quality of life

Vote on Projects to Make Our Neighborhood Better!

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District 8 Castro/Eureka Valley peeps- here's your chance to spend a little city money making our civic spaces a little nicer... vote for the projects you want most!
 
SAN FRANCISCO—At 12 PST, Wednesday, April 18th, 2018, voting for District 8 Participatory Budgeting Proposals went live. Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process that gives community members the opportunity to set budgeting priorities and make decisions on which community projects should be funded. District 8 residents will be able to help decide on how best to spend $250,000 for neighborhood enhancements, beautification, safety, open space and other improvements. All District 8 residents 16 and up can participate in the voting process. Non-U.S. Citizens, regardless of immigration status are also invited to participate in the voting process. Supervisor Sheehy, is the first District 8 Supervisor to initiate this process in our community. Sheehy said, “I am very proud to initiate District Eight’s first Participatory Budgeting process. We have set aside $250,000.00 in community funding initiatives and I encourage all of you to Vote!”
 
Recruiting

Looking for Some Talent…

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Members- I need your help! As you know, we've made great gains this year getting our association set up, staffed, and activated once again. It's been an amazing journey, and I'm always thinking about what I can do to make it even better, and who can help me make it so for us.

I'm looking for a few special people with some very important skills... might this be you, or someone you know who is looking for a volunteer gig?

1) A Social Media and Marketing Campaign Manager. I'm looking for a creative and passionate person to help EVNA get the word out about who we are, what we do, and how others can plug in. The right person will have exceptional skills and creative ideas in the social media/marketing space to help us create and implement a consistent and branded message to encourage membership, acknowledge our heroes, call for attendance, and celebrate volunteerism right here in the hood.

2) Business Development Guru- help EVNA create a comprehensive financial model that will help us grow (appropriately) our inbound revenue stream and outbound support and grant giving capacity. This could really be a an exciting project: can you imagine bringing together corporate sponsors, local businesses, and our members/ residents to create a full cycle financial model of mutual support and benefit- OMG! (Sounds weird, but I can explain).

Ping me- I'm the prez, and I can get you introduced to the right people to put your talents to work! mark.mchale@evna.org.

Trust me- this volunteering stuff is way better than you can imagine sitting in front of your computer right now. You'll feel better you got involved.

 

quality of life

Castro Street Fair Organizers are having a community input session…

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The Castro Street Fair has changed a lot over the years, from a celebratory event in the early years, to a Little Folsom Street Fair, to a more family friendly social event these more recent years.

If you have comments or suggestions on any aspect of the event that would help them do an even better than usual job on anything from set up to tear down, and everything in the middle and whatever is left over, join the rest of us at this event -

Make the Castro Street Fair Great Again!

meetings, planning, quality of life, transportation

Community Meeting for Harvey Milk Plaza Redesign- THIS Saturday

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Are you ready for it?
The Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza and architects Perkins Eastman are ready to share the designs created in response to the community feedback gathered in the community meetings held in February and March! And YOU ARE INVITED to attend the unveiling at Community Meeting #3, to be held from 3:00-4:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 7, 2018, at Most Holy Redeemer Parish Hall at 100 Diamond Street in San Francisco.
 
You will have a chance to be among the first to see the design proposals, and interact with others to provide comment and feedback on each of the options. Your input is so very important, especially at this stage, where the actual design is taking shape. Don't miss your chance to be part of the process!
 
If you were unable to attend the meeting on March 3rd, please contribute your input regarding the topics covered here. The 4th meeting is still TBA, but is planned to be an Open House format. You will receive meeting details, including date and location, once confirmed.
Also, we invite you to stay connected with the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza online at www.friendsofharveymilkplaza.org
 
Finally, a huge THANK YOU from us for the time and enthusiasm you are bringing to this effort to #HonorHarveyMilk in the plaza that bears his name. The forward momentum will continue with the input gathered from these community meetings and through online engagement. We are so grateful that you share our desire to honor Harvey’s contribution to our neighborhood and to our community.
 
We look forward too seeing you on April 7th! Tell your friends and neighbors too!
 
Kindly,
Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza
www.friendsofharveymilkplaza.org
meetings

Neighbors Hear About SFPUC New Rate Hikes

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We had a full agenda at last night's public meeting. With 40 neighbors in attendance, we listened to Rafael Mandelman and why he's the best candidate for D8 Supe;  what the SFMTA is up to regarding the Twin Peaks Tunnel Improvements; and below, we hear from the SF Public Utilities Commission representatives on the upcoming rate hikes that will pay for its much needed capital improvements projects.

Our committees also provided updates on some exciting progress:

  • Membership reporting 5 new members
  • Quality of Life working is reaching out to other local groups working on street behavior and homelessness on a fact finding mission to better understand how we can work with/compliment what's going on already.
  • Newsletter/Marketing committee is making advances on streamlining the Eureka! publication.
  • Training and Education is gearing up and showed attendees how and when to use the SF-311 app successfully.

The Board of Directors  is convening a special meeting in April, led by Alex Lemberg, to review and make recommendations for edits/changes to the governing documents of the Eureka Valley Promotion Association (EVPA, our official name). Stay tuned for a membership input forum coming up after May 2018.

Our next public meeting is May 23rd- EVNA will host a live debate between Supervisor Jeff Sheehy and Candidate Rafael Mandelman. It promises to be an informative and lively discussion on why either men are the best candidate to address the issues we face in Eureka Valley. See you there!

 

meetings

This Week’s Public Meeting…

Be sure to make the meeting this week Wednesday- you won't want to miss it. Come early and meet some of your neighbors!

