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With cases of Covid-19 surging across the country and California, San Francisco is no exception. We're seeing alarming increases in our key public health indicators, including new cases and positivity rates, and this week San Francisco was moved into the Red Tier in the state's risk assessment for Covid transmission. This means our current transmission levels indicate substantial risk, and as a result, further restrictions are now in effect.
Non-essential offices are now closed once again, and capacity for gyms and fitness centers has been reduced to 10%. Meanwhile, today Governor Newsom announced a statewide curfew from 10pm to 5am for all counties in the Purple Tier. While San Francisco is not yet included in that tier, the Department of Public Health expects we could be as soon as Sunday, which would trigger further restrictions to nonessential activities and businesses, including the curfew ordered by the Governor.
With the holiday season fast approaching, we are all craving a sense of comfort, familiarity, and normalcy. We want to see our family and friends, share meals, and be together. But these aren't normal times, and this new surge is the most dangerous we've seen since the earliest days of the pandemic.
It's recommended that everyone avoids nonessential travel or gathering with anyone not in your household unmasked or indoors, and if these truly can't be avoided, that you quarantine for two weeks.
With good news about viable vaccines in development, there's real hope that we'll be able to return to more normal activities in the not-too-distant future. But to see that future realized, we have to hold firm in the meantime, stay vigilant, and stay home to save lives.
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District 4 Virtual Town Hall:
The Future of the Great Highway
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Join Supervisor Gordon Mar and the Transportation Authority for a discussion on the future of the Great Highway.
The Transportation Authority has been working with the SFMTA and the Recreation and Parks Department to evaluate the transportation impacts of options for the future of Great Highway. Street and network changes have also been identified to complement each of the options.
Tune in to learn more and share your feedback.
Date: Saturday, November 21, 2020
Time: 10 - 11:30 am
Register here to attend
After registering, you'll receive an email with information on how to join the meeting.
This work is part of the District 4 Mobility Study, conducted by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and Sunset Forward, and commissioned by Supervisor Mar. The District 4 Mobility Study explores ways to improve transportation options for walking, biking, and transit trips in the Outer Sunset and Parkside neighborhoods. The study aims to improve health, livability, and economic vitality in District 4 while addressing climate change at the local level. |
Celebrate the Holidays at Home
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What’s allowed and not allowed
Do
- Activities at home with people you live with
- Remote parties with friends
- Outdoor gatherings with food or drink, with up to 6 people from 3 different households
- Takeout from a local restaurant
- Outdoor dining at a local restaurant
- Wear your face covering if you leave home
Avoid
- Singing, chanting, shouting, or playing wind or brass instruments with people you don’t live with
- Unnecessary travel, especially to a holiday festival
See guidance about safer holiday travel.
Do not
- Gather with more than 25 people from 3 households, inside or outside
- Celebrate indoors with anyone who doesn’t live with you
- Go to a local festival or block party, where larger crowds may gather
These activities are banned during the pandemic.
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Sunset Forward - We need your input on our community needs
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We are in the first part of outreach for Sunset Forward, our community planning process, and we need the input of as many people by the end of this year.
Sunset Forward aims to stabilize low- and moderate-income families and seniors in the Sunset, enhancing community connection and quality of life for all by addressing unmet needs in housing, transportation, and neighborhood services.
If you live, work, study, worship, or play in the Sunset District, we want to hear from you -- what are your priorities on housing, transportation, and neighborhood businesses and services? Your input will result in real policy changes for the Sunset’s future.
Individuals can participate in many ways:
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Great Highway Traffic Mitigation
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Last week, I sent a letter to the SFMTA calling for urgent traffic calming and pedestrian safety work in the Outer Avenues to mitigate the impacts of the Great Highway closure.
Since April, I have repeatedly stressed the need for an urgent and comprehensive plan to mitigate the traffic impacts on the Outer Sunset of this closure. As our City continues to take steps to re-open, with the Great Highway still closed, this urgency has only grown.
I am grateful for the steps that have been taken, including additional detour signs and new turn restrictions to redirect through traffic to Sunset Boulevard, and unconvinced that these are sufficient to address the real and urgent safety concerns. Lower Great Highway has experienced increased traffic volumes of over 5,000 cars a day, with a significant percentage of those cars driving at unsafe speeds, after mitigation efforts were made. We know this because we commissioned traffic counts and measured it through the D4 Mobility Study. The traffic mitigation efforts that have happened were direct and specific requests from my office.
Specifically, I called on SFMTA to provide:
- A traffic mitigation plan, in writing, with clear timetables for implementation
- A commitment to conduct traffic counts after this mitigation plan has been implemented to measure its effectiveness
- Traffic engineers to identify the level of traffic volume and traffic speed that is safe for the Lower Great Highway
- The immediate installation of the remaining components of the Lower Great Highway Pedestrian Improvement Plan
If we cannot achieve these steps, we cannot responsibly keep this closure in place until we have effectively planned to do so in a way that keeps our neighborhood safe. We cannot sacrifice safety for recreation, and I won't continue to support the temporary closure of the Great Highway if we cannot make it safe in the near-term.
We expect to have updates from SFMTA on these efforts soon.
Read more about this in the Examiner and SFist
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Welcoming two new Supervisors!
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San Francisco has spoken, and wisely chosen to elect two new capable women of color to the Board of Supervisors!
Congratulations, Supervisors-elect Connie Chan and Myrna Melgar. I know you’ll be excellent representatives for the westside, and I’m thrilled to get to work with you to represent working people, support small businesses, create more affordable housing, and lots more.
