🌟 🌟 🌟 If you do one thing in this newsletter, help us answer this question:
I believe that we can accomplish both the short- and long-term goals. But we can’t afford to delay.
Every day, I’m inspired to come to work because of you — my neighbors, friends, and fellow San Franciscans. We all know this city deserves better. And I believe that together,
we can get there.
🔑 My Priorities From Day One
Since taking office in January, I’ve focused relentlessly on three things:
1. Public safety - safe streets and clean streets are the foundation for everything else
2. Thriving small businesses - with a focus on our neighborhood merchant corridors and economic recovery across the city
3. Constituent services - we need to meet you, hear you, and deliver for you
If you’ve seen me at the Coffee Roastery or Peet’s, knocking on your door, at a community meeting, or at our office hours — that’s no accident. I believe this job starts with showing up. If we haven’t met yet,
reach out — I’d love to set up a community coffee or house party.
TL;DR: What We’ve Been Up To
Here’s the quick version, but read on for more details!
✅
Public safety: New foot patrols, cameras, and aggressive drug enforcement — plus efforts to address repeat offenders in our merchant corridors.
✅
Economic recovery: Cut red tape for small businesses, launched new entertainment zones, and extended the “First Year Free” program.
✅
Budget: Closed an $800M deficit while protecting police, fire, clean streets, and shelter — and began long-term work to fix our structural budget mess.
✅
Housing: Engaging with Mayor Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan to bring affordability, catalyze construction of already-approved pipeline projects, and enhance the beauty of our neighborhoods.
✅
Constituent services: Constant outreach, office hours, and neighborhood meetings — because government works better when it listens.
✅
New in the Marina: The Marina Inn will become sober recovery housing with strict rules, strong oversight, and community input baked in.
San Francisco is turning a corner — but we have real work ahead. Let’s keep pushing for a city that works for everyone.
🏛️ Legislative Action: Early focus on economic revitalization
We’ve taken aggressive steps to
cut red tape, support small business, and jumpstart growth:
-
Lifted signage restrictions on corner lots - businesses used to only be allowed to put signs on one side, not both. Wait, what? Yeah, crazy. Now they can hang signs on both sides.
-
Extended the "First Year Free" program to waive fees for new small businesses.
👀 And more is coming:
-
Entertainment zones throughout District 2 on Fillmore, Chestnut, Sacramento and more.
-
Streamlined permitting for “Vacant to Vibrant” pop-ups.
-
Expansion of childcare availability.
-
And a whole new wave of permitting reforms across the spectrum.
👮♀️ Public Safety: A new approach focused on results
While crime stats overall are at all-time lows, we still face three persistent challenges - the fentanyl crisis, break-ins, and consistent instances of “we all know this is wrong so why isn’t anyone doing anything about it.”
Earlier this year, we…
-
Co-sponsored the Fentanyl State of Emergency.
-
Voted to appoint 3 new pro-safety Police Commissioners.
-
Created a priority list of the 13 highest-need individuals impacting our merchant corridors for the Department of Emergency Management to address with street outreach teams and resources.
-
Worked with SFPD to direct targeted enforcement in the Marina against electric scooters etc. dangerously driven on sidewalks.
👀 And very soon, you’re going to be seeing more:
-
New SFPD foot patrols and ambassadors start in the Marina this month.
-
Secured new funding for Automated License Plate Readers and public safety cameras.
-
Hearings on ensuring that open drug use near parks and schools are considered life safety events, the implementation of Prop 36, and how SFPD is addressing its staffing crisis.
-
Also, look out for some exciting news around new resources to remove firearms from at-risk homes. Yes, I’m being a bit coy here, but this represents real progress driven by incredible advocates.
San Franciscans deserve safety, not excuses. And it’s high-time we left the “oh, well, you know” attitude behind.
💰 Budget Update: Closing the Gap…But Challenges Remain
Last week, the Board and Mayor reached a deal to close a $800 million shortfall.
Why I’m Voting YES:
This budget deal addresses my top two priorities…
-
Safe streets and clean streets
-
Support our economic recovery
…by delivering:
-
Full staffing for police, firefighters, sheriffs, and the district attorney.
-
Support for the DA’s fentanyl enforcement efforts.
-
Funding for clean streets, including power washing, new trash cans, and more frequent DPW cleanings.
-
Support for street outreach, shelter beds, abstinence-based drug treatment, and neighborhood-based care.
-
Re-authorization of First Year Free to waive permit and license fees for new small businesses.
-
Tech investments, including expanding ASTRID, our coordinated outreach data system that I helped build while leading innovation at City Hall.
What We Need to See Next:
Despite closing the $800 million two-year deficit (this upcoming year and the next combined), we have a projected ONE-year deficit in 2030 of $1.35 billion! This budget deal only addresses one-third of that long-term structural problem.
We have already begun working with the Mayor to understand what cuts they are considering for next year - and what midyear cuts or spending freezes they are considering today. We need to act fast to avoid massive layoffs (vs. planned attrition) and service cuts down the line.
