Is There Really a “War on Cars”? A Westside Conversation with Emma Hare

In this episode, I talk with Emma Hare, legislative aide to Supervisor Myrna Melgar, about the Inner Sunset and transportation policy in San Francisco. If you've ever wondered what a legislative aide actually does, what makes the Inner Sunset unique, and the so-called “war on cars," this episode is for you. 

We also talk about including two transit funding measures expected on the November 2026 ballot that could shape public transit funding.

Whether you take transit, drive, bike, or walk, these upcoming measures will influence how the Bay Area moves and how we pay for it.

For more information on the ballot measures discussed:

San Francisco Muni parcel tax proposal:
 https://www.spur.org/news/2026-01-29/proposed-parcel-tax-would-help-sustain-muni-service-and-rider-approval

Regional transportation measure:
 https://transformca.org/regional-transportation-measure-2/

Have questions or ideas for future episodes?
 Email me at jessica.jasmine.ho@gmail.com

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The Sunset Connection — exploring the stories and histories that connect us.

Transcript

Meet Emma Hare & Her Path To SF;

Jessica J. Ho 0:00

Welcome back to the Sense of Connection. Today I'm joined by Emma Hare, legislative aide to Supervisor Myrna Melgar and the fourth vice chair of the Democratic County Central Committee, also known as the DCC. Emma has been deeply engaged in Westside civic life and public service as she brings a perspective that sits in the intersection of neighborhood, identity, and city governance. When people say the sunset, what do they really mean? Is the sunset a political boundary, a real estate label, a cultural shorthand, or something else entirely? That's what we're exploring today. So let's start with the basics. Welcome, Emma.

Emma Hare 0:43

Thank you for having me, Jessica.

Jessica J. Ho 0:45

So Emma, I'm so glad that you're here. Um, can you tell me a little bit more about uh where you grew up and how you ended up here in San Francisco? Yes.

Emma Hare 0:57

Um, I am originally from Oregon, a small town called Eugene, which is where the Oregon Ducks are from, go ducks. And then I left as soon as I could uh to go to college in New York. And then I did a Fulbright scholarship in South America after that. And it inspired me to want to be more active in fighting for what I believe is right in the world. And that to me at the time was immigration advocacy and immigration rights. So I moved myself to San Francisco, which I saw as an epicenter of that industry and of defending immigrants. And I worked in immigration law for a while. In 2018, I was working in the mayor's office, and I have since been working in politics and policy since then. And now I work for the Board of Supervisors in District 7 under Supervisor Mirna Melgar. Um, and I live in Sunnyside with my husband and my cat. Her name is Tuesday, and we are going to be welcoming a new family member in May. Congratulations. Thank you. Um, my husband is a San Francisco native. My child is a third-generation San Franciscan, I have to say that.

Jessica J. Ho 2:06

Can you tell us a little bit more about like a day-to-day for a legislative aid? Like, what is a day in the life of a legislative aid?

What A Legislative Aide Actually Does;

Emma Hare 2:13

Yes. Um, every day is different because it is our job as legislative aides to be responsive to the public and to the moment. And every moment is different. So a lot of the job is constituent services, which means helping everyday people with what they need help with from the governments. That might be a garbage can is overflowing and we need to make sure it gets serviced because someone dumped more than they should have. It might mean graffiti on a library wall that we need to make sure is getting cleaned up. Constituent services can be a lot of different things. Um, so every moment of that is really different. Some moments of joy, a lot of moments of sorrow. I like to remind folks, uh my interns, that nobody calls the government on a good day. So it's a lot of helping people through a bad day. Um, and then another piece is legislating. So we help the supervisor write laws and pass laws to solve all kinds of problems across our city. That might mean that we increase or decrease the penalties for graffiti. Um, it might mean all kinds of things. I mean, laws come up over any little thing. A lot of them come from the constituent services. We see that a system is not working and we try to fix it. And then, sort of the third tranche of responsibilities of a legislative aide is representing the supervisor at public events. So I spend a lot of time at neighborhood association meetings, I spend a lot of time with merchants' associations, I spend a lot of time meeting with people in the district, asking them how it's going, them telling me what's working, what's not, and then trying to make it work better at City Hall.

Jessica J. Ho 3:48

So you're like the eyes and ears for the supervisor. The eyes and the ears and the pen and the paper. Right. What do you wish people knew before engaging with the supervisor's office and most likely a legislative aid?

