Hello Gavin,   My wife and I are SF residents and have been traveling around the country and Canada for nearly 2 years. We both sent in the absentee ballot form and stipulated that the ballot be mailed to a different address (not our SF address).  This is clearly stated as an option on the absentee ballot form. Whoever was responsible at City Hall sent it incorrectly to our home address instead.  Because of this error we were unable to vote. We were surprised that both of our absentee ballots were sent to the wrong address and wondered whether MANY others had Read This Posty »

I thought it was a good idea to allow people the chance to voice their ideas and peeves in a public forum.  Patti Dillon Read This Posty »

As a proud San Franciscan I go out of my way to help tourists (or anyone) with directions, local history, recommendations or to take pictures of them on their cameras.  I think The City should solicit such involvement from San Franciscans.  Sure - we have kinder people here than most cities (though not as kind as we were in the past to be sure), but not everyone will go out of their way to help people - and let them know - and feel - the unique loving quality of The City.  Give people a pass to something (a free Read This Posty »

Put a link on the website to find out what San Franciscans like, what they think is going well or being done well by City Government.   Lee Denton Read This Posty »

Dear Mayor Newsom,   San Francisco had its own Statue of Liberty on Mt. Olympus at or near the geographic center of the city.  When it was dedicated by Sutro in the 1880s it was intended to be a monument to the triumph of light (or "Liberty Enlightening the People")  At the dedication it was said that it would be an imperishable symbol.  But it was perishable and was torn down leaving only the base.  The light held by the statue is gone.  I am proposing and seeking your assistance in reviving the site and rekindling the light in what is a many Read This Posty »

Act Locally lets ideas fly right up to the top - what a fabulous way to lead and encourage proactive people!  I let a draft dream fly, requesting a reality check - that arrow was WAY off target (fortunately, I think it also went to the wrong email - LOL).  But it got me thinking:  I get to state all my views openly and passionately, but our Mayor can't just speak out.  He has to carefully consider and balance many different views from all sorts of people, weigh them all, along with input from the team of folks working for Read This Posty »

Dear Mayor Gavin Newsom,    As a suggestion, when the troops return home from Iraq, the City of San Francisco should celebrate all troops by having a celebration (of some sort) for the troops. I'm not sure how it will all work out but it would be nice if we could have a celebration party or ceremony for them. Just a suggestion.    Thank You and Take Care. Betty Read This Posty »

Hello Mayor Newsom, I am so glad that you have created this website!  Have wanted to share ideas with you for a while. Just returned from 2 weeks in Europe and was impressed with some of the environmental things they do to conserve energy that would be great for our country and, of course, San Francisco is the city to lead the way... 1.  Have lights for public areas set on motion sensors to conserve energy. This would be great for restaurants, stairwells in apartments, parking garages, bathrooms, office buildings, etc. Why do we need to have the lights on in empty office buildings Read This Posty »

CCSF has got to implement a resident priority policy when selecting applicants to the RN program.  SF resident tax dollars must go to educate our residents first!  For a better SF, we must develop the city's greatest resource, her citizens!  I have written the Mayor several times about this issue.  Sadly, an issue that affects all of SF gets no response.  Putting SF residents first is a win for everyone.  Regina Burke Read This Posty »

Train and hire people that are already in the City, and stop trying to see how much the City can pay to those brought in from elsewhere.  San Francisco has just as many bright, intelligent, educated people as any other major city. I have said this time and time again; we need to accomodate our own first and maybe people won't have to leave this city. Give these young people that want to work jobs in City hall and other city servicing areas, where eventually young people can turn their lives around and be the productive citizens that they can be. Read This Posty »

It is very difficult for the average person to find any information regarding meetings held by departments, committees and commissions.  You have to go the city web site, then find the department/commission home page, the agenda/meeting schedule page and then select the date you are interested in.  It seems that a majority do not list their schedules and rarely post meeting minutes.  Despite the fact that certain committees and commissions are supposed to meet on a schedule, many consistently cancel meetings and do not announce when the next one will be.  Why not have a link on the City's home Read This Posty »

It is very difficult for the average person to find any information regarding meetings held by departments, committees and commissions.  You have to go the city web site, then find the department/commission home page, the agenda/meeting schedule page and then select the date you are interested in.  It seems that a majority do not list their schedules and rarely post meeting minutes.  Despite the fact that certain committees and commissions are supposed to meet on a schedule, many consistently cancel meetings and do not announce when the next one will be.  Why not have a link on the City's home Read This Posty »

Motorbikes: Terribly noisy... Not to be allowed if at all possible. More education in schools, churches of any denomination about the extra stress people are getting from noise; funny short documentaries could be made at film schools on a college level for a prize. Guess public speakers trainees (and/or Toastmasters) could prepare many speeches on the topic. "A Good Citizen bylaw" should be published, any infraction should enable police department to issue a ticket: Noise! Too many youngsters going home late on week-ends talking, laughing out loud for extended period of times after 10:00 pm - it is happening too often. Door Read This Posty »

Solicit major grocery stores and other large store to launch a campaign to support the mandate of no plastic bags --posters, TV spots, give out free bags Re: grand jury- use your web site to encourage people to volunteer --contact Judge Ballati about the DVD on jury service, list the Civil Grand Jury as a place to volunteer, and provide info on the application process. Name Withheld Read This Posty »

A significant increase in tree planting was published as an initiative by Mayor Bloomberg in NYC in last week's New York Times, and this would be an excellent idea for San Francisco. The article suggested that NYC will plant 1 million more trees which is a significant commitment. In SF, there are many blocks in the Mission and Hunters Point that have no trees or very few despite the excellent weather, and this contributes to a sense of urban blight. Per the Friends of the Urban Forest website, tree plantings improve whole neighborhoods, increase property values, promote civic pride and Read This Posty »