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When times are tough, even paying for the bus can be a challenge. During times like these, the SFMTA has programs to help get you where you need to go, like Free Muni for Youth, Seniors and People with Disabilities, the Lifeline and Clipper START.
Free Muni for Youth, Seniors and People with Disabilities is a free monthly pass for low and moderate income youth, older adults and people with disabilities.
Lifeline is a discounted monthly pass for adult Muni customers on a limited income. Lifeline passes are half the cost of a regular adult passes. Clipper START provides single ride discounts for the same customers.
Access Pass is a Muni-only pass for individuals experiencing homelessness.
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Select Resources for Small Businesses
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SF Shines Storefront Improvement Program: Get up to $2,000 reimbursed for your storefront’s COVID-19 safety measures. Businesses and nonprofits can apply for past, in progress, or future work.
SF Hardship Emergency Loan Program (SF HELP) provides small businesses a loan of up to $50,000 at 0% interest. Funds can be used to pay payroll, rent, utilities, inventory, and more. The loan will have a flexible repayment schedule, with terms determined on a case-by-case basis, based on each borrower’s ability to repay.
Free Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Receive a 30-day supply of hand sanitizers, surgical masks, and face shields, while supplies last. Contact People of Parkside Sunset (POPS) at president@sf-pops.com.
Lease Negotiations: The City partners with the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights to help SF small businesses (“mom and pop shops”) at risk of displacement with lease review and negotiation and related services.
For more information about these and other resources and to sign-up to receive future small business updates from Supervisor Mar’s office, contact Alan Wong at (415) 554-7460 or alan.wong1@sfgov.org.
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South Ocean Beach Multi-Use Trail Project
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Please join the City’s multi-agency virtual community meeting to learn more about the proposed South Ocean Beach Multi-Use Trail Project!
Together with the SF Public Utility Commission, this proposed Recreation and Parks project will replace the Great Highway between Sloat and Skyline as part of the City’s multi-agency Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project. The project will build a new multi-use trail that is approximately 12’ wide, a plaza at Sloat, a parking lot and restroom.
Meeting Time: Thursday, December 3, 2020 at 6pm
Join Zoom Meeting: https://sfrpd.zoom.us/j/91913349925
Meeting ID: 919 1334 9925
Dial in – call to join: 669.900.6833
For more information about this project, please visit : https://bit.ly/soobproject
If you have questions or concerns, please contact Project Manager, Monica Scott: Monica.Scott@sfgov.org or call (628) 652-6632
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The Great Highway Gallery is excited to present Entangled: Chasing Bull Kelp. The exhibition will feature: a window installation, prints and sculpture by Josie Iselin.
Artist Links:
www.josieiselin.com
instagram: @josieiselin
About the Artist
Josie Iselin is the photographer, author and designer of many books exploring our coastal universe. Her newest book, The Curious World of Seaweed (Heyday Books, August 2019), is an ambitious combination of essays and historical as well as contemporary imagery that explores the algal world just beyond the beach. Josie holds a BA in visual and environmental studies from Harvard and an MFA from San Francisco State University. For over twenty-five years she has used her flatbed scanner and computer for generating imagery. Iselin exhibits large-scale fine art prints at select galleries and museums, advocates for ocean health through education and speaks widely on the confluence of art and science. She teaches in the School of Design at San Francisco State University.
The Great Highway Gallery
3649 Lawton St.
San Francisco, CA 9412
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Meanwhile, Far Out Gallery will be showing Bird’s Eye View: Paintings by Anne Marguerite Herbst through December 27th 2020.
Open Thursday - Sunday, 12-6 pm, or by appointment: call at 415-463-5537
3004 Taraval @ 40th Avenue San Francisco, CA 94116
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Joan Byrne, on the 19th Avenue Traffic Signals
See how sales tax dollars improve the city’s transportation system! In recognition of the 30th anniversary of Prop K, the Transportation Authority has launched a new microsite highlighting the impact of sales tax investments in transportation.
Click on a face to see how people across San Francisco benefit from the half-cent sales tax for transportation.
The San Francisco County Transportation Authority has managed the voter-appoved, haff-cent sales tax since 1990.
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| Justin Wiley, on the Lower Great Highway Pedestrian Improvement Project |
Shop Safe, Local, and #SunsetStrong
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Don't miss the next outdoor shopping event on 20th Avenue! Take care of your holiday shopping needs while supporting Sunset merchants, makers, and small businesses.
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Meanwhile, the Outer Sunset Famers Market & Mercantile continues every Sunday from 9am to 3pm on 27th Avenue between Ortega and Quintara, offering fresh produce from local farmers, goods from local merchants, live music by local artists, and dining by local restaurants! Stop by, shop local, and stay #SunsetStrong.
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And, we're thrilled to announce that the Beachside Taraval Sunset Mercantile has been extended through December! Come eat, drink, shop, play, connect and be local this Sunday and every Sunday through December. 11:00am to 5:00pm on Taraval Street between 46th and 47th Avenues. This open-air pop-up market features unique crafts, cool vintage finds and fascinating treasures of all sorts surrounded by the awesome cafes, restaurants, bars and shops of Beachside Taraval!
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#SunsetStrong Spotlight: Loyale's Sunset Gift Guide
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Sunset-based business Loyale has put together a gift guide showcasing the breadth and depth of options for shopping local this holiday season!
Take a look to see ideas for home goods, apparel, food, and more -- all rooted right here in the Sunset. |
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