Friends and Neighbors,
The District 5 office has been hard at work, and we wanted to share some big wins recently. Last week, we unanimously passed two major laws at the Board of Supervisors, to bring rent control protections to Midtown, and to ban “no fault” evictions during the pandemic. We’ve also been working hard to address homeless in our neighborhoods, and have made significant progress on creating and maintaining places for our unhoused neighbors. Here’s an update on what’s new for the District 5 office.
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➩ Black Homes Matter: Midtown Residents Win Historic Rent Control Victory
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Three years ago, before I was elected District 5 Supervisor, we were standing with the residents of Midtown Park Apartments, fighting against plans to demolish their homes.
We have come a long way since successfully resisting plans to demolish the 139-unit complex at the corner of Geary and Divisadero. Last week, after months of work with the tenants, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved my legislation to bring rent control protections to the long-term residents at Midtown. It is a major victory for the predominantly black tenants who call Midtown home, many of whom have lived there for generations.
Rufus Watkins, who was born at Midtown in 1970 and has lived here his entire life, said it best: “If you believe that Black Lives Matter, and that Black Homes Matter, then bringing rent control to the people who have called Midtown home for many years is absolutely necessary.” We are proud to deliver for Rufus and the people of Midtown.
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Our Safe Sleeping Village (called CAMP -- Community Action Made for People) at 730 Stanyan has been extended to reach the full 6 months to the end of November. CAMP has been a resounding success. Over 23 of our unhoused neighbors have cycled through CAMP and onto permanent housing and other exits such as connecting with family and friends. There are a few spots that are now being filled with their long waitlist. We only wish CAMP was big enough to take in all of our unhoused residents, but we’re grateful for the work they’ve done in housing folks, getting permanent exits, helping residents get jobs and enrolling in nursing school, and keeping people safe and healthy during the pandemic.
The city also plans to open 33 Gough in November, another Safe Sleeping Site that many of you pushed for with us-- thank you! For D5, this will service the Hayes Valley, Cathedral Hill, HUB area mostly.
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➩ “No Fault” Eviction Law Unanimously Approved
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We are doing everything in our power to keep people in their homes. Following another unanimous vote by the Board of Supervisors last week, so-called “no fault” residential evictions -- including owner move in, capital improvements, and demolition evictions -- are banned in San Francisco through March 31, 2021.
San Francisco has been a leader statewide in limiting evictions during and after the pandemic. My office passed an ordinance in June to ban evictions for tenants who lost income due to COVID during the state of emergency. The law was immediately challenged, but we were ready for the fight, defending this necessary measure in the courts. And we won--in August, a Superior Court judge ruled uphold the law, and despite pledging the appeal, landlord groups recently decided to drop their dubious lawsuit.
I’m proud that our City has acted decisively to prevent the wave of evictions that threaten many other places in this country. And there is data to back up how effectively our collaborate efforts have been.
For the four month period between April 1 to July 31, the number of notices of evictions for non-rent related reasons fell 69% from the same period a year ago, according to data from the Rent Board. The number of eviction notices for Capital Improvements--so-called “renovictions,” frequently used by corporate landlords like Veritas--has dropped by 84%, from 43 in 2019 to 7 in 2020.
The work is far from over, but with our “no fault” eviction law passed last week, we took another major step forward in continuing to protect our residents from displacement during this pandemic.
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We are pleased to announce that as of October 14th, outdoor playgrounds are permitted to reopen. We understand Sheltering in Place with limited access to recreation has been particularly difficult for families. At this time, playgrounds that are allowed to open must be fully outdoors, open to the public, free, operated by a government agency, and intended to serve nearby residents within ½ mile.
For more information on the rules and guidance around usage of playgrounds, here is the Playground Directive.
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➩ Guidelines for Safe Halloween
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With Halloween just around the corner, many families in the district have reached out about guidelines to keep everyone safe this year. Here are a few resources:
Please refer to the Safer Halloween website for more information:
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Please do not hesitate to reach out to our office with any ideas, questions or concerns, at prestonstaff@sfgov.org.
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