Connie Chan has been elected District 1 Supervisor in San Francisco. On Sunday evening, runner-up Marjan Philhour conceded the tight race where the lead ping-ponged back and forth between the two candidates. Of the six Supervisor contests in the November 3 election, the race between Chan and Philhour was the closest.

“We are thrilled to share our victory in the District 1 Supervisor race! Thank you to our dedicated volunteers and working families throughout the Richmond District. Let’s celebrate this hard won fight. This victory belongs to you — to all of us,” Chan tweeted on Sunday.

According to Chan’s website, she was born in Hong Kong and then moved to San Francisco at the age of 13 with her mother and younger brother. After graduating from Galileo High School, Chan earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis and then went to work giving back to the community that had done so much for her family.

Chan started out as a volunteer interpreter, working with pro bono attorneys for SF Bar Association’s Volunteer Legal Outreach, while serving as a community organizer for SF SAFE and Community Youth Center.

In 2006, she was recruited to be an aide to Supervisor Sophie Maxwell and later served as an aide to then-District Attorney Kamala Harris, followed by Supervisor Aaron Peskin in 2016. Over the past fifteen years, Chan also served at San Francisco Recreation & Parks and City College of San Francisco. 

Her partner, Ed, is a SFFD firefighter and their seven-year-old son is a student at Lafayette Elementary School. 

Congratulations to Ms. Chan and her team. We look forward to her leadership in the Richmond District.

Sarah B.

Happy Halloween! Thanks to everyone who stopped by this year’s Spooky Photo Spot at Angelina’s Cafe & Deli.

DOWNLOAD PHOTOS HERE

In addition to our usual spooky backdrop for photos, we had a candy-dispensing chute for safe candy distribution (good work, Gil!). We’ll see everyone next year!

DOWNLOAD PHOTOS HERE

Hi everyone,

We hope you are all safe, well and weathering these strange times with patience. It’s been awhile since we’ve posted here on the blog and we realize that the news cycle is overwhelming at the moment. But we wanted to take a beat to send well wishes to everyone – and to support our neighborhood businesses.

Many businesses have had to close temporarily, but some are still open in the neighborhood. Especially restaurants! We are all stocking up on groceries, but remember that some of your neighborhood eateries remain open for business for takeout and delivery.

Many restaurants are offering order online options (including curbside pickup), and are available on delivery services like UberEats, Doordash and Postmates. And some are even offering in-neighborhood delivery themselves.

They could all use your help to survive these tough times. So stop in to pick up your favorite local eats. The Clement Street Merchants Association has created a special web page with updates on local merchants and their status during the shelter-in-place period. As a fellow restauranteur (Nourish Cafe), I thank you for supporting us!

The One Richmond website has also posted about businesses that are open and operating, and important local updates on the COVID-19 crisis as they develop.

The San Francisco Council of District Merchants Associations is also fundraising to help support small business. Donate here

Most of all, we hope you are all feeling ok and if you’re not, taking the time and space to get better. We will all get through this and even though we can’t be together like we always are, we are still together. Support one another and stay safe.

Sarah B.

The show is on Tuesday, March 3 and starts at 7:30pm. Purchase tickets online or at the Balboa Theater box office. We hope to see you there!

Sarah B.

Today, the SFPD released surveillance video from an incident on Super Bowl Sunday in which a patron harassed and assaulted a cashier at Gordo’s Taqueria on Geary Boulevard.

The video shows a man “smacking a cashier in the face with his cellphone and flinging items including a foil-wrapped burrito at employees behind the counter” according to The Examiner.

The incident occurred around 6:30pm on Sunday, February 2. The suspect is described as a Latin male, 45-50 years old, 5’9”, approximately 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a black “SF” t-shirt with “BOSA 97” on the back.

“In an attempt to diffuse [sic] the suspect’s agitation, the staff gave the suspect food,” police said in a statement. “The suspect did not appear satisfied with the staff’s gesture and proceeded to hit the cashier with his cell phone and threw a napkin dispenser, which struck and injured the employee.”

The man also appeared to throw a credit card reader at the staff before police say he fled east on Geary Boulevard on foot.

