BRITE General Meeting

BRITE will be hosting Supervisor Malia Cohen at their General Meeting
September 27
10:00 am
Bayview Library
5075 3rd St

They will be continuing the dialogue regarding crime and gun violence abatement; security camera presentation; Meals on Wheels outreach and more.

Gun violence, bickering, and finger-pointing continues in Bayview

From SF Examiner,

"When an area like the Bayview is suffering the absence of permanent solutions to its most vexing problems, another task force could be seen as just another diversion," said Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi.

In response, Supervisor Cohen wrote an op-ed in Sunday's SF Examiner, writing,

The proposed task force will bring a more collaborative and transparent effort to address the causes of these acts and help put an end to cyclical gun violence. Concertedly, this task force will coordinate regular community programs and work to identify at-risk youths, who can eventually end up as perpetrators of these acts.

Supervisor Cohen continues,

The very day The San Francisco Examiner story came out [“Cohen’s gun task force questioned,” Aug. 7], my opponents issued a press release calling for their own Stop The Violence in The Bayview photo opportunity. 

Their flagrant and insincere use of tragedy in the Bayview for their own political gain is exacerbating the problems rather than working with me, the mayor, Police Chief Greg Suhr and others to create and implement real solutions.

An interesting use of words, referring to those who called for their own Stop the Violence in the Bayview event her "opponents".  That event, mentioned here in the Examiner, was organized by SEIU Local 1021.  Sure, it was organized and promoted by people who have in the past and are currently seeking the job of District 10 Supervisor, but this is the only way in which these people are Supervisor Cohen's "opponents".  Her colleague, Supervisor David Campos, certainly not a political opponent of hers, spoke at this event, but so did Bayview Police Captain Robert O'Sullivan, Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi,  and her own aide Mawuli Tugbenyoh.  While some of these people may have different approaches to the problem, where the problem is concerned, none of us should look upon someone who's trying to solve the problem as an opponent - we're all in this together and as such, need to work together to find solutions.   Thus, in referring to them as "opponents" in the Examiner, Supervisor Cohen has herself turned these shootings and the problem of gun violence into a political game piece.  Turning it around and blaming her "opponents" for the political gamesmanship she herself is playing is just, well, politics, and does nothing to help the situation or solve the problem at hand.

Many of the people who came out on Thursday were the same people who protested at City Hall last month, asking for the Mayor and Supervisor Cohen to make solving the gun violence problem a more visible priority.  These are the same people who, according to longtime Bayview resident Dianne Smith, have "invited [Supervisor Cohen] on numerous occasions to collaborate with us in seeking practical solutions".  As ABC7 news reported,

In the meantime, many people in the Bayview are frustrated and angry and wondering when the next shooting will come.

Sadly, as much of this was being published and read and debated, that day came, as two more young men were killed on a sunny summer evening the Bayview, with the gunman still at large.  More on that at SFGate.

Supervisor Cohen Community Office Hours

MARKET on Third
4634 Third St.
Friday, February 7
3:30-5PM

Please email cohenstaff@sfgov.org for an appointment or call 415.554.7670

Foreclosed properties could fall under nuisance law penalties

From the SF Examiner,

Photo: Mike Koozmin, SF Examiner

Owners of foreclosed properties in San Francisco, such as banks, are coming under fire for allowing some of those homes to fall into disrepair.

Supervisor Malia Cohen, whose District 10 includes the Bayview, has introduced legislation that would subject foreclosed properties to The City’s nuisance law, which allows for court abatement injunctions and fines. It also would triple the nuisance penalties for owners of 10 or more foreclosed properties.

The proposal is an attempt to address one of the impacts of the foreclosure crisis.

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner

Redistricting winds down with a fight

March 22 Draft Map

The Portola was once again front and center last night at one of the final meetings the task force will hold before its April 15 deadline.  The agenda for the meeting reminded people that the task force intended to "substantially complete mapping during its meetings on April 4th and 5th."  As such, this was the one of the very last opportunities to discuss any major changes.

SFGate and SF Examiner previewed the meeting.

