District 8 March 2024 Newsletter

Come join us for one of three events celebrating St. Patrick’s Day: Happy Hour, the Parade, and the Noe Valley Celtic Festival!

McAteer Community Farm is hosting a climate work day / pizza party / compost giveaway event on Saturday, March 30, from 9AM-4PM. The Farm is planning to give away 25 yards of organic compost, bring-your-own-bucket style. McAteer Community Farm is a project of Asawa SOTA and SF Academy high schools and PTAs, Friends of SOTA, Foodwise, and SFUSD Student Nutrition. More info on the flier below!

 

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will host their Annual Easter in the Park and celebrate their 45th Anniversary on Easter Sunday (March 31)! The day will include a Children’s Easter at 10am, and Honey Mahogany’s variety show will begin at noon, of course including the world-famous Foxy Mary and Hunky Jesus Contests. I hope to see you out there! More info here.

District 8 is home to many active neighborhood groups that organize events for the community, lead projects to keep our neighborhoods clean, safe, and beautiful, and connect neighbors with City leaders to advocate for neighborhood priorities. Join an association or go to an upcoming local event – it’s a great way to get involved, make new friends, and change your community for the better!

Learn more about how to get involved in your neighborhood here!

• Diamond Heights Community Association: To learn more, contact DHCA here.
• Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association: General Community Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every other month from 7:00 – 8:00 pm. Meetings are held in the Ballroom of the Harvey Milk Recreation Center for the Arts, 50 Scott Street, Lobby level with entry from Scott Street and Duboce Park, and preceded by a community social from 6:30 – 7:00 pm.
• Dolores Heights Improvement Club. Green Gardens group holds monthly clean-ups on the first Saturday of the month from 9:00 – 10:30 am. DHIC Board meets on the second Monday of every other month. Meetings are held via Zoom from 7pm – 8pm. Email info@doloresheights.org to obtain the Zoom meeting link.
• Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association meets every other month on the fourth Thursday with options to join in-person or virtually via Zoom.
• Glen Park Association meets quarterly and alternates between in-person and Zoom meetings. Email info@glenparkassociation.org for more information.
• Upper Noe Neighbors meets every other month on the third Wednesday at the Upper Noe Recreation Center.
• Castro Art Mart is a monthly street fair on Noe Street between Market and Beaver the first Sunday of every month from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, featuring LGBTQ art from local artists, live music, comedy and drag shows, and more.
• Noe Valley Town Square hosts regular events such as Acoustic Sunday, Rhythm and Motion dance, and Free Sunday Morning Yoga.

Don’t see your neighborhood group but want your information added to our website? Email Henry DeRuff at henry.deruff@sfgov.org.

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VOLUNTEER WITH US!

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NEW STAFF MEMBER: HENRY DERUFF

Here’s a message from Henry:Hello District 8!

I joined as District 8’s newest legislative aide in January, and the wonderful team of Adam, Calvin, Zahra, and the Supervisor have helped me hit the ground running. I’m excited to be here!

Right now, I’m working on our charter reform effort (San Francisco’s “Constitution” is in need of some updating!), contracting reform (to help our departments deliver more projects on time and under budget), and public safety reforms (to ensure our public safety system keeps all of us safe). I also respond to Sunshine requests – please don’t send me too many 🙂

I want to give a special shout-out to Noe Valley, where I’ll be the constituent staffer. If you’re a Noe Valleyan, business owner, or frequent visitor, I look forward to meeting you in the neighborhood!

Before joining the D8 office, I worked in environmental conflict resolution, and before that I was a middle school English teacher, so I don’t mind a little conflict. In fact, I think it usually helps us grow.

I grew up in the North Bay and have lived in SF since the pandemic. I love being outside, so you can often find me running, riding my bike, and enjoying the city’s parks with my girlfriend, friends, and family.

Feel free to reach out to me at henry.deruff@sfgov.org to introduce yourself.

Henry

PS: Here’s a picture of me and my new boss sporting some transit socks:

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FACES IN THE CROWD: CAROLYN KENADY

Welcome to Faces in the Crowd, written by Marshall Kilduff, accomplished journalist and long time volunteer with our District 8 Office. Marshall tells the stories of District 8 community members who are going above and beyond to contribute to San Francisco!

Like many neighborhood leaders, Carolyn Kenady keeps an eye on abandoned vehicles, sidewalk tents and mega mansion plans. But that experience has taught her to think about policies that can serve the rest of the city beyond her Dolores Heights neighborhood.With a background in labor organizing and human relations work, she’s become a thoughtful force in improving homeless policies as a co-founder of RescueSF and supporter of A Place For All, Supervisor Mandelman’s legislation to offer shelter for any willing taker living on the streets.

“It’s not enough to complain and spin your wheels,” Kenady said, perched on an outside bench at La Boulangerie Cafe in Noe Valley. “We need to work at it. Pick something you can do with your neighborhood and get connected.”
It’s an upbeat message in an often frustrating city: meet your neighbors, see who else is involved and lean on city officials and office holders. As for the latter, “They’re not hard to meet, and they’ll take you seriously if you go in with reasonable facts and figures and suggestions. The city really needs help.”

