Hi again all, Final Alert! Before tomorrow's Redevelopment transfer 'Freight Train' vote: Call Supervisors Malia Cohen, Christina Olague, and Jane Kim before 2pm tomorrow (Tue, Jan 24) to stop the Redevelopment Transition Freight Train! See my previous post below for details on what's happening. Call, Malia Cohen: 415-554-7670 Christina Olague: 415-554-7630 Jane Kim: 415-554-7970 with one or more of the following 3 demands: - Amend your Redevelopment transition legislation to be only the -minimal- required transfer of powers and authority necessary to comply with the State's deadline on February 1st. NO other powers or authority over Redevelopment should be given to the City, agency staff, or any Oversight Board, until a full WELL NOTICED public hearing, allowing public comment, is held in mid to late February, so that the people of San Francisco have a strong voice in this process. - The Mayor's appointment of three high level, unelected, Mayor's office, Planning Department, and Controller's office staff to run the Redevelopment Oversight Board is UNACCEPTABLE. We demand that actual RESIDENT representatives of the Bayview Hunters Point, Mission Bay, and Transbay neighborhoods be appointed to the Oversight Board, and we demand that you postpone these appointment decisions to full WELL NOTICED public hearings, ALLOWING PUBLIC COMMENT, to be held in mid to late February. - The fact that there was no broad public notice of this legislation sent in early January, to ALL of the thousands of San Francisco residents who have formally commented on the Mission Bay, Hunters Point Shipyard phase 1 & 2, Transbay Terminal, Treasure Island and other San Francisco Redevelopment projects is UNACCEPTABLE. Immediate timely notice of the current proposed legislation, and of all future hearings on this matter, must go out to all such commenters who provided their contact information when commenting on Redevelopment projects! That's the alert! Please call Cohen, Olague and Kim immediately so that the public gets a voice in this unacceptably fast tracked Redevelopment freight train process! thanks Eric Brooks 415-756-8844 http://ourcitysf.org/campaigns
Here is my previous email which shows links to the details on what's happening:
Here are the details on the sudden Redevelopment crisis which emerged during the MLK holiday weekend.. The Mayor's office is using the fact that San Francisco must transfer legal authority over SF Redevelopment projects to itself by February 1st as an excuse to fast track legislation that will give far -more- authority than necessary over Redevelopment (especially in the Transbay Terminal, Hunters Point Shipyard, and Mission Bay projects) to high level pro-developer Mayoral and Controller staff. Specifically, Lee is trying to put the Planning Director, Mayor's Housing Director, and the Controller's office in firm control of an 'Oversight Board' for Redevelopment in San Francisco; in legislation which gives them authority to make program changes without approval of the Board of Supervisors. The legislation, which will probably be voted on this Tuesday, can be read at http://www.sfbos.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/committees/materials/bf01181... The specific section on the Oversight Board is on page 9-9 (page 33 of this pdf file). The Mayor's appointees are; Nadia Sesay (Controller's Office), Olsen Lee (Housing Director), John Rahaim (Planning Director), and Bob Muscat (a state required appointment from Local 21). These appointments are currently 'at will' and perpetual, with no fixed term of office! Supervisors Cohen, Olague, and Kim are co-sponsoring the Mayor's legislation and appointments. I will be sending out an alert on Monday asking people to call Cohen, Olague and Kim to insist that the Redevelopment legislation be -drastically- scaled down to only fill state transfer requirements with no added authority or powers, delaying any such expanded powers to be taken up in full public hearings in February and/or March; and also delaying the appointments of the 'Oversight Board' for full public hearings in which we should insist on community representatives being on the Oversight Board. Anyone who knows Cohen, Olague and Kim, please call them ASAP to insist on these changes! Otherwise the Mayor's Downtown developer backers will continue to undemocratically and disastrously lord over Redevelopment in San Francisco for decades. cheers Eric B