We have some immediate action points:
-
Consolidate duplicative services (e.g., real estate footprint — read more)
-
Merge overlapping departments (next year’s budget consolidates the Arts Commission, Film Commission, and Grants for the Arts)
-
Eliminate outdated reporting requirements (City Attorney Chiu used AI to flag 140 obsolete reports — read more)
However, this isn’t a one-year or even two-year process. We must be thinking
long-term.
One of the best ways to deliver the better services that San Franciscans demand is by
investing in our technology infrastructure.
A powerful example in this budget is Mayor Lurie’s investment in the
ASTRID database - a project I led as San Francisco’s Innovation Director. ASTRID is the City’s first unified street outreach database, consolidating data from emergency response, public health teams, and homeless outreach workers.
It now provides the data foundation for Mayor Lurie’s new
neighborhood-based outreach model, helping street teams:
-
Prioritize where and who they respond to
-
Tailor their approach to each client (e.g., if someone has a history of overdoses, alert their health clinician before putting them in a generalized shelter)
-
Avoid duplicative and uncoordinated efforts
This is the kind of investment that drives real results. ASTRID helps us deploy services more effectively, and we need
more projects like it to ensure San Francisco delivers the high-quality, compassionate, and efficient services our residents expect.
🏘️ Update on the “Family Zoning Plan”
Last month, the Mayor and the Planning Department released the last draft of the state-mandated “Family Zoning Plan.” Some are excited about this and some are concerned.
Over the last several years, many have felt that “policy” is something that is being
done to us, not
done for us.
Over the past several months, my office has prioritized reaching out to as many District 2 community groups and voices as possible. The June draft map had more changes in D2 (from the April map) than the rest of the City combined - but I know that many did not see their wishes met.
Now that the draft legislation for the Zoning Plan has been submitted to the Board of Supervisors, we will spend the next 2-3 months amending the plan to ensure that it best meets the needs of residents, while meeting state requirements.
As the plan evolves, I’ll be focused on three core priorities:
1. Amplify Affordability
San Francisco is facing a dual demographic crisis: we are losing both 25–35 year-olds and middle-income families - and that trend is not sustainable if we want this city to thrive.
Solving it means addressing all four legs of the affordability stool: housing, child care, transportation, and public education.
On the housing front, we need to work to lower construction costs (by reforming the permitting and fee processes), protect existing units (especially rent-controlled units), and create incentives for affordable units and multi-bedroom units for families.
2. Prioritize the Pipeline
We already have thousands of entitled units in areas like Downtown, SOMA, Candlestick, and Potrero Power Station. We need housing in those areas, and they must be a priority. My focus will be on reforming the permitting and fee hurdles that have blocked these already-approved projects. They aren’t a panacea, but they’re a necessary start.
3. Respect the Past while Building the Future
Ensuring that future housing complements our beautiful neighborhoods means that we need strong design guidelines, protections for historical properties, and consideration of our small businesses. For instance, can we mimic the Cow Hollow design guidelines with similar ones for the Marina and for the Lombard corridor? I think that we can. And this summer, we’ll be convening architects on just this topic.
The Family Zoning Plan as currently introduced will go through some changes before the Board votes on it this Fall -
please don’t hesitate to reach out with comments, questions, and ideas.
🏨 Update: New Facility at the Marina Inn
There’s been a lot of discussion lately about plans for the
Marina Inn on Lombard and Octavia - so I want to share the facts directly with you.
The site is set to become a recovery housing facility operated by the Salvation Army, and it’s important to be clear:
this is NOT a drug rehab facility. It’s sober-only housing for people who have already completed abstinence-based treatment.
Even more importantly, this is not a typical city-funded program. The Salvation Army isn’t your typical unaccountable non-profit - like some who operated the COVID-era shelters on Lombard.
This one actually has strict rules: residents undergo
regular and random drug testing (and anyone who relapses is immediately transported to a different facility in a different neighborhood),
no visitors, curfews, and
24/7 onsite staff; and a required daily schedule that includes
work requirements and participation in continued recovery programs.
This approach is
new to San Francisco, and we’ve only been funding it for a few years. (In fact, it’s still not eligible for state or federal funding.) But the
results are outstanding — nearly
six times the statewide success rate.
The facility is currently under renovation, and residents will begin moving in in late August or September. The Salvation Army has already stepped up to the plate with their commitment to be a good neighbor - just last week they purchased a power washing machine that they will use to clean the block for them and their neighbors. Residents will also be participating in
neighborhood cleanups.
But I still think we need to take
neighborhood concerns seriously - this didn’t happen during COVID when the Lombard motels were turned into temporary shelters (and that’s not what the Marina Inn is going to be, to be clear).
We’ve created a
Marina Inn Community Council, which includes:
-
Local residents and neighborhood associations
-
The Department of Public Health
This group will meet regularly to
ensure transparency, accountability, and a direct line of communication.
We’ve also already secured
foot patrol commitments from SFPD for the area around
Lombard and Octavia, as well as
additional Community Ambassadors (retired officers) for the broader neighborhood.
I’m so proud and humbled to represent District 2 here in the greatest city in the world. There is no better place to raise a family than San Francisco. But we need to make it easier, and I think we can.
I’ll keep showing up, fighting for common sense solutions, and staying laser-focused on the basics:
safe streets, clean streets, and a city that works for everyone.
With appreciation,
