The End of a Rough Year

Dear Neighbors,

It’s 2021! As I leave office officially on Jan. 8, I would like to take this opportunity to celebrate all we have accomplished together. 

One Richmond: Community initiative to bring residents together to support the Richmond, our small businesses and each other, accompanied by a huge neighborhood event with One Richmond opportunities.

Autumn Moon Festival: Annual street fair on Clement Street recognizing the Asian Autumn Moon tradition for giving thanks for the full harvest and bounty that we have and building community. 

Annual Health Fair: Continuing a 15-year tradition of a health fair to offer free medical screenings, information booths and performances.

Renovated Dog Training Area: Very soon our furry friends will have a completely renovated area in which to run and exercise, plus an area for small dogs only! Working with Assemblymember Phil Ting, we were able to receive $2 million for the renovation.

A New Water System to Protect All of Us: After a long hard fight, $208.5 million has been set aside in bond money to build out an Auxiliary Water Supply System in the Richmond and to ensure Richmond District homes will be safe from fires in a catastrophe.

New Legacy Businesses: Added 12 Richmond District small businesses to the Legacy Business Registry, recognizing these businesses as neighborhood institutions. These add to the four  Legacy businesses in our ’hood recognized before I took office.

Preserving Affordable Housing: We now have three apartment buildings that have been purchased with city funds through the Small Sites Program to be permanently affordable, allowing residents to stay in their beloved homes.

Building Affordable Housing for Seniors: We have secured the site and funds to build 98 units of permanently affordable housing for seniors, with up to 40% of the units going to current District 1 residents who have been displaced by evictions, fires, etc.

A Permanent Home for Youth Leadership: Community Youth Center, a non-profit organization with a 50-year history, serving more than 600 youth daily, will have a permanent home in the Richmond. With the help of Assemblymember Ting, we were able to secure $2 million to assist with the renovation,  which will also include a community space. 

Fewer Potholes: Many thanks to neighbors who reported potholes to be filled during our two #FewerPotholes campaigns. Together we filled more than 700 potholes and repaved many of our Richmond streets, including a stretch on the Geary corridor.

Creating Safer Streets: Together we implemented the Central Richmond Traffic Safety Project, the Fulton Street Traffic Safety Plan and the California Street Safety Project to reduce collisions with pedestrians, bicyclists and other vehicles. We also added numerous speed bumps, new traffic signal lights and four-way stop signs. 

New Exercise Area for Seniors: A “playground” for seniors? Yes! The very first to be built in our ’hood. We secured $1 million in the Health and Recovery Bond to build it in the Richmond.

More Money For The Richmond: As supervisor, I was able to infuse $2.5 million in added resources specifically for our district. These resources helped to support many of our community-based organizations, create a safety net for our residents and meet constituent needs. These funds also assisted small businesses with small grants to open up or do repairs after being victims of vandalism.

Preparing Neighbors For An Emergency: Collaborating with the Department of Emergency Management, we presented workshops that provided neighbors with tools and tips on how to keep safe during an earthquake or other disasters.

Bike Sharing Comes To The Richmond: After much discussion and debate, bike sharing stations were introduced to our district, giving our residents a choice to bike instead of driving or just the opportunity to bike without the cost of buying a bicycle.

I am also proud of the work my office has been able to accomplish at City Hall. Here is a small sample:

Creation of the Office of Racial Equity: This newly formed office will track data on racial disparities internally and externally among city departments. It will also assist departments in creating racial equity plans and presenting recommendations to the Board of Supervisors to work toward racial equity in the areas of economics, health, education, employment and the environment.

Community Opportunity to Purchase Act: This legislation gives nonprofit housing providers the first chance to purchase multi-family buildings for sale and make them permanently affordable housing.

A More Transparent Budget: The city budget is a representation of our values. How our hard-earned tax dollars are spent should be a transparent process, and this legislation requires public meetings for every department’s budget.

Tracking Vacant Storefronts: Vacant storefronts are in every neighborhood, but the City had no mechanism to track them. This legislation created a mechanism to track them and impose vacancy fees, encouraging landlords to rent them out.

A Public Bank For All: Banking is big business, but they also invest in things that are not aligned with San Francisco values, such as fossil fuels, private prisons and firearms manufacturing. Public banking can use our tax dollars to invest back into the community instead of these industries. This legislation explores the creation of a public bank for San Francisco.

Wage Increases For In-Home Care Providers:  These workers provide full-time services to disabled and elderly people who are in need of full-time care in their homes; 88% of these workers are women of color and have no sick leave or vacation benefits. They were making a wage of $15/hr., and this legislation gave them a $1.50/hr. raise. 

A Housing Inventory for San Francisco: This legislation creates a housing inventory in San Francisco that can track rental history and vacancies.

Creation of an Immigrant Defense Unit: This unit – the strongest in the nation – provides legal services to immigrants facing deportation and affords them due process.

Affordable Homes for Educators and Families NOW Initiative: Prop. E, authored by our office and passed by a supermajority of SF voters, makes it easier and faster to build 100% affordable housing and educator housing all across San Francisco.

A Balanced Budget: It’s not as easy as it seems. As a member of the Budget Committee for three years and as budget chair for the past two years, it has been a challenging and difficult job, in particular this year. However, SF is required to present a balanced budget, and through a lot of hard work with my colleagues, the Mayor’s Office, and stakeholders, we have passed a balanced budget every year. 

I would like to thank Richmond District residents for giving me the opportunity to serve you as your supervisor. It has been an honor to serve this district that not only raised me, my siblings, my husband, and my three children, but generations of San Franciscans. This is, in my opinion, the best district in San Francisco. Thank you to all the people I met and spoke to during my term who shared ideas, and a huge thank you to the hundreds who have offered friendship, encouragement and service to each other during this very difficult time. During this experience as supervisor, I have seen the resiliency of the human spirit, the generosity in people’s hearts, but also the nastiness and hate that seeks to divide and damage us. But hate can’t succeed when there still lives kindness, grace and humanity. Thank you, Richmond District, for maintaining a strong moral compass and One Richmond values.

Congratulations to Supervisor-elect Connie Chan. I look forward to retirement with my husband and being a part of the Richmond as a private resident. Just one last thing: Have YOU done YOUR One Richmond thing today? 

San Francisco Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer represents District 1 on the SF Board of Supervisors until Jan. 8, 2021. She can be reached at (415) 554-7410 or Sandra.Fewer@sfgov.org.