Tys Sniffen’s Response to Questionnaire

CANDIDATE CONTACT INFORMATION

Tys Sniffen
1605 Grove, SF, CA 94117
Phone 415-606-7746
Fax 772-382-3706
tys@tyssniffen.com
Treasurer Julia Dunbar  jtdunbar@usfca.edu

FPPC # 1263809

First of all, thank you for the opportunity to express my ideas and views, and to thank your organization for its years of work and dedication to the community and the city.  In my years of working as a community leader in District 5, I’ve regularly been impressed with the long-term vision and dedication shown by the folks of HVNA, as well as some of its more practical aspects of running a community group.

I hope everyone reviewing this can visit my website at www.tysforsupervisor.com and examine my plans, ideas and opinions throughout the site, as well as the other surveys and answers I gave to them.  I think a consistent viewpoint of local understanding and focus, combined with ideas for effective neighborhood communication and follow through will be evident.

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?

Yes. The SF standard of 12% is a strong one, and while everyone in the community would like to see that number go higher, the financial viability of Mercy’s development would begin to get lost.  I am quite interested in following up with the freeway development and the Mayor’s Office of Econ. Dev. Policy of having 50% affordable housing in those developments.

Further, do you believe that housing on this site should be entirely rental?

No, I think it would be better for the community to have at least mixed rental and ownerships. 

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?

I will work with the people at Mercy Housing through their strong connection with the Housing Action Coalition and the community to find ways to change their plans to include ownership units.  I feel that Mercy is reacting to the perceived notion that rental housing is the ‘must have’ in SF, and I believe we can change their perceptions.

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)?

My commitment to adequate maintenance in our park system couldn’t be higher, and I believe I prove that every single day as I spend an hour a day volunteering to maintain my local park, the Panhandle.   As a founder and leader of Friends of the Panhandle, I have spent time and energy over the years working with (and sometimes, it seems, against) RPD to get better maintenance work done in my park, and in parks across the city. 

With my many years of working to improve our parks, I’ve come to believe that problems that I see are rooted in management decisions and values.  A quick list: lack of ‘frontline’ staff, decaying infrastructure i.e. plumbing and watering, drainage, etc., inability to staff recreation centers –or staffing centers with activities no one wants to do--, simple trash and litter problems; this list could be solved with a lot of money, and the RPD budget is too small. However, I feel that due to management structures and decisions made on certain values over others (which may not match the public will) have led RPD down a path that seems to make it penny-pinching and pound foolish.

I don’t personally have ‘target levels’ for financing RPD, but as a member of the Neighborhood Parks Council and long time advocate of the park system, I would look to organizations like NPC and other leaders to not only define the correct financial needs, but find innovative solutions that wouldn’t always mean spending more money.

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?

Again, my commitment to the park system couldn’t be stronger, and I will do everything I can to increase and maintain Rec and Park programs.  I will be *the* Park Advocate Supervisor. 

There are other solutions to this issue that I also have been working on.  Everyone agrees we need to spend our resources on our children, keeping them busy, educating them, and building in them a sense of community.  San Francisco currently has something like 268 youth serving programs, yet we feel there’s not enough for kids to do.  The Fillmore Merchants Association recently published a pamphlet of things for kids to do this summer that are already in place.  Why in the world does a non-profit merchants group have to be publishing something like that?  We need to be communicating what is available, what works, and what doesn’t.  We need our Supervisor to lead the discussion about what we as a community value, and then follow through on those decisions and move the resources around to create and support whatever programs are necessary.

We also need to bring the local communities into our parks, and into our youth programs.  The community as a whole should be working together to raise our children, and if we create the right avenues towards volunteerism and involvement, so that we aren’t ‘re-inventing the wheel’ or missing opportunities because of lack of information, we probably wouldn’t need to increase the spending.

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’m for it, as long as it isn’t used as a tool to simply stop new development because people don’t want change.   I know that Hayes Valley has worked long and hard to create an atmosphere of careful, yet welcoming, interaction with developers… and I feel that’s the correct approach.  Preservation of our unique architecture and neighborhoods is vital to SF’s role as tourist destination and great place to live, and we as community leaders are the stewards of that history.