San Francisco Police Department Investigators from the Richmond Police District Station are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect. Please contact the Station Investigation Team at 415-666-8083 or Officer Sevilla at 415-666-8004. You may remain anonymous.

Sarah B.

On Wednesday, District 1 Supervisor Sandra Fewer publicly announced that she will not run for re-election in the 2020 Fall election.

Fewer won her Supervisor seat in November 2016, earning just under 40% of the vote.

Prior to taking office as District 1 Supervisor, Fewer served as PTA President for 12 terms at Richmond District public schools, and served as a Commissioner on the San Francisco Board of Education from 2008 to 2016. In 2010, she was also elected to the San Francisco Democratic Party and served for two years.

Fewer and her family have lived in the Richmond District for over 50 years.

“It has been a demanding job,” Fewer told The Examiner this week. “It has been all-encompassing.”

It is with heartfelt appreciation that I share that I will not be running for reelection as District 1 Supervisor. I’ll be making the most of my last year, but today just feeling grateful for the opportunity to serve. It’s been an honor, Richmond District.https://t.co/KdNFeGJQHK

— Sandra Lee Fewer (@SandraLeeFewer) January 15, 2020

During her 3 years in office, Fewer has served as the Chair of the Finance & Budget Committee, and is a member of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.

Fewer has spearheaded several initiatives in the Richmond District to address tenants rights, small businesses, neighborhood blight and cleanliness, as well as infrastructure improvements.

Our blog worked with Supervisor Fewer twice on #FewerPotholes campaigns, where after residents reported potholes, SFDPW dedicated a crew to repair them. In the first campaign in 2017, 368 potholes were repaired in the Richmond District in just one month.

Fewer has also focused on affordable housing initiatives. Most recently, she helped the Small Sites Program acquire a 12-unit building on 3rd Avenue, offering protections to the existing tenants.

“We hope to keep more people in their homes in the Richmond, and keep our residents stable here. 65% of my neighbors are renters. They are vulnerable in this housing market,” said Supervisor Sandra Fewer.

Fewer also focused on the problem of commercial vacancies in the Richmond District, and citywide. In 2017 she launched a #FewerVacancies campaign to enlist D1 residents to report commercial vacancies after being told by the City that “the Richmond District has none”. That was far from reality – residents identified over 150 commercial vacancies in the April 2017 effort.

Fewer built on that campaign and introduced legislation to improve the accuracy of the city’s vacant storefront registry in an effort to make landlords more accountable.

The legislation was approved by the Board of Supervisors in March 2019, and it requires landlords to register their vacant storefronts within 30 days and pay a fee; if they don’t, they’ll be penalized with a $2,844 non-registration fee. They’ll also need to conduct annual building inspections to keep their buildings fit for occupancy.

“When you have commercial property owners holding multiple storefronts vacant for long periods of time, that hurts all the other small businesses in the area who rely on a vibrant commercial corridor to attract customers,” said Supervisor Fewer. “The enforcement mechanisms in this legislation are vital to addressing our vacancy problem head on and complement ongoing efforts to streamline permitting and increase retail flexibility so our small businesses can thrive.” 

Fewer also created “One Richmond“, a neighborhood campaign designed to strengthen a collective identity for the neighborhood that promotes the values of inclusiveness, compassion, community pride and shopping local. Some small businesses display the One Richmond sticker in their windows, and Fewer’s office has helped organize annual One Richmond neighborhood gatherings.

One of our favorite things that Fewer accomplished early in her term was seemingly simple but not: returning garbage cans to Ocean Beach. After the National Park Service / GGNRA decided everyone should pack out their trash, Fewer helped restore garbage cans to the area to reduce the littering that increased after the NPS decision.

When we spoke to Supervisor Fewer today, she said her future plans will include continuing to volunteer in the neighborhood. She told the Examiner she will try to do a “One Richmond” act each day.

She also told the Examiner that she may find service on a city commission in the future.

“Noting the lack of Chinese representation in city commissions, an issue often raised in Chinese-language press, Fewer said she would serve on important city commissions should a need arise, including the Police Commission.”