Emma Hare 4:02

What do I wish people knew? I wish people knew that we don't just have a database of all residents and everything about them. We do sometimes get folks who say, um, just look me up. And we don't have a big database of everybody. And I also wish people knew that we are a legislative body, and so we are not technically the implementing or executive body that is the mayor's office.

Jessica J. Ho 4:32

In that case, is there uh a way for constituents to directly contact the mayor?

How To Work With City Hall;

Emma Hare 4:38

And the mayor's office has a mayor's office of community affairs known as Mocha, and they are one of the ways you can do that. You can also call the mayor's office, you can email the mayor's office, you can walk into City Hall and walk into the mayor's office and say, Hi, I'm Emma, and you need to clean up the garbage.

Jessica J. Ho 4:56

I'm sure he would love for all of us to go there and just make our requests known to him. It is office. It is his job. So I would hope he loves it. So for many listeners who uh may not be familiar, what neighborhoods are in District 7?

Emma Hare 5:13

District 7 is the largest geographic supervisorial district in San Francisco. And it includes West Portal, Forest Hill, uh the Inner Sunset, half of Ocean Avenue, part of Golden Gate Park, uh uh SF State, Stonestown, and Park Merced. And I missed a couple neighborhoods in there. There's a lot, so forgive me if you live in Monre Heights, Balboa Terrace, or one of the other hundred neighborhoods. Davidson Manor, too, right? Mount Davidson Manor, correct. Yeah, there's lots of smaller neighborhoods that um deserve a mention, but we don't have time today.

Jessica J. Ho 5:46

As a general, is it very homogenous?

Mapping District 7 & Its Many Neighborhoods;

Emma Hare 5:49

So District 7 has the largest diversity of political opinion of any district in the city. So it goes from the most conservative voters of the highest Republican voters in the city all the way to some of the most progressive in the city. And and it and a lot of different districts have, you know, lean to one side or the other. And District 7 embodies all of the spectrum. Um, and so representing District 7 is its own unique challenge, and anyone who has done so uh will tell you, whether that is Supervisor Milgar or Norman Yi or John Ellsburn or anyone else uh across history. Um, and it is also defined by a lot of single-family homes. Um, but that is changing for a couple of reasons. One reason is redistricting in um the early 2020s led to the inner sunset being newly included in district seven. It was previously in district five. So that neighborhood has um more apartment buildings and and more renters. Um, and then also because of some zoning changes, there is uh potential for new, more dense housing in District 7, and there's some developments um in the pipeline, including at Stonestown and uh near the city college campus. So it historically it's been mostly single-family homes, but this is something that is changing gradually right now.

Jessica J. Ho 7:13

In in uh real time. In real time. And then UCSF too, right? As a planned uh housing development. Correct.

Emma Hare 7:20

Yeah, so UCSF Parnassus campus is also within District 7, and they are planning uh some ho some hospital expansion, including some new housing. Inner Sunset is known as being the neighborhood that is closest to some of our attractions in Golden Gate Park, including the Cal Academy of Sciences and the De Young Museum.

What Counts As “The Sunset”;

Jessica J. Ho 7:38

I've not I'm not born here. You know, we talk to a lot of natives. We talk to, I ask all the questions. I'm sure you do too, of your residents and constituents, and you ask them, like, what do you consider the sunset?

Emma Hare 7:48

You know, when I think about the West side, I've heard a lot of different definitions. I've heard folks say that it uh is anything past 19th Avenue. So um that would be like the the heart of the sunset. I've heard folks say that it is topographical, that it has to do with our mountains and our canyons of Twin Peaks and of Mount Davidson and of Glen Canyon. Um I've even heard folks say that it's anything west of Van Ness, which would include Hayes Valley and parts of the mission. So I'm I think that one was a bit of a hot take, in my opinion. A little bit. Um, but you know, I've heard a lot of different definitions and and I um I like to think of myself as a a student of a student and a product of history. And I have to admit it's been challenging to nail down what exactly is the sunset, what exactly is the west side, when it feels like every individual has an individual definition. So many different opinions on what is the sunset, what is the west side.