For Kenady, the advocacy role is second nature. She is a born and bred San Franciscan, who studied organizing in Chicago with leaders trained by the legendary Saul Alinsky. She later worked to unionize city workers there. Back in the Bay Area, she held posts in human relations at Cisco and Yelp before retiring.

In her corner of D8, the latest issues include pedestrian safety and traffic hazards, like the car that flew over the Sanchez Street steps last summer. But she is also digging in with RescueSF on the persistent issue of homelessness. Treatment, more shelter to end street sleeping, housing, and better management are top of the agenda for the group which is looking for supporters to spread the word on improved policies. To learn more, check the RescueSF’s website or drop Carolyn a line: carolynkenady@gmail.com.

Marshall Kilduff worked at the San Francisco Chronicle as a reporter and editor from 1971-2021. As a general assignment reporter, he covered courts, police, education, City Hall, and urban affairs. He also worked as a city desk assignment editor and editorial writer. He wrote an occasional column and the weekly Chronicle Quiz in the Sunday Insight section. He is the co-author of “Suicide Cult,” a book on the Peoples Temple and leader Jim Jones. He is a San Francisco native and attended Stanford University.

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IN THE DISTRICT

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On Valentine’s Day, we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the “Winter of Love”! In February 2004, Mayor Newsom and dozens of civil servants disobeyed federal and state law to marry hundreds of same-sex couples. This year, we celebrated with more weddings — including the marriage of Jackie and Katherine!

On February 6th, we hosted a town hall to discuss retail theft and what the city is doing and can do to combat it. We were joined by DA Jenkins, SFPD Captain Harvey and Lieutenant Ryan, and Ryan Allain from the California Retailer’s Association.On February 3rd, we celebrated the 100th birthday of Rudy Stadlberger with a stroll in Noe Valley! Happy Birthday Rudy, and congratulations!

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IN THE NEWS

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SF Supervisors Grill Health Dept. on 400 Mental Health Treatment Beds Promised in 2021

ABC7 News, February 21

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors budget and finance committee on Wednesday questioned the health department on the effectiveness of their planned treatment bed expansion plan. “They had a plan to add 400 additional beds. They believed and they are telling us that they are close to having added those beds but they have some key foot notes that are concerning to us. One is 15-20% of those beds may be unavailable because of staffing challenges,” said Supervisor Mandelman.

S.F. Board of Supervisors OKs Mayor Breed’s Streamlining Legislation to Speed Up New Residential Treatment, Care Beds

Oakland Post, February 24

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation sponsored by Mayor London N. Breed to make it easier to procure public health beds and provide needed flexibility in obtaining much-needed mental health and/or substance use disorders beds. Approved on Tuesday, the legislation was put forward in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) and co-sponsored by Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Hillary Ronen. “With the recent expansion of our conservatorship laws through SB 43, it is critical that we have the treatment placements necessary to meet increased demand,” said Mandelman.

SF Supes Worry About Treatment-bed Capacity Amid Legislative Blitz

San Francisco Examiner, February 21

San Francisco supervisors say it’s becoming apparent that the inventory of available behavioral-health treatment beds in The City might not meet demand as local and state legislation expands care. Mandelman has publicly supported [Prop 1, which funds mental health beds] and said he’s confident statewide voters will pass it, but he also said he isn’t sure how successful it will be on the local level in San Francisco.

“It’ll be incumbent on us to have projects we want to fund and submit applications that are attractive to the state and will be a source of funding for buildings and housing for people with severe mental illness,” he told The Examiner. “From my perspective, that’s a very good thing, but how good of a thing will very much depend on how ready San Francisco is to seize the moment.”

SF Re-examines Its Procurement Process after Business Ban on 30 States Backfires
ABC7 News, February 15

For seven years, San Francisco kept a ban on states that would defy the values of the city. There were no contracts awarded and certainly city workers were not allowed to travel for business purposes to those states. But the plan backfired and in the end – the ban hurt San Franciscans more than the other way around. By now, you’ve probably heard of the infamous Noe Valley public toilet and how San Francisco was ready to dish out $1.7 million for its construction rather than pay for a much cheaper modular model from a company in Nevada. “The Noe Valley bathroom is not a one-off case. That’s a problem that is replicated throughout the city government,” explained San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman

20th Anniversary of the Winter of Love at San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco Bay Times, February 24

City officials, LGBTQ community leaders, and advocates [gathered] on Wednesday, February 4, to celebrate San Francisco’s 20th Anniversary of the Winter of Love. The historic milestone originally took place in 2004, from February 12–March 12, when then Mayor Gavin Newsom directed city officials to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses [in defiance of state and federal bans].

SF DA Blasts ‘Culture of Tolerance’ at Retail Theft Town Hall
Bay Area Reporter, February 6

Mandelman had announced the town hall in mid-January after a number of mass retail thefts in District 8. The issue gained renewed attention last week after a local TV news channel broadcast video showing half a dozen people wearing masks and filling bags with merchandise from the Walgreens at 498 Castro Street before fleeing the scene. “There were legislative things that contributed to this but there was also, I think, a culture that contributed to this, which was a culture of tolerance,” said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins