Supervisor Eric Mar: Gung Hay Fat Choy, SAFE

I am truly honored to be your new Richmond District supervisor. Thanks to all of the hard working District 1 neighbors who make our community a safe, enjoyable and thriving place to live, work and play. I look forward to working with you over the next four years to support families, seniors and young people, foster livable neighborhoods, protect parks and open space, and make city government more responsive and accountable to Richmond District residents and all San Franciscans.

In my first Richmond Review column, I would like to introduce readers to my dynamic City Hall staff - Cassandra Costello and Lin-Shao Chin. Along with our many wonderful volunteers who help out daily, we aim to turn our office - Room 284 - into a place where our community feels comfortable to visit and help solve our district and city's problems together.

Lin-Shao, a graduate of George Washington High School and UCLA, brings a wealth of experience organizing immigrants with the Chinese Progressive Association in San Francisco and with community groups in Los Angeles.

Cassandra, a USF alumnus, is a veteran legislative staffer, formerly with my predecessor Supervisor Jake McGoldrick's office. I am thrilled to be working with them both and encourage you to contact our office at (415) 554-7410 if you have questions, suggestions or ideas to make our City the best it can be.

Also, our office is always in need of volunteers to help with day-to-day office functions. Please contact us if you are interested. Public Safety - Neighbor to Neighbor Since my childhood, Lunar New Year has always been the most important traditional Chinese holiday for my family.

The Lunar New Year began on Jan. 26 with thousands of families of Asian ancestry in San Francisco celebrating the Year of the Ox over a period of 15 days. Unfortunately, this is also a time when crime tends to increase, especially in the Chinese community, according to our police department.

Kicking off this Lunar New Year, I joined our friends at SF Safety Awareness for Everyone (SAFE), state Sen. Leland Yee, Richmond Police Station Capt. Richard Corriea, and community partner Master Tat Wong's Kung Fu Academy to promote public safety. With the help of SAFE staff and Kitty Ha of the Safety Partnership/RAMS, and police officers Eddie Wu, Johnny Huang, Kevin Lee, Herb Yee, Tim Yee and Sgt. Frank Lee, we walked along Clement Street in the Inner Richmond to educate merchants about how we can work together to increase safety in our community.

SAFE is an invaluable community organization that I encourage all of you to get involved with. They are the city's leading crime-prevention education organization, providing a variety of neighborhood services, including helping residents, police and community groups work together to create safe, vibrant communities and neighborhood watch groups.

These groups not only keep you connected to your neighbors, but also help during times of crisis, such as facilitating efficient neighborhood responses. For more information, please visit www.sfsafe.org or call (415) 673-SAFE. Safety begins with each of us. Creating safety partnerships forms community roots that will continue to grow and blossom. I urge you to get involved now more than ever as we remember some of the tragic incidents that have recently occurred in the Richmond District.

Our office sends our heartfelt condolences to the families of Brandon Evans, Jordan McKay and Ryosuke Yoshioka, all killed in recent months in our neighborhood, victims of random acts of violence. I want to encourage everyone to attend public community meetings hosted every third Tuesday of the month at the Richmond Police Station. They are a great resource for up-to-date safety information. For more information, please call (415) 666-8000 or visit: www.sfgov.org/site/police_index.

Finally, I will be sending out a District 1 e-newsletter with information on our current work, important community events and other district-related information. To subscribe, e-mail my office at Marstaff@sfgov.org.

Supervisor Eric Mar represents District 1.