It has been a busy year!

By Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer

As we say goodbye to 2017 and head into the coming new year, I want to celebrate the

accomplishments that we have achieved together during my first 11 months in office.

I began my term working with the mayor to create a new immigrant legal defense unit in

the public defender’s office. The unit has already provided due process representation for

many people in deportation hearings – and the need for these services is real. Since

President Donald Trump’s election, the deportations of undocumented persons who have

no criminal record is up more than 200 percent.

We celebrated the first Small Sites Program acquisition in the Richmond!

These families, many of them seniors, are now guaranteed that their building will be

permanently affordable. Additionally, my office has identified four potential sites in

the district for 100-percent affordable housing developments and we are working

with the mayor’s office to make these projects a reality.

The month of May saw 368 #FewerPotholes as a result of your reporting and the

SF Department of Public Works’ commitment to filling every one. Many thanks to the

Richmond Blog for making this so successful. Please continue to call 311 line to

report potholes.

We celebrated the repaving of both Crossover Drive and Fulton Street. May was also a

great month of collaboration to put on the annual Richmond District Health Fair, with

hundreds of attendees accessing free health screenings and information.

Through the budget process in June, we were able to secure $1 million in services

for the Richmond. Thank you to all of our community organizations for helping

us identify the greatest needs in our district.

We also collaborated with Assemblymember Phil Ting’s office in securing $2 million to

renovate the greatly neglected dog park in  Golden Gate Park at 39th Avenue and Fulton

Street. This was a project I started before I ran for office and I would like to thank all of

the District 1 dog owners who continue to help with the effort.

Public safety has been at the top of our priority list and, thanks to Richmond stakeholders,

we have been able to celebrate new stop lights along the Fulton Street corridor at 28th,

33rd and 37th avenues, making Fulton safer for pedestrians.

Also, we have started a community planning process to expand upon our work for

pedestrian safety along Fulton. We also had the SF Municipal Transportation Agency

(SFMTA) paint and repaint many crosswalks districtwide, adding visibility and safety.

A huge thanks to the residents of 25th Avenue for their patience with the prolonged

street repair that happily resulted in a beautiful new decorative crosswalk, defining the

entrance to our neighborhood while adding visibility.

Our public safety forum is where we introduced the new chief of police to the

Richmond, learned about his priorities and told him about ours.

We met with Safeway to address incidents at its stores and it agreed to increase security,

including employing San Francisco police officers to conduct security. We also hosted

the first women’s self-defense work shop and we continue to have regular updates

and meetings with Capt. Alexa O’Brien.

Emergency safety is also of high importance and we have requested a report to

explore our best options for a secure emergency water system for the west side

in case of a disaster.

Thanks to neighbors, we were alerted to the need for new trash cans at Ocean

Beach, which are now in place. We also want to thank Surfrider, Public Works, SF

Department on the Environment, Balboa Village Merchants and neighbors for piloting

cigarette ash cans – the pilot was so successful we now have them along Clement Street

and Geary. Please remember to use them and help keep our streets and oceans clean.

My office created the very first senior services roundtable to help coordinate senior

programs in District 1.

The Autumn Moon Festival was a huge success thanks to the Clement Street Merchants

Association, Community Youth Center, Richmond District Neighborhood Center,

Assemblymember Phil Ting’s office and our office.

Through office hours, we have brought the SF Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), SF

Planning Department and Recology out to the district to address residents’ concerns.

Through my office, we have sponsored resolutions to: include the Dakota Access

Pipeline in the social responsibility matrix for our pooled investment funds; support

the repeal of Costa Hawkins Bill at the state level; protect our marine sanctuaries

from offshore drilling; and, urge Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings for

President Trump.

I’ve held hearings on: litter and waste services provided by the City; language

access services provided by the City; jobs in the technology sector; Small Sites

Program acquisitions for affordable housing; housing prices as related to housing

development; and, the development of a master plan for undergrounding utilities in

San Francisco.

Whew! It has been a busy year and an absolute pleasure to serve you. Happy holidays and

a wonderful New Year to all.

See you in 2018!

Sandra Lee Fewer is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 1.