July 9, 2010, San Francisco, CA – Mayor Gavin Newsom today praised the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Legislative Committee for its endorsement of critical transportation improvements in Southeast San Francisco. The MTC Board will advance a request for $15 million in federal stimulus dollars under the US Department of Transportation’s Tiger II program to complete the improvements to Harney Way.

“We are thrilled to have MTC join local, state and federal leadership in supporting the revitalization of this part of San Francisco,” said Mayor Gavin Newsom. “These improvements are a critical piece of moving the Hunters Point Shipyard/Candlestick Point Project forward and revitalizing this underserved neighborhood.”

The Harney Way improvements are a core piece of a $360 million transportation package to be constructed in Southeast San Francisco as part of the Hunters Point Shipyard / Candlestick Point integrated development project. This multimodal plan will enhance the transportation networks currently serving the Bayview/Hunters Point neighborhood, improve transit service, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, intersection control, curb ramps and landscaping, and pavement. The improvements will link portions of Southeast San Francisco with regional transportation resources and planned development at Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point.

In the Bayview/Hunters Point neighborhood, 20% of households live below the poverty line. As such, the Mayor has made revitalization a priority with the recently-adopted, CEQA-certified Candlestick Point/Hunters Point Shipyard Phase II Plan.

“The Harney Way roadway, bus rapid transit and bikeway project will offer enhanced, affordable transportation options for residents who do not drive, including youth and seniors,” said Nathaniel P. Ford Sr., SFMTA Executive Director/CEO. “This project will provide numerous transportation improvements for the community in the short and long term.”

The reconstruction of Harney Way is the first portion of a package of proposed improvements that will be implemented as part of the Hunters Point Shipyard/Candlestick Point development project. The full suite of improvements includes reliable and safe transit and bicycle links to BART, Caltrain and downtown San Francisco and provides residents of Southeast San Francisco and northern San Mateo County direct, seamless and affordable connections to all parts of the Bay Area.

The Candlestick Point/Hunters Point Shipyard project features 10,500 new housing units, nearly 3 million square feet of research and development space, childcare centers, grocery stores and other services within walking distance, over 300 acres of new parks, a stadium, arena and a retail center. Harney Way will be the gateway to the new neighborhood and to the neighboring Executive Park development, serving the compact, transit-oriented development and encouraging walking, bicycling and transit. The construction of the improvements will ensure that convenient multi-modal access is provided at the outset of the development project, helping to attain the livability goals for current and future residents of Southeast San Francisco.

Mayor Gavin Newsom today issued the following statement in response to California Inspector General Laura Chick’s audit of federal stimulus funds received by San Francisco and her finding of no reportable issues concerning how the City is spending funds received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA):”I’m very proud that the Inspector General’s report validates that San Francisco is spending the federal stimulus dollar we’ve received quickly and efficiently. From the beginning, we created the Recovery SF website so residents and taxpayers could track our progress and stay informed about stimulus money spending, jobs and projects.

Under the extraordinary leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and our Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer in Washington, San Francisco will benefit from more than $1.12 billion in federal stimulus funds to rebuild our infrastructure, boost our economy and create thousands of jobs. We’ll continue to be vigilant, transparent and accountable for every federal stimulus dollar we receive as we invest in the future of our City and region and put people back to work.”

San Francisco is set to receive the following Recover Act funding:

· $366.97 million in direct grants
· $33.36 million to the San Francisco Unified School District
· $200 million in funding for Doyle Drive
· $121.0 million in funding for the renovation of 50 UN Plaza
· $400 million for the Transbay Terminal

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, requires that taxpayer dollars spent under the Recovery Act are subject to transparency and accountability. To ensure that accountability requirements are being met, the Inspectors General of 28 federal agencies distributing Recovery funds continually review their agencies’ management of Recovery funds. On April 20, 2010 the California Recovery Act Inspector General released a review of San Francisco Workforce Investment Board’s (WIB) spending of Recovery Act funds for Summer Youth, Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs and found no reportable issues.

