Dispatches

For years, the Hayes Street closure has been described as an “experiment.” But experiments are meant to teach us something — not divide a neighborhood or drain the lifeblood of its small businesses. After five years of trial and error, the lesson is clear: this hasn’t worked. It’s time to move past the talking points and start telling the truth about what this has become: a stalled project propped up by a handful of insiders, long after its purpose expired. …

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San Francisco politics is increasingly run through PACs and nonprofits. They raise big checks, buy access, and dominate the headlines. But here’s the difference: 1. Who We Are vs. Who They Are 2. Access vs. Exclusion 3. Incentives vs. Consequences 4. Accountability vs. Escape 5. What We’re Not 6. What We Are

It starts small. A closed street here. A community board there. An event permit that seems innocuous on its face. But step by step, a pattern emerges and if you’re not paying attention, you might miss how fast the foundation shifts beneath your neighborhood. Over the past five years, we’ve engaged in what should have been straightforward advocacy: asking for transparency, calling for process, raising concerns when things didn’t feel right. But what we’ve encountered instead is a system that …

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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 …

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