Friends & neighbors,
As we wrap up another year, we want to thank you for being part of our community. With your support, we’ve led the way on crucial efforts to stop evictions, fund affordable housing, support small businesses, and improve our neighborhoods. Your care and vigilance about our neighborhoods helps our office make sure city departments better address our neighbors’ needs.
In that spirit, we want to share some of the work we did over the past year, with the help of our constituents. This is just a small fraction of our work—23 accomplishments from 2023 that we want to highlight as we head into 2024. But to be clear, that doesn’t mean we aren’t proud of all our other work to improve our city, whether it’s fighting for government transparency and accountability by commissioning audits on how the City is spending its funds for affordable housing, the San Francisco Police Department’s overtime practices, and the City’s street teams ; securing funds for overdose prevention programs and homelessness services to help us save lives and improve street conditions; stopping the Mayor’s budget cuts that would have denied crucial services for vulnerable tenants; fighting for community-serving institutions like the Heart of the City Farmer’s Market and Mama G’s food distribution; standing with organized labor in nationwide and local fights and supporting San Francisco workers as they form or join new unions; or responding to over 6,000 inquiries and requests from our constituents.
We are proud to serve you and will continue to be an independent voice for the community that will never hesitate to speak truth to power and deliver for our constituents.
We wish all of you a Happy New Year!
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Dean Preston,
District 5 Supervisor
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1. Led Efforts to Stop Displacement
Our office continued to lead the way to make sure residents can stay in their homes. We extended the eviction ban for COVID-related nonpayment of rent that was due on or before August 28, 2023. We assisted dozens of tenants facing eviction to get legal help from the Tenant Right to Counsel program, and we helped ensure in the budget process that this vital program continues to be fully funded. We passed legislation to reverse massive rent hikes on tenants in a Fillmore subsidized housing complex, and teamed up with the Housing Rights Committee to help Tenderloin resident Cedric Dugger fight back against eviction and stay in his home of 13 years. In addition, we teamed up with the San Francisco Tenants Union to revive the Tenant Rights bootcamps, bringing a know-your-rights training and tenant counselors to every neighborhood in District 5.
2. Saved Car-Free Hayes
Our office partnered with neighborhood leaders to launch Car-Free Hayes in 2020. It’s been a huge success and great for the neighborhood. In July 2023, MTA unexpectedly sought to shut it down, and our office and community leaders came together and fought back. We successfully saved Car-Free Hayes, and secured a commitment from the SFMTA to study what it would take to make a portion of Hayes Street permanently car-free. We are proud of this effort and will continue to push for more pedestrian friendly spaces in our district.
3. Page Slow Street is Now Permanent
Page Street is the most successful and important slow street in the city, and an essential part of our citywide bike network. We are proud to have led efforts to create it, protect it, and improve signage and safety. This year we were especially proud to help make the temporary slow street permanent.
4. $25 Million for Vision Zero and Safe Streets
Our office worked with community groups to secure $17.6M in the Western Addition and $8M in the Tenderloin for pedestrian/traffic safety. This includes full funding for the Golden Gate Greenway and the Western Addition Community Transportation Plan. We also passed a Vision Zero resolution to restart VZ Task Force meetings, passed a No Turn on Red Resolution to protect pedestrians and cyclists, and created New Traffic Fatality Protocol that’s now been implemented increasing transparency after fatal collisions.
5. Passed the Banko Brown Act
We worked with community leaders to write legislation following the tragic killing of Banko Brown, an unarmed Black trans youth, to prevent this kind of tragedy in the future. This important piece of legislation affirms that human lives must always be prioritized over property by making clear that security guards cannot draw their guns unless there is a threat to a person. People shopping in our retail establishments should feel safe, and conforming our City’s laws to reflect state training standards for security guards will help ensure that situations are not needlessly escalated.
6. Re-opened Fillmore Mini-Park
The Fillmore Turk Mini Park park is not just a park, it is a community forum and gathering space. The revitalization of the Fillmore Mini Park will allow for a whole range of community events, ranging from spaces to celebrate community, to honoring the lives that have been lost. We were proud to join so many community residents and leaders at the grand re-opening.ted.
