District 4 Supervisor Carmen Chu is leaving her post to assume the position of City Assessor-Recorder. She has written this letter to the neighborhood:
“It has been my honor and my privilege to serve as Supervisor for the Sunset and
Parkside over the last five and a half years. As I prepare to assume the position of the City’s Assessor-Recorder, I foremost want to thank you for providing me with the opportunity to serve and for working with me to improve our neighborhoods.
From day one, my focus was to concentrate on the many day-to-day issues that matter to District 4 residents and the people of San Francisco, to tackle the issues large or small and to make thoughtful decisions that have a lasting and positive impact on the City.
Having grown up pitching in at our family restaurant, I remember how hard my parents worked to provide for our family – they hardly ever had a day off! As a Supervisor, I never forgot that lesson and have worked to do more for residents and to do more to support our local small businesses. Over the last few years I have passed legislation that makes it easier to do business with the City. We created a local preference program for mid-sized businesses and set-aside opportunities for micro-businesses. We required prompt payment for work completed, released City payment withholdings to provide cash flow, required primary contractors to pay subcontractors in a timely manner and have loosened rules for businesses hoping to make or produce products in many of our local storefronts. We saw the need to simplify how restaurants are permitted to operate and have worked to promote active storefront in the district. My office has worked creatively to assist businesses to comply with the Americans with Disability Act by funding a pilot to help businesses develop plans for meeting the requirements under the law. We implemented free “Movies at McCoppin” in partnership with local merchants to bring the community together and to promote activity along
our merchant corridor.
We have also completed spot façade improvement projects on Noriega and Taraval Streets and have planned and funded additional façade improvement projects at 46th Avenue and Taraval and 32nd Avenue and Taraval. The Department of Public Works is already working with our office to think ahead for investment on Irving Street. Irving Street will be repaved in the next few years and DPW should invest in and time
pedestrian safety improvements and beautification efforts with the repaving for a more efficient delivery of service.
Great strides have also been made in improvements to our local parks, playgrounds and libraries. Both the Ortega Library and the Parkside Library have been completely rebuilt and renovated, respectively. Sunset Recreation Center recently reopened (seismically retrofitted and renovated) with a new field and playground. McCoppin Square reopened with a new playground, field and garden. And through the hard work of
the community, the West Sunset Playground was also completely transformed. This desn’t mean that we take our eyes off the ball. The last two playgrounds which have not been renovated have some good news ahead. Stern Grove’s failing playground is a prime candidate for funding from the failing playgrounds funds in the recently passed
Parks Bond and our office, with the partnership of the Friends of Larsen Playground, has secured over $860,000 of the $1 million required to build a new playground from the ground up at Larsen Park. Your donation of any level will help us bring a jet plane back to Larsen (please donate at www.sfparksalliance.org ; Friends of Larsen
Playground)!
Although public transportation continues to be challenging, we have seen success with the MTA’s N-Judah express line. The N-Judah express is not a substitution for rail line service but does offer an alternative that alleviates overcrowding issues on the rail line. Just this Tuesday we approved funds at the San Francisco County Transportation Authority to continue making improvements on the N-Judah line. We
have continued to hold the MTA responsible for reporting on short-turning and their compliance with providing a following car if one is taken off of its normal route. The MTA has also proactively reviewed performance on the 28 and 29 lines in the district and will continue to suggest adjustments that will incrementally improve reliability.
This past year I decided not to hire a third legislative aide, even though it was
available in the budget, in order to redirect those funds for district-specific improvements. Those redirected funds will go partially towards implementing the improvements prioritized by residents around the Judah and La Playa area and have gone partially towards pedestrian safety efforts. Every school crosswalk in the District has been repainted with more visible crosswalks and many of our merchant areas have also been repainted to highlight pedestrian crossing zones.
We have tackled the problem of oversized vehicles parking on the Great Highway, Lincoln Way and other areas by passing legislation that would allow the MTA torestrict overnight parking where persistent problems exist. This program is expected to begin in April 2013.
In addition to District issues, I have emphasized long term stewardship of the City’s finances and investments. Last year, the City successfully came together to pass reforms to our pension system. This past year, along with City departments, the Mayor, labor and community leaders and my colleagues, I successfully lead the Board’s process on passing our first two year budget. A two year budget was implemented to more closely align the City’s spending with long term planning. The budget made investments in small business, allowed the city to hire additional first responders including police officers and firefighters, while also growing the City’s reserve levels. The budget also saw the creation of a rate stabilization reserve at the Public Utilities Commission to begin addressing the long term costs associated with replacing an aging water infrastructure.
Finally, my time spent on the Health Service System Board gave me the opportunity to determine health benefits and coverage structures that balanced the provision of core health services with cost to employees and employers.
San Franciscans have a lot to look forward to. Recently passed tax policies have rejuvenated the struggling mid-Market Street area incentivizing businesses to stay and invest in San Franciscans. Major development approved on Treasure Island and in the Bayview Hunters Point promises to transform our City’s landscape with housing and open space. Transportation will become ever more connected with the Central Subway reconnecting Chinatown to the central transit core and to the Caltran Station. The Port of San Francisco will see a new cruise ship terminal open in the near future and may be host to a new Warrior Stadium. The Moscone Convention Center is beginning to plan for expansion to support a vital part of our economy – tourism. Finally, we continue to prepare the City for emergency response – a new seismically safe San Francisco General Hospital is under construction to care for those in need and first responders will see investments in our fire suppression infrastructure with new underground water tanks being installed in the District and with a bolstering of the existing underground auxiliary water supply system.
As I now switch gears and continue my public service as your Assessor-Recorder, I look forward to carrying out the responsibilities of the office and to ensure we have a strong and stable tax base that continues to fund the important city services San Franciscans depends on. Thank you again for the opportunity to serve.”