Mayor Gavin Newsom: New Program Launched

I have always said that San Francisco is a city of vibrant and unique neighborhoods. It is the character of these neighborhoods and its residents that make our city one of the most interesting places to live and work.

With this in mind, it is critical that we respect our neighborhoods, keep them clean, and care for them as the gems they are.

In keeping with my on-going pledge to keep San Francisco clean and green, I have provided an additional $1.7 million in this year's budget for a citywide cleaning initiative that will focus on public education and increased and coordinated maintenance between business districts and the community and neighborhoods they serve.

My goal is to demonstrate how San Francisco's business districts can be welcoming and vibrant assets to your community when everyone does their part. I have also always said that it is the collective behavior of all of us - pedestrians, motorists, building managers, merchants, private residents and city employees - that impact the livability of our streets and sidewalks.

The responsibility to make San Francisco green, clean and beautiful lies with all of us.

This is where the Community Corridor Partnership comes in. I am extremely excited to introduce this innovative street cleaning program to you.

The new initiative is a coordinated public and private effort to raise the quality of life in San Francisco by raising standards in key merchant corridors. Led by the SF Department of Public Works (DPW), the program covers 100 blocks on 19 key corridors. More than a dozen city agencies and private companies began the program by walking every inch of those 100 blocks, identifying all of the problems and addressing how to fix them.

Anything from a faded parking strip to a graffitied trash can are being fixed. In addition, 20 "neighborhood ambassadors" have been hired by DPW to sweep gutters and sidewalks, identity all conditions on the street, and either report or resolve them. These new workers don't just sweep sidewalks, they own their blocks.

Neighborhood ambassadors are assigned to the corridors during afternoons and early evenings, Thursday through Monday, when the city is most active. A key component of the program is a community building process to educate property owners and merchants about the many responsibilities they have in protecting and enhancing the livability of their street.

By law, merchants and ground-floor tenants are responsible for keeping the sidewalk in good repair and grime and litter-free. This is why public education is key. An outreach worker is visiting all merchants on the block to educate them about their responsibility to keep their sidewalk clean and their building graffiti-free at all times.

My office of Economic and Workforce Development and DPW are helping merchants and owners organize to make these improvements last.

Community Benefit Districts, a privately funded improvement program that can include beautification projects, clean and safe programs and graffiti removal, are being encouraged. It is my hope that by educating people and facilitating partnerships along these corridors, that a permanent new level of cleanliness and livability to the street will be achieved.

For more information about the program, go to the Web site at www.sfgov.org (Public Works Department page).

Gavin Newsom is the mayor of San Francisco.