Mark D McHale
2018 January

Happy 2018 to everyone! Hoping your holidays were full of family, friends, and good cheer.

Already, it’s been an exciting start to the new year- the new board members elected in November were installed at our first Board of Directors meeting on January 9, 2017, joining those who are continuing in their 2 year terms. Our commitment is to serve well our members, to provide opportunities to meet and get to know each other while we work on improving our shared experience. You’ll get to meet all the Board Members at our next Public meeting coming up later this month.

I’m especially happy to announce that we have most of our committees staffed again! Our special meetings last summer (for Members in July, and New Members/Volunteers in August) have really amped up the interest level in EVNA’s work and we now have more than 25 new members and a dozen people who have volunteered to serve on the Planning, Quality of Life, Newsletter/Marketing, Membership and Social committees. I’ve asked each committee head for his/her top three goals. You’ll get an update on EVNA committees and what they’ll be focused on in the coming months at January’s meeting.

The Quality of Life committee (QOL) will be in the spotlight this meeting. Everyone knows the Castro has its challenges and what’s happening on our streets is of concern to many. The QOL’s mission is to make our streets and homes safer, and they’ll be polling members for answers on where to begin.

What the hell is going on at Harvey Milk Plaza? Many EVNA members and our neighbors have registered a wide range of responses to the Harvey Milk Plaza redesign project, from being totally in favor of some or all of the changes, all the way to those who are vehemently opposed to any. There’s even a state of panic with some people- feeling left out and in the dark. Most telling of all to me is that so many people don’t have accurate information. The information rollout has been spotty and confusing. I’ve asked representatives from the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza to give us the skinny on the design, where things stand, who’s paying for what, and how you can share your concerns as things move forward- you won’t want to miss this important presentation.

See you at the next EVNA meeting;

Wednesday, January 24^th

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm (come early, stay late)

Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy Cafeteria

19^th Street at Collingwood

Ever wonder what’s going on in your own neighborhood and where you can get involved?

There are a lot of forces that influence and affect our neighborhood; politics, governance, development, community events, quality of life issues and economics, to name just a few.

Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association (EVNA) is a place to get plugged in for a better experience. We have been around since 1881, and we are still here and going strong. We are neighbors just like you; making the time to listen, learn, give, share and mobilize.

Our goal is to provide opportunities for us all to become better neighbors, improve our shared experiences, and advocate for issues and policies that matter to us.

We’d enjoy getting to know you, and welcome your participation.

Join us at our Open House in August and find out how you can get plugged in for good!

Open House/Membership Drive

Wednesday, August 9, 2017
7:00 to 8:30 pm
EV Rec Center, Upstairs Meeting Room
100 Collingwood Street (x 18^th)

Agenda

7:00-7:15 - Meet and Greet your neighbors

7:15 - Introductions: Name, Street, What would you like to know about tonight?

Getting to Know EVNA

What We Believe In
History, Mission, Accomplishments
Structure and Volunteer Opportunities
Officers and Board Members set the course
Committees are where the work gets done!

7:30 Open Discussion & Q&A

Ideas and Input

8:00 EVNA Going Forward

Being of service to the community, being relevant today
Forum for discussion and coordination of action
Broadening our outreach to include the spectrum of voices
Comments and Questions

8:30 Adjourn

Thanks for making time in your schedule to attend tonight’s meeting!

The Board of Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association would like to express their thanks for your attendance and interest. We’ve got some exciting history to tell you about, as well as some new opportunities to discuss tonight, and we look forward to your input and help.

Call for Comments by August 18, 2017

EVNA and SF Planning are soliciting community comment on the draft historic context statement for Eureka Valley. Planning would like to receive comments by August 18, 2017.

The project was sponsored by EVNA, and funded by a grant from the Historic Preservation Fund Committee. A community presentation about the historic context statement, its findings, and the next steps was held on July 10, 2017.

The draft document is available for download on Planning's website. Information about the project, as well as the slides from the July 10 presentation about the document, are also available at this page:

http://sf-planning.org/eureka-valley-historic-context-statement

There's also a helpful FAQ explaining what a historic context statement is, how they are used, and then next steps in the project:

http://default.sfplanning.org/Preservation/EurekaValleyHCS/eurekavalley_HCS_FAQ.pdf

Comments and questions can be addressed to:

eurekavalleyhistory@gmail.com

The project will also be discussed at EVNA’s next general membership meeting on September 27, 2017. It’s anticipated that public hearings regarding adoption of the context statement will take place at the Historic Preservation Commission in October 2017.

EVNA Members,

Eureka Valley Draft Historic Context Statement Presentation

Monday, July 10, 7pm

Chase Bank Community Meeting Room

2112 15th St (at Sanchez and Market)

Several years ago, EVNA secured a grant from San Francisco’s Historic Preservation Fund Committee to create a “historic context statement”. A historic context statement is a document that details the historic property types that are found within a neighborhood or city. It links specific property types to themes, geographic patterns, and time periods.

EVNA contracted with Elaine Stiles, a Ph.D. candidate in the History of Architecture and Urbanism at UC Berkeley, to produce the historic context statement. Elaine made an initial presentation about the project at our general membership meeting back in January 2016.

We’re excited to announce that the draft of the Eureka Valley Historic Context Statement is now available for download on SF Planning’s website! http://sf-planning.org/eureka-valley-historic-context-statement

Elaine will present the findings from the historic context statement on Monday, July 10, at 7pm, at the Chase Bank Community Meeting Room, 2112 15th St. Representatives from SF Planning’s Historic Preservation Program will also attend. The presentation will cover:

• What is a historic context statement? What is the purpose, and how is it used?

• Overview of the Eureka Valley Historic Context Statement findings on historic resource types in the neighborhood

• Recommendations for future historic preservation work in Eureka Valley based on the context statement analysis

• What comes next in the context statement process

• Time for your questions, comments and feedback

Please see Planning’s web page for more information on the project, including an email address you can use to get more information, or comment on the project.

http://sf-planning.org/eureka-valley-historic-context-statement

If you missed the date on Propositions M,O,U & X hosted by Enrique Landa and Planning Commissioner Dennis Richards, you can listen online!

The event was held live on  Monday night, October 17th at 7 pm at the Swedish American Hall regarding four land use propositions on this November’s ballot (M,O,U & X).

Speakers, both for and against some of the Propositions, include Supervisors Aaron Peskin, Supervisor Scott Weiner, Supervisor Jane Kim and former Supervisor Sophie Maxwell as well as community/housing activists Calvin Welch, Leah Pimentel, Peter Cohen and Tim Colen. 

Moderators for the evening were journalists JK Dineen and Emily Green (SF Chronicle), Joe Fitz Rodriguez (SF Examiner) and Kim Mai Cutler (Tech Crunch).