The Health Care Security Ordinance and Healthy San Francisco suffered a blow last week after US District Court Judge White sided with attorneys from the Golden Gate Restaurant Association who claim the ordinance violates a Nixon era law. However, on Jan. 3, the 9th Circuit Appeals Court openly stated that they felt Judge White had made serious errors in his ruling, thus signaling that the ruling could very well be overturned on appeal. This is hopeful news for San Franciscans who are in desperate need of affordable health care. Mayor Newsom and I are supremely confident of victory on appeal.

As many Mission residents may be aware, there is a very blighted property on the 700 block of Treat St. that have created a number of quality of life problems in the immediate area including excessive litter and dumping, prostitution, theft, and violent assaults. The Code Enforcement team in the City Attorney’s Office has been aggressively going after the property owner for years now, and it seems that the property will now almost surely go into receivership. This means that the property will be placed in the hands of a third party for the purposes of auctioning it off so that the city can be paid outstanding fines owed, and so the property is no longer in the hands of a documented slumlord. I would like to thank neighbors John Milovich and Sam Scott and Captain John Goldberg for meeting with me and bringing these issues to my attention, and for their continued efforts to improve the level of safety in our community.

I would like to thank Captain John Goldberg and the Officers of Mission Station for their fine work in making the corner of 19th and Lexington a safer place the areas residents. Until recently, the corner had been a flashpoint for gang violence with the last shooting incident leaving the bouncer of the Lexington Club wounded. Following a meeting convened in my office to discuss with community stakeholders, the SFPD Gang Squad, and the District Attorney’s Office, the corner is no longer a hot spot for crime and violence. For this positive development, a debt of gratitude is owed to all of us who worked together to make 19th and Lexington a zero tolerance area for violent crime, thank you!

Many of you were probably unpleasantly surprised to wake up to new street cleaning regulations on your block. Despite the fact that at hearing after hearing at City Hall, Mission residents made it crystal clear that while trash is a problem, more street cleaning — given the parking situation — was a hostile and unnecessary move. The DPW has unfortunately chosen to ignore the will of the residents, and I ask that any neighbors who have a problem with the new street-cleaning regime call me immediately at 554-5144, or email me at Tom.Ammiano@sfgov.org to protest. This is not over yet.

As the weather continues to get wetter, I encourage Mission residents to do whatever is in their power to prevent flooding in the district. If you see a clogged catch basin, call 311 immediately to have it cleaned. Also, the DPW is offering up to 10 free sandbags for residents who need them. They can be picked up at the DPW Yard at 2323 Cesar Chavez St. between 8AM – 3 PM (M-F).

On a sad note, Pali Boucher, the founder of Rocket Dog Rescue, experienced a major house fire which took the lives of 3 of her dogs. For those who don’t know, the mission of Rocket Dog Rescue is to save dogs from shelters and find them happy homes, and they have been doing a great job for many years. I ask all who are able to donate the Fire Emergency Fund by visiting the website (www.rocketrescuedog.org), and click on “donate”. I thank you in advance for your generosity.


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