Her last day in office will be January 8, 2021. We thank her for her dedication to improving our neighborhood, and we look forward to seeing what more she can accomplish in her last year.

Sarah B.

Tenants in an apartment building at 369 3rd Avenue are breathing a little easier this holiday season.

It was announced on Thursday that their 12-unit building is the latest acquisition in the city’s Small Sites Program. SSP protects tenants living in these properties, by removing them from the speculative market. The program provides loans to nonprofit organizations to buy buildings before an investor does. The properties are then converted to permanently affordable housing.

The 3rd Avenue property is the third one in the Richmond District to be acquired by the program. Other properties that have been acquired include buildings on 17th Avenue, and one on the corner of Clement and 9th Avenue (where Hamburger Haven is on the ground floor). Both of the buildings are occupied predominantly by seniors.

A press conference was held on Thursday to announce the 369 3rd Ave acquisition. Mayor London Breed was in attendance, along with District 1 Supervisor Sandra Fewer.

Mayor Breed lauded the 35 buildings that the program has acquired so far across the city, accounting for 290 units that were converted to permanent affordable housing. The city has their eye on another 15 buildings/137 units, for which the city has committed $135 million. Those future acquisitions will protect roughly 500 city residents from displacement and unmanageable rent increases.

“We hope to keep more people in their homes in the Richmond, and keep our residents stable here. 65% of my neighbors are renters. They are vulnerable in this housing market,” said Supervisor Sandra Fewer.

The Small Sites Program accepts nominations for new acquisitions, and works with several nonprofits to put plans into action.

For a building to qualify, the building must have between 5 and 25 units, and tenants in the building must have incomes that are eligible (between 50% and 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI)). Qualifying incomes range from $41k to $142k annually per household, depending on the number of tenants in the unit.

Once a building has been nominated, it is vetted by a partnering nonprofit for eligibility. If deemed eligible and the building is available for purchase, the nonprofit can purchase it, make any necessary renovations, and then convert the building to permanent affordable housing (note: permanent = 99 years).

New tenants who move in after the acqusition is complete must meet MOHCD eligibility requirements, and go through a lottery process.

What a great holiday wish to come true for these residents on 3rd Avenue.

Sarah B.

Given how much it has been raining this week, it shouldn’t be a surprise that one of the eucalyptus trees in the Park Presidio greenbelt surrendered to the elements and toppled over on Thursday around 12:30pm.

Reader Kenji K. sent us these photos of the grand ol’ dame that fell onto a parked truck along the 500 block of 14th Avenue, near Balboa.

We’ve seen bigger ones take a dive, but still sad to see our greenbelt de-foresting itself…

Sarah B.

SF Rec & Park shared the news today that beginning in April 2020, there will be a new landmark in the Music Concourse of Golden Gate Park – a 150 foot tall ferris wheel.

The ferris wheel is being installed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Golden Gate Park. The wheel features 36 fully enclosed, climate-controlled gondolas that each seat six passengers. It was previously installed in Louisville, Kentucky’s Waterfront Park; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Norfolk, Virginia.

The illuminated wheel will be installed at the east end of the Music Concourse in the park, which is also home to the de Young Museum, the Academy of Sciences, and the Japanese Tea Garden. The observation wheel will launch on April 4^th, 2020 and operate through March 1^st, 2021.

The wheel, operated by SkyStar, was previously installed in Louisville, Kentucky’s Waterfront Park; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Norfolk, Virginia. 

This will be the first time an observation wheel of this scale has operated in San Francisco since Golden Gate Park hosted the Midwinter International Exposition of 1894, where the “Firth Wheel” was a major attraction, standing at 120 feet and carrying ten people per carriage. The Firth Wheel was later moved out to Sutro Heights.

The wheel is roughly as tall as the de Young Museum’s observation deck. The 12-minute ride will be $18, or $12 for seniors and children under 13. Rides will be free during the April 4, 2020 parkwide celebration.

Find out more about Golden Gate Park’s upcoming 150th anniversary at goldengatepark150.com.

Sarah B.