In June 2020 the encampment crisis was in full swing. Octavia Blvd and a number of locations around Hayes Valley were plagued with tents. There was a rat infestation occurring on and near Parcel R &S (Hayes Valley Art Works). We were in the beginning stages of COVID and concerns and nerves were on the rise. As mentioned in our … Read post
Richard made numerous attempts to attend the HVNA Public Safety Meeting last night. He was blocked repeatedly. While this is not the first case of such problematic behavior by the HVNA this occurrence comes on the heels of a major fire that occurred last week on Octavia. Richard as a community leader and HVNA member was eager to attend as … Read post
As we end 2022 we want to reflect on the collective efforts by our community members and partners. Entering our 3rd year at HVSafe we are invigorated and optimistic about our role as a young organization responsible for advocating for quality of life needs and interests for neighbors and small businesses. We view our partnership with you as one that … Read post
At the start of the Pandemic the HVNA Communications Committee Chairs were functioning on an island on their own, shut out from the HVNA board, dis-included from information and we’re used as a scapegoat at community meetings when the public pointed to the lack of community outreach by the HVNA. Although we thought about writing this post for quite some … Read post
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: … Read post
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 … Read post
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 … Read post
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 … Read post
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. 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 … Read post
We’re launching a ‘behind the scenes’ series on the humble beginnings of HVSafe, neighborhood politics and players in Hayes Valley who are setting out to shape policies and decisions which are impacting our community. Why are we doing this? When there are those trying to stop our right to advocate and vocalize our views we see a need to expose … Read post