District 7 Residents Fund 3 Ingleside Projects Through Participatory Budgeting

The votes are in. Three of four District 7 Participatory Budgeting project proposals focusing on Ingleside have been funded, according to an announcement from the office of District 7 Supervisor Norman Yee.

The west end of Ingleside’s stretch of Ocean Avenue will receive attention in the form of sidewalk gardens on Ocean Avenue at Junipero Serra Boulevard to be planted by Commodore Sloat Elementary School kindergarteners.

Aptos Middle School’s play yards will be upgraded with new basketball court equipment, new bench and table seating, a mini skate park, a traversing boulder, hydration stations and new debris containers.

The Ocean Avenue intersections at Geneva Avenue and Frida Kahlo Way (Phelan Avenue), Granada Avenue and Miramar Avenue will be improved with artistic crosswalks and landscaping for pedestrian safety. The Frida Kahlo-Ocean-Geneva intersection has been identified as a high-injury corridor for pedestrians and cyclists, according to Vision Zero, a program attempting to eliminate traffic fatalities.

A similar project to improve crosswalk safety at Ocean and Granada avenues was funded by District 7 Participatory Budgeting in 2018 but has not been implemented by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

A proposal to install four repurposed utility poles adorned with artist-crafted neighborhood branding for the posting of informational flyers and notices did not secure enough votes to be funded. (Disclosure: This journalist submitted this proposal.)

“Congratulations to all of the awardees and thank you to all of you who voted,” Yee wrote in his September email newsletter to constituents.

19 proposals were funded. The dollar amounts and implementation timelines were not disclosed.

This round is the seventh and possibly final year of Participatory Budgeting. However, the candidates for District 7 supervisor have been supportive of keeping the process.

Participatory budgeting was introduced to San Francisco by former District 3 supervisor and current State Assemblymember David Chiu in 2012.

2020 District 7 Participatory Budgeting Winners

Pedestrian Safety

• Ocean Avenue Crosswalk Safety Project
• San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Design Phase of the Five-Way
• Protect Lakeside One Pedestrians: Speed Bumps to Stop Speeding
• Flashing Beacon and Crosswalk on 10th Avenue at Pacheco Street

Culture

• Win-Win for Safety and Beauty Along Junipero Serra Boulevard
• Art for Ocean Avenue
• Sidewalk Gardens for Ocean at Junipero Serra Boulevard
• Comprehensive Redesign of Miraloma Park Improvement Club Native Plant Garden
• Into the Future: Laguna Honda Hospital/Woodside Avenue Mural

Active Play Space

• Wilderness in the Neighborhood: Sunnyside Park

School, Education and Youth

• Aptos Middle School Shared Schoolyards Upper and Lower Play Yards Upgrade
• Outdoor Music Garden for West Portal Elementary School and Community
• Clean Air for Lakeshore Elementary School Classrooms

Disaster Preparation and Emergency Services

• Resilient West Portal Disaster Preparedness
• Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness: Parkmerced, Lakeshore and Stonestown
• Golden Gate Heights Shelter in Place/Emergency Preparedness Pilot Program

Neighborhood Services

• Neighborhood Services for Seniors
• PG&E’s Public Service Shutdown? Lights Are Out? Freezer Is Down? Ready! Miraloma Park
• Safety Around Water Initiative

Questions regarding Participatory Budgeting can be addressed to legislative aide Frances Hsieh at (415) 555-6516 or frances.hsieh@sfgov.org.

Support independent community news

No media outlet covers our neighborhood like The Ingleside Light. Full stop.

Reader support sustains the expensive reporting our community needs and deserves. Will you join the hundreds of readers and become a member?

Become a member today to support community news.