San Francisco, CA – Today Mayor London N. Breed released her plans for a bond for the November ballot that will support a healthy, vibrant San Francisco. The bond would fund key health and shelter infrastructure, street safety and road repaving, and public space improvements across San Francisco.
As proposed by Mayor Breed, the $360 million bond funding would be spread across four main categories:
- Strengthening public health infrastructure projects like Zuckerberg San Francisco General, Laguna Honda Hospital and Chinatown Health Clinic
- Investing in shelter and housing for homeless families
- Delivering street safety improvements and road repaving citywide
- Supporting public space improvements projects, like Harvey Milk Plaza, Hallidie Plaza, and more
“We are working every day to make San Francisco a vibrant and healthy city,” said Mayor London Breed. “This bond will invest in our critical infrastructure and advance projects that create jobs and prioritize important civic needs. It will create safer streets and smoother roads, deliver welcoming and vibrant plazas and public spaces, support families, and strengthen our public health institutions that serve all of our residents. This is how we build a stronger, thriving San Francisco.”
The Bond is currently before the City’s Capital Planning Committee. Once approved by Capital Planning, the Mayor would then introduce it at the Board of Supervisors, where it would need eight votes for approval. If approved by the Board, it will go on the ballot where it will need two-thirds approval.
Expanding and Strengthening Public Health
The bond will invest $167 million in ensuring safe, resilient, and accessible public health infrastructure. This includes renovating and expanding the Chinatown Health Clinic, which has more than 10,000 patient visits annually being served in a culturally competent manner, 80% of whom speak Cantonese, Mandarin, or Toishanese as a primary language. It will include retrofitting and making critical repairs to Zuckerberg General Hospital (ZSFG) and Laguna Honda Hospital (LHH), the City’s two largest public health institutions. This would add 65,000 square feet of seismically safe space at ZSFG, increase capacity at Psychiatric Emergency Services, and help ensure recertification at LHH.
Supporting Homeless Families
The bond will invest $50 million in ending family homelessness. San Francisco currently provides over 330 units in family shelter and transitional housing and over 2,300 units of family housing in the Homelessness Response System. The bond will dedicate funding to address the increasing need for family housing and shelter, including potential site acquisition or renovation.
Delivering Street Safety and Road Repaving
The bond will invest $70 million in our street infrastructure by delivering street safety projects and road repaving. It will dedicate funding to improve street and sidewalk design and improvements for safe streets, including safer crosswalks, sidewalks, and road safety, and funding for road repaving. It will provide additional funding for traffic safety and road design improvements, such as intersection improvements at Sloat Blvd to improve traffic circulation after the Great Highway Extension closure while ensuring safer access to San Francisco Zoo.
Revitalizing Public Spaces
The bond will invest in making improvements to San Francisco’s civic spaces that are enjoyed by all and provide welcoming gathering spaces for the public. This will include investing $25 million in the renovation of Harvey Milk Plaza, which includes improvements to the terrace, accessibility improvements, and security upgrades at the transit facilities. It will fund improvement to Downtown public spaces, including work at Hallidie plaza to improve the plaza and repair the elevator.
Support for the Mayor’s Proposed Bond
“Our mission is to fund and support patient care and innovation at ZSFG because we believe in health equity and care for all,” said Kim Meredith, CEO San Francisco General Hospital Foundation. “This bond supports our commitment to those values by providing for seismic upgrades, critical repairs and much needed renovations to deliver quality care at ZSFG for all San Franciscans. We are incredibly fortunate to be in a city that believes in public health, which has made ZSFG a national model.”
“Self Help for the Elderly has been a close partner with the Chinatown Public Health Center since the Lady Shaw Senior Center opened in 1990 and fully supports the need to rebuild the Chinatown Public Health Center,” said Anni Chung, President and CEO of Self Help for the Elderly. “It is important to rebuild this center to continue providing the culturally and linguistically competent medical and health services to our monolingual seniors and immigrant families in the AAPI community.”
“Chinatown Public Health Center has provided crucial medical and public health services to our local Chinese American and AAPI communities for decades,” said Sarah Wan, Executive Director of the Community Youth Center of San Francisco. “Our community needs a state-of-the-art medical center to fully meet the growing needs to provide health care services for the next generation of our youth, families, and growing AAPI senior population in San Francisco.”
“My mother was simply crossing the street when she was hit by a speeding driver at a dangerous intersection in 2011,” said Jenny Yu, Founding Member of SF Bay Area Families for Safe Streets. “She suffers from severe brain injuries and has required 24-hour care since her crash. Our City desperately needs more resources to fix dangerous streets so we’re all safe crossing the street – and this bond with $70 million for Vision Zero projects is crucial."
“Creating safe and joyful streets will help revitalize our neighborhoods and make our City more welcoming for kids and families,” said Robin Pam, Parent Organizer with Kid Safe. “I want to thank the Mayor for her leadership on this critical issue.
"As a worldwide ambassador for San Francisco and our values, Harvey is the ideal person to be celebrated by our city, and in our city,” said Cleve Jones, an LGBT Human Rights Activist and founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. “This bond measure will make possible the Memorial at Harvey Milk Plaza, so that it can be a beacon to others all over the world; its very existence will give hope to people who need it. And it is my hope that it inspires others all across the world to become a hero in their own communities, because the world needs a lot more people like my friend, Harvey Milk."
"As a small business owner on Powell Street who depends on walk-in traffic, these potential investments in the public realm downtown are very heartening," said Lauren Ellis, owner of CK Contemporary Gallery. "I look forward to beautification, pedestrian safety and a general upswing in the environment downtown!"
"Powell Street stands as the crown jewel of Union Square, a vibrant entryway to San Francisco for countless travelers," said Marisa Rodriguez, CEO of the Union Square Alliance. "With all roads converging here and the iconic cable car traversing its path, it embodies the essence of our city's allure. Through these strategic investments, we envision a rejuvenated district, beckoning visitors and locals to engage in commerce, exploration, and community once more."
"As a third-generation hotel owner and operator on Union Square my family has always felt that the visitor experience starts on Powell Street," said Jon Handlery, President and CEO of the Handlery Hotel. "Investing to recapture the beauty and uniqueness of this gateway entrance to the heart of our downtown will pay dividends for our City for years."
“For over 30 years, I’ve managed and leased the Union Square Building, at the corner of Powell & Geary,” said Stephen Brett, Manager, Brett and Company. “It has never been more critical to revitalize Powell Street. Powell is the gateway to Union Square and to our City, forming the first impression that so many millions of visitors have. Whatever we invest now to improve its attractiveness and appeal will pay us back many times over. Rejuvenating this vital corridor will help return San Francisco to its status as a world class city and premier travel destination.”
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