Category Archives: BCNA News

News and issues relating to the Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association and the Barbary Coast.

Join Us for BCNA’s Annual Meeting On September 21

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Please join the Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association for our Annual Membership Meeting on Tuesday, September 21 at 5:30 PM (via Zoom). If you are not already a BCNA member, please join us today!

Our featured guests from the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), Ariane Hogan, Executive Board Officer and San Francisco Chair, and Sarah Karlinsky, Senior Policy Advisor, will present on A New Civic Vision: SPUR’s 50 Year Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area. The meeting will also include the election of BCNA’s Board of Directors for 2022.

CLICK HERE to register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the meeting.

You’re invited to enjoy a craft cocktail from High Horse SF during the meeting! Choose a Pegasus, Bohemian, or Sunburst (non-alcoholic). Specially priced for us at $11. Food items also available. Quench your thirst and support a local business!

CLICK HERE for cocktail descriptions and to place an order for pick-up.

Congestion Pricing Proposal Postponed to 2022

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The San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) issued the following announcement outlining current plans for its congestion pricing study. It appears that a recommendation will not be presented to the Transportation Authority Board before spring 2022 at the earliest. The Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association will continue to monitor and report out on developments.

Downtown Congestion Pricing Study Summer Update

This spring and summer, our team has been analyzing public feedback and conducting technical analysis as we continue to develop policy proposals for a downtown congestion pricing recommendation for San Francisco. Visit our website to view the latest policy proposals.  In light of the changing and fluid conditions surrounding traffic conditions and transit use, the Transportation Authority is extending the timeline of the Downtown Congestion Pricing Study to next year. What this means for the study process:

Community Outreach

This extension will have implications for our upcoming outreach round. This summer, we held co-creation workshops with eight community-based organizations. We are currently wrapping up a few remaining workshops as part of this in-depth outreach. We had also planned a broader public outreach campaign as part of this outreach round. Public outreach remains a critical element of the study and will resume when the agency has a more reliable understanding of traffic patterns, transit use, office occupancy, and the trajectory of the city’s overall economic rebound. The timeline to resume outreach activities is to be determined, but is expected to resume in 2022.

Technical Work

Recently staff shared revised program/policy design options and will continue technical work on zone boundaries, evaluation of smaller boundary options, fee levels, discounts and exemptions as well as estimation and use of net revenues, as we observe travel patterns through fall and winter 2021-2022.

Study Recommendation

In light of extending the study timeline, congestion pricing policy recommendations will not be presented to the Transportation Authority Board by the end of 2021 as originally anticipated. Instead, the policy recommendations will be completed following the resumption of outreach activities at a future date.If the Board directs us to move forward, it would take at least five years to start a congestion pricing program. During this time, we would need to get state authorization and further develop the details of how the system would work, which would involve more analysis and community engagement. We look forward to continuing to work with you to shape this study.

Rachel Hiatt
Asst. Deputy Director, Planning
San Francisco County Transportation Authority

Please Vote! BCNA Statement on Governor Recall Election

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The California Gubernatorial Recall Election is underway. As a nonpartisan organization, the Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association does not take positions on candidates; however, we do encourage all of our members and neighbors to be active, engaged citizens and vote!

Every active registered voter will be mailed a vote-by-mail ballot for the recall election. Ballots must be postmarked, placed in a dropbox, or delivered to a polling place by 8 pm on September 14, 2021.

There are only two questions on the ballot:

  1. Should GAVIN NEWSOM be recalled (removed) from the office of Governor?
  2. Who should succeed Newsom IF he’s recalled?

If the majority of voters vote Yes on the first question, the second question on this ballot will immediately determine who becomes the next Governor of California. More than 50% of the vote is required for the recall, but the second question does not require a majority. The candidate with the most votes would win the election and become the next Governor. There are 46 candidates running in the replacement election: 24 from the Republican Party, 9 from the Democratic Party, and 13 from other parties or with no party affiliation.

The Governor of California makes decisions about taxes, spending, the pandemic (including the possible elimination of all mandates), regulations, wildfires, drought, homelessness and all our other current critical problems. The Governor appoints hundreds of high-level state employees and even appoints a new U.S. Senator to fill an unexpected vacancy.

This election is critical to the future of California, and this election will decide who will be the Governor of California for the remainder of this term.

PLEASE VOTE!