You may recall that at last week's meeting, a video was presented showing some Portola residents backing staying in D10, with another 6 or so present in person to support the move.  About eleven people also showed up supporting a unification inside D9. 

Supervisor Cohen was also there last week, supporting the move to D10.  Although she claims to have been following the process closely since the beginning, it was clear that she either didn't have a full understanding of what was going on, or was there to subvert the process at the behest of the Realtors Association lobbyists who'd come to speak with her on this topic back in February.  Personally, I don't think she's uninformed on the subject.  I think she made a political calculation that backfired on her.  She followed advice from her political consultants who'd arranged contact between her and the Realtor's Association CEO James Fabris on Feb 9 (the same consultants who'd arranged for the pro-D10, Realtors' Association favorable video to be produced) and tried to craft a nuanced response that would satisfy all sides.  Unfortunately for her, many people have been following this topic much more closely than she has, and know that advocacy for Portola in D10 AUTOMATICALLY means support for Potrero Hill in D6.  There were no other options on the table, and so if she truly didn't know this, then she had been grossly misinformed.  I know, however, that she had been well informed on this ahead of time, and yet went ahead anyway with her politically-driven failed attempt at having it both ways.

The sad thing for Supervisor Cohen is that she's now stuck without the Potrero Hill Democratic Club's endorsement of her SFDCCC run.  She now has the distraction of having to mend the wounds that she herself created within the Potrero Hill community that feels that she left them out to dry.  And assuming the map doesn't get altered at the last minute, she has to try to win in 2014 without the help of the voters in the Portola, who will likely find themselves in D9, voting for or against Supervisor Campos this fall.

With the current draft map, the Portola will, for the first time in ten years, be a whole community again. This is really all that the task Force has heard until now because this is truly the overarching desire of the Portola.

As part of D9, the Portola will not be thrown under any buses, as some people have asserted. Instead, it will be given a full seat on the bus and be allowed to speak up for itself in a way that it hasn't been able to for ten years, becoming a vital and strong part of a vibrant District 9.

With the current draft map, Potrero Hill remains part of the eastern neighborhoods to which its long history and its future are so inherently tied. Keeping Potrero Hill in D10 honors its working class history and the continued connection many of us experience daily, whether on foot, bike, or the T train. It also retains in one district the seemingly ever-shrinking African American community that lives throughout, and keeps their voice in shaping their own destiny as strong is it possibly can be.

Some people like to use the Potrero View newspaper's tag line as being indicative of the mindset of Potrero Hill towards the Southeast sector of the city. The tag line goes, "Serving the Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Mission Bay, & SOMA neighborhoods since 1970". What they forget to mention is that the paper's section known as "Southside" now comprises about half of the paper's space, and covers an area that follows the Third St corridor all the way to Visitacion Valley. What it doesn't include is the Portola. I suppose that since the Portola isn't in a part of the city that the View covers, they wouldn't readily know this.

To stick with the current draft map, roughly 3200 Portola voters move to D9.  To move Portola into D10, 5100 Portola voters and 9400 Potrero Hill voters move districts.  Those D9 Portola voters haven't voted for supervisor since 2008, and wouldn't get to again until 2014 if moved to D10.  The Potrero Hill voters moved to D6 would not get elected representation for the next two years.  Moving Portola to D10 would end up unnecessarily disenfranchising 14,500 voters, while putting the smaller southern chunk of Portola into D9 allows them to vote for supervisor this fall.

After public comment last evening, the Task Force decided NOT to reopen the boundary discussion insofar as the Portola was concerned.  And so it would seem the Portola will be reunited in D9.  My hope is that the last precinct of the Portola between Mansell and Dwight gets to join them.

In case you ask Supervisor Cohen...

...about her stance on redistricting, no matter what your reason, what your opinion, where you live, or what logic you use, this will be the canned response you receive back:

Thank you for sharing your feelings on this issue and contacting my office. Redistricting is a tremendously complex undertaking with implications for all San Francisco residents. The decisions made by the Redistricting Task Force will be in effect for ten years; shaping the future of our city.

