Supervisor Jake McGoldrick: Changes in the City, District 1

This has been an active month, with several changes at the SF Board of Supervisors since Matt Gonzalez was elected the new president of the board in January. President Gonzalez is reorganizing the board's structure to reduce the number of committees and institute weekly meetings for each committee.

I will become chair of the Land Use Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. I also was named chair of the Plans and Programs Committee of the Transportation Authority, which programs most of the transportation dollars spent in San Francisco.

While this is a heavy workload, these positions will allow me to serve both the Richmond District and the City.
Since his election, I have been asked whether I will support Gonzalez' efforts to extend closure of John F. Kennedy Drive to automobile traffic on Saturdays. My position on this issue remains the same. Before I will support any proposal to close JFK on Saturdays, it must include measures to mitigate parking and traffic effects on the surrounding Richmond and Sunset neighborhoods and community groups in those areas must support the plan.

Also, I believe any closure should not impact the ability of institutions within the park to attract visitors. If and when these criteria are met, I would consider supporting such a proposal.

I also have heard from constituents concerned that the Concourse Authority may be removing healthy trees from the concourse. Mike Ellzy of the Concourse Authority has assured me that they are not now removing any trees from the concourse. He indicated that there is a proposal under consideration to remove seven trees from directly in front of the music bandshell in order to create an unobstructed viewing and seating area in front. In addition, about 85 new trees would be planted to fill in the tree canopy in this area.

I am eager to hear what you think about this plan, which would seem to significantly enhance the number of trees in the area. There will be numerous public meetings where you can give your input before any such proposal could be adopted or go into effect.

I am happy to report that the SF Department of Parking and Traffic has responded favorably to a request from my office to put in a stop sign at the intersection of 33rd Avenue and Clement Street. This request was brought to my office by neighbors and parents in the area concerned about the safety of their children crossing the street there. Due to the close proximity to a school, we were able to expedite this matter to a successful conclusion.

Finally, I want to report that the board recently passed a resolution that I sponsored that prevents City employees from cooperating with certain provisions of the USA Patriot Act, recently enacted by the federal government. Numerous provisions of the law violate basic tenets of our constitutional liberties, such as freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure and privacy. This law would force librarians to disclose books read by patrons, force Internet service providers to disclose the sites visited by computer users, and collect information on purchases made by credit card.

The feds can demand such information without any showing of necessity and those who provide the information are forbidden from disclosing that they have complied with such a demand. This law violates the federal and state constitutions every elected official swears to uphold when they take office. I therefore felt compelled by my oath to act. San Francisco joins a growing list of localities that refuse to cooperate with this dismantling of our basic political freedoms.

In my view, it is not necessary to destroy what our country holds most dear in order to save it from terror.

Jake McGoldrick is a San Francisco supervisor.