Here's Supervisor Myrna Melgar's Plans For Ingleside In Her Second Term

In her first term, District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar spearheaded the Ocean Avenue Mobility Action Plan in the neighborhood and citywide measures like the courtesy graffiti abatement pilot program.

Melgar oversees neighborhoods such as Ingleside Terraces, West Portal and Inner Sunset as well as Ocean Avenue, Ingleside’s economic core, with District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen.

With serving the community for another four years, what does Melgar have in store for this part of the district? To get a sense of what lies ahead, let’s revisit the questionnaire and sit-down chats The Ingleside Light had with her while on the campaign trail.

Maintaining The Momentum

Melgar plans to keep doing what she’s been doing when it comes to organizing and attending community events, regularly attending meetings and meeting with constituents. She also plans to increase cleaning and landscaping efforts in the neighborhood and keep fighting for funding for projects and programs such as the Dignity Fund, which provides social services to older people, adults with disabilities, veterans and caregivers.

Melgar also plans to keep up with efforts to implement Prop. J, which would create an oversight group to monitor the city’s spending on youth programs and services and address and seek programs like crisis intervention, homeless outreach, substance use outreach and recovery services and exit programs for the homeless population.

Housing

Melgar is working with recently elected California Assemblymember Catherine Stefani on a co-op housing initiative.

Community Benefit District Renewal

Melgar fully supports the renewal and expansion of the Ocean Avenue Association, but said she wants to ensure that everyone, particularly property owners, understand the impacts of having the community benefit district and make sure they are transparent, efficient and held accountable. If renewed, OAA also plans to expand into Lakeside Village and add Balboa Park BART station into their service area.

City College Improvements And Support

In an effort to boost the City College of San Francisco, Melgar is looking forward to building a relationship with the new chancellor as they negotiate a new contract with the city for its Free City College program.

She also plans to create a safe sidewalk path behind the Ocean Avenue campus that leads to the Havelock Bridge, create a town and gown committee with the college and partner with nearby restaurants for special themed nights that support schools like City College, Commodore Sloat Elementary, Aptos Middle, Archbishop Riordan High School and Lick-Wilmerding High School.

With the anticipated arrival of the Diego Rivera Theater and the return of Rivera’s fresco “Pan American Unity,” Melgar plans to work with not only the college but with San Francisco’s Office of Workforce Development, SF Travel, the Ingleside Merchants Association and the OAA to advertise, support and fund programming and marketing to bring people and visitors to the neighborhood’s soon to be new attraction.

Art, Entertainment And Cultural Diversity

Melgar plans to support more public events and measures to have more live entertainment permits and more public art. She also plans to create an African American cultural district within the neighborhood.

Small Business Revitalization

Melgar wants to create a program to support owners with upgrades like awnings and signs.

Public Safety

Fully staffing the police department is on the minds of many of the city’s elected officials, while Melgar agrees she wants to take it a step further by also having officers that are multilingual in Cantonese or Spanish in addition to English and believes having them form deep relationships and knowledge of the community like the district's current Taraval Station footbeat Officer Drewkai Butler will help. In addition, she plans to bring more community ambassadors to the neighborhood like she did for West Portal.

Meglar has also worked with police to install license plate reading cameras at Ninth Avenue and Irving Street with plans to add more at West Portal Avenue and Portola Drive. In September 2024, she also said she hopes to bring them to Ocean Avenue.