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Hello, District 8!
Summer is upon us!
June was a doozy of a month as it always is. Between budget negotiations (I serve as Vice Chair of the Board’s Budget Committees) and Pride, the District 8 office has been busy! This was the second year of belt-tightening and hard choices, with real cuts to programs that do good work, and unfortunately, there is every reason to believe that next year will be even more challenging budgetarily. Nonetheless, working with the Mayor and colleagues on the Board, we were able to secure some important budget wins for District 8 even in a difficult year, including important investments in public safety and funding for activation of public spaces throughout the District. We were also able to help protect housing subsidies for vulnerable communities, including LGBTQ seniors and transgender people, HIV/AIDS funding, and funding for services for Transitional Age Youth, as well as funding for youth, arts, and culture programming and events around the District.
Many thanks to those of you who turned out to march with us in the Pride Parade; it was a ton of fun! For those of you who may have missed it this year, not to worry; we’ll be back for another fabulous stroll down Market Street next year. We kicked off the month with a PRIDE Art Show, featuring Two Bald Guys ; if you couldn’t make it, come by our office at City Hall to say hi and check their art out! Other highlights of the month included introducing legislation to landmark the iconic Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag installation in Harvey Milk Plaza and passing a resolution to designate San Francisco a sanctuary city for transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and Two-Spirit people.
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MEET YOUR SUPERVISOR: OFFICE HOURS
VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS: Join me on Zoom for virtual office hours on Saturday, July 13, from 9:30AM-11:30AM! Sign up for a slot by emailing mandelmanstaff@sfgov.org.
IN-PERSON OFFICE HOURS: Join me in-person in Noe Valley, on Saturday, July 27, from 10AM-12AM! Email mandelmanstaff@sfgov.org to reserve a spot.
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RECOLOGY DISTRICT 8 WEEKEND CLEANUP – BRING YOUR BULKY ITEMS!
What: Drop-off event for District 8 residents:
- Bulky items, recyclables, yard trimmings & household plants
- Anything for donation to Goodwill
- Pick up compost for your garden!
When: Saturday, July 13, from 8am to noon
Where: James Lick Middle School (enter on 25th Street, turn right on Noe Street)
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GRAFFITI ADVISORY BOARD VACANCY
Tired of blight and graffiti in your neighborhood, District 8, and San Francisco as a whole? Apply to be the District 8 representative to the Graffiti Advisory Board today. Fill out the application here by July 31. Once you’ve applied, or if you have questions, please reach out to mandelmanstaff@sfgov.org.
SFPD BOUNDARY ANALYSIS PROJECT
The San Francisco Police Department is seeking your participation in the analysis of District Station boundary lines! The SFPD and Police Commission are required to perform a review of the existing District Station boundaries every ten years to maximize the effectiveness of police operations. How can you participate? Provide your input by completing this survey by August 4. Talk to your district station, ask to participate in a focus group in September, or come to a public hearing in October. If you have any questions or concerns email sfpdboundaryanalysis@gmail.com.
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GET INVOLVED IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD!
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!
- Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association: Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every other month from 7:00 – 8:00 pm, in the Ballroom of the Harvey Milk Recreation Center for the Arts, lobby level, 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.
- 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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SFPD STATION CAPTAINS’ MEETINGS
Curious about safety in your neighborhood or have questions for SFPD? Attending your Station Captains’ Meetings is a great way to learn about what’s going on. Captains’ Meetings are at the following times:
- Park Station (1899 Waller): Fourth Wednesdays at 5PM on Zoom
- Neighborhoods: Cole Valley, Duboce Triangle, and Twin Peaks
- Mission Station (630 Valencia): Last Tuesdays at 5PM at Mission Station
- Neighborhoods: Castro, Mission Dolores, and Noe Valley
- Ingleside Station (1 Sgt. John V. Young): Third Tuesdays at 6PM at Ingleside Station
- Neighborhoods: Diamond Heights and Glen Park
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VOLUNTEER WITH US!
We are always looking for D8 office volunteers and interns! Volunteering or interning in my office is a great opportunity to serve District 8 and learn about the issues facing our city, gain valuable experience in the legislative branch of local government, and see how elected officials can work with the community to create effective public policy solutions to solve our toughest problems. Sign up here or reach out to calvin.ho@sfgov.org for more information.
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FACES IN THE CROWD: RENEE BERGER
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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!
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One of the marvels of Glen Park is about to be more marvelous. The beautiful Burnside mural depicting the flora and fauna of Glen Canyon will soon feature, on an adjoining staircase, hand-fabricated tiles showing a scene of a stream with schools of fish framed by an embankment with flowers and plants. The years-long project, known as Burnside Mural+, is the brainchild of the neighborhood’s tireless Renee Berger, who spotted a drab green wall and scruffy set of steps and went to work.
