Supervisor Sophie Maxwell Speaks to BOMA San Francisco GAPAC Members

From left to right: Susan Court, BOMA San Francisco GAPAC Chair; Supervisor Sophie Maxwell; Debbie Shea, BOMA San Francisco GAPAC Vice Chair.

Supervisor Sophie Maxwell spoke to BOMA San Francisco Government and Public Affairs Committee members recently about what she's been focusing on in District 10, the City budget and other issues. Here are the highlights:

What's the status of San Francisco's budget negotiations?

• The budget "will work out" according to the Supervisor, and any cuts must be made intelligently. Supervisor Maxwell believes that cutting mental health services is counterproductive and the City needs to increase funding for these basic programs.
  
• The Supervisor also feels that the arts and museums are important as visitors are drawn to San Francisco because of our wide array of cultural amenities.
• Supervisor Maxwell mentioned that San Francisco shouldn't rest on the shoulders of property owners: the City needs to do a better job of managing itself.

What's the status of the parcel tax measure that may be on the November ballot?

• Supervisor Maxwell is reserving judgment on the parcel tax measure until the details are finalized.

What about reforming budget set-asides?

• Supervisor Maxwell is not against a sunset provision for set-asides and reviewing set-aside effectiveness/relevance periodically.
  

What issues has Supervisor Maxwell been working on in District 10?

• The rezoning of San Francisco's Eastern Neighborhoods is now being implemented, which includes a reduction in land zoned for industrial production from 11.9% to 5.9%.
  
• In the rezoning process, Supervisor Maxwell looked at the various neighborhoods in her district and asked, what makes a good neighborhood? District 10 requires what most established neighborhoods in San Francisco already possess: good infrastructure and recreational amenities.
• Supervisor Maxwell visited Seattle where she was very impressed with the city's efforts in developing new housing projects and suggested that San Francisco use Seattle as a model. In District 10, there are 237 mixed-use, mixed-income housing units in the works. The Supervisor mentioned that one of the issues that changes the way people view where they live is 'bedroom counts'. As such, the Supervisor was happy to report that of the 237 units that are being built, 28 will include 4/5 bedroom units.
  
• The Supervisor had the opportunity to visit Stockholm, Sweden and was impressed with the country's model for trash collection. Stockholm residents place trash in a 'shoot' that transports the refuse 1 mile away to a collection center, thus reducing the need for trash collection by truck. In her conversations with Recology, formally NorCal Waste Systems, Inc., Supervisor Maxwell mentioned that the company has researched this type of refuse collection system and they feel it is a plausible idea. The benefit of this system would be that the City would know the amount of trash that is being disposed of via a card-based tracking system. Supervisor Maxwell was also impressed with Stockholm's pay-as-you-go traffic management system. This congestion management program has proved effective in reducing the flow of traffic in the City.
  
• Supervisor Maxwell authored legislation to establish the Small Business Task Force to help the 'back-street' small businesses (e.g., those who have businesses at farmers' markets, the costume makers at the San Francisco Opera, etc.).
  
• UCSF has expanded into District 10. Supervisor Maxwell suggested that residents of the City travel along the 3rd Street corridor to view the campus.
• The Hunter's Point Shipyard conversion is underway. The Supervisor emphasized that the conversion will include housing first.

What else was discussed?

• Public safety is a priority for the Supervisor, although she feels that there are more than enough fire and police resources for the citizens of San Francisco.
  
• The issues that effect families and children is her top priority.
• The Supervisor loves every minute of her job. She will be termed-out soon, and stated that any future candidates for District 10 must have a holistic view of the district.