South San Francisco to Host Series of Town Hall Meetings

South San Francisco, CA   April 17, 2015  Submitted by Leslie Arroyo City of South San Francisco

South San Francisco city leaders will be holding Town Halls to meet with local residents and solicit feedback from them ranging from police and library to parks and recreation. The meetings, which will begin April 28th and go until June 1, will be held in different locations throughout the city to make it convenient for all residents to attend.

The first Town Hall will be hosted by the South San Francisco Police Department. Police Chief Jeff Azzopardi says it’s important that residents attend these meetings so that his department and residents have a chance to meet and talk directly with each other. “We want to make sure we are meeting the resident’s expectations and hopefully these Town Halls will open the lines of communication to ensure we are doing just that,” says Chief Azzopardi.

The South San Francisco Police Department will host three Town Hall Meetings. During these meetings, the Chief will talk about the departmental structure, current community programs, and crime trends for the city, county and state. The meetings are listed below:

1.    April 28, 2015 – Municipal Services Building, 33 Arroyo Drive (Council Chambers) from 7:00pm – 8:30pm

2.    May 6, 2015 – **UPDATE Location will now be Monte Verde Elementary School 2551 St. Cloud Dr. San Bruno,  from 7:00pm – 8:30pm

3.    June 1, 2015 – Morelos Hall, 209 Miller Avenue from 7:00pm – 8:30pm

In addition, Library Director Valerie Sommer and Parks & Recreation Director, Sharon Ranals, will co-host Town Hall Meetings. Ranals will introduce the Parks & Recreation Master Plan and take feedback on the plan. The Parks and Recreation Master Plan will serve as a strategic plan guiding future improvements and program development over the next five to ten years. The Town Hall meeting will also provide the public with the opportunity to identify priorities for city-wide initiatives in the future.

Library Director, Valerie Sommer, will look to the public for feedback on developing a new library/community center in South San Francisco. The goal will be to have a community-driven process of visioning a new Main Library – a vibrant, multi-faceted learning and community center for all ages, providing traditional access to book and other library materials, as well as to digital content creation and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) programming. South San Francisco’s library of the future will be a welcoming, exciting, collaborative space, providing the community with the tools to read, succeed, network and navigate in the 21st Century world.

The Library and Parks & Recreation Town Hall meetings are listed below:

1.    May 2, 2015 – Fernekes Building, Orange Memorial Park from 10:00am – 11:00am

2.    May 11, 2015 – Magnolia Center, 601 Grand Ave. 3rd floor from 6:30pm – 7:30pm

3.    May 25, 2015 – Westborough Picnic Shelter from Noon – 1:30pm. (In the event of cold weather, it will be held at the Recreation Building)

“Having Town Hall meetings is one way South San Francisco residents can interact with city leaders and be a part of the planning process,” said Mike Futrell, City Manager. “We look forward to hearing from our residents about how we can continue to work together to make this city a great place to work and live in.”

For questions or more information, you can email [email protected]