Supervisor Ronen - January 2020 Newsletter
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2019 was a big year. Over the last 12 months, we have fought hard to pass landmark legislation like Mental Health SF, worked on tackling affordable housing and homelessness, and championed important issues like youth rights, immigration, and more.

Here’s a quick look at the last year to remind us all of how much we've accomplished together. I couldn't have done any of this without your support. Thank you so much for making all of these hard-won victories possible. If you thought 2019 was busy, wait till you see what we have in store for us in 2020!

To learn more about my efforts, please feel free to get in touch with my office anytime. You can also follow the real-time work of my office via Twitter and Facebook.

 

Passed Mental Health SF
After successfully passing Mental Health SF just before the end of the year, I will be working with Mayor Breed and my colleagues on the Board this year to secure the funding to implement this bold new program.

Closing Juvenile Hall
In June 2019, we made history in San Francisco. Supervisors Shamann Walton, Matt Haney, and I authored legislation to close the City’s Juvenile Hall by 2021, and this legislation passed overwhelmingly at the Board of Supervisors. Over the next two years, we will be working through the details to design alternatives to incarceration as well as a non-institutional center for the small number of children who must be detained under state law.  Instead of continuing to fund an ineffective and immoral jail for children, San Francisco is now leading the nation in truly transformative juvenile justice reform! I am so proud of our city.
Photo by Santiago Mejia for The SF Chronicle

Replacing PG&E with Clean, Green, Public Power
In 2019, I continued to chip away at our ties to PG&E by introducing legislation to jump start the process of creating a public utility to replace PG&E, hosting hearings to hold PG&E accountable, and passing a resolution to break ties with PG&E and move towards our long-time goal of clean public power.

Added Six District 9 Businesses

to the Legacy Businesses Registry

Saved Small Businesses
When I learned that nearly 100 small businesses -- mostly single-person providers of massage therapy and other personal services -- were facing eviction and closure, I wrote legislation to exempt the impacted businesses from penalties or eviction. We averted what could have been the catastrophic displacement of these and ensured that these businesses could continue to operate.
Photo via Mission Local

Bringing Affordable Housing to District 9

Added Navigation Centers and Beds
My office worked closely with Public Works, the Department of Homelessness, the Department of Public Health, and the Mayor’s Office to expand the Division Circle Navigation Center by 60 additional beds for a total of 186 beds.

While my office has actively championed opening Navigation Centers in District 9, I believe that we can only solve homelessness in San Francisco if EVERY district takes its role in responding to homelessness as seriously as we do. That’s why I also partnered with Supervisor Matt Haney on legislation requiring that each district opens a Navigation Center of its own.
Photo by Lola M. Chavez

Implemented a Model

Stay Over Program for Homeless Families
We successfully piloted the first-of-a-kind Stay Over Program for homeless families at Buena Vista Horace Mann Community School, and in early 2019, the SFUSD School Board voted unanimously to expand the program.

This unique collaborative model between the school staff, the Department of Homelessness, and the program provider, Dolores Street Community Services, has successfully led to a large percentage of families being diverted from homelessness to stable housing situations.

As our homelessness crisis rages on, with children sleeping in unsafe conditions everyday, we cannot simply rely on old models. We gave this innovative approach a chance, and the outcome has been truly transformative.
Supervisor Hillary Ronen, Principal Claudia DeLarios Morán of Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 School and Ronen’s chief of staff, Carolyn Goossen. Photo by Kevin N. Hume for The SF Chronicle

Protected Tenants from Wrongful Eviction
In January 2019, I passed legislation to close a loophole that landlords have used to force out long-term tenants from single-family homes. Despite these tenants being covered by eviction protections, they are exempt from rent control, and we have seen landlords use outrageous rent increases as a bad faith tactic to circumvent our laws. My legislation makes clear that this practice is unlawful and a form of tenant harassment.

Fought for Harvey Milk’s Legacy at SFO
 
We finally won the battle with the SFO Airport Commission over the Milk Terminal naming. The Harvey Milk Terminal is a must-see homage to San Francisco’s LGBTQ heritage and history. 

Championed Youth Rights
After a horrendous incident at Balboa High School where an innocent student was detained by police and questioned without being allowed to speak to his parents or an attorney, I passed the Jeff Adachi Youth Rights Ordinance. This new law mandates that all youth under 18 years of age have legal representation before the police can interrogate them and requires that police allow an adult to be present during the questioning. The Jeff Adachi Youth Rights Ordinances effectively creates the strongest law in the country protecting children and youth in police custody.
Photo by Santiago Mejia for The SF Chronicle

Expanded Housing Opportunities

for People with Mental Illness
I created and funded a new program for nonprofits to create non-institutional, communal households in which people with chronic mental illness can share a home, assisted through individual and household case management services available on-call 24-7.

For many people who are dealing with a combination of psychiatric and addiction issues, the key to stability and success is to be away from the chaotic neighborhoods and hectic surroundings that can trigger continued crises. This cooperative housing model can open the door to stability and serenity in their lives.
Photo by Lea Suzuki The SF Chronicle

Established the First Ever

American Indian Cultural District
In 2019 I introduced legislation to establish the first-ever American Indian Cultural District in the country . Cultural districts are one of the most important tools we as a city have to proactively strengthen the cultural identities of neighborhoods and communities that face the pressures of gentrification and displacement. There are few communities in the country that have experienced displacement as violently and as profoundly as the American Indian community, and I am proud to support this community in securing the resources necessary to help protect their cherished cultural assets by establishing this new cultural district.

Saved SF’s Adult Residential Facility
In August 2019, I learned that the Department of Public Health had made an appalling decision to shutter the only city-operated board and care Adult Residential Facility , effectively displacing dozens of long-term patients with severe mental illness. I worked with front-line staff, residents and their families, and the Mayor’s office to reach an agreement to keep the ARF open, ensure that no residents would be forcibly removed from their home, and protect the City’s critical long-term beds for mentally ill residents.
Photo by Abraham Rodriguez for Mission Local

Strengthened Tenant Rights
Just before the end of the year, I introduced legislation to tighten our regulations on landlord buyouts of rent-controlled tenants and to protect tenants from being subjected to high-pressure, steamroller tactics to get them to leave their homes.
Photo by Kevin N. Hume for SF Examiner

Stood Up for Workers’ Rights
I began my career working to enforce legal protections for workers. I continue to champion workers rights.
Photo via Unite Here Local 2

Defended Immigrants Rights
No matter what anti-immigrant rhetoric or policies comes from the White House, I will continue to stand with and for our immigrant communities. This year I authored three resolutions in support of immigrant rights:
  • A resolution in support of the Close the Camps - Free Our Children coalition’s demands to free the innocent families being imprisoned in these inhumane facilities,
  • A resolution urging the Governor to acknowledge the validity of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s recent extension of Temporary Protected Status work authorizations, and
  • A resolution underscoring San Francisco’s support for immigrant women and asylum-seekers fleeing gender-based persecution and condemning the federal government’s efforts to undermine asylum protections for survivors of domestic violence.
Photo by Eric Arnold for SF Sounds
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Got an upcoming event or opportunity to include in this newsletter? Email Jennifer.Li-D9@sfgov.org
 

Our mailing address is:
Hillary Ronen, District 9 Supervisor
 San Francisco City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
City and County of San Francisco
1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Place, San Francisco, California, 94102 United States

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