St. Anne's Celebrates 100 Years Serving the Sunset District

 
photos: Philip Liborio Gangi

St. Anne’s is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Father Frank Bagadiong (top right),
a native of the Philippines, has been with the parish for three years.

By Peter Sciacca

St. Anne’s Catholic Church is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a month of special activities and masses.

“We are very happy about this milestone,” said Father Ed Dura, St. Anne’s pastor. “It is great to share this milestone with not only our parishioners, but members from other religious communities.”

In October, St. Anne’s invited members from various Sunset religious communities to join its parishioners and staff for a week of events to celebrate the church’s centennial.

“We also had a Pentecostal Mass, which celebrates the ascent of the Holy Spirit,” Dura said. “There was an alumni reunion for everyone who attended our school over the years.

“There was even a former student who attended St. Anne’s in the ’20s,” he said.

St. Anne’s even held celebrations specifically for parishioners from the Filipino and Chinese communities. The month of activities will conclude with a dinner for parishioners on Nov. 6, followed by a 10 a.m. Mass the next day.

“We have had a great presence in the Sunset,” Dura said. “Our school has educated a lot of students.”

He also mentioned the charitable work St. Anne’s chapter of the St. Vincent de Paul Society has done to aid San Francisco’s poor residents.

“We’ve done everything from passing out sandwiches to helping these people get their lives back together,” Dura said. “In addition to monetary assistance, we also offer counseling.”

St. Anne’s has also been a welcome place for many immigrants who had a tough time adjusting to a new life.

“We’re glad to fulfill their religious needs and bring them into our family,” Dura said.

He considers the founding of St. Anne’s to be one of the major components in the development of the western part of San Francisco.

“We have not only been here longer than any other church, but St. Anne’s was one of the Sunset’s first large construction projects,” he said. “People associated with it as a place to gain spiritual and social nourishment long before there were malls, grocery stores or coffee houses.”

Dura was chosen to be the pastor of the 1,300-family parish by San Francisco’s archbishop six years ago. Before taking the position at St. Anne’s, Dura was the assistant pastor of South San Francisco’s Mader Dolorosa Church.

“St. Anne’s is a very diverse and supportive parish,” he said. “I am very proud to be part of this church.”

While St. Anne’s has much to celebrate, Dura conceded that the number of parishioners has dropped in recent years. He pointed out the cost of living in San Francisco as being one of the greatest factors in the decline.

“Families are being forced to move elsewhere because they can’t afford to live here,” he said. “I’m sure in the future that we’ll have to adjust to this decline.

“It may just be a matter of holding fewer masses or as drastic as only holding one on Sunday. No matter what, we will make sure that this community continues to be served like it has for the past 100 years.”

Election Propositions Debated at Forum

By Peter Sciacca An election forum sponsored by the Sunset-Parkside Education and Action Committee (SPEAK) in October gave west-side residents the opportunity to hear arguments in favor of and against several key ballot measures. One of the first measures to be debated was Proposition A. Part of the $200 million bond proposal is to develop a “supportive” housing program for the homeless. Supportive housing combines affordable housing, medical care and social services. The other major component of the proposition is to acquire, build or renovate housing for low-income residents. “The need for this bond is extreme,” said the speaker in favor of the measure. “Most working residents struggle to own or even rent property in San Francisco. We have the resources to pay for this bond.” Proposition A’s detractor said such an ambitious project needs to be split into two or three bonds. “This is too much money to be spent at once,” he said. “No matter what the other side says, homeowners will have to pay for this if it passes.” Bond measures passed by city voters are tacked onto the property taxes of city property owners. As was the format for the evening, each speaker had a chance to respond to their adversary’s claims. “We need this bond to spur the production of affordable housing,” Proposition A’s supporter responded. “This issue is too complex for one bond to solve. It needs to be split into at least two bonds.” Proposition K seeks to draw income for the city by implementing a new tax that would affect several types of small businesses that are currently not required to pay taxes. San Francisco would generate about $43 million a year from the plan. “It closes a loophole in the tax payment system and implements a small gross receipt tax (.1 percent) for businesses that make more than $500,000,” the tax’s supporter said. Recently, Mayor Gavin Newsom has tried to make the measure more palatable by saying the threshold for the tax would be raised to $2 million. The tax would be levied on a business’ gross receipts, not  its profits. “I’m opposed to it because it was hastily designed and passed,” said the measure’s opponent, who is a small business owner. “It doubles taxes for small businesses. Revenues don’t represent the size of a business.” The supporter countered by pointing out that a year of planning has gone into the proposition. “A lot of these businesses aren’t paying any taxes,” he said. Another tax measure that will appear on the ballot was the next topic of discussion. Proposition J calls for raising the city’s sales tax from 8.5 percent to 8.75 percent. This is expected to shave about $34 million from San Francisco’s budget shortfall. “This is a favorable tax because 64 percent of it would came from business-to-business transactions and tourists,” Proposition J’s supporter said. “Nobody likes taxes but we are faced with tough choices to keep basic services running properly.” The opposing speaker suggested another solution for raising funds. “The real hard choice is not to raise taxes but to stand up to labor unions and make cuts,” he said. “I urge everyone to tell the mayor to face up to the reality of our budget and make cuts.” Newsom is counting on the two tax measures passing as part of this year’s budget. He said cuts to city services and layoffs could result if they do not pass. The main goal of Proposition L is to tap into hotel tax revenues for the purchase and preservation of independent movie theaters in San Francisco. The measure also seeks to use the funds to promote local filmmakers. The person scheduled to speak in support of it was a no show, but an opponent of the plan took center stage. “It’s a well intentioned but seriously flawed measure,” the speaker said. “It will take $8 million out of the city’s general fund with no accountability.” He also questioned the credibility of the measure’s author, the group Save Our Theaters. “This group has no track record when it comes to undertaking such a project,” the speaker said. “They are not even based in San Francisco. This is a company from Los Angeles.” Proposition B was the final measure presented to the audience and also featured a one-sided view. However, it was the person in favor of the plan who was the sole speaker. The proposal’s goal is to set aside $60 million in bond revenue to preserve, acquire and renovate San Francisco landmarks. Some of the sites that may benefit from the proposition are Golden Gate Park’s McLaren Lodge, the Palace of Fine Arts, Old Mint, Bayview Opera House, Coit Tower and Sunnyside Conservatory. “These are some of our most treasured landmarks,” the measure’s supporter said. “No more than 20 percent of funds will go toward any one project. “This bond is a good way to get a lot of bang for our bucks.” Eight other propositions on the ballot were not discussed at the forum because no speakers from campaigns for or against them attended.