For more information on the spending of San Francisco’s Recover Act dollars visit: http://recoverysf.org/intranet/RecoverySF/

Washington, D.C.- The White House has launched an interactive tool to help Americans better understand which tax credits may be available to them under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For more information about this program or to access the Recovery Act Tax Savings Tool, please visit the White House website.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Mayor Gavin Newsom today announced that the San Francisco Department of Public Health AIDS Office will be receiving $9.5 million in ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) funding over the next five years to renovate and expand the Department’s ability to provide HIV/AIDS research at the AIDS Office at 25 Van Ness. The grant for the project-titled SOAR, the San Francisco Office of AIDS Renovation-comes by way of the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health.

“The San Francisco Department of Public Health’s AIDS Office is an international leader in HIV prevention and surveillance research,” said Mayor Newsom. “No other city in this country can boast a $46 million research portfolio devoted exclusively to HIV. This grant will provide the AIDS office with a research center commensurate with the world-class work that has gone on there for the past 20 years.”

The AIDS Office will not only renovate new and existing research space to conduct state-of-the-art HIV research, but will also allow the City a broader opportunity to promote collaboration between research units and colleagues worldwide, and create meeting space for community members to guide research efforts.

The next 8-month phase of the work will focus on concept and design specifics, with construction expected to begin in Spring 2011. The sustainable design goal is to achieve a LEED Silver rating. The historic 25 Van Ness Avenue building was built in 1911 and was formerly a Masonic Temple, designed by Walter Bliss. The historic architecture, statuary and wall murals will be preserved as an integral part of the new AIDS Research Center.

It is estimated that this construction grant will create over 100 new jobs.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Mayor Newsom announced today that San Francisco has secured nearly $3 million in federal stimulus funds to offset the cost of residential and commercial energy and water efficiency projects. This new funding adds additional incentives to the GreenFinanceSF program, which will allow property owners to fund environmental improvements, with the financing attached to the property and paid back on the property tax bill. The program, previously slated to launch March 1, will now launch in early April, once the grant funding is in place, so applicants can take immediate advantage of all of the program’s benefits.

“San Francisco’s green financing program will help property owners overcome the large up-front costs of major environmental improvements to their buildings,” said Mayor Newsom, “and these newly secured funds will lower the cost of these improvements significantly by providing additional financial incentives to borrowers.”

The $2,955,957 funding is authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as administered through the California Energy Commission. The money will be directed to home, business and apartment owners-with special incentives for low income residents-for energy and water efficiency upgrades such as insulation, windows, heating, low flow water fixtures, and for renewable energy systems.

“San Francisco prevailed for these funds in a hotly competitive process, but it was our innovative approach that won the day,” said Ed Harrington, General Manager of SFPUC. “Our proposal reflects the city’s environmental and social values because it shares the benefits across all economic sectors.”

“In addition to reducing San Francisco’s carbon footprint,” said Environment Department acting director David Assmann, “this green financing program is going to sustain hundreds of green jobs in The City.”

The Mayor’s Office, working with Supervisor Eric Mar, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the Controller’s Office of Public Finance and the Department of Environment, developed an accessible, low-cost loan program that residential and commercial property owners can use to finance environmental-oriented building improvements. The loan program establishes a Citywide Mello-Roos Special Tax District that would be available to finance privately-owned energy efficiency, renewable energy and water conservation improvements. The loan is attached to the property, rather than the individual, and is paid back through property taxes over the life of the loan.

The program website GreenFinanceSF.org will go live on March 1, where property owners can find out about the range of activities covered under the program, and how to participate. Information is also available by email, at contact@greenfinancesf.org, or by calling the Green Finance hotline at 800-803-6930. After the early April launch, property owners will be able to apply online, or call San Francisco’s municipal information line 3-1-1 for additional information.