With her crisp, energetic style, Renee asked the leaders of the Glen Park Association for help and won their backing. This was nearly four years ago. She envisioned an art piece that would showcase Glen Park’s human history and the natural history of the area’s canyon. She asked the San Francisco Parks Alliance to be the project’s fiscal sponsor and received critical financial and technical support from a few enthusiastic residents. While the start was during the dark days of the pandemic, the project ensured that the voices of the community were heard through surveys that solicited ideas for the artists.
The mural artists, Elaine Chu and Marina Perez-Wong, did a brilliant job of integrating the community’s thoughts. The mural pays tribute to a trio of women who blocked a plan in the 1960s to run a freeway through the area. Hummingbirds, hawks, and voles now adorn the concrete wall, along with mountain lions, deer, and long-departed elk, all intended to depict the canyon’s natural place in San Francisco’s wrinkled landscape. The mural sits at the cul de sac of Burnside Avenue, astride the Glen Park Greenway and the Crosstown Trail, two walkways that wend through the canyon.
Before her retirement, Berger had been a management consultant, specializing in community development. Upon retiring she found a means to channel her expertise and love of San Francisco by becoming a volunteer with San Francisco City Guides, for whom she leads walks that focus on murals. She sees the mural and tile stairs as more than an adornment: “It’s a way to build trust and bring joy” to Glen Park. Though she’s the stable presence guiding the project, Berger is generous with praise for others. The mural artists, and the tile-making artists, Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher, are the “geniuses who have gifted us their talent,” she says.
The tile work will include a swirling blue design running down the steps, mimicking Islais Creek, which once provided San Francisco’s water. There will be 250 “legacy tiles” that donors purchased to express their feelings, often quite poignantly, about family, friends and love of Glen Park. Most of the funding comes from these donors and other individuals, the rest from city grants.
It’s been a community effort to beautify the area and keep it clean. Eighth graders from nearby St. John School sweep the area from time to time. Children began painting rocks, leading to the creation of a small rock garden in front of the mural. Just a couple of weeks ago, in a collaboration with the Glen Park Library, the Burnside project hosted a tile-making event, led by the tile artists, with dozens of kids and adults making waves and bubbles for the staircase stream.
There have been lessons learned, too. The city has been slowly changing its drawn-out permitting and approval process, a promising idea that could ease similar projects. The Board of Supervisors, including Supervisor Mandelman, passed a measure to curtail fees on similar community-led work.
On a clear day, the mural glows in the sun, giving joggers and dog walkers pause. “Now it’s on to phase two: the stairs,” Berger says. “The enthusiasm is there to finish this project.”
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Each week throughout Pride Month, we celebrated great San Franciscans from the LGBTQ+ community with special commendations. On June 4, we celebrated Gary Virginia and Donna Sachet, who started the Pride Brunch 25 years ago! On June 11, we honored Dr. Susan Ehrlich, the excellent lesbian CEO of SF General Hospital. On June 18, we honored Imani Rupert-Gordon, the Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. And on June 25, we honored the Friends of the Harvey Milk Plaza, who make the Plaza wonderful for all who visit!
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On June 27, SFPD Chief Scott, Mayor Breed, and I held a press conference to announce the PD’s full deployment for Pride. I’m grateful to the Police Department for taking queer safety seriously.
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On Juneteenth, I went to the kickoff of Frameline’s 2024 San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival for a showing of Lil Nas X's new documentary, Long Live Montero ! It was both fun and meaningful to celebrate the nation’s longest running LGBTQ+ film festival, which was founded in 1977, as well as Juneteenth. Happy Juneteenth!
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On June 8, I joined the celebration of the annual installment of the Pink Triangle on Twin Peaks! Thanks to Patrick Carney and his army of volunteers who help set up the Pink Triangle every year.
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On June 6, we kicked off Pride Month in the District 8 Office with Two Bald Guys Art! We’re proud to have John Rockwell and Cho Gwanhyeon’s art now adorning the walls of our office. It was a fun art show with great attendance and delicious focaccia from Noe Valley’s Phyllis Van Hagen. And always good to have some bald guy solidarity.
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We’ve been installing sidewalk gardens around District 8! On June 1, we put some beautiful plants in the ground with Friends of the Urban Forest in the Castro, and did the same on June 14 in Noe Valley!
