What are Eli's Top 3 Concerns for District 11?
•Public Safety – Crime Prevention and Intervention
•Livelihood of neighborhood businesses
•Lack of direct services for youth and families
What are Eli's solutions based on his experience?
Public Safety: Community policing, increase police involvement in neighborhoods by designating neighborhood liaisons, create a Safety Network program, institute neighborhood watches and replicate the federal Weed and Seed program.
Neighborhood Businesses: Assist in applying for grants and small business loans, outreach assistance, beautification of business districts, advocate for tax incentives for new businesses.
Direct Services: Expansion of after-school programs, community centers and safe havens for youth, advocate for increased funding to District 11 neighborhoods for these programs.
Why am I Running for Supervisor of District 11?
My name is Eli Horn-
I am a San Francisco native and have been a district 11 resident for over 23 years. I am a candidate for district 11 supervisor: I currently serve as the Director of the Visitacion Valley Beacon Center, a school based community center that serves over 1500 youth and adults combined in many service areas , such as academics, health, enrichment, etc. I also chair the Juvenile Justice Commission for the City. The commission is charged with ensuring the adequate safety of Juvenile hall and the wellbeing of its’ inhabitants. I am also a leader spring fellow graduate. This fellowship was designed for leaders in the public policy/ non profit areas to help them become more skilled and effective leaders and advocates of public policy in the community. I am a board member of the Tremor Action Network (TAN), a advocacy network for persons with tremor related neurological movement disorders. I have a commitment and passion to bringing real time solutions to real time problems for the city that I was born and raised in. I am passionate and committed about my neighborhood and my city and will work tirelessly to ensure that it is a place where “all” San Franciscans can feel comfortable ii and proud of. I have dedicated my professional career to trying to advocate for better public policy for communities and am proud of the work that I have done and will continue to do. There are both city wide and district specific issues that compelled me to run for supervisor.
Some Issues that concern me city wide are: the state of our public schools, lack of affordable housing and public safety among others. Public safety is a very big concern for the citizens of San Francisco. Though this problem is prevalent primarily in the southeastern section of The City- it yet affects the city as a whole, and something must be done immediately to stop the rash of killings, robberies and gang violence that is going on in the city. I have direct experience in dealing with this issue. I have for years been working with coalitions, agencies and city departments to address this issue. Currently, I am involved in administering a federal grant called weed and seed. This grant aims to get the entire community involved in bringing an end to some of the violence that is pervasive in so many communities. With the weed and seed grant, we involve police, residents, community members and other s to get involved in their community in a positive way. Through this effort, we are able to provide job training for at risk youth; engage in community policing, provide services to seniors and a whole host of other activities. Through our job training program in connection with Goodwill industries , we were able to place over sixty young persons (18-24 year olds) in jobs in and out of the community, provide them with work place training and wrap around services. These are youth who would have otherwise been involved in negative activities in the community.
Other models that promote public safety are models such as Critical Response Network and Safety net. These are two programs that I would push for expansion for. Safety net is a critical component to all aspects of our city. The community organizers in each district is responsible for advocating for issues that affect public safety and quality of life issues. The organizers report graffiti, help organize efforts in public housing; gather information from the community and report back. This program is one I want to see an increase in funding for , as it is vital in our effort to keep our city clean and safe.
Schools: the state of our school are in very bad shape. There are maybe a dozen or so that are top tier schools; however , the majority are schools where kids are left to fend for themselves and teachers aren’t equipped to deal with the issues kids bring. I have first hand experience, unfortunately, of seeing this on a daily basis as a Bacon director. The student to teacher ratio in our public schools make it impossible for teachers to focus on quality education. The drop out rate among African American students is approaching fifty percent; there aren’t enough bilingual education programs and budgets are being sliced at most schools. These circumstances make it extremely difficult to give our pubic school students a fair chance.
I would like to push for an expansion of more afterschool programs, especially in schools where test scores are low and students are struggling. We should have more community based organizations providing services in school, and more tutoring and academic programs. 21st Century and Ases money should be a priority and we should fight vigorously for our fair share. Many schools in the district have student populations who are at the poverty level and have students in some cases where 50% of the student population receives free or reduced lunch. These are the schools that we should be targeting for increases in resources, as they are the ones where the students are failing the most.
