By Supervisor Eric Mar

Thanks to editor Paul Kozakiewicz for letting me share my views here for the last eight years!

Last month, I highlighted citywide accomplishments and I end by celebrating our neighborhood-based work in the Richmond District.

Thanks to all of you who have guided, advised and supported me and my staff over the past eight years. Without your input, advocacy and organizing none of this would have been possible! The future is bright as we welcome our new supervisor, Sandra Lee Fewer, this month. On Jan. 8, I return to my “civilian” life as a grassroots neighborhood activist, single dad of a 16 year old, and Public Policy and Asian American Studies teacher at SF State University.

Dignity for seniors: Together our Richmond seniors and I created and strengthened numerous programs, like the Dignity Fund, which will dramatically increase funding for seniors and the dis- abled; our “aging in place” pro- grams; Golden Gate Village and SF Village; new Safe Streets for Seniors projects; hunger and food security and safety net pro- grams; and the Richmond District Neighborhood Center (RDNC)/Richmond Senior Center’s unique intergenerational home-delivered groceries pro- gram, which helps our rapidly growing number of isolated and homebound seniors.

Protecting and promoting our small businesses: In 2010, I convened Cynthia Huie and Jesse Fink (Seedstore and Toy Boat Dessert Cafe owners, respectively) to help re-energize the 90-year-old Clement Street Merchants Association. We created our Clement Street Farmer’s Market, annual family-friendly ClemenTime holiday events, and revitalized the corridor. Other major improvements include:

• Protecting small businesses by restricting chain stores: With the SF Pet Store Coalition, we passed a law preventing pet supply chain stores from moving into the neighborhood. It was followed by a citywide law that holds big chain stores accountable and levels the playing field

for small, independent businesses;

• Parklets: Guided the creation of the first parklets at Third Avenue and Clement Street, 36th Avenue and Balboa Street (Simple Pleasures) and Sixth Avenue and Balboa (Cinderella Bakery);

• Public art/murals: Funded and helped support public art at Sixth Avenue and Clement (Green Apple Books), Third Avenue and Clement (Ace Hardware) and 28th Avenue and Geary Boulevard (Grocery Outlet), in addition to a number of schools, like Argonne, Peabody and McCoppin elemen- tary schools; and created a fund to preserve historic murals, like the 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA) murals at George Washington High School and the Beach Chalet;

• Small business support and legacy businesses: Ensured that Geary was prioritized through the Invest In Neighborhoods pro- gram, which helped clean up me- dians and sidewalks and also brought focused support to our small businesses from city agen- cies; co-sponsored and founded the city’s Legacy Business Historic Preservation Fund, and ensured businesses like Toy Boat, Pacific Cafe, Green Apple Books and Hamburger Haven were included early on.

Community building: In 2014, I worked with the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco (HRC) to create the only tenant counseling resource on the west side to address the growing fears of evictions and displacement. Other major ac- complishments include:

• Neighborhood visioning and equitable community planning: With the SF Planning Department and HRC, we kicked off a multi-year community pro- cess to envision an equitable future for our community and guide development without dis- placement in the Richmond;

• Annual Outer Richmond Playland Music Festival: With E. Cee Productions and RDNC, convinced the highly-successful festival to highlight our local artists, musicians and Outer Richmond shops;

• Building a culture of health: For eight years, built the spring- time Richmond Community Health Festival into an institution that now involves more than 40 groups and reaches more than 600 seniors, families and youth annually;