Presidio Redevelopment

District 2 neighborhoods surround the Presidio on all sides, making the park’s redevelopment a major point of interest and concern among residents. As supervisor, my priority will be to facilitate clear and constant communication between the neighborhoods and the Presidio Trust so that we can get ahead of potential problems instead of responding to them once they become serious issues.

I believe that the redevelopment of the Presidio must accomplish a number of things, but three issues stand out: First, the Presidio must remain a place of respite, a world-class open space that allows city residents to escape the stress and activity of their urban environment. Second, any redevelopment should respect and preserve the historical integrity of the Presidio, maintaining the park as a living piece of San Francisco’s history and as an environment for learning. Third and finally, it must include neighborhood-serving businesses and amenities as well as tourist draws.

Lombard Street Corridor

The primary problem with the Lombard Street corridor is the lack of a shared vision among the stakeholders in its development – businesses, neighbors and the city. The lack of a coherent, well-articulated plan has created a vacuum in which projects are proposed, approved or defeated on a totally ad hoc basis.

This is not the way we should be handling what is in essence the northern gateway to San Francisco. The corridor desperately needs an overarching vision that is developed and enforced proactively by the community and the city alike. By establishing some universal ground rules and a protocol for handling issues like foster care/probation hotels/chain stores as they arise, we will be able to manage the evolution of Lombard Street proactively instead of reactively.

CPMC

There’s no doubt that the area deserves a world-class, seismically safe hospital. Still, this is a highly complex project with many diverse stakeholders. This is a $2.5 billion dollar project with serious ramifications for public health, traffic and transit, housing and the neighborhood’s quality of life.

The 10-year plan would close CPMC’s campus in Presidio Heights, replace St. Luke’s Hospital in the Mission with a smaller hospital and convert the current CPMC facility in Pacific Heights to an outpatient facility. Directly or indirectly, this is going to affect thousands of people in vastly different neighborhoods before the discussion on health care even begins.

It will be a long, sometimes difficult process, and it will be crucial that the next District 2 Supervisor be informed, motivated and engaged at every step of the way. I welcome the opportunity to work with the community to help ensure a positive outcome for the neighborhood and for the entire city.

Commercial Corridors & Small Business

District 2 encompasses some of San Francisco’s most vibrant neighborhoods, many of which are anchored by small, locally owned businesses. Their continued viability and prosperity is threatened not only by the dismal nationwide economic picture, but also by red tape at City Hall, burdensome permitting procedures and – as in the case of the Lombard Street corridor – the lack of a coherent plan to revitalize moribund commercial areas.

Many of the other challenges facing our small businesses in District 2 are synonymous with issues impacting our residential neighborhoods and the city at large. These include traffic congestion, the reliability of Muni, and the cleanliness and safety of our streets.

As supervisor, I will work to make city government a partner, not a roadblock, to small businesses’ success. I will take active steps to streamline and rationalize the permitting process and play an active role in bringing stakeholders together to develop and execute a long-term vision for Lombard Street. In addition, I will take aggressive steps to make sure local businesses are aware of the support already available to them through the Small Business Assistance Center and programs like the Revolving Loan Fund.

Most important, as Supervisor, I will be there, actively engaged with the business community.

Traffic and Parking

A number of crucial infrastructure projects have disrupted traffic patterns throughout District 2, causing traffic to overflow into adjacent residential streets. There no silver bullets when it comes to traffic as well all know, but there are things we can do to improve the situation.

First, we should try to find ways to mitigate the congestion on our main thoroughfares and reduce the demand for cut-through routes. Often, small adjustments to parking enforcement practices and traffic signs and signals can have a significant impact.

We should also find ways to actively discourage cut-through traffic into our neighborhoods. Traffic calming initiatives have been successful in neighborhoods in many other cities and we should explore our options.

I am not in favor of extending parking meters on Sundays or after 6:00 p.m.

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