I will push for more involvement from the private sector. I feel that this is a San Francisco problem, not just a school district problem. We should be able to avail our schools with all of the resources we can. I want to push for more funding t help teachers to be able to teach more effectively and reduce class sizes. I want to push for more intensive health based services in school so schools will have the resources to deal with students who are bringing problems to school that are beyond the teachers’ means to deal with.
Housing: we all know that in San Francisco there is a housing shortage for middle and low income residents. I would do everything I could to support affordable housing that was done in a common sense, economically feasible manner. I believe ther should be a baseline set aside for affordable housing when new housing comes along. I think that number should be set in accordance with the project, project area, developer’s abilities, etc. I feel it is critical that provide housing for citizens who provide critical services- teachers, firefighters, police officers. I believe in programs that are innovative and allow persons to become first time homeowners ,especially for those aforementioned. This will ensure that San Francisco keeps its diversity, vibrancy and buoyancy. There are some neighborhoods that have been decimated by development and dot coms, etc. Again, I believe the housing issue should be dealt with smartly and in a way that keeps in mind the aesthetics , density, environmental and physical concerns of our city.
While there are concerns that I feel affect The City whole –there are concerns that I have also specifically for the district where I am running and where I live.: In district 11, II would like to address public safety; merchant issues and the lack of services I feel there are for our families and kids.
Whether talking to neighbors, merchants in the excelsior or along the Ocean Avenue corridors , people in parks, etc- the issue of safety always comes up. Safety takes on a number of contexts depending on where you live in the district. It could be more aggressive crimes n the Ocean View area, graffiti or lack of police presence along the Mission corridor or any other concern people may have. I want to ensure the safety of all of the residents of our community. In the month of May , there were 21 strong armed robberies and in April over five shootings in the Ingleside area. These are the types of crimes that make people not want to come out of their houses and enjoy their neighborhoods.
I want to ensure that there is an active community police presence in the neighborhood- a real dialogue between neighbors and police- where each can voice their concerns about what is going on in the neighborhood. Relationships with the police are critical if we want to ensure that our community is safe. I want to ensure that each block has access to information , services etc when it comes t working with police in our district.
I want to make sure that we have street lights that are working on every street and I want to make sure that there are adequate stop signs and stop lights. I also want to increase the availability of transportation for seniors who have t depend on public transportation or private mobility services to get around. I want to push for r the expansion of the mobility plus program in district 11,as we have a lot of seniors who rely on this program. I want to make sure that when neighbors ask for speed bumps on their streets, or sign a petition for stop signs that they are not ignored.
I will push for funding that will brig more programs that address safety, such as safety net, where each precinct can have an organizer who will ensure that quality of life issues and safety issues are being addressed, such as when a streetlight goes out, or when graffiti goes up, people will be able to get those issues addressed immediately.
Merchant Issues: Many of the merchants I’ve talked to want the business area to be cleaned out and want the vacant store fronts to be rented. I want to help bring a sustained graffiti abatement program to the merchant district. Merchants should be working with city commissions and agencies that address these concerns. I will help connect them to the agencies and bring resources t them that will help them with this problem. I will work with private sector entities also to look for funding for programs that will help merchants clean up and beautify the district.
I want to work with the police and merchants to ensure that there are officers walking the beats so that there is police presence and that the merchants and customers feel safe. Merchants should build relationships with police. I want to bring new merchants in and help them be successful. 50% of the businesses fail when they open in this district. I want to increase foot traffic and revenues among the commercial strip, In order to do this, there must be an effort in busininess retention and expansion. I will connect small businesses to resources such s the small business network, sba, etc. so that they can become involved in a network and share practices for success with others. I will seek out merchants opinion to see if they want to create a business improvement district. I will be in constant communication with merchants.
District 11 has one of the highest percentages of youth in the city, but there are inadequate services and facilities for parents. There are agencies like the Beacon, the safe haven; FEC: family connections, etc, but we need many more out here. I have over ten years experience of procuring large scale grants that bring services to schools and communities . I want to see an expansion of the Mayor’s employment and education Program (MYEEP). This will ensure that we are getting our teens involved in job training and that they have something to productive to do when they are not in school- they will be working and learning at trade.
I will also push for more money for safe haven activities for youth. After school enrichment, academics, field trips, sports programs are an very effective and proven way to keep youth off of the street between 3;30 and 6:30 PM- when most negative activity occurs. By providing youth and families with more activities, the neighborhoods will be safer and families will be able to enjoy their community.
I want to provide more resources to our family centers in the community to ensure that we have safe and affordable activities for families to come together and interact in district 11.
