The C.L.A.E.R. Project Responds to the HOPE SF

To: Mercy Housing and Related
Henry Alvarez, Executive Director, San Francisco Housing Authority
San Francisco Housing Authority Commissioners
Douglas Shoemaker, Director, San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing

From: Sharen Hewitt, Executive Director, C.L.A.E.R. Project

RE: HOPE SF Master Plan Advisory Committee in Sunnydale

DATE: 9/17/09



The C.L.A.E.R. Project has participated in the Sunnydale Master Plan Advisory Committee meetings with Mercy Housing since they began in June. C.L.A.E.R. Staff, as well as program affiliates, have been active in the process, attending bus tours and meetings. While we sincerely appreciate the efforts of the Mercy Housing and related staff, I am writing now because I feel there are continued missed opportunities for resident education and engagement in this planning process.

Oftentimes the meetings focus of the most superficial aspects of the rebuild. Attendees spend the majority of the meetings talking about parking, building types, and amenities, when frankly, we don’t even know who is going to live here. There has been no discussion of strategies to stabilize the existing at-risk population in order to ensure that they are eligible for one of the new units. We don’t know how many units will be rebuilt. We have never gotten a specific breakdown on unit types to be rebuilt. While it is most appreciated that residents have been able to weigh in on the location and number of laundry facilities, C.L.A.E.R. feels that these discussions could be, and should be, far more substantive.

Additionally, C.L.A.E.R. has consistently brought up three key issues in these meetings that have gone unaddressed, and have not been reflected on any Meeting Agendas:

1. The need for a comprehensive emergency disaster plan for Sunnydale specifically;
2. The need for a “Public Safety Committee”;
3. The need for a small theatre in the newly rebuilt “Community Room” as a way to showcase some of the amazingly talented youths and adults residing in Sunnydale public housing

These comments are always well received in the meetings, but are then never reflected in any of the subsequent presentations.

I am also concerned about the number of residents in Sunnydale who are not engaged with this insular process. The C.L.A.E.R. Project has a second center located at 170 Brookdale Avenue in the Sunnydale development. Our neighbors on this block, some residents for over 45 years, have not been reached out to by Mercy Housing and Related. Furthermore, large segments of the API population residing on Brookdale remain unengaged, including our Cambodian neighbors. C.L.A.E.R. has continually offered to help facilitate a meeting between this segment of the neighborhood and Mercy Housing, and that offer remains.

Finally, I am, perhaps, most concerned, with the growing number of consultants that have been attending the Master Plan Advisory Committee meetings. I feel this money could be better spent on developing resident leadership, resident outreach, or resident employment. The ratio of residents to consultants is truly deplorable.

The C.L.A.E.R. Project will continue to encourage, as we have historically, resident participation, but only resident participation anchored in economic development and real educational opportunities. C.L.A.E.R. continues to extend the offer of partnership to Mercy Housing, the San Francisco Housing Authority, and the Mayor’s Office of Housing as the HOPE SF planning process in Sunnydale continues.


Sincerely,

Sharen Hewitt
Executive Director
The C.L.A.E.R. Project