Myrna Melgar, Candidate For District 7 Supervisor, Answers Reader Questions

The Ingleside Light gathered questions from the community and posed them to the District 7, District 11 and mayor candidates in advance of the Nov. 5 election.

Here are the responses from District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who's running to keep her seat on the board of supervisors. Melgar, who was elected in November 2020, currently serves as the district’s supervisor and plans to continue her work on housing, transportation and children's service initiatives.

Melgar is up against current firefighter Stephen Martin-Pinto, small business owner Matthew Boschetto and retired surgeon Edward S. Yee.

Responses have been lightly edited.

How do you plan to be consistently involved in the neighborhood once in office?

In the same way, as I have over the past four years. I attend and organize community events, regularly attend meetings and regularly meet with people. My kids’ school and my faith community are both here and I am a subscriber to The Ingleside Light!

What is one issue in the neighborhood that you see ignored? How would you tackle this issue?

I try not to ignore issues! But one area in which we are still not getting the services proportional to the increase in need is homelessness. We need more crisis intervention, homeless outreach, substance use outreach and recovery services and exit programs.

Will you commit to fully funding the Dignity Fund in this and future years to meet the growing number and needs of older adults and people with Disabilities? 

I have championed this at budget every year and have been able to fund the cost of living increases yearly but this needs a structural fix at the ballot because it is part of the charter.

In many ways, City College of San Francisco was the beating heart of the neighborhood, a source of jobs and customers for local businesses. But its troubles have led to a 60%+ decline in enrollment which has precipitated other issues. How will you work with the college community to turn it around?

CCSF has an independent governing body. I have worked closely with the trustees and previous administrations on workforce partnerships, collaboration on the construction project and leveraging local and state sources to help with the access to the college. I am looking forward to building a relationship with the new Chancellor, as they negotiate a new MOU with the City for the Free City College program and the renewal of the Ocean Avenue Association, of which they are a member.

City College of San Francisco projects groundbreaking for its long-awaited Diego Rivera Theater — which will prominently feature Rivera's fresco Pan American Unity —  in December 2024. How will you work with the college community and the city's tourism sector to make it an attraction that boosts the economy and puts Ingleside on the map?

It is so exciting! The new performing arts center will have floor-to-ceiling glass walls that showcase the mural, which will sit — wait for it — at the corner of Frida Kahlo Way and Diego Street! It will be transformational for the college and the neighborhood. I will work with the college, the Office of Economic & Workforce Development, the Ingleside Merchants Association and the OAA to advertise widely and support and fund programming and marketing to bring people to the theater. I will also work with SF Travel to ensure that this is included in the attractions advertised to visitors to our city.

The Balboa Park Area Plan studied many major and minor projects, including decking the Interstate 280 freeway, realigning freeway ramps, etc. How will you advance portions yet to be done in the district?

Many parts of the plan are scheduled -like the realignment of the exit ramp from I-280 to Ocean Avenue. Some were considered for prioritization in the work Ocean Ave Transportation task force last year. The elements that have been prioritized are either underway or in the queue — like the K line improvements, for example.

What will you do to breathe new life into the neighborhood's commercial corridors? Please list 10 concrete proposals.

1.  Community ambassadors expansion

2. Public Art

3. Public events and celebrations

4. A program to support upgrades in awnings and signs

5. Improved cleaning and landscaping

6. Creation of an African American Cultural District

7. A Town and Gown committee with City College

8. Special themed nights at restaurants on the corridor for schools - Commodore Sloat, Aptos, Riordan, Lick Wilmerding, City College

9. Supporting marketing efforts of the Ingleside Merchants
10. More live entertainment permits

What does adequate community policing look like for the greater Ingleside neighborhood and its diverse communities?

1. Deep relationships and knowledge of the community (which our community police officer Drewkai Butler definitely has)

2. Adequate staffing

3. Officers with language capacity, especially Cantonese and Spanish in addition to English

Do you support the renewal and expansion of the Ocean Avenue Community Benefit District? If so, why and how will you work with its leadership to make sure it delivers the best results for all stakeholders?

Yes, and I will be working to support it. At the same time, we need to make sure everyone understands the impacts, particularly property owners and that the OAA CBD is accountable, transparent and efficient. Last year, I commissioned an audit and am happy to report that the OAA leadership has addressed all the findings and implemented new policies and procedures, training, capacity building and leadership development.

How will you incentivize landlords to rent out long-vacant units and thus increase the housing stock?

The voters of SF passed a vacancy tax that has not yet been fully implemented. I would like to see how that works out — if it has the intended effect before trying other incentives or punitive measures.

What's your position on Recology's monopoly on trash collection?

I don't like any monopolies but Recology is worker owned and unionized. I supported the City Administrator when they put the contract up for bid and even though another company won the bid for municipal waste pick up, it turns out there were irregularities in the proposal which caused the contract to not be finalized. I think biding it out regularly is a good governance practice and I will support that in the future.