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?

Continuing on the work of the Octavia Better Neighborhoods plan and, as I’ve seen again and again, HVNA and the rest of the community’s involvement in the developing process will be key.  From the work I’ve done in my neighborhood, and the meetings I’ve participated in with Hayes Valley, (and being car-free myself) I support every measure that would create pedestrian communities.

A quick list of recommendations: doing less than 1 to 1 parking, demanding City Carshare pods in all new development, continuing the work of surveying the community as to retail needs and sharing that with developers/business owners, more bike parking, a much stronger support of Friends of the Urban Forest, and continuing to do all the other things in SF that will create a better city to walk and bike and bus in than drive.

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?

It’s the day by day, week by week interaction of community members and the law enforcement community (DA, PD, and police), working together to understand and respond to crime in the community.   It’s when the community helps identify the who, the where, and the what of the problems in the neighborhoods, and communicates that to law enforcement.

I can’t be sure about how many times I’ve attended, but with both the ‘work group’ and the general meeting, I’m around maybe 5 to 7 times at Northern, and 2 or 3 at Park.

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.

I think the question outlines the overall best parts of the plan: it’s a blueprint for high-density, pedestrian-oriented, urban environment where a car isn’t needed.   As long as the plan continues to implement and reflect these points, I believe it’s on the right track, especially if they take the current suggestions of increasing the pedestrian friendly goals and specifics about reducing parking.

As a longtime neighborhood leader, however, I know the importance of continued vigilance, and want to see the Supervisor’s office be the leader in bringing the developers to the community.  The only changes I would suggest would be in tone and values about more pedestrian and less car-oriented, as has been suggested by the community already.

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.

Hayes and Buchanan, the 400 block of Haight, the area where Mills is looking to develop on Market.

The work of Richard Johnson is a model for any community concerned about safety.  I’m proud to be familiar with Judy Edmonds, Sandra Swanson, Karin Fishkin, The Safety Network Program, Carmen Johnson from MLK/Marcus Garvey, Mattie Scott, the Northern Station Police Community group, the folks at Koshland Park doing such a great job with the vegetable gardening, and others.  I would also ‘argue’ that all the work the neighborhood organizations do, from tree planting to concerns about parking and traffic improve the quality of life, and thus reduce crime, in the neighborhood.

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

At its heart, the Anti-chain store legislation (ACSL) is a good idea.  The uniqueness of our neighborhood business corridors makes our city great, and preserving those small, neighborhood serving businesses is a worthy endeavor. 

However, I feel the ACSL spent too much time defining a chain store and not enough defining a neighborhood, or giving a community any further recourse in the face of a potential chain store.

Communities need to weigh in on development of their area, whether a chain store, a housing development, or a unique business.  Currently, our city has a very complicated process, both for the potential developer, and the citizenry.  This ACSL didn’t do much to clean that up, it just created a stronger notification process.   The neighbors will have notice of a new store, but will still need to slog through the complicated, drawn out process of planning and giving community input.

Further, when debating over the ‘permanent’ condition of no chain stores, the ACSL should have done a better job of defining who gets to make that decision, and how it’s done.  Is it the neighborhood association? Is it simply the surrounding neighbors? The whole community? The other retailers?  And is it a vote? Consensus? Surveys?

Again, a good idea, but with more thought and community input, it could have been better written. 

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?  

First and foremost, I think that RPD should be given the needed funds to do its job in this park, and throughout the city.  For a more creative answer, I might suggest that we look to the new developments around the area to donate ongoing funds for maintenance and upkeep, as well as outreach to community members for involvement in the process.

I know that Hayes Valley is investigating a BID, and I think that would be another avenue for funds for what will surely be an asset to the business and residential community in the area.

All of my suggestions for upkeep will always include volunteer recruitment. Not simply occasional ‘clean up’ days, but a real buy-in and sense or ownership by area residents and merchants. When someone spends time cleaning up an area, a sense of pride and ownership is created that won’t allow for a lessening of care.

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.

