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Susan King’s Response to Questionnaire Susan King 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? A: I have attended several workshops put on by the developers and have some lingering questions about this project. In terms of the number of affordable units, 20% is actually more than is required (The Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance calls for 12% of new housing to be set aside for residents unable to pay market rate). However, given that Mercy Housing’s mission is to provide affordable housing, I would call for the amount of affordable housing to be increased up to 35%, as is the case with the Transbay Terminal development. I think 35% is reasonable to ask for. Furthermore, I would ensure that “affordable” be accurately defined to mean that one does not have to spend more than 30% of their income on housing. I think that there should be more that just four units for sale on this site (as currently proposed). This site is technically public property (belongs to the UC system, which is owned by the state of CA), and I suggest that all proposed ownership opportunities be Community Land Trusts, with the state retaining ownership of the land, and the homeowners owning the housing. I would negotiate to include more land trust ownership, and establish clear affordability levels for this property. I am concerned that 500 units is a big addition to the neighborhood. I know several folks in the neighborhood are concerned about the massive size of the developments in this location and the impact it will have on this community. I think we need more input from the community, and more work on the development before I would be willing to sign off on moving forward. To mitigate the impact of increased density in the neighborhood, we should be sure that public values, such as affordability, preservation of historic buildings, public uses, open space, neighborhood serving retail are strong components of this development. Finally, I echo the concerns expressed by many in attendance at the workshops about the issue of parking. The current plans are to have 399 parking spaces for 500 units, which is nearly one to one, at .79 to 1.00. This area is transit rich, and there should be a major emphasis on making this development as close to car free as possible. I like the idea to situate a City Car Share Pod in the development. I would go further and allocate funds that would go to housing cars towards subsidizing transit for the residents instead. This could mean free fast passes for all residents included with rent or mortgage payments, free or reduced car share, and working out a long term deal with a rental car agency to provide reduced auto rentals for residents. These subsidies would still be far cheaper than building parking for 400 cars. 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)? A: One issue is that the Mayor makes the hiring decision for the Director of Park and Rec. As supervisor, I would give input on this decision, but would not be choice. I support fully funding maintenance for all city parks. According to a recent assessment, we need to add at least 120 positions for maintenance and gardening to prevent our city parks from falling further into disrepair. This year (04-05), the funds for gardening staff have been increased, and there are hopes of filling some additional positions that the report called for. The current budget of $104,465,111 dollars should be evaluated to see where we can cut costs, and where to reallocate funds to ensure our parks are adequately maintained and vital programs such as youth programs can continue. I would focus my research on higher management positions. In 2002, for instance, we discovered that Concourse Authority director Michael Elzy was being paid out of Park and Rec.’s budget, when the measure creating his position (Prop J- the Golden Gate Revitalization Act of 1998) specifically called for this position to be paid for with private funds. This position has now been removed from the Park and Rec. budget. I oppose the parking garage in Golden Gate Park and would ensure that NO public monies be spent on this project. 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? A: While only $12,890,563 dollars is allocated from Park and Rec budget for children’s programming, additional funding for these services come from other sources such as the General Fund, Open Space (funded by property taxes) and Dept. of Children Youth and Families, for instance. The funds from the General Fund have decreased over the years, due to budget constraints. Focus needs to remain on providing services, and as Supervisor, I would vigorously defend fully funding vital programs that serve our most vulnerable populations, ensuring that the baseline funding is not reduced. To generate revenue, I would instigate reforms to fully charge for large-scale events and use these funds to pay for programs that serve youth in SF. For instance, the Rec. and Park Commission regularly approves large-scale events sponsored by major corporations like Clear Channel Entertainment/Alice Radio, the Examiner (Bay to Breakers), and for profit promoters. In most of these cases, the fees have been reduced or waived for one reason or another, costing the Park and Rec. department, and the city, hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue. In order to amend this, I propose vigorously auditing the budget for producing these events and fully assessing fees for the use of our parks for large events. These funds should go directly back into Park and Rec. Dept. budget to fund programs for youth. 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? A: First off, I would call for the implementation of the Preservation Element, drafted by Vincent Marsh in the 1990’s. This plan was never implemented, and Vincent was fired by former Mayor Brown, who feared preservation might impede the rampant development that took place under Brown’s tenure. To ensure the long-term preservation of historic buildings, we can encourage small businesses to use these spaces and maintain both the interior and exterior facades. For instance, the building on Fell and Divisadero, which was originally targeted by a Burger King franchise (who wanted to gut the building), has been leased by an artist for a new café and art gallery and is being preserved. I support the creation of a neighborhood historic district to preserve the many Victorian homes that remain in Hayes Valley. 