Supervisor Fiona Ma: Getting Our Fair Share

Every day at the SF Board of Supervisors I am faced with difficult choices, such as deciding whether to put more cops on the streets or whether to clean up our streets and fix potholes. Both of these matters are critical needs, but our limited city budget often pits these types of choices against each other.

However, it’s not always bad news I have to report from the board. Sometimes, by working in partnership with the community, I bring happy results to the district. In the next few months we will see the fruits of years of labor between my office, various city departments and a few dedicated residents.

Working together on district priorities we can get things done and bring back our fair share of resources.

Sava Pool – After countless staff meetings and community meetings, we are finally taking the next step towards a new pool.

In April, SF Supervisor Sean Elsbernd and I led the effort at the Board of Supervisors to approve a supplemental appropriation to fund the Sava Pool project. For the next few months the City will seek bids, certify contractors and prepare the facility. Construction is anticipated to start in September.

The new pool will feature an expanded and completely renovated building that includes an indoor and outdoor space for special events. With the recent plantings and landscaping at Larsen Park, a brand new pool will complete the park’s beautification process.

Conservatory of Music – After many months of worry about an uncertain future, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music building at 19th Avenue and Ortega Street has been purchased by Lycee Francais La Perouse, the International French School of San Francisco.

The Conservatory of Music will move to its new facility on Oak Street this summer. Final concerts and performances at the Ortega campus occurred in May.

Lycee plans to hold limited classes in the 2006-2007 school year. It wants to remodel the interior in order to permanently accommodate its sixth through 12th grade classes beginning in September 2007. I am happy to welcome LycŽe to the Sunset community and am especially pleased that this building will continue in its tradition as a place for youth to learn and grow.

Dianne Feinstein Elementary at the Parkside Campus – After a controversial and uncertain past, Dianne Feinstein Elementary is putting the finishing touches on its brand new building in anticipation of the opening day of school in August.

Principal Michelle Chang has great plans to work with parents and the community to build a successful school partnership where children will flourish. Highlights of the school include a 50,000-square-foot playground, with separate play structures for kindergarteners and older children, a basketball court, accessible ramps, 24 state-of-the-art classrooms, spacious library, art, activity and parents rooms and a partnership with Stonestown YMCA to provide an afterschool care program.

School tours and a community meeting will be scheduled after families have registered in order to introduce the school to the community.

Fiona Ma is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 4.

Supervisor Fiona Ma: Care for Our Four-footed Friends

As officials elected to represent the interests and concerns of the residents of San Francisco, we find that our responsibilities do not stop with the human residents living in the City. In addition to recent legislation passed by Supervisor Bevan Dufty setting standards of care for dogs, the board has addressed issues and policies regarding pigeons, cows, bison and elephants, just to name a few.

One of the key departments at the heart of all these issues is Animal Care and Control (ACC).

In a nutshell, ACC is responsible for San Francisco’s stray, injured, abandoned, neglected and mistreated animals and for the enforcement of all state and local animal control and welfare laws. The group provides animal shelter services and care, including neutering, spaying, microchip implanting, screenings and vaccinations, for approximately 14,000 animals every year. It accepts stray, surrendered or abandoned animals, both domestic and wild. And of course, they have various animals, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, birds, fish and reptiles, available for adoption.

If you have a dog, you have definitely been to ACC to get your mandatory dog license. If you have a cat, you can participate in the ACC’s voluntary cat registration. Either way, you may need their services if you have lost your animal or found one in your neighborhood.

For those of us who do not have companions of the furred, feathered or scaled variety, you may find that you need the help of ACC to rescue an animal in distress, to report animal abuse, to pick up ill or injured stray animals or to remove dead stray animals.

If you are interested in adopting an animal through ACC, you must be 18 years of age or older, have valid, verifiable identification and live where a pet is permitted. If you are interested in volunteering with the ACC, they always need help walking dogs, assisting with animal adoptions, providing lost and found assistance, fostering animals and promoting the ACC at community events.

I have included more information for all these services and for emergency animal help. I hope you make time to take a look and utilize all the great services offered by ACC.

Animal Care and Control
1200 15th St., at Harrison Street

Phone numbers:
General information: 554-6364
Animal emergencies: 554-9400 Lost Pet: 567-8738
Barking/noise complaints: 553-0123
Volunteer information: 554-9414 Website: http://www.animalshelter.sfgov.org
Hours: Shelter is open noon to 6 p.m., Monday through Sunday, and until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Emergency services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Fees for adoptions: Dogs: $100; Cats: $100; Rabbits: $45 male and $55 female; birds and reptiles vary according to species; Other small animals (rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs): $10
Seniors receive a $5 discount on all adoption fees.
Dog licenses: Unaltered dogs: $24/year; altered dogs: $12/year.

Fiona Ma is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 4.

