The GrowSF Report: Our endorsements for DA and School Board
Plus: Dean Preston blocks thousands more homes
What You Need To Know
Here’s what happened around the city for the week of August 29, 2022:
- GrowSF endorsements for District Attorney and School Board
- The grades are in, and they’re bad
- Dean Preston blocks thousands more homes
- The Brady Block welcomes new residents
- Parklets under threat again
GrowSF endorsements for District Attorney and School Board
The key to a safe city is a competent leader who takes crime seriously and charges criminals. GrowSF is proud to endorse Brooke Jenkins for District Attorney! DA Jenkins is prosecuting anti-Asian hate crimes, arresting fentanyl dealers, and listening to residents.
A great city needs great public schools. We know the only way to fix our schools is with competent leadership. That's why GrowSF is supporting Ann Hsu, Lainie Motamedi, and Lisa Weissman-Ward for Board of Education.
These three incredible women bring great experience and a focus on student outcomes to the Board of Education. They will balance the budget and ensure the district is meeting the needs of students, including offering great special education and advanced instruction.
The grades are in, and they’re bad
As the recalled San Francisco School Board members debated school names, our students suffered from closed schools, and it seems those impacts might be long-lasting.
The results of a yearly, national test of the reading and math abilities of 9-year-olds across the country came back on Thursday, and the results are shocking: scores dropped in both reading and math, with reading falling by the largest margin in more than 30 years. While students from all backgrounds suffered, the effects were not equal, and students in the bottom decile suffered the worst.
To get our kids back on track, we must elect competent School Board members who care about student success more than they care about their own political careers. That’s why it’s so important you vote for Ann Hsu, Lainie Motamedi, and Lisa Weissman-Ward this November.
Dean Preston blocks thousands more homes
Another day, another critical housing development blocked by Dean Preston.
14 parcels in the center of the city, dubbed “the Hub”, could have been transformed from parking lots & a gas station into desperately-needed housing. The homes would all have been near near transit, built by union workers, and not displaced any existing housing or residents.
Unfortunately, Supervisor Dean Preston and the other so-called Progressives on the Board of Supervisors put a stop to the housing through a unique new tactic: by forcing a “race and equity study” to be completed before anything could be planned and built. Rather unsurprisingly this study never happened. Now, over two years have been lost and we have nothing to show for it.
If we are to ever make San Francisco an affordable world-class city, we need to replace the anti-growth elected officials with growth-oriented people who commit to building more housing and welcoming new immigrants and businesses. Dean Preston will be up for reelection in November 2024 — plan accordingly.
The Brady Block welcomes new residents
Throwing into sharp relief the tragedy of Dean Preston blocking housing at “the Hub”: the continued development of a micro-community called the “Brady Block.” This community sits on a two-acre parcel near Market & Van Ness that will contain both market rate and subsidized supportive housing for formerly homeless people, a residential hotel, retail spaces, and even a union hall for Local 38 - the plumbers and pipefitters.
The narrow alleys that cross through the Brady Block provide a human scale, neighborhood feel for residents. All in all, this development shows what is possible, if only San Franciscans were allowed to build everywhere!
Parklets under threat again
The emergence of parklets was one of the (very few) silver linings from the pandemic. The outdoor space helped foster a sense of community in the city and helped our small businesses recover from the pandemic closures.
But now the City is levying a bevy of new rules and licensing fees on business owners, forcing them to weigh the cost of compliance with the benefits of running their outdoor dining spaces.
Many of the parklets were built quickly, when the future legality of the program was up in the air. For some businesses, the cost of rebuilding a parklet in a compliant manner is too much, and they are electing to just tear theirs down. We feel that the running a small business in San Francisco is already hard enough, and the parklets were one of the few things that made it easier to do so; we hope the city doesn’t make this hard on businesses too.
Your Action Plan
Now that you know what’s happening, help us shape what happens next:
Conversation with SF District Attorney Brooke Jenkins
Head to Manny’s on Tuesday for a fireside chat with our new District Attorney, Brooke Jenkins.
Can San Francisco be both progressive on criminal justice and tough on crime? Join us as we talk about Brooke’s time leading up to her appointment as SF District Attorney and what her goals are while leading the DA Office.
And don’t forget to vote for Jenkins for DA in the upcoming election. Ballots will be mailed out in just 35 days 😱.
WHEN
Tuesday, September 6th, 6:00pm-7:00pm
WHERE
Manny's, 3092 16th Street
GrowSF happy hour on Tuesday at Orbit Room
Immediately following the Brooke Jenkins event, head over to Orbit Room for the monthly GrowSF happy hour! You’ll get to meet the volunteers who make it all happen, chat politics, and have some delicious cocktails.
WHEN
Tuesday, September 6th, 7:00pm-9:00pm
WHERE
Orbit Room, 1900 Market Street
Are you registered to vote?
The only way to fix San Francisco is to win elections. We have to replace our incompetent officials with people who prioritize public safety, public education, and growth.
Are you new to SF or did you recently move? You can check your registration status and register to vote here.
Celebrate San Francisco
There’s a lot to love about our city. Here’s what makes it great:
Phil Ginsburg, The mayor of San Francisco’s parks
San Francisco’s park system is world renowned, and part of the reason why is Phil Ginsberg, who has been the General Manager of San Francisco’s Department of Recreation and Parks for the last 13 years. During his tenure, he has conducted over 100 major renovations and has opened several new parks; these efforts have made San Francisco the first big city in the country to have a park within a 10-minute walk of every resident’s home.
There’s a new Bushman in town
Anyone who’s lived in San Francisco long enough has likely been scared by the Bushman, a legendary prankster and San Francisco institution. After a long hiatus, a new Bushman has emerged, and is now making visitor’s trips to Fisherman’s Wharf and other hotspots much more memorable. Beware any errant bushes, lest they leap out and scare you!
GrowFrisco?
Do you cringe when you hear someone refer to the city as “Frisco”? Sorry to break it to you but the term “Frisco” has a long history and Peter Hartlaub settles this once and for all “It is 100% OK for a San Francisco resident to use the word ‘Frisco.’”
Hayes Street named one of the coolest in the world
Hayes street is just…cool. And the editors at Time Out agree - they just named it the 10th coolest street in the world! With food, drinks and shopping in one cool strip, it’s a great place to go hang (and do some fun people watching while are you are at it)!
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Topical Tweets
Yes, there is good stuff on Twitter. Here’s some of it:
Work is underway to build out JFK promenade. We can’t wait to see what this space will look like, free of cars and traffic.
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