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? A: The removal of the freeway creates unique opportunities to revitalize this neighborhood and create a pedestrian and bicycle friendly community. In order to manage this change, we need to find ways to calm traffic that zooms through the neighborhood. Completing the bike network, widening sidewalks, placing bulb outs and urban greening will make the area nicer for pedestrians and cyclists and calm traffic. Opposing the right turn on the red light from Market St. onto the new freeway (now resolved, hopefully) will enhance safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. Other changes include removing the barriers to pedestrian access, such as allowing for pedestrians to cross the street at the intersection of Hayes and Laguna. Currently, there is a barrier requiring pedestrians to cross three streets to get from one side to the other so that cars can make a wide left turn en route to Fell street. These intersections should be redesigned to accommodate pedestrian traffic. Slowing down traffic on Fell and Oak should also be a major priority. Slowing the timing of the lights is a direct, low cost way of encouraging cars to drive at 25 MPH. In no place in SF should the speed limit be more than 35 MPH, and 25 is optimal. 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? A: Community policing means having the police officers designated to protect the neighborhood be a part of the community. In order to have effective police enforcement, we need to develop trust between the police and the community they serve. Recruiting and hiring police officers from the neighborhood is one way to build relationships and include police in the fabric of the community. I have attended a few meetings with the police at the Marcus Garvey Housing project. 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. A: I would call for the Board of Supervisors to endorse the Market/Octavia plan. This plan calls for high density, low parking developments that encourage car-free living. This plan has not yet been adopted as it awaits the full EIR. Development projects that happen in this area should reference the plan as approved (especially the proposed UC development). Some ideas for incorporating the Better Neighborhood model into the neighborhood design are to:
On the issue of transit specifically, I love the idea of having a city that is truly “Transit First”, and efforts to achieve this are high priorities of mine. Bus Rapid Transit, increasing Muni service, extending transit hours, developing a schedule designed to connect bus travel in more than one direction are all projects that can be implemented without major infrastructure changes. By shifting the focus on moving people, not cars and having better management of transportation resources will allow us to improve the transit situation dramatically. As a cyclist, I would love to have a city wide bike network, with separate bike paths where possible. The pedestrian element of the Market/Octavia plan addresses both pedestrian safety and neighborhood improvements like having more greenery, wider sidewalks, crosswalks, and creating a buffer from traffic. Finally, addressing parking is vital to creating a neighborhood that supports alternative modes of transit. Parking should be low impact and policies should reflect the availability of transit (that is, parking should be reduced in transit rich areas.) 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. A: Haight and Fillmore seem to be one of the recent hot spots for gun violence. The areas adjacent to the Randall Pitts and Marcus Garvey housing projects (near Turk, Ellis, Eddy and Pierce) are also locations of gang violence. My most immediate contact with the members of the Western Addition community are the leaders at the Marcus Garvey Housing project. I have worked with Evangelist Carmen Johnson, Mattie Scott, Ms. Joplin, Linda Yokum and others in the area to produce an Anti Violence Convention on August 11. This was an event that Julian Davis (fellow candidate for D 5) helped coordinate to bring the campaign to the community to discuss the root causes of violence and potential solutions. These activists are playing a vital role in bringing the community together to get to know one another and are working with the police and the City to find solutions to the rampant violence in this area. They host a regular Friday Night Live event for the children in the projects, produced the first annual “Stop the Violence Block Party” on August 28, and hold regular Tuesday night meetings with the police to develop a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the police and the residents of the public housing projects. 8) Please comment in detail on the recently passed chain store legislation. A: The current chain store legislation provides additional time for review and public comment prior to the approval of a chain or formula retail development. Improvements to this legislation could include a longer window of time for the neighborhood to mobilize against proposed incursion of chain stores, and efforts to bolster small mom and pop businesses through tax breaks and other incentives. This legislation works for SF because it allows for consideration of chain stores on a community basis. For instance, if a community wants a formula retail shop to move in, this can happen. If a community wants to promote non-chain stores to move in and provide similar services or products, the community has the ability to mobilize and stop the store and find alternatives to provide the services. Too bad this legislation arrived too late for us to stop the Walgreens on the corner of Stanyan and Parnassus in Cole Valley. This legislation also allows for local stores with a few SF locations to expand (like Jay’s Cheesesteaks, which has two or three locations), and focuses on large, national chains without penalizing local businesses that expand.