Supervisor Fiona Ma: Mental Health Services for Youth

The SF Board of Supervisors and the School District Committee held a special hearing Nov. 8 to discuss the state of on-site mental health services at San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) sites and to evaluate the needs and services currently provided.  Several experts, representing the Mayor’s Office of Children Youth and their Families, SF Department of Public Health, SFUSD, various non-profit providers and professionals at various Wellness Centers and school sites, testified about the growing need for mental health services at all schools.

The following morning, as I read C.W. Nevius’ column in the SF Chronicle titled “Principal’s blunt look at teen suicide,” I wondered whether the availability of on-site mental health services at Clayton Valley High School would have prevented its recent spate of teen suicides. It was very evident from the hearing the day before that a minimum level of mental health services should be mandated at all schools to address depression, stress, violence and other issues facing our young people today.

About four years ago, Wellness Centers were created at seven high schools (Galileo Academy, Abraham Lincoln, Lowell, Mission, George Washington, John O’Connell and Thurgood Marshall) to provide free, confidential services to students, including health education and assessment; mental health and substance abuse counseling; support and empowerment groups; crisis intervention; and reproductive health services. Community-based organizations provide students with referrals to public and private health providers and educate youth about resources and services available both on and off campus.

Mental health related services are also available at various elementary, middle and high schools throughout the City. However, given the band-aid approach to services, it was concluded that a SFUSD comprehensive mental health plan was needed to assess the needs at all schools, as well as to address and meet the severe needs of students at the county day schools, a specific concern expressed by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell.

The recent passage of state Proposition 63, assessing a 1 percent surcharge on personal incomes above $1 million for mental health funding, could provide $50 million annually to San Francisco. School Board Member Jill Wynns suggested a carve-out of at least $3 million of the funds to expand the Wellness Centers at all high schools in San Francisco.

With these concerns and recommendations in mind, I submitted a resolution urging the mayor and the SF Department of Public Health to move forward with three actions: create a Proposition 63 Children and Youth Stakeholder Sub-Committee to create a comprehensive, child-specific plan for services; to dedicate a portion of the Proposition 63 funds to children and youth mental health services with a focus on prevention and for the funds dedicated to be consistent with the percentage of children affected in the overall populations; and that Proposition 63 funding should also be allocated for expansion of the Wellness Centers program.

Over the last 10 years, there has been a great increase in access to mental health services for youth in San Francisco. The reasons are many, including earlier identification of mental health issues by SFUSD, the presence of state-mandated services for special education students, the state Mental Health Parity Act and the growth of the Healthy Families and Healthy Kids programs. However, there is still much more that needs to be done if San Francisco is to meet its goal of being a family-friendly city. The actions we have taken jointly at the school district and the Board of Supervisors takes us one step closer to this goal.

Fiona Ma is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 4.

Supervisor Fiona Ma: Sunset Improvement Projects

You may have noticed increased activity around our district water facilities and reservoirs. As I reported in a previous column, the SF Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is starting work on a Capital Improvement Plan to upgrade our aging water-delivery system and protect and preserve it for future generations. What does this mean for the Sunset? It means we will directly benefit from several projects.

In mid-November will see preparation for a new water main from the Sunset Reservoir along 29th Avenue and Lincoln Way. The trenching and piping from 29th Avenue to Lincoln Way will last through April 2005. The remaining 2.5 miles of pipe will be installed along Lincoln Way, to Fifth Avenue, through the spring of 2006. If you would like more information about this project, contact Robert Lopez at rlopez@sfwater.org or 554-3286

At the Sunset Reservoir, plans are being finalized to stabilize and reinforce the hillside of the north basin at 28th Avenue and Ortega Street. The project will require cutting into the hillside and installing columns to protect the embankment from liquefaction in case of an earthquake.

Built in 1938, the Sunset Reservoir supplies drinking water to nearly 60 percent of our homes and businesses. This project will help protect this resource. Work will start in early spring of 2005 and when construction is complete, the hillside will be restored, as will its stone wall and benches. Contact Maureen Barry at mbarry@sfwater.org or 554-3297 if you would like greater details on this project.

The Central Pump Station on Sloat Boulevard and 23rd Avenue will see structural and seismic improvements as well. Demolition work, framing and seismic reinforcement work is beginning this fall. Most of the work will be done inside the pump station so noise in the neighborhood should be minimal. The PUC anticipates completion in early 2006.

For more information on this project, contact Amy Sinclair at asinclair@sfwater.org or 551-4659.

Finally, in late November, a seismic retrofit of the Merced Manor Reservoir will get underway. This $5.4 million project will repair the inside of the reservoir, strengthen the roof and reinforce the overall structure.

There will be a community briefing about the project on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 6:30 p.m., at an on-site trailer. I encourage residents to attend for a more detailed briefing. Contact Maureen Barry at mbarry@sfwater.org or 554-3297 for information on the project or on the upcoming meeting.

Throughout this process, my office has been assisting the PUC in their commitment to make these improvement projects part of an open community process, which involves residents and businesses in its planning and refinement. By working together, we can assure the reliability and safety of our water for future generations while making sure that these projects preserve the quality of life in our neighborhood.

Fiona Ma is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 4.