Let me be clear that I am not advocating for Potrero Hill to be removed from District 10. My recent statement at the Redistricting Task Force Meeting does not represent a betrayal of Potrero Hill or any other neighborhood nor were they made as a result of lobbying from a particular group. I have been following the Redistricting process since the beginning. I have attended outreach meetings, listened to the wide variety of opinions and public testimony on changes to District 10. I have heard from numerous groups including neighbors and merchants who feel strongly about keeping the Portola in District 10.

I strongly believe that the Portola neighborhood should be united. I have seen time and time again how challenging it can be to organize neighbors, merchants and tackle district issues with a divided neighborhood. Additionally, I also believe that this area has strong connections with District 10, both geographically and with the issues that residents are concerned about. I consider the neighborhood a part of our community.

I am a resident of Potrero Hill and am continually impressed with the neighborhood's capacity to organize, engage and advocate.  I am aware that my advocacy for the Portola to remain in District 10 means that the district will need to lose population elsewhere; however, I do not have a fixed opinion on where this population might come from. I believe that all of the neighborhoods in District 10, including Potrero Hill are unique and important parts of this City, but trust that the Task Force will take the appropriate actions to equalize the district’s population.

I hope this helps clarify my comments, and trust I that the Redistricting Task Force will make a decision that they believe is most appropriate for the residents of District 10 and the City.

COMMUNITY EVENT with Supervisor Malia Cohen

Saturday, April 30 at 10:00am at Palega-Portola Recreation Center, San Francisco, California

 

Food and Refreshments will be provided 

 

Children and Families Welcome and Encouraged 

 

To RSVP or for additional information please call (415) 692-3556, Facebook, or email supervisorcohen@gmail.com

D10 Business Summit

Chamber of Commerce and local business and merchant associations are pleased to present the District 10 Neighborhood Business Summit. This event will bring merchants together with their Supervisor and other city officials to discuss local business concerns.


Thursday, April 28, 5:30 - 8PM.
350 Kansas St @16th.

Register at the SF Chamber of Commerce

D10 Budget Town Hall with Mayor Lee & Supervisor Cohen

Last night's D10 Budget Town Hall with Supervisor Cohen was not quite what I expected, and ended up being rather farcical.  First, questions were solicited from the audience on confusing, color-coded cards meant to identify the theme of each question.  Those cards were then submitted to handlers, who presumably sorted them and picked questions to be asked later.  The problems that ensued stemmed from organizers then asking the questioner to go up to a microphone to ask their question.  What happened was that people were suddenly given a forum to prattle-on at length (no time limits!!), not actually ask a question, and often not offer suggestions to the city's department heads and the mayor, which was supposedly why we were there.  The meeting devolved into diatribes by visibly angry people and our supervisor shouting at a resident to try to get him to end his outburst.  His outburst, by the way, was about trying to get a straight answer from Supervisor Cohen about whether she supported the city's local-hire law or not.  Her response left us all wondering if maybe she didn't, saying, "As a legislator, it is my duty to uphold the laws of the city, and this is one of those laws that I will uphold."  She never said that she supported the law, only that she would uphold it.  The audience member immediately caught this, and tried to press her on it.  The mayor took over from that point to assure the resident that the city is behind the law.

My suggestion to the organizers of the seven remaining budget town hall meetings: in a 10-minute segment, have the mayor explain what the city departments are already doing to reduce their budgets, and then have the moderator, presumably the supervisor for the district, READ the questions and suggestions that have been submitted by the audience and online.  DO NOT allow attendees to use the mic!!    Let the audience know that all their questions and comments will be compiled into a single document at the end of the forums and posted online for all to see.

D10 Budget Town Hall with Mayor Lee & Supervisor Cohen - update

Tonight: Please join Supervisor Malia Cohen for a District 10 Budget Town Hall with Mayor Ed Lee at UCSF Mission Bay Campus Genentech Hall Auditorium 600 16th Street (between 4th and Owens Sts.) San Francisco, CA 94158, Wednesday, April 13, from 6:00-7:30 PM