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? A: There are a range of creative options that could be developed for funding neighborhood benefits. Creating special assessment districts, for instance, allows a community to raise funds for projects in the community. Some examples include:
There are a number of local funds that have been created recently through bonds and sales tax increases that communities can apply for project funding, such as Prop K (2003) and State Proposition 40 (2002), the Park Bond initiative. 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. A: I think that community benefits should be mandatory to mitigate for the increase in density in the community. The benefits should include open green space that is accessible to the entire community, not just the residents of the development. For instance, the park that will intersect the project along the Waller Street path should be a community park without gates and remain open for the public to enjoy. I have spoken in strong opposition to gating this walkway. Other amenities that this development should provide include a community space that is open to all, such as an arts space or community center in one of the existing buildings being preserved. 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? A: Unfortunately, the current budget depends on the passage of Proposition K (gross receipts tax) , which means if it does not pass, we have a huge deficit to cover. While I am appalled that this type of budgeting has been used, I would be hard pressed to oppose this at this point because vital services depend on us passing this legislation, however flawed. That said, I think that gross receipts taxes are a better way of generating revenue than the payroll tax, which was a disincentive for companies to employ people. I suggest the amending the legislation to tax larger companies more, for instance companies that generate $1 million would pay 1/5 of a percent (vs 1/10 of a percent as proposed), and smaller companies would either be exempt, or pay a smaller fraction of a percent. I do not support exemptions for biotech industries. These companies will not be employing underemployed San Franciscans, contrary to what the proponents are telling us. We need to focus on creating jobs that will provide work for San Franciscans, and create legislation and incentives for small businesses, contractors, unions and professional trades to use first source hiring and preferences for residents. Biotech is the new dot com, and I am leery of embracing this industry without ensuring that the folks who live here are protected from another wave of gentrification while new high paying jobs bring in skilled workers from other areas and displace long time residents. I oppose the increased sales tax, as it hurts the lowest income residents and potentially small businesses. We need to provide support for new and existing small businesses by limiting chain store incursion, altering the proposed gross receipts tax to exempt smaller businesses, and develop incentives (tax assessment easement for example) to encourage small businesses to hire members of the community, particularly youth. 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? A: Here are some major suggestions:
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. We need employment opportunities and job placement along with training. First source hiring legislation can provide incentives and mandates to ensure that San Francisco residents get priority placement for new jobs. Housing policies for public housing need to be re evaluated, and the Housing Authority and Redevelopment Agency need to be brought under the control of the Board of Supervisors. We need drug treatment on demand, programs to rehabilitate ex offenders with the goal of reuniting them with their families and the community. Alternative sentencing should replace youth incarceration to reduce the number of juveniles in the one way street of the juvenile justice system. We need to ensure that the City provides and funds opportunities for youth, recreation facilities and programs to provide alternatives to gangs. We need to have gang prevention hotlines and services for youth caught in the cycle who need a way out. Finally, we need to look at the Police Department and engage in ways to achieve meaningful reform to develop trust among the police and the community. The MOU that the Marcus Garvey housing has developed is a milestone in creating protocol from the community about what they want when the police come into the projects. A: I oppose any construction or expansion of garages, as they increase congestion and induce driving. Many of the suggestions for implementing Transit First policies outlined in my answers above will make Muni more attractive for patrons of the arts. I was on the Ballpark Transportation Task force for the Pac Bell ballpark, and this program is wildly successful in getting thousands of fans to and from games. The same strategies can be used for arts patrons:
To go even further, Muni could add services specifically for arts patrons, with costs of the expanded service paid for in a service charge added to each ticket (the ballpark does not do this, so we are subsidizing a major sports franchise with our transit system). We could also encourage the facility to offer special incentives and bonuses to reward patrons who come on transit instead of driving. Secure bike parking, using racks designed by local artists should be provided to encourage cycling, though I have a hard time picturing someone in a evening gown making the trek by bike (this in San Francisco, anything can happen). 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 quailty 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? A: Raising fees on parking is one way to generate more funding. Raising the parking tax to 35% could generate millions of dollars that can be used to improve pedestrian, bike projects and street improvements. Using assessment districts described above is another way of generating needed funds. Another idea that I like is the creation of a “Green Street Program” to team up architectural students and neighborhoods to develop innovative streetscape designs. Funds from Prop. 40 could be used to implement some of these designs. Finally, businesses could adopt trees, planters, light posts and other amenities. Local businesses could be credited or recognized in some way (like having a name on a park bench, planter, etc.) and participate in providing resources for the neighborhood. Ample trash can placement is a must. |
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