District 7 Community Grants Finalists Announced

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Over the holiday weekend, the Office of District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar announced the winners of the District 7 Community Grants initiative.

Eleven projects ranging from public art on Ocean Avenue to the renovation of Golden Gate Heights park were selected. Each is estimated to cost between $10,000 and $25,000. The total budget for the initiative is $250,000.

“Thanks to all the participants for your vision and support for our beloved District 7,” the announcement in the supervisor’s July 4 email newsletter states. “We are now working with city departments for final review of the selected projects and look forward to supporting their implementation!”

The Community Grants initiative was held in lieu of Participatory Budgeting due to the pandemic. Instead of having District 7 residents vote on proposals, the finalists were selected through a competitive scoring process.

Participatory Budgeting allows residents to propose projects and then vote on which ones ought to be funded. The idea was brought to San Francisco by former District 3 Supervisor David Chiu and embraced by former District 7 Supervisor Norman Yee.

Melgar secured $500,000 for participatory budgeting projects focused on traffic safety in the 2021-23 city budget.