The BCNA Board reviewed the measures from a Barbary Coast Neighborhood perspective and endorses the following propositions:
BCNA Endorsements on SF Propositions
Prop B (Public Works):Â SUPPORT
Prop C (Homeless Oversight Commission):Â SUPPORT
Prop D (Affordable Housing Initiative Petition):Â SUPPORT[1]
Prop E (Affordable Housing Board of Supervisors):Â OPPOSE[2]
Prop F (Library Funding):Â SUPPORT
Prop G (Student Success Fund):Â SUPPORT
Prop O (City College Parcel Tax): Â OPPOSE
BCNA Endorsements on State Propositions
Prop 28 (School Program Funding): Support
Prop 31 (Tobacco Sales):Â Support (âYesâ vote)
BCNA doesnât endorse candidates, but we have developed a Resource Guide on candidate and proposition recommendations across partisan and non-partisan analysis. See below for these links.
Forums and research are done entirely by volunteers, but we still need to fund our modest infrastructure.
Please support our efforts by becoming a member for as little as $20/year.
BCNA members and friends are welcome at our annual meeting featuring Mayor London Breed and new District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 from 5:00-6:30 pm on Zoom
The Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association will hold its annual membership meeting and Board of Directors election. We will also hear from San Francisco Mayor London Breed and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins about the state of the City and tackling the challenges facing our neighborhood. Please join us (and become a member)!
You can purchase a ticket + a discounted 1-year membership for $25.
BCNA Members: you should have received an email with discount code for free participation. Reach out to us if not.
Mayor London Breed is the 45th Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco, and is working to create a more resilient and equitable San Francisco for all.During her administration, she has prioritized policies and programs to address some of the most crucial issues facing the City, including housing, homelessness, workforce development, public safety, climate change, and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are asking the Mayor to comment on the âState of the City.”
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins was sworn in as San Franciscoâs 30th District Attorney on July 8, 2022. Jenkins leads the District Attorneyâs Office and its mission to promote public safety and advance justice for all and is committed to implementing important and vital criminal justice reforms responsibly.
We are asking the District Attorney to address whether San Francisco can be both progressive on criminal justice and tough on crime
Register Here and get the Zoom link for the BCNA Annual meeting next Tuesday
Youâve told us that safety is an urgent priorityâŠwith assaults, violence, theft, and illegal drug use on the rise in our neighborhood. We have some recent actions and plans to share with you in this post:
Neighborhood meetingâActions and Results
Coffee with the Captain
Whatâs Next
What you can do
July 27thâOur first neighborhood-wide meeting on threats to personal safety
As a kick-off, we convened neighborhood leaders and stakeholders on July 27th. This was a hybrid live/Zoom meeting with Supervisor Aaron Peskin, Central Station SFPD Captain Doug Farmer, SFSafe Executive Director Kyra Worthy, and Downtown Community Benefit District Executive Director Robbie Silver.
What the 45+ attendees representing residential groups (homeowner and tenant associations, property managers), commercial property managers, merchant groups, and security teams had to say was shocking. For the first time, neighbors from across the Barbary Coast neighborhood heard from one another about the increasing violence and crime experienced by people living and working in one of the densest areas of San Francisco (almost 6,000 apartment and condo residents).
Actions from the July 27th meeting
Supervisor Peskin and Captain Farmer promised to help with accessing Community Ambassadors (SF City program) and the SFPD Ambassador Program through Capt. Farmer.
Plan regular meetings in the Barbary Coast Neighborhood with SFPDâthe first meeting occurred on Wednesday, August 10th for âCoffee with the Captainâ to focus on the problems faced by Starbucks and Safeway employees and patrons and what we can do to improve the situation. We donât want these important neighborhood-serving businesses to close.
Quick Results from the July 27th meeting:
We have seen more police presence and Capt. Farmer has promised 1-2 Central Station foot patrol officers in the Gateway/Jackson Square area soon. And we have had a better response from Central Station for 911 calls.
Farmer has already redirected his officers to not only âdrive-byâ the neighborhood, but to do a walk-around.đ Starbucksâ staff is very appreciative of having them stop by the storeâŠthank you Officer Archini!
Capt. Farmer encouraged us to say hello or give a âhigh 5â to Police Officers, introduce yourself and let them know our appreciation for spending time in our neighborhood. Capt. Farmer also wants to know if an Officer ever says, âthereâs nothing I can doâ or âthe DAâs not going to prosecute, so why botherâ, because he never wants Officers saying that. Itâs important to call 911 for immediate help, i.e., even if itâs only craziness walking away from you, to enable intervention.
Sometimes the SFPD will do âdeath pondingâ, with an Officer just stationed there in case somethingâs going to happen. Community people should say hello, give a smile, or chat them up to let the officer know we value their work in our neighborhood.
A Focus on Neighborhood Hotspots: Coffee with Captain Farmer in Sydney Walton Park
On August 10th, BCNA coordinated a meeting with SFPD, Supervisor Peskin, and SFSafe to focus on the immediate safety threats in the southern end of the Barbary Coast, particularly the residents and businesses around and in Sydney Walton Park. The âCoffee with a Copâ program (in this case, coffee with Captain Farmer) brings neighbors, police, and public officials together to address neighborhood-specific concerns.
Whatâs Next?
The BCNA Board and our partners across the Barbary Coast neighborhood remain committed to action to improve safety in our neighborhood.
Thanks to the Gateway Tenants Association (representing the 1250 units in the Gateway resident buildings) for organizing Meet and Greets in their public plazas and Sydney Walton Park.
Schedule meetings with Kyra Worthy of SFSafe Programs to engage with their City Camera Program, Neighborhood Watch Program, and personal safety trainings.
Meet with the Downtown Community Benefit District and North Beach Citizens about their âClean and Safe Streetsâ programs and how they might be expanded to our neighborhood.
The BCNA Safety Committee (chaired by Paul Liao from Telegraph Landing and Rex Hesner from Gateway Commons II) will continue their work in both the northern and southern parts of the neighborhood to identify safety concerns, hotspots, and community solutions.
BCNA will continue to represent the neighborhood on the SFPD and Port advisory committees.
What you can do
Be our eyes and earsâIf you see something, say something, and please share with us any concerns and especially threats to personal safety. If not an active emergency (call 911 if it is), send an email to the BCNA (dianataylor50@gmail.com) describing the incident (time, date, details) and with a photo if you feel comfortable. She will send these incidents to Capt. Farmer. Or you can text, call or email the anonymous SFPD tip line. Non-emergency issues can be reported to the SFPD via the 311 app or 415-534-0123.
Join Us: as the only neighborhood association in the northern waterfront, we represent and extend the efforts of neighborhood residents, businesses, and their representative organizations to keep our community safe. We are an all-volunteer organization, and we have a much louder and more effective voice for your interests with all of us on board. Please consider joining the BCNA. Hereâs how: https://www.bcnasf.org/membership/
Thank you âIt takes a village!
Mark your calendars for the Annual BCNA Members meeting Tuesday, September 13 from 5-6:30 pm on Zoom.
Mayor London Breed and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins will be joining us.