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7. Preserved and Expanded Community Ambassadors across District 5
Our office has long fought for Community Ambassadors to help provide a visible and friendly presence to our neighborhoods. When we first took office we brought ambassadors to District 5 for the first time. This year, we were able to expand coverage to Divisadero and the Lower Haight, in addition to expanding coverage in areas of Lower Polk and the Tenderloin that were previously without ambassadors.
8. Pushed for Better Departmental Coordination & Expansion of SFPD’s “Park Smart” Campaign to Address Car Break-Ins, Leading to Dramatic Decrease
As is often the case, while right-wing media and billionaires like Musk were mocking our work, we were getting things done. We held a hearing on car break-ins at the Board of Supervisors, bringing essential public attention and oversight which led to the first dramatic reduction in car break-ins since COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. While we still have work to do, we are proud that our work with various departments and pressure for better coordination and evaluation, as well as ramping up of prevention programs like the San Francisco Police Department’s “Park Smart” campaign, has led to a decrease in car break-ins. We hope that departments continue to prioritize the strategies that are working to curb this issue.
9. The Oasis Inn is Now a Permanent Family Shelter
We launched the Oasis as an emergency family shelter with private rooms in the beginning of the pandemic, and have worked closely with advocates and service providers to keep it going. This year, as it was about to be shut down, we passed a resolution at the Board of Supervisors and rallied repeatedly with advocates until St. Anthony’s Foundation and a private donor stepped forward to save the day by acquiring the property which they will operate in partnership with the Providence Foundation. The Oasis will now serve homeless families for years to come.
10. 32% Reduction in Supportive Housing Vacancies
For years, about a thousand units of supportive housing have sat empty in our City. In September, we passed legislation directing the Administration to finally fill long-standing PSH vacancies within 90 days. HSH rose to the occasion, piloting a new program that moves people directly from the streets into supportive housing immediately (instead of the months it usually takes). In December, HSH announced that vacancies in supportive housing had dropped 32%. This is excellent progress. We will continue our work leading efforts to move homeless people into vacant homes in San Francisco.
11. Passed the Safe Swab Act
When COVID-19 testing tents popped up in the district and started paying people in return for swabbing, residents in our district were quick to alert our office—especially when neighbors started noticing that their results were not being sent to them. Our office began working with the City Attorney’s office to draft the Safe Swab Act , which now requires that any pop-up testing sites partner with the City or its partners and observe basic hygiene, sanitation, and privacy standards. Through our work to address these sites, the City was able to secure an agreement from the operators of these sites to cease all operations in San Francisco.
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Photo by Dorothy O'Donnell
12. Unveiled Mural Honoring Bill Graham
We were thrilled to join community leaders, musicians, and arts advocates to unveil a project my office funded, and have been anticipating for months: the unveiling of a mural to honor the legacy of visionary music impresario and San Francisco legend Bill Graham. From his days managing the Mime Troupe in the 1960s through his leadership promoting music at the Fillmore Auditorium and beyond, Bill Graham had an enormous impact on music and entertainment not just here in SF, but nationally and globally. My office allocated funds last year to commemorate foundational figures like Bill Graham, and to help San Franciscans for generations to come to recognize their contributions. Especially in recent years, with all the challenges, music and art have so often offered the path through. Celebrating the arts has never been more important.
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Photo by Kyle Smeallie
13. Celebrated New Tenderloin Museum Neon Sign
The Tenderloin Museum’s beautifully restored neon sign came to life in November, at a ceremony with a huge crowd of neighborhood allies and people from all corners of San Francisco. The Tenderloin is a hub for neon signs, home to more than a third of all neon signs citywide. But existing laws made it difficult, and in some cases impossible, to take down, repair, and restore classic neon signs. So we created a special use district – the first of its kind in California – where the neon restoration process would be possible, paving the way for the visionaries at the Tenderloin Museum to create a new generation of neon, which came to life last night. The sign is gorgeous – one side showing the original “Cadillac Hotel,” the other, a bold declaration of “The Tenderloin.” Let the neon shine!
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14. Celebrated new community land trusts funded by investment from Prop. I
Thanks to our work to fund housing preservation at an unprecedented level, this year we learned that over 100 homes will become permanent affordable housing, including four units at 1130 Filbert Street. The small sites program protects tenants from displacement and allows tenants to become co-owners of their homes in a permanently affordable land trust model. Thanks to our advocacy and the support of community leaders, this program is saving hundreds of tenants from eviction while creating permanent affordable housing that is off the speculative market.
