As it’s a new year we want to provide a brief update on our current efforts/positions and outline our keystone advocacy focuses for 2024. We remain grateful for the opportunity to serve this community. While we are proud of our past 3 years efforts advocating for quality of life needs and equitable representation for Hayes Valley Proper residents and small business it has been a path riddled with challenges for us as a young organization. While we navigate the complexities of San Francisco bureaucracy we believe questioning the status quo is both a healthy strategy and fundamental right of civics.
Focus updates & positions
Public Safety
Our pulse on Public Safety Issues in Hayes Valley remains steadfast; our working group is dialed in and always active on the inquiry and followup fronts with City Agencies.
Hayes Street Closure
We continue to monitor developments relating to the permit and closure conditions. We will also continue to advocate to maintain a weekend programming schedule. Considering the 3 years of history for this temporary closure and the immense amount of advocacy put forth, we find the citywide effort (led by HVNA and Supervisor Dean Preston) to close Hayes Street permanently remarkably tone deaf.
Housing/ Parcels K & L
While we do maintain our pro “affordable” housing position we regard the current political grandstanding evolving around Octavia parcels K & L a losing proposition. More on this subject to come.
Traffic Calming
We’ve been advocating for nearly 3 years for traffic mitigation strategies in HV. Regretfully we do not have anything to report back at this time. We seriously question the will of City government to make the long over due improvements we have discussed at nauseam while traffic continues to be a serious quality of life issue in HV.
HV Commemoration Project
We continue to check-in on the progress of this project and do admit that we are skeptical of the information we have uncovered to date. More surprising is that Supervisor Dean Preston’s office continues to inform us that “this is not a real city project”. Our petition remains open and we encourage you to support → sign the petition today!
Communications
To date we have taken a conservative approach to our level of distributed communications. This year we will kick things up a few notches. It’s paramount in our view to share the findings, data and background info that is shaping policies/initiatives/and bureaucratic decisions that impact our neighborhood.
Supervisor Relations
Matt Dorsey: we have had the opportunity to meet several times last year; it’s been a positive working relationship thus far.
Rafael Mandelman: his office has has been very responsive when we have made contact.
Dean Preston: no comment at this time. Our position is forthcoming.
Value of our work time invested
We think it’s worth noting that we receive $0 funding from any NGO, PAC or City Hall. Our estimated monetary value of community work provided free of charge in 2023 = $150K*
*Estimate based on the collective number of human hours allocated/invested in advocacy work