As Mayor Daniel Lurie ponders who he will appoint to replace District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, he has embarked on a listening tour in the Sunset.
Sunset residents, who just recalled Engardio in a 63-37 vote, were ready to talk, especially about the mayor’s plan to upzone much of the Westside of the city, including their neighborhood.
Increasing height and density has not been greeted warmly by homeowner-heavy neighborhoods like this one, which have, for decades, produced fewer new housing units compared to the rest of the city.
Josephine Zhao, president of the Chinese American Democratic Club and an attendee of Thursday’s meeting, says it is too early to talk about the appointment without talking more about the upzoning plan.
“If we don’t have the opportunity to [say] what our concerns are, the next person won’t know,” said Zhao. “We want to solve these issues together, not just pick one person who can bypass opinions and vote for certain things.”
Speculation has run wild as to whether the mayor intends to appoint a “caretaker” supervisor who might vote against the wishes of their constituents on issues like upzoning without worrying about the political consequences, or someone who will seek re-election, and therefore be more likely to cater to potential voters.
Lurie told merchants on Tuesday at Andytown Coffee Roasters on Taraval Street that he will appoint someone who wants to run for the next term, according to Bill Barnickle, president of the Outer Sunset Merchants and Professional Association.
Barnickle said the mayor made it clear, “if we pick someone, we have to make sure they go into the next four years as the supervisor and do a good job.”
On Thursday afternoon, Han Zou, the mayor’s director of public affairs, and Crystal Liang, his Asian American and Pacific Islander community and press liaison, met with Zhao and other recall leaders like Albert Chow, owner of Great Wall Hardware and president of the merchant group People of Parkside Sunset.
After the hourlong Thursday meeting at the community room at the Taraval police station, Zhao said, the next step could be a Sunset town hall where residents can talk and learn the “facts” on the mayor’s upzoning plan.
At both meetings this week, attendees say the mayor “cleared the air” on misinformation about the upzoning plan. He explained the state mandate for the city to show capacity for more housing, and the consequences of losing local control over zoning if the city fails to do so.
After hearing about those consequences, said Poppy Gilman, a Noriega Street business owner, people turned to focus on making sure “affordable housing is planned for and built.”
The complaints about the upzoning plan are many.
Some residents want the zoning plan to do more to protect tenants and small businesses. Others want more incentives to build affordable housing, and to preserve historic structures. Others worry that the height and density increase would get “extreme,” or simply don’t want big changes coming to their neighborhoods.
“Today was an opening to acknowledge each other, to get to know each other, which will lead to other future meetings,” Chow said after the Thursday gathering with Lurie’s staffers.
At the Tuesday meeting between Lurie and some 15 business owners and nonprofit leaders at Andytown Coffee Roasters, Lurie began by saying that he wanted to hear the concerns of everyone in the group.
What kind of person did they want to represent their district? The mayor asked.
“No names were put forward,” said Gilman, the Noriega Street business owner. “People want somebody who can bring the neighborhood together again. It’s so divided.”
Instead, business owners talked about issues that they wanted their new supervisor to care about: Public safety, veterans, kids and families, and housing affordability.
Surprisingly, Gilman said she was the only person who brought up the Great Highway, whose closure, in favor of a new city park named Sunset Dunes, prompted the recall. “I feel that’s a huge elephant in the room,” Gilman said.
No one mentioned Engardio, who is technically still their supervisor until at least October.
What Gilman’s hoping for in a new supervisor, she says, is someone who won’t keep litigating the park for the next four years.
“If that’s all they are doing,” Gilman said, “What really needs to be dealt with won’t be dealt with.”
As significantly as Poppy Gilman was quoted in this article, it could have been noted that she was a prominent pro-Engardio/pro-Sunset Dunes figure during the recall and clearly represent a minority view in D4. Not exactly an unbiased person off the street.
Why are people consumed with turning San Francisco into Manhattan without the infrastructure, transportation or the fun for that matter? Why do we need 80,000 new housing units? I’ll tell you why. So we can warehouse thousands of homeless people from around the country. Why must every city in California do the same. To warehouse thousands of indigent people from around the country at the California taxpayer’s expense. This is a small town.
Do NOT rezone!!! It is already extremely crowded in D-4. Barely can find parking.
People are moving out of the city; why do we need more housing?
OPEN Great highway: ASAP; traffic on Sunset Boulevard & 19th Ave are terrible nightmare at this time.
Both issues above are the cause of Engardio recall.
He needs to appoint someone who will represent the west side not downtown cronies.
The rest of these supervisor need to take heed. You maybe next on the recall roster and Lurie will be appointing your seat.
OPEN THE GREAT HIGHWAY!!!!!!!!!
When can the Mission expect for elected officials to give Mission residents meaning consideration in policymaking on matters that directly impact us, instead of treating residents like problems that need to be solved to favor private nonprofit corporations?
If I were Lurie I would restore the Great Highway and pass on the up zoning.
Someone needs to suggest that Lurie not contest the lawsuit re: the legality of the closure and nothing more will need to be done. A one step solution.
The divisive distraction of Engardio is over. There’s work to be done.
I’m glad to hear the Mayor isn’t going the London Breed route.
Reinstate the previous compromise, close it for walking weekends as before.
People can accept that because we already had, before Engardio lied to us.
And kick “corporate friends of bullsh*t road park” the hell out of City business.
They aren’t San Francisco and they certainly aren’t Sunsets.
Lurie must think he has the votes for his up-zoning plan without D4. He’s already at 5 with Sherill, Sauter, Mahmood, Dorsey, Mandelman. If he can convince Melgar or Chen to sign on, that’s 6.
If I were Lurie I would offer to restore the Great Highway in return for passing the upzoning.
What are you talking about, how would that even work?
The entire city of SF voted to great Sunset Dunes. The anti-park voters should just get over the fact that they lost a democratic election and move on with their lives. The recall achieved nothing other than giving the major more power.
The vote was based on lies and a presumption of undermining CA CEQA law using a loophole that doesn’t exist as applied, so to say that people “voted on it” is like saying if you vote that the Sun is purple, that makes it so. The fact is CEQA is a state law and a local vote to make a road suddenly a “park” (nevermind the privatizing of the commons going on, nor the lies) doesn’t hold any more weight than their argument that closing a major roadway “reduces carbon” or “protects green spaces” or any other of their BS slogans. When you understand how facts work, you’ll understand why Engardio was recalled.