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Opinions & Open Forum

The service of the fast rail line in Shenzhen, china, has impressed Joanna Gubman. Courtesy of Joanna Gubman

Opinion: Let’s vote yes on 5-county Bay Area regional measure and San Francisco Prop H for clean, safe, and reliable public transit!

During winter in 2025, my family visited Hong Kong, our first visit since our daughter was born. As a committed environmentalist, I also couldn't help but notice how incredible the public transit was in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and how seamlessly integrated it was into life in the whole region.

  • I am here to speak in opposition to Proposition H.

    Prop H, authored by Mayor Daniel Lurie, adds a 15-year property tax to fund the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) which faces a severe budget shortfall of $307 million. If voters approve Prop H in the November election, each commercial parcel will have an additional base tax of $799 plus a tax based on the property's square footage. Wind Newspaper photo

  • When walking down Irving Street near 19th Avenue, you will instantly find that it is full of life. Seniors spending mornings in Uncle Benny's, toddlers going on rope walks with their daycare, teens shopping at boba shops, and shoppers looking for a bargain at multiple grocery stores. It is a reminder that the Sunset’s identity as a place for families, is built into its DNA.

    A large billboard paid by GrowSF to support District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong for re-election stands at the corner of Irving and 22nd Streets, the heart of the Irving Street business corridor in the Sunset District. Courtesy photo

  • We, the residents, business owners, families, and community supporters of Ocean Avenue, write to demand one thing: immediately and permanently stop the proposed red lane (bus-only lane) on Ocean Avenue.

    Merchants post signs at store windows and doors to show their opposition to the bus-only lane project along the Ocean Avenue business corridor. Wind Newspaper photo

  • Dear Sunset voters

    The Recall School Board was a grass root campaign organized by primarily parents and officially began in February 2021. This was the first event for parent volunteers to gather signatures outside Lowell High School for a recall election. Wind Newspaper photo

  • San Francisco lost a dedicated public servant in September, and I lost a good friend, whom I had known for many decades. Frank Blackburn was a retired San Francisco Fir Department (SFFD) Division Chief who had a huge effect on the City’s level of fire safety during his 35 years as a firefighter.

    Late San Francisco Fire Department Assistant Chief Frank Blackburn who passed away in September 2025 had a huge effect on the City’s level of fire safety during his 35 years as a firefighter. Courtesy Quentin Kopp

  • Thirty years ago, I immigrated from Taiwan to San Francisco’s Sunset District. My husband and I bought a home on 26th Avenue and Irving Street near Sunset Super and raised our two children there. We are both public school teachers and have always believed that settling in the Sunset was a wise decision — close to retail and the park, relatively quiet, somewhat affordable, and surrounded by families.

    The 2550 Irving Street affordable housing project is almost complete. 300 people will move into the 90-unit apartment building where surrounding neighbors have continuously complained for over 5 years that it is built on a toxic land. Photo by Wind Newspaper

  • On behalf of the Chinatown and Sunset Merchants United Association in San Francisco, I am writing this open letter to express our strong protest and deep dissatisfaction regarding the planned street-closure event on Grant Avenue hosted by BeChinatown on February 4, Wednesday, which was publicly promoted and advanced without any public hearing, formal notice, or prior consultation with affected merchants and residents.

    San Francisco Chinatown merchants complain that the Chinatown Night Market, which will mark its 4th year in 2026, not only did not bring more business to most shops in Chinatown, instead they lost customers because streets were closed to vehicles, street vendors blocked their front doors, parking spaces were removed, traffic was jammed, and shoppers would rather buy food from vendors than going inside the restaurants. Courtesy Chinatown merchants

  • I am very concerned about how San Francisco city agencies monitor their issued work permits.

    Since the closure of the Great Highway after Prop. K was passed by citywide voters in November 2024, the importance of 19th Avenue has increased with more vehicles everyday sharing the roadway which is also a segment of Highway 1. Wind Newspaper photo

  • Our families have lived on San Francisco’s westside for generations. Our families worked long hours - running restaurants, cleaning offices, driving taxis, sewing in garment shops - to save enough to buy modest homes. These houses are not luxuries. They are the foundation of our security, our children’s inheritance, and the hard-earned generational wealth that we fought to build after decades of exclusion and discrimination.

    The westside neighborhoods of San Francisco include Richmond and Sunset districts which are known as residential areas with single family houses. Both districts are also homes to many Chinese American families. Wind Newspaper photo