Supervisor Chan Newsletter

Legislative Updates

Walgreens Closure

Last October, Walgreens announced that it will be closing 12,000 stores across the country and recently announced the closure of local stores which will include 12 in San Francisco.Our store on Geary Boulevard and 17th Avenue will be closing next month. This is a corporate decision and does not weigh the health and safety impacts this will have on our community regarding access to medication, particularly for seniors and vulnerable groups. It is clear we must find alternatives to this solution rather than relying on corporations that will choose profit over community.

To that end, I am working on legislation to create a network of local neighborhood pharmacies, places where our residents can go for their medications with linguistically and culturally competent services. We are also exploring ways to expand access to lower cost medications to neighborhood pharmacies throughout the City in order to create more reliable alternatives to big box stores. The Walgreens in the Outer Richmond on Point Lobos will remain open in addition to our local neighborhood pharmacy.

Alexandria Theatre

Our legislation to bring housing to the Alexandria is moving forward. It will be before the Planning Commission on Thursday, March 6 for approval and this is a chance for you to weigh in and give public comment on the project. You can send your comments directly to the planner for the project: Tina.Tam@sfgov.org or send in writing to 49 South Van Ness Avenue, Suite 1400, San Francisco, CA 94103 or, if you prefer to give public comment in person you can attend the meeting at City Hall. You can find more information and the agenda on the SF Planning Website.

This legislation will expedite housing on the site by creating a “Special Use District” to memorialize community vision. We are in continued conversation with the owners who have committed to meeting with the community as we move this project forward.

The legislation will allow the owner to build up to eight stories of 75 two- to three-bedroom housing units with commercial space on the ground floor while preserving the historical character defining elements of the theatre. If approved by the Planning Commission, this legislation will move to the Board of Supervisors for final approval. To ensure timely delivery of these promises, the legislation also sets a two-year timeline for the project to be approved and move forward. We will continue to update you on this family housing project as it progresses.

Last week Mayor Lurie joined me for coffee in the Richmond and we talked about the Alexandria Theatre and the Geary Blvd. corridor. He is excited to support housing at the theatre and we will continue to work with his team to bring this and other projects forward.

St. Anne's Home

Last month we also learned that Little Sisters of the Poor will be closing the skilled nursing home they have run out of St. Anne’s Home on Lake Street for the past 123 years. This is a devastating blow to the residents of the home as well as the entire Richmond community. As soon as we learned of this closure we began talking with the Sisters as well as the Department of Public Health to see how we can help with the transition. As of now, the City will bring the seniors currently living at St. Anne’s and their families to Laguna Honda Hospital to ensure they are able to continue to live in a skilled nursing facility and receive the care they need.

At Mayor Lurie's appearance before the board at the end of January I asked him if he would support our vision to keep St. Anne’s as a resource for our community as well as help develop the site for other critical resources for seniors in the Richmond and throughout San Francisco. The mayor has agreed to work with us and direct his departments to ensure this important Richmond resource and site continues to serve the community.

You can watch my questioning and the mayor's response here.

Standing up for our San Francisco Values

Over this past month we have seen attacks on the values we hold dear as San Franciscans, including protections for our vulnerable communities, our immigrant, and our LGBTQ communities.

San Francisco has long been a sanctuary city and it will continue to be. I am grateful for my colleague, Supervisor Jackie Fielder, for bringing forward a resolution affirming our sanctuary status. And I stand with our City Attorney David Chiu and our Attorney General Rob Bonta in fighting against the racist and xenophobic policies of the current administration. We will fight to protect our immigrant communities.

We also joined Senator Scott Wiener, City Attorney Chiu, my colleagues on the board, and the LGBTQ community, standing in solidarity with trans youth against the harmful and hateful polities being proposed by the administration. To the trans community, we see you. You matter and you belong. We will do everything to fight to protect you, if they come after you, they will have to come through us first.

Community Updates

Celebrating Lunar New Year in the Richmond

This year the Richmond kicked off a dynamic celebration of the Year of the Snake with our first annual Richmond District Lunar New Year Parade and Lunar Bazaar Night on Balboa. It was a wonderful celebration and I loved seeing so many friends and neighbors. Thank you, Richmond Neighborhood Center and all of our partners, for putting this event together!

We also had our own mini-parade at the Clement Street Farmers' Market! Thank you, Asian Family Support Center families for joining me!

Celebrating Black History Month

Happy Black History Month! I have been celebrating with city and community leaders, with my friend Supervisor Shamann Walton, and with our amazing labor partners SEIU 2015.

As we continue to celebrate throughout the month of February I am reminded of the words of action from President Barack Obama “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

Community Events

Historic Preservation Commission

On Wednesday, February 19, the SF Survey Findings for the Richmond Neighborhood Commercial Districts will be presented to the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC). This survey was performed by the Planning Department in partnership with the Western Neighborhoods Project. If you would like to review the results of the survey, you can find them here, Historic Preservation Commission Staff Report,

You can also attend the HPC meeting, on Wednesday at 12:30pm in City Hall, Room 400, to make public comments on the findings or email your comment to Maggie.Smith@sfgov.org.

Summer Resource Fair

This Saturday, February 22 the Department of Children, Youth and Families, SF Recreation & Parks Department, and the SF Public Library will host the annual San Francisco Summer Resource Fair at the County Fair Building (1199 9th Avenue) to explore an incredible variety of camps, programs, and activities for children and youth in grades K-8.

This free event offers something for everyone: sports, arts, STEM, overnight camps, academic enrichment, and more. Meet program representatives, ask questions, and learn how to register for activities that will make this summer unforgettable.

Don’t miss out! Learn more at https://www.sf.gov/san-francisco-summer-resource-fair.

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Board of Supervisors | District 1 | Connie Chan 陳詩敏
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 554-7410 | Fax: (415) 554-5163

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