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15. Celebrated Groundbreaking for 160 Units of 100% Affordable Housing at 730 Stanyan Street
We were thrilled to break ground in June on the affordable housing development at 730 Stanyan Street in the Haight Ashbury. Neighbors in the Haight have embraced this project with open arms, and I appreciate the partnership with Chinatown Community Development Center, the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development to see this project to fruition. Of the 160 units, 20 will be set aside for Transitional Aged Youth ages 18 to 24 who are formerly homeless or at risk of homelessness, with onsite supportive services. We are told that the city will begin accepting applications for housing in early 2025.
16. Huge Win for Affordable Housing at DMV Site
After more than a year of advocacy, in October the California Department of General Services issued a request for housing developers to submit plans for a mixed-use development on the current San Francisco DMV site, paving the way for hundreds of new affordable homes to be constructed along with a revamped DMV field office. This is a major win for affordable housing. Together with Assemblymember Ting, we’ve led the effort to convert this huge state-owned parking lot to affordable housing. In November 2022, we introduced a resolution urging state officials to prioritize affordable housing on the DMV site, and continued to work closely with Assemblymember Phil Ting and representatives from state agencies, including the Department of General Services (DGS) and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The state is planning to select an affordable housing developer in March 2024.
17. Huge Win for Affordable Housing at DMV Site
With funds from the historic Prop. I budget deal we championed, five site acquisitions were announced this year for acquisition for 100% affordable housing, including 650 Divisadero. This is a huge step forward for affordable housing and shows what can be done when we come together to commit Prop. I funds to affordable housing as intended.
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18. Hosted Town Halls in Every Neighborhood in District 5
Despite being in office for four years, a vast majority of our term has been during a public health crisis, where in-person meetings have been difficult, if not impossible. This past year, as it became safer to gather together in person, we wanted to take the opportunity to get back to the basics, and host neighborhood town halls to connect with our constituents. We held town halls in every District 5 neighborhood, connecting with more than a thousand constituents.
19. Launched a Small Business Pitch Program to Support Fillmore Entrepreneurs
In July, we announced a new grant program to support Fillmore entrepreneurs with start-up costs. The Fillmore Pitch Program will allow entrepreneurs to pitch their business concept, product, or service before a panel of small business peers, community leaders, and business advisors. Winners will receive $4,500 grants. The program is expected to fund over 32 entrepreneurs in the Fillmore.
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20. Rallied Local Coalition and BOS in Successful Campaign to Win State Transportation Funding For Muni That Prevents Service Cuts Through 2026
The funds partially come from the Bay Area’s share of the $1.1 billion transit bailout included in the California budget, and will be distributed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission through fiscal year 2026. The subsidies include about $300 million in regional transportation funds. This was an all-hands-on-deck effort , and we were proud to play a leadership role in passing our resolution and bringing stakeholders together to advocate for public transit funding.
21. Adopted Plans for a Public Bank
As the city and the country grapple with severe shortages of financing for affordable housing, green infrastructure, and small businesses, in September, the Board of Supervisors formally accepted the Reinvestment Working Group’s plan to create the first municipal bank in the nation. The plans include a business and governance plan for creating a publicly owned municipal financial corporation (MFC) and for converting the MFC into a full San Francisco public bank.
22. Working With Trans Youth & Community Members, Passed A Resolution Condemning Anti-Trans Legislation & Calling For Greater Protection of Trans Youth and Adults
Our City prides itself on being a sanctuary city for the LGBTQ community. That’s why we were so proud to partner with our constituents and community, including trans youth, to put the City on record condemning the growing hateful and discriminatory attacks on the trans community nationwide, urging city departments and service organizations to protect their trans clients, and calling for more investments into trans-led and trans-serving programs here at home.
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23. Jumpstarted Reactivation Plans for Fillmore Heritage Center
The Fillmore Heritage Center has sat dormant since 2017, and we have been pushing the Administration to activate it since the day I took office. This year, at the request of community leaders and our office, the Administration issued an RFP and has selected Westside Community Services and San Francisco Housing Development Corporation (SFHDC) to operate the Fillmore Heritage Center. It is expected to reopen in 2024!
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Email prestonstaff@sfgov.org for more information, questions, or suggestions for our next newsletter!
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