Supervisor Ed Jew: Update on Sunset Issues

District 4 Open House
Many thanks to Scott Hauge and Cal Insurance for hosting our first District 4 Open House on March 15 - many Sunset residents came by to offer comments on a variety of issues, and I am grateful to all of you for making time to talk to me.

Our next District 4 Open House is scheduled for Thursday, April 19, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Happy Donuts, 2049 Irving St. If you would like to volunteer your business to host one of our upcoming Open House events, please contact my office and ask for Barbara: 554-7460.

Our Town Hall Meeting on March 28, hosted by Holy Name Church, was well attended and productive - my office is busy following up on all of your suggestions.

Traffic Improvements
As reported in the SF Examiner, "No habitation" signs went up along La Playa and Lincoln Way this month, and seem to have had an immediate effect, according to our merchants. My own visual inspections note a marked decrease in the number of recreational vehicles (RV) parked in those neighborhoods.

More signs are planned for 36th and 37th avenues, since I've heard that some of these travelers have simply relocated. No residents should be forced to endure people camping in RVs 20 feet from their front doors. It would be one thing if it was an occasional occurrence, but from what I've been hearing, these campers park for more than a week, dump their raw sewage in the streets, and leave their garbage for others to pick up. That is not fair and I'm doing what I can to stop it.

Starting in April, the City will begin trimming the overgrown vegetation along Lincoln between 19th Avenue and the Great Highway. Many residents who use the park have called to complain that the overgrowth was unsightly and scary, especially since recent newspaper reports have focussed on the large number of homeless people living in the park.

Dennis Kern, director of operations for the SF Recreation and Park Department, toured the area with me recently so I could point out areas of concern. I thank him very much for taking his time to do so.

I am very pleased to report that Noriega Street is scheduled to be repaved, from Sunset Boulevard to the Great Highway, in July.

Merchant Matters
On Saturday night, March 10, it was my honor and pleasure to attend the installation dinner of the Taraval Parkside Merchants Association at Rick's Restaurant, and to administer the oath of office to the merchants' new president, Dallas Udovch.

I am also making it my business to ask all of the merchants in the Sunset District to make a special effort to keep their storefronts clean, and to print all of their signage in English as well as Chinese. Volunteers from my office are passing out fliers written in English and Chinese, and I plan to personally follow-up to make certain everyone is doing their part to make our district an attractive place to work, shop and live.

Unwanted School Assignments
Unwanted school assignments are prompting a lot of calls to my office. While we can advise you on the SF Unified School District's appeal process, please understand that a city supervisor cannot change the school district's policies or procedures.

It is no secret that I am a strong and vocal proponent of neighborhood schools, and oppose assigning students to schools far away from their homes. But the only influence I can exert toward that end is my vote on the board at budget time.

In March, I attended a meeting of the Sunset Elementary PTA, and Unity Day at Abraham Lincoln High School. I apologize to those schools that have invited me to functions that I could not fit into my schedule; I hope you will invite me again.

Legislation and Hearings
In response to the recent rise in pedestrian fatalities, I introduced an ordinance to increase the size of the Pedestrian Safety Task Force to give each supervisor a district appointment.

To help our small businesses, I introduced an ordinance that would extend the Clean Technology Business Payroll Tax Exclusion to businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Currently, only businesses having from 10-100 employees can benefit, and I don't think that's fair to small businesses.

In response to news that an 82-year-old patient at Laguna Honda had fallen to her death from a third-story window, I've called for a hearing on Laguna Honda Hospital patient care.

After several meetings with our Small Business community, I called for a hearing on why less than 15 percent of San Francisco's purchasing goes to local small businesses. None of these items have been calendared yet, as of this writing.

If any of these topics are of interest to you, call or e-mail your contact information to my office and we will let you know when they are scheduled to be heard.

Edmund Jew is a SF Supervisor representing District 4.