Going Green, Promoting Safety, and Meeting the Professionals

-Amy Lee, Acting Director, Department of Building Inspection (DBI)

The Department of Building Inspection (DBI) plays a critical role in the on-going safety and well-being of all San Franciscans – particularly when you consider that the city lies in one of the world’s most active seismic zones. Just as the Police and Fire Departments are essential to public safety, what we do every day at DBI in terms of inspections, permit processing, and ensuring the fair enforcement of complex and ever-changing building codes is a public responsibility we fulfill as professionally and efficiently as possible.

DBI is increasing its leadership efforts on a number of fronts this year. In an effort to promote more green buildings and sustainable construction in San Francisco, Mayor Newsom and DBI just issued a directive that provides Priority Permit Processing for all new and renovated buildings that qualify for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED Gold rating or equivalent.

This means DBI will save both time and money, while also delivering a substantial incentive for developers and builders to ‘go for the gold’ and ensuring that our City will have more energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive buildings in the near future.

Clarification on Earthquake Response Plan Enhancement

– Laura Phillips, Director, Department of Emergency Management

This week, we were very proud to present San Francisco’s new Earthquake Response Plan Enhancement to city leaders and the public. This was a tremendously collaborative effort led by the Office of Emergency Services and other key city departments to produce a comprehensive plan for dealing with catastrophic earthquakes. We also enlisted the expert assistance of a private consulting firm during this project.

Recently, there has been a media report which may cause some confusion. This report stated that “millions of dollars” was paid to this consultant for their role in the Earthquake Response Plan Enhancement, which was to help us create an action-oriented document that had the potential to be used as a template for other communities. In actual fact, the amount paid to the consulting firm for this specific project was approximately $44,000.

The $3.4 million referenced is funding for the Regional Emergency Coordination Plan (RECP). The RECP involves the entire Bay Area, and participants include the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the 10 Bay Area Counties, and the cities of Oakland, San Jose, and San Francisco.

Some of the elements of this plan include an inventory of resources in the region, regional care and shelter planning and a 90 Day Recovery Plan. This is the first time the Bay Area has come together to engage in a comprehensive emergency planning process, and it is one that is relatively unique in the nation.

Our work with the consultant on the Earthquake Response Plan Enhancement is just one small part of the larger project - a project that is of great benefit to residents of San Francisco and the Bay Area.

Community Meeting on Women and Economic Development

- Emily Murase, PhD, Executive Director, Department on the Status of Women

The San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women is hosting a community meeting on women and economic development on Wednesday, October 25, 5 - 7 pm, at the Women's Building, 3543 18th Street, between Valencia & Guerrero. This event is free and open to the public. Learn how low-income families can open a bank account, what the Small Business Commission can do to help you launch your own business, and job resources at the City's One-Stop Employment Centers!

Remembering Loma Prieta

-Mayor Gavin Newsom

In commemoration of the 17th Anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, and on the heels of the recent 6.6 earthquake that struck Hawaii over the weekend, it is important that we remain vigilant in our readiness to respond to another such disaster.

San Franciscans recall Loma Prieta as a major earthquake that caused severe damage as far as 70 miles away from its epicenter; most notably in San Francisco, Oakland, and the San Francisco Peninsula. The 7.1 quake struck the Bay Area just before the third game of the World Series at Candlestick Park; It was the area’s worst earthquake since 1906.

The tremor collapsed a section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Six people perished when the exterior of a brick building collapsed at 6th and Bluxome streets in the South of Market District. Damage was estimated at almost $3 billion dollars in San Francisco, which was approximately one-half of the total damage for the entire earthquake zone.

The earthquake knocked out power to San Francisco, and the city was dark for the first time since the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. Even though power was fully restored by October 20, emergency telephone service became sporadic because a fire broke out in the 9-1-1 telephone equipment room, forcing citizens to rely on fire alarm boxes for three days for emergency protection from fire.

Family Festival - Saturday, October 14

Help Celebrate San Francisco’s Families

-Margaret Brodkin, Director, Department of Children, Youth and Their Families

Every San Francisco family with children is invited to join Mayor Gavin Newsom for Family Festival at Yerba Buena Gardens on Saturday, October 14, from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm. Come to Yerba Buena Gardens on Mission between 3rd and 4th Streets and also the Rooftop near the Carousel on Howard Street while we show how family-friendly San Francisco is. It’s Free!

Family Festival brings together the City departments, community-based organizations and cultural institutions that provide services for children, youth and families. The day combines family-friendly activities, hands-on art projects, over 100 parent resources from city departments and community-based organizations, and hours of fabulous entertainment. There will be wonderful giveaways, and high-quality information on resources for parents of children of every age.

Part of the Yerba Buena Garden Festival, Family Festival is a day of free fun in the City. Children can enjoy free carousel rides, a climbing wall¸ ice skating, tours of the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus mobile recording studio, jump houses, lawn games, and yoga. Eight museums—including the Museum of Modern Art and Exploratorium—will help kids do hands-on projects. Other free highlights are a caricature artist, balloon animal creators, and a clown.

Ringing In The School Year

- Hydra Mendoza, Mayor’s Education Advisor

Welcome back to school!  We opened the school year with a lot of enthusiasm.  Mayor Newsom spent the first weeks of school welcoming families to the new Dianne Feinstein School at Parkside Campus, checked in with Starr King’s general and Mandarin immersion programs, and brought our One City One Book author, Luis Urrea, to the June Jordan School for Equity for a school tour and book reading with students.

Mayor Newsom had an opportunity to hear from community based organizations working in education at our “Community Voices” roundtable, hosted at the International Studies Academy. Our regular weekly school visit brought us to the only year round elementary school in the district, Argonne Elementary.

The Mayor welcomed Paul Chang - the former principal at Lowell High School - to his new position as Principal of Thurgood Marshall High School. Marshall High School, along with three other schools, will receive a new intervention specialist to work closely with truant students.  The funding comes from a grant awarded to the San Francisco Police Department and matched by the city’s Department of Children, Youth and Their Families.  Mayor Newsom also had an opportunity to tour the amazing new renovations of the school, compliments of the 2003 school facilities bond.