  • Kim West from SFPUC will update us on our utility rates for water and sewer.
  • Kelley McCoy from SFMTA will update us on the Twin Peaks Tunnel Improvements schedule.
  • Rob LeVan will show us how to use the 3-1-1 app to report all sorts of issues around the neighborhood
  • Committee Updates- they've been busy!
  • Rafael Mandelman will tell us why we should vote for him this for D8 Supervisor
Wednesday, March 28th, 7:00 to 9:00
Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy
19th Street at Collingwood Street

meetings, planning, quality of life

President’s Update

Mark D McHale
2018 February

Have you ever walked down your street, strolled through the Castro, or taken a hike over to Tank Hill and caught yourself falling in love again with where you live? Simple sights like a spray of spring cherry blossoms, the coffee clutch gathered in front of Spikes Coffee every morning, or the sun coming up near the Mission High School tower- how wonderful a surprise. A smile comes over my face, recalling how lucky I am to live here, in this wonderful neighborhood we call home.

That’s why I’m excited to serve as president of the EVNA; it’s all about bringing people together and making a stronger community. The board members and committee heads are spinning up their own plans to bring our mission to life. I am so proud to tell you that we know have 6 fully staffed committees: Quality of Life, Social, Newsletter, Training and Education, Membership and Planning), and we’re floating the idea of a new one: Transit- this committee will engage with other stakeholders to engage and educate us on topics ranging from bike lanes, pedestrian safety, infrastructure updates, and more. If you are interested in transit planning, raise your hand and volunteer!

Since our last public meeting, we have about a dozen new members who’ve joined. We’ve also had 5 volunteers join a committee. We’re growing fast!

The board is working on some exciting projects that I can’t wait to share with you. The big event this spring is the Mayoral Debate scheduled for March 19th at the Castro Theater. We’re working with the sponsors to provide EVNA volunteers to help with ushering and crowd control- no better way to experience the event first hand- what an event to see all those candidates in one place: Alioto, Breed, Bravo, Greenberg, Kim, Leno, Weiss, and Zhou.

We’re also leading the conversation on vacancies in the Castro. In the spotlight is Veritas, the company that bought the buildings at 2099 and 2103 Market Street. You may have noticed many of the businesses have closed or moved over the last year, and we’re in contact with Veritas to keep the sidewalks out front clean and safe and get viable businesses in those spaces quickly.

Staying on the subject of politics, at our next public meeting, Rafael Mendelman, candidate for District 8 Supervisor, will present his positions on issues that affect our neighborhood. He’s got some interesting ideas to address serious homelessness and chronic addiction on our streets, the high rate of vacancies, and on other important issues. Come see him at our next public meeting on March 28th, at 7pm at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy.

Behind the scenes, the board is working on our own infrastructures and systems. We’re reviewing our governance documents, migrating our records to G-Suite for archiving and document sharing, and working on getting the website pages updated with the new leadership photos and bios. Never a wasted moment for this gang. So fortunate to work with such passionate people.

See you at the next EVNA meeting;

Wednesday, March 28th
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm (come early, stay late)
Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy Cafeteria
19th Street at Collingwood

transportation

Upper Market Street Safety Project Open House – 28 February

As part of the San Francisco MTA's ongoing community dialogue and phased implementation approach, the SFMTA and San Francisco Public Works are hosting a community open house on February 28, 2018 from 5-8pm at Sanchez Elementary School to gather feedback on the tentative circulation proposal as well as public realm/landscaping opportunities. Food and refreshments will be provided.

For more information, please visit sfmta.com/uppermarket or contact Casey Hildreth at casey.hildreth@sfmta.com

meetings, quality of life

Meeting Tonight (24 Jan) – QOL Survey

Reminder! Our Neighborhood General Membership Meeting is Wednesday 24 january!

Wednesday 24th at 7pm in Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy cafeteria (19th at Collingwood) is our bi-monthly public meeting. We've got a packed agenda, so come early and stay late, we'll be introducing the new board for 2018-2020, we'll have an update from each now active committee (yay!), and we'll have a frank no-frills discussion on what's proposed for the Harvey Milk Plaza redesign efforts, with informational pitches from both the "Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza" and "Save Harvey Milk Plaza!" groups.

The EVNA QOL Committee would like to hear from you!

Please fill out a very short 3 minute survey, and let us know what you think the newly staffed and energized Quality Of Life Committee should focus on this year!

Please take the QOL Committee survey at https://surveyhero.com/c/5dbb6f18

Also of interest in our neighborhood:

Saturday 27 January, Holocaust Remembrance Day Tree Dedication at Pink Triangle Park. Dedication starts at noon, following the morning bi-weekly park work party which begins at 9:00 am. Expected speakers include Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, Reverend Annie Steinberg-Behrman, and City College Trustee, Rafael Mandelman.

Saturday 3 February, Pink Triangle Park benefit sponsored by Project Juice! Project Juice is donating their entire profits from the day in support of the memorial. This will be Project Juice's one year anniversary and the second time they've dedicated profits to the park. Project Juice will also be offering prizes and a rainbow parfait.

For a complete updated list of these events and more, please visit our website at https://evna.org/calendar

A big thank you to those of you who have joined us or renewed your memberships recently. Thanks to a growing interest in our neighborhood this past fall and early winter, our membership numbers have been consistently growing. Most of our members are now opting for automatic membership renewal, ensuring that your EVNA membership will not lapse, and also easing the work of our all-volunteer membership committee.

You can check your current membership status and membership expiration date online at https://evna.org/wp-admin. If your email address is unrecognized, that is a big hint that your membership has lapsed, and we would really like to have you back amongst our membership. Please rejoin us!

See you at the EVNA meeting;

Wednesday, January 24th
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm (come early, stay late)
Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy Cafeteria
19th Street at Collingwood

Working to Improve Life in Eureka Valley Since 1881