Green space is important to any community, and I support requiring developments to include green and open space in every situation.  The proposed ‘green steps’ of Waller Street in the UC plan seems like a great start.  I’m a bit concerned about the ‘half public’ spaces also proposed, that, while green and available to the residents, will be gated to the public.  I haven’t seen that sort of design be successful in other housing developments. 

I don’t have specifics on what exactly the requirements should be, but I hope the developer takes density statistics into consideration when planning the green spaces.

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?

No.

Why?

I’m not a fan of corporate welfare and giving deals to wealthy industries.  I think with strong negotiations and continued work on making San Francisco the best place in the country to live will bring all industries into the city limits, without needing to ‘give away the farm’.

Do you support the new gross receipts tax?

Yes. But I’m concerned about the impact on small businesses, and want further study done about the cut off levels for participants. There’s many in the small business community who feel that the GRT will hurt them more than a PRT.   

Why?

Fundamentally, we want to tax the earnings, not the jobs, created by a business.

How do you propose to help independent, locally owned and operated businesses thrive in San Francisco?

I have been, and will continue to be a strong supporter of local, independent, neighborhood-serving businesses.  I want to foster communication between the neighborhoods and potential business owners so they know what sort of businesses the neighborhood wants and needs. 

I want to continue to fight for a cleaner, easier to navigate Alcohol Beverage Control and Entertainment license process so restaurants and bars can open and compete.  I want to foster neighborhood input on design, hours, and noise of construction and maintenance of businesses in the community – foster it in a way that neighbors work with business owners, not only against them.  Things like community surveys, creating more certainty in the planning process (while still including public input), and working in different communities to get financial institutions to settle there and focus business loans there.

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?

How about discounts from merchants if you have a MUNI pass, a transfer, a taxi receipt, or a bike helmet on?  How about in local media and advertisements including messages like, ‘and parking sucks, so take the #21’?  Of course, all the typical aspects of creating a better pedestrian environment: safety features at intersections, more trees and plants, etc.  Further, we need to improve MUNI’s performance, and importantly, MUNI’s marketing of that performance.  The folks who take the bus already know what it’s like.  People who drive often don’t have a realistic impression of riding the bus, and always fear the worst.  We need to get car drivers onto the bus.  One creative idea might be once a month or so, have a ‘free bus day’, or a sort of ‘ride the bus to work day’ like the Bicycle Coalition promotes.

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.

The folks referred to in the community policing question have exactly the right idea.  Community policing, combined with strong communication with the DA about what the community wants and values, and as many cops on foot and bicycle as budgets allow.  Further, we need to address the causes of  crime and quality of life issues to begin with.  Character building youth programs, improving the local economy, and improving our schools are all part of the picture.  All the community policing plans are going on in some form or another already, and what I will do as Supervisor is support those people and those meetings so that many more citizens get involved and know about these solutions.  

Many of the plans spelled out on my promises page speak to this: www.tyssniffen.com/promises.htm

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?

Every single piece of advertising that comes out of the arts halls should include explanations of which transit routes to take.  A creative idea might be to allow symphony/art tickets to work as MUNI tickets.  Play classical music on the bus lines going near the center.  Rename bus routes ‘the symphony line’, ‘the ballet line’.  We can do so much simply with good marketing ideas.

What other suggestions do you have for effectively transporting patrons to and from the performing arts center?

Line up street performers between the BART stop and the arts center on performance nights.  Create an active pedestrian area for a few hours, so people will want to walk there as part of the experience.  I really admire the Bicycle Coalition’s work on ‘valet bike parking’ too.

Do you support the construction of additional parking garages, or the expansion of existing garages in the Civic Center vicinity?

We don’t need more parking, we need fewer cars.

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?

First, I will work with the community to work towards a balanced dispensing of the funds for all sides of the new Boulevard improvements.  Second, I think we should continue to examine the approach of having the private developers help in funding the needed safety and pedestrian changes, as I’ve done with the help of my neighborhood association in North Panhandle.  Third, we should be looking to regional and federal funding sources, making the case that with better pedestrian and bike safety features in this hub neighborhood, we can lessen the overall auto-impact.  Fourth, we need to continue our diligence in every aspect of city government so that obvious transit-first plans like these don’t need to fight for scraps in the budget process.