Supervisor Eric Mar: Rec center named after hero

Why San Francisco is a great biking city
You're probably seeing it with your own eyes - more and more people are getting around San Francisco by bicycle these days. Like me, you may be one of those people who has rediscovered how convenient, practical and just plain fun it is to ride a bike, or you may be a long-time bike rider who's sharing the street with an ever-growing number of other bikes. As a healthy, economical, environmentally friendly mode of transportation, it's not surprising that the popularity of bicycling is on the rise. In the last four years, there has been a 58 percent growth in the number of people riding bikes in the City.

What's behind this boom in bicycling in San Francisco? The answer: new bike lanes and better, safer riding conditions for everyone. I have been working to make the streets safer for bikes and to create new bike lanes in the Richmond and all San Francisco districts, making bicycle transportation more practical and appealing for everybody. I often ride across the Richmond District in the dedicated bike lanes and along marked bike routes eastward to City Hall and downtown destinations.

Another big boost to bicycling comes from the Safe Routes to School program, which reaches kids at 15 elementary schools across the City. Safe Routes to School, now in its third year, is a multi-agency effort to encourage more children and their families to walk and bike to school. It addresses problems with the streets leading to our schools (re-shaping dangerous intersections and other hazards so streets will be safer for kids to walk and bike along) and provides education and encouragement to students and families on how to get to school, and make other neighborhood trips, safely on foot and by bike.

There's never been a better time to get on a bicycle - for your health, for the environment, to save a little money, or to have a lot of fun. For more information on bicycling in San Francisco, including free adult bicycle education classes, see the SF Bicycle Coalition's website at sfbike.org. For more information about the city's Bicycle Plan and other projects and programs for a better biking environment, see the SFMTA website at sfmta.com/bike. Please join me for Bike to Work Day on Wednesday, Nov. 23, at 8 a.m.

The Betty Ong Recreation Center
Our city is honored to rename the new Chinese Recreation Center after Betty Ong, a Chinese American hero who is remembered for her courageous actions on Sept. 11, 2001.

Betty Ong was a native San Franciscan who grew up in Chinatown and attended George Washington High School. A valued member of the community, she was committed to visiting the elderly at a local Chinese senior center and worked at her family's small store on Jackson Street. She later brought her warmth and joy to her work as a flight attendant with American Airlines, where she was known for her love of children and often cared for crying babies during flights. As an attendant on American Airlines Flight 11 on Sept. 11, 2001, she risked her life to make a call that alerted emergency personnel of the hijacking that was taking place aboard her flight. It was the first time that officials on the ground would learn of the terrorist attacks on that tragic day. During the call, she calmly relayed vital information that led to the decision by air traffic controllers to land every flight in the United States. She put herself in danger to keep others safe.

Naming the Chinese Recreation Center after Betty Ong will allow us to pay tribute to her selflessness and heroism, and, more importantly, inform the city's future generations of her remarkable life.

Cell phone antennae moving into the Richmond
Our office has been talking with many Richmond residents who are concerned about proposed cell phone antennae at 4141 Geary Blvd. and 639 14th Ave. We know that as our collective need for broadband service continues to grow, more of these sites will be proposed for the Richmond and throughout the City. In response, I am having conversations with the city's Planning Department and Planning Commission to try to develop a set of guidelines that will allow us to more effectively regulate where antennae may be placed.

Crackdown on Occupy SF encampment averted

I am happy to report that I, along with social justice and labor leaders and Board colleagues, have been successful in urging the mayor to avoid a violent Oakland-type crackdown on the peaceful Occupy SF protesters in Justin Herman Plaza.

The month-old Occupy Wall Street movement has rapidly grown to more than 3,000 cities around the U.S., all focusing attention on the bank bailouts and the growing evictions and foreclosures in our communities. On Oct. 26, I joined supervisors Jane Kim, David Chiu, David Campos and John Avalos in calling on the mayor and police to exhibit restraint, flexibility and respect for the First Amendment rights of protesters while also continuing to protect public health and safety. We joined a thousand labor and community leaders who were also there in solidarity until past 4 a.m. The next day, I joined the mayor, city department heads and representatives from labor, clergy and community in discussing how we could work together to support Occupy SF's right to protest while also addressing sanitation, health and safety concerns. The meeting resulted in a temporary "truce" with agreements to select liaisons from the City and Occupy SF and to continue joint meetings to address common concerns and avoid confrontation.

November Coffee Hour
My next coffee hour is scheduled on Nov. 17, at Javaholics, 449 Balboa St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, at 10 a.m. If you need my attention before then, please feel free to contact my office at (415)554-7410 or e-mail me at eric.l.mar@sfgov.org.

San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar represents District 1.