HVSafe Letter to Board of Supervisors, RE: Proposed Vacancy Tax

We’re sharing our recent correspondence to the Board of Supevisors Planning Department and some of our positions on this matter. We recognize taking a position is often fraught with apprehension, but we believe it’s critical for the health of civic dialogue, advocacy and the right to redress. Dear Board Members. We are writing in support of the proposed vacancy tax introduced today by Supervisor Preston. We agree that San Francisco’s housing shortage is too severe to allow tens of thousands …

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We Did Not Form a Coup

The year leading up to the 2020 HVNA (Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association) Election was a doozy in large part because past President (Gail Baugh) was still calling the shots while the new president (Craig Hamburg) stepped into the role.  2019 also marked the year of the District 5 supervisor campaign. The following contentious issues arose during the 2019 board year: Each one of the above topics was dominated by Gail. To state that there was a level of impropriety in …

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Shared Street Closure Permit Renewal – 300 Block of Hayes

It is increasingly evident that justification for the Shared Street Closure on Hayes Street has run its course. The program, hastily enacted under emergency policy, has not been subject to community review since its initial roll out in August of 2020. This lack of process has allowed the permittee, HVNA (Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association), to control the closure without input from impacted local businesses, still struggling to recover from the economic fallout of the ongoing pandemic. No data, metrics, or …

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Hayes Valley Street Closure Traffic Gridlock

Hayes Valley Shared Streets Closure causes Chaos on Hayes and Octavia Is this the best we can do to achieve environmental justice. What about noise & air pollution?

Repercussions of Chain Stores Not Holding Regular Business Hours Impacting Small Business Operators Store Security

We have a number of chain stores on our business corridor who are currently not holding regular store hours, no visible store hours posted, or staff regularly on site -these stores are now experiencing breakins – putting small independent business operators on edge and concerned about their store security. We reached out to Northern Station SFPD to inquire about any additional security — things do not look promising because staffing remains a challenge. We are working closely with the HVSBA …

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Thank You and Cheers to a New Year

As we close out this calendar year we want to take a moment to reflect on the many efforts by our community members and volunteers. As we enter our 2nd year at HVSafe, we can attest to having started a new organization as being a rewarding and inspiring endeavor. We are driven to go to bat for neighbors and small businesses. We take our outreach and the opportunity to hear your thoughts and concerns seriously; we view our efforts as …

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Hayes Valley Safe

The Genesis of HVSafe

Once we decided to roll out this series we knew we had to kick things off with a brief reflection on the time and circumstances of when HVSafe officially began its efforts.  Let’s set the stage shall we. Albeit the existing neighborhood organization (HVNA, Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association) has had a long standing presence in the neighborhood, many neighbors/small businesses have witnessed the paradigm shift that has taken place over the last few years with the organization’s core focuses and …

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Founder Ejected from HVNA Meeting, Again

We’re still reeling from the last reprimand by the HVNA and then last night Richard was ejected from the HVNA T&P meeting. Unreal. This time it’s even more brazen! Here’s the exchange that occurred on Zoom once Richard raised his Zoom hand to get in line to speak….and the result was: he was kicked out of the meeting. Following that you’ll find his removal captured along with his attempt to return to the meeting denied. These ejections are becoming a …

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Founder Reprimanded by Jen Laska HVNA President

As luck would have it while we’re beginning our series ‘behind the scenes‘ …one of our founders received the following email last week from the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association’s (HVNA) president Jen Laska. A bit of context here: earlier this month he attended one meeting and was censored heavily when asking particulars. Consequently at a later meeting on the same day he was removed from that meeting and placed in the waiting room. The following week he was emailed the …

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Inquiries Regarding Rerouting the 21 Bus from Hayes to Grove

Over the past few days we’ve received a number of inquiries asking us about our position regarding the possibility of the 21 Hayes Bus being rerouted from Hayes Street on to Grove Street – so, we thought to address this here. HVSafe is in full support of restoring the 21 Hayes to its pre-Covid route. We do not support a modified route of any kind. We have heard from a large segment of neighbors including seniors who have made a …

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