plan as it stands. It's shamefully amazing when one considers that the majority of new parkland added in San Francisco in the last 30 years has been created through private property development organized through the Redevelopment Agency and zoning requirements for real estate developers, rather than by purchase of private property for parks. For example, the new Mission Bayproject is scheduled to add 48 acres of green space upon completion – about half of the total parkland acquired in San Francisco over the last 30 years. San Francisco's General Plan is antiquated. I am familiar with the objectives of the Open Space Task Force and realize that the Open Space and Recreation elements are 15 yeas old and deemed biased against open space. San Francisco needs to recognize the need to enact an updated master plan approach for pursuing open space. While Proposition C requires that a minimum of 5% of the Open Space Fund be spent on acquisition, it's telling that the mayor/city hall doesn't acquire more even though they have the discretion to do so; and until the UC Extension development plan comprises a much greater percentage of green space, then this is a key deal breaker for me.

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 will be a vigorous advocate for small businesses. I favor the elimination of the Payroll Tax so that small businesses are hit less and I support a graduated Gross Receipts Tax, however, I do not support Prop K, the revised Gross Receipts Tax for these reasons: The Budget that was recently declared "balanced" will not be balanced if Prop K fails – City Hall should not gamble or hedge the balancing of our budget based on a prospective ballot campaign.

A graduated Gross Receipts Tax will not hurt small businesses if the gross income is pitched somewhere between $5 to $10 million, but to set a threshold of only $500,000 as the current Prop. K does, triggers a heavier fiscal burden on smaller businesses and start-ups. I look forward to working with our neighborhood merchant associations as well as the Small Business Commission in enacting a comprehensive approach to defending and advancing small merchant interests. It's vital that we recruit prospective small business who want to be here to stay, who want to cater not just a tourist economy, but whose services also cater to the residents of the city and proximal neighborhoods. I want to eliminate unproductive red tape. I will work to provide tax credits to businesses who employ new workers (local hiring preference-SF); I will work to re-calibrate the tax burden so that large corporations, not small businesses, pay a proportional sum of adjusted gross income; I will also survey corporations that benefit from a high gross income - low gross wage formula toward alleviating some of the double tax burden realized by small business; and I will upgrade law enforcement strategies that address any undermining to merchant-client stability. Further, in the same vein of promoting enterprising businesses with tax incentives and grants, I would enhance this approach by elevating efforts in help business upstarts owned by minorities. I do not support the exemption for biotech companies. This is nothing but corporate welfare. Also the exemption program doesn’t include a "smart jobs" program for San Franciscoresidents.

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'm a big fan of the Portlandand Seattleversion of creating a merchant plazas that are mass transit friendly for bicyclists, pedestrians, and public transit; while doing everything possible to discourage private automobile driving. I just unveiled my Bicyclists' Master Plan (that can be viewed at www.rossforsupervisor.org), designed to promote all mass transit as a means of boosting the quality of life for residents and merchants. While I'm no fan of privatization, unless Muni gets its fiscal and service act together, there is no reason why we cannot resurrect the neighborhood Jitney bus system – a joint partnership program that augments Muni as a means of servicing local merchants and residents... Jitney systems are operated in Portlandand Washington, D.C., and they are considered a huge success.

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.

I have emphasized that the increase in violence in San Francisco is significantly affecting District 5, an area where the problem has not received as much attention as it has in other parts of the city. As a graduate of the San Francisco Police Academy and as an investigator for the District Attorney’s office, I have learned that we need to employ a continuum of response in dealing with violence. This begins with prevention, moves to crime abatement, community-oriented policing, and restorative justice. Only a community-oriented, holistic approach has any hope of solving the problem of violence over the long term. Specifically, the following are included in my crime-reduction and quality of life program: To increase the effectiveness of community policing, we need a return of beat cops to neighborhoods. This is a strategy that has been proven successful in other cities. Beat cops not only increase crime prevention in neighborhoods, but builds a relationship of trust with the community.

Create jobs and skill-training programs for youth.
Improve the diversion programs for repeat offenders.
I will push for an aggressive gun buy-back program to get guns off of the street.
Support of local business is also linked to reducing crime. In order to have a sense of safety, residents need to be able to go to neighborhood small business merchants and shop there. This sense of a safe shopping district can in itself deter crime.

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 CivicCentervicinity?

Parking garages don’t reduce automobile traffic. It has been shown that garages actually increase traffic by encouraging driving. I don't support above ground garage construction.

15) Funding for the traffic calming/pedestrian safety portions of the Octavia BoulevardProject'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 BoulevardProject. How do you propose funding these improvements?

I would pursue the following: A funding mechanism modeled after the Oregon Bicycle Bill - help pay for improvement projects. When a street is repaired, a portion of funding would be earmarked for bicycle and pedestrian usage as well as traffic calming strategies;

Enacting a Muni Assessment District - make downtown pay their fair share for using our mass transit system for ferrying their workers; I would apply a portion of revenue generated by the Assessment District toward the "ancillary" improvement projects;
The City Controller's Office should conduct an audit of fees collected by DPT, DPW and the Downtown Park Fund and the Open Space Fund, as a means recouping revenue lost to improper management of these funds. Some of these monies would be applied toward the improvements.