The View canvassed its readers to identify residents who volunteer to improve their community. Below we describe the efforts of some of these individuals; the paper welcomes nominations of others.
Sue Bushnell, South Beach District 6 Democratic Club president, has been a San Franciscan for 54 years. Presently a Bryant Street resident, she’s previously lived in the Mission, Bernal Heights, and on Telegraph Hill.
Now retired, Bushnell coordinated student affirmative action programs at San Francisco State University (SFSU) for roughly 30 years. Bushnell chartered the South Beach District 6 Democratic Club (SBD6DC) in 2015 to give a political voice to the neighborhood and the district. According to Bushnell, the 2020-mandated redistricting of supervisorial district boundaries changed the political landscape.
“The Tenderloin was moved out of District 6, creating a much more residential profile,” said Bushnell.
District 6 now includes South-of-Market, Mission Bay, and Treasure Island.
SBD6DC, which has 52 dues paying members, endorses and promotes candidates and ballot measures. This summer, it’ll hold informal meetings with elected officials, including District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. At last year’s holiday event guests and members met with Dorsey, District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, California State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), and City Attorney David Chiu.
“SBD6DC does not take donations from corporations or developers. We are and hope to remain a true voice of the residents of District 6,” said Bushnell.
Najuawanda “Naj” Daniels is on her second term serving as co-president of the Starr King Elementary School Parent Teachers Association (PTA). She’s inspired and motivated by her niece, Rain, a fourth grader at the school.
“She is my reason for pushing forward,” said Daniels.
Daniels grew up on Arkansas Street, across from the Potrero Hill Recreation Center. Recently, her family home was sold, prompting her to move to Hunters Point. She works as a union representative for the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which represents City and County of San Francisco staff.
“I also provide professional music entertainment. I am one of the District 10 community DJs,” said Daniels.
In 2022 Daniels performed on the kid’s stage at the Potrero Hill Festival, Potrero Hill Black History event at the Potrero Hill Recreation Center, Potrero Hill Family Day, and District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton’s re-election party.
Daniels’ volunteerism is motivated by the changes she wants to see, including creating connections across cultures and ethnicities, bridging the gap between legacy – long-term – Hill families and new neighbors, and nurturing spaces for Black residents.
“How to better effect change than to jump right in?” said Daniels.
Daniels is concerned about ongoing gentrification and its adverse effects on Black children. She said there’s always been an unspoken divide between Potrero Terrace and Annex residents and homeowners living elsewhere on the Hill. Daniels wants to connect all District 10 neighborhoods, including the Hill, and Bayview Hunters Point.
According to Daniels, the Starr King PTA has a committee of parent volunteers dedicated to communications and messaging. The PTA has created an equity group, which supports leadership development of parents across cultures and ethnicities as a means to increase engagement. One of the group’s goals is to more equitably serve Black families to improve their experiences and outcomes at Starr King Elementary.
The Starr King PTA provides money, volunteers, equipment, and supplies for special initiatives, such as the school’s gardening program, coding, mindfulness activities, and Kingmakers and Queenmakers, which focuses on uplifting Black students. This fall, the PTA will hold an ice cream social to welcome new and returning families.
The school will also participate in the Potrero Hill “Day on the Green” Family Day, a community celebration featuring field games, music, food, and raffles to be held in August at the Potrero Hill Recreation Center .
Daniels said new leaders are emerging in the southeastern neighborhoods.
“These leaders are from the neighborhood, went to local schools, and have ideas about what will work. They went out and earned degrees and came back. They have frequent contact with the community because they knock on doors and go to local events. They’re here to break the barriers and represent members of the community who are underserved. They may not fit the status quo. But they are armed with passion and have a community behind them. Their goal is to be heard, to be recognized, and to be supported as stakeholders of the Potrero Hill community,” said Daniels.
Daniels pointed to Shervon Hunter, founder of Stand In Peace International, a Hill-based nonprofit that focuses on holistic and community centered healing practices, and her older brother, Dr. Reggie Daniels, an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco, team leader at San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, and founder of Hill-based nonprofit Transformational Miracles, Inc., which seeks to mitigate impacts on families affected by the criminal justice system.
Since 2013, J.R. Eppler has served as president of The Potrero Boosters, a neighborhood association that represents Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, and Showplace Square residents. Eppler lives on Connecticut near 19th Street. He first came to the City in 2007, initially landing on Folsom Street, moving to Utah near 17th Street in 2010. Eppler works as a corporate transactional attorney for small and medium-sized businesses and individuals.
The Potrero Boosters has about 100 active members. Eppler said the group flyers, cross-markets and co-hosts events with other neighborhood groups, holding candidate debates and forums.
“We have a booth at the Potrero Festival in October and participate in neighborhood events throughout the year,” said Eppler.
Boosters’ meetings are held the last Tuesday of the month, presently over Zoom, with an in-person social event scheduled for this fall.
Eppler said change has been the sole constant during his tenure as president. The group has effectively advocated for new and renovated parks and open spaces, safer roadways, and better transportation connections to the rest of the City. Recent successes include keeping Potrero Hill and Dogpatch in the same supervisorial district during the 2020 redistricting process, working with neighborhood groups to lobby for construction of the Mission Bay Elementary School, sharing input with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) on a new 55 Dogpatch Muni route, and advocating that SFMTA study 17th Street to identify ways to heighten safety. The Potrero Boosters also collaborated with the Dogpatch Neighborhood Association to lobby for SFMTA to make Minnesota Street a permanent slow street.
“Much of our work is to inform the community about what’s happening in the neighborhood and amplify the efforts of groups of neighbors attempting to effect positive change. So, a lot of what we do is in partnership with other groups,” said Eppler.
According to Eppler, over the past few years more parents of school-aged children and young professionals have attended meetings.
“This cohort has always led the PTAs, PREFund, and the other preschool boards… they’ve been much more involved in general neighborhood matters. Prior generations of leadership worked hard to develop a Potrero that would support families and long-term residents. (Parents) are paying that effort back by having an active voice in our community’s future,” said Eppler. “We’re a neighborhood association and neighbors don’t always agree. But we leverage areas of consensus for the community’s good, learn from each other’s points of view, and keep each other apprised of the many changes in our dynamic neighborhood. I hope you’ll come and check us out.”