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San Francisco police will be fully deployed for Pride, chief says
Bay Area Reporter, June 27
As hundreds of thousands of people prepare to visit San Francisco for Pride festivities, the San Francisco Police Department will be fully staffed for the events, Chief Williams Scott said Thursday. He was joined by out officers, community leaders, gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, and a surprise appearance by Mayor London Breed. Mandelman said that "it's an amazing time to celebrate the progress made in our SFPD," and credited the mayor for making additional investments. The department is understaffed by about 500 officers.
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San Francisco supervisors unveil legislation to implement drug-free recovery housing
Local News Matters, June 21
“It’s time to listen to our recovery community,” Mandelman said in a statement. “Recovery Housing First will add a desperately needed new choice that every unhoused San Franciscan deserves: recovery-oriented supportive housing, free of illegal drug use, if thatʼs what a resident wants.”
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San Francisco Lawmakers Want Sober Housing to Be Part of Homelessness Plan
KQED, June 17
“It’s not enough to get folks indoors and keep them alive until they die of overdose. The point is to get them indoors so we can support them in living long and full and productive lives,” Mandelman said at a news conference on Monday at City Hall announcing the legislation.
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Full-Time Great Highway Park to go on November Ballot
StreetsBlog SF, June 20
From KidSafeSF's statement on Tuesday's ballot submission: “Supervisors Joel Engardio and Myrna Melgar, along with Matt Dorsey, Rafael Mandelman, and Dean Preston, submitted a ballot measure to turn the Great Highway into a permanent full-time park. The measure will be on November’s ballot. We’re fully supporting it and already mobilizing!
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San Francisco declares itself a transgender sanctuary city
Bay Area Reporter, June 12
The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted 11-0 at its June 11 meeting to adopt a resolution authored by gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman declaring "San Francisco a sanctuary city and a place of safety for TGNCI2S people and providers of gender affirming care." The acronym also includes people who are intersex or two-spirit.
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S.F. declares itself sanctuary city for transgender people, among first in U.S. to do so
San Francisco Chronicle, June 11
“A majority of these laws specifically target transgender people, including youth,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro. “As other cities and states turn up the hate, places like San Francisco need to turn up the love.”
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'Turn up the love:' San Francisco becomes a sanctuary city for transgender people
Advocate, June 13
“With this resolution, we are reaffirming that our city has been and will continue to be a sanctuary and a beacon for our transgender and gender non-conforming siblings,” Mandelman said.
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San Francisco declares itself a sanctuary city for transgender people
NBC Bay Area, June 11
“We just want to send out a little beacon in this Pride Month to folks in those places that there are people here that care about you, who see you and will support you if you make your way here,” Mandelman said.
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Cole Valley next up in supe’s fight against monster homes
San Francisco Examiner, June 7
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman announced plans to extend restrictions on “monster homes” from neighborhoods like the Castro and Noe Valley and into Cole Valley. It’s the latest step in Mandelman and his predecessors’ yearslong battle against the so-called monster homes, or single-family homes that top out over 3,000 square feet.
These large houses have earned the ire of Mandelman and his supporters because some are created only after the demolition or remodel of an existing — and often quite old — building. In addition to fighting for the historic preservation of homes and neighborhood character, Mandelman also argues that the monster homes waste space that several families could use — a failed opportunity for density The City can scarcely afford as it attempts to build more than 80,000 homes this decade
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‘Grave situation’: S.F. jails in crisis, officials say at tense City Hall hearing
San Francisco Chronicle, May 14
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman praised the mayor’s crackdown on people using and dealing drugs openly on San Francisco’s streets, saying it helped “take back some of our sidewalks.”
He said “the notion that this is a war on drugs 2.0 is … patently ridiculous.” Mandelman argued that the jail was failing in its primary job of becoming a place for rehabilitation and added that he wants to see more hiring and treatment programs for prisoners.
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Why some of SF's formerly unhoused set up tents, frequent the streets again
ABC7 News, May 10
"I am frustrated when we do not allow ourselves to address unsafe conditions on the sidewalks, that's not OK. That's what we have to change," said Supervisor Mandelman.
"We are subsidizing north of 10,000 units in San Francisco that are "forever homes" for folks where they are paying subsidized rent and we're providing the subsidy - I think that's good but we also have to do something about making sure that folks can use our public spaces," added Mandelman.
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After years of mounting deaths, SF police unfurl ‘wave’ of traffic enforcement
SFBay, May 5
Mandelman said at the meeting that he found the decline in traffic enforcement since 2014 “extraordinary” and “alarming,” adding: “I do think that the failure to achieve the kind of progress toward Vision Zero that we would have liked to have achieved over the last 10 years, notwithstanding, having made some very valuable and important investments in infrastructure, is that we have not matched those investments in infrastructure, with even a holding steady of enforcement.”
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