Jessica J. Ho 8:48

We're all the sunset, right? Like it's all one thing to us, but maybe that's not the case clearly in the city lines. Um, but for me personally, like from after talking to people who have lived here their whole lives and have grown up here, maybe third generation, whatever, you know, I think the sunset means something that it's very different than downtown downtown. Like it's uh it there is some sort of um, you know, je ne sais quoi that makes the sunset what it is. And I think for anyone who is out here and visits the inner sunset and the outer sunset, I think you'll understand what we mean. That even though there might be a little bit more density, it's a different neighborhood, 10 streets up or avenues up, um, it still like feels connected in one kind of contiguous uh portion of the city that is distinct from Hay Astray, that is distinct from Noe Valley. How have you seen the inner sunset identity be shaped? What are some very unique things about the inner sunset that are uniquely just the inner sunset?

Inner Sunset Identity And Arts Corridor;

Emma Hare 9:51

It's very young. It's a lot of folks in their 20s and early 30s. And so there's a lot of youthful energy. It has, you know, and with that, there's a lot of, you know, pubs and there's a decent amount of nightlife, more so than other parts of the sunset. And then in addition, the inner sunset has developed this really interesting arts corridor that has spans, you know, the San Francisco women artists and but has existed for more than 100 years. And at the other end of the corridor, closer to 19th, is uh one of our newest uh inner sunset businesses is Sunset Commons, which is a crafting cafe where you can go and, you know, crochet and knit and paint and all these wonderful things. There's also the problem library, but the inner sunset has become this arts corridor where it's it's building off of some of the culture of the Haight Ashbury, which is nearby. I think that has been such a joy to be able to work with them and and help to represent them with my employer, uh supervisor Myrna Melgar. And so those are some things that are unique about the inner sunset that that aren't true of of all of all of our beautiful constituents of District 7.

Jessica J. Ho 10:54

The inner sunset is very serviced by public transit. So, how is parking kind of a concern for residents there?

Emma Hare 11:03

Parking definitely is a concern. A lot of folks still do have cars, and a lot of folks drive to the inner sunset. Is it's it's a blessing and a curse, really, that the inner sunset is so full of phenomenal restaurants because it means that there's so many great meals to eat there, but also means there's a lot of delivery cars and scooters that jam up the roads. So we've seen a lot of double parking, we've seen a lot of moat beds that hang out without paying for parking or taking up too much space, just um waiting for an order to come in so they can make a delivery. So that has been one of the major concerns of the neighborhood. Um, there are also several parking lots around the inner sunset, um, but they stopped charging at six. And so a lot of folks who live there will park overnight or or or maybe they're visiting a friend, they park overnight for free. Uh, and then folks who are just trying to go to have a meal don't have anywhere to go.

Jessica J. Ho 11:58

So watching out for these trends. Like, how is the supervisor's office preparing for these kind of changes?

Parking Pressures And Delivery Congestion;

Balancing Transit And Driving;

Emma Hare 12:04

Um, well, that's a great question. So my boss, Supervisor Melgar, is really focused on transportation, and I'm lucky enough to be able to support her in that role. I'm I'm the legislative lead that works on all things transportation for the office. Uh, so that is a really interesting viewpoint that I get to experience. And so she is chair of the county transportation authority here in town, which is a citywide uh entity that uh handles transportation projects. Um, she's also on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which is a regional body that oversees transportation issues. So I get to kind of put my foot in a lot of different uh worlds from the regional to the local to the hyperlocal district transportation stuff. And, you know, one of the ways we're thinking about that is that there's only so much land that exists in San Francisco. And so if we want to make sure that we can get people in and out of restaurants, in and out of retail shops, in and out of small businesses, in and out of doctor's offices, in and out of their friends' houses for dinner or for podcast recording, um we know that some people are gonna have to drive, and that is how it is, um, whether they're moving a bunch of podcasting equipment or their kids or an elder or whatever that might be. And there's some people who don't who need to drive, that they can take transit. And we want to make taking transit easy for those who do have the option too. And we want to make driving easy for those who don't have the other option. Um, and so one of the ways to do that is to make sure the Muni is running reliably, the Muni is safe, the Muni is affordable, that Muni is something that you can count on. That's not always the case. Uh, and so that's something we're working towards. We have two ballot measures coming up in November to try to save Muni from impending peril that would most um that would be really devastating for the West Side because there's already not enough transportation on the West side. And so seeing cuts of 50% would be devastating. Uh, there's one regional measure, which is five counties bound together to put a sales tax on the ballot that will save a bunch of different regional transportation networks. So for San Franciscans, that's really essential for BART service and also for some Muni, but it also helps Caltran, Samtrans. Even if the regional measure passes, we're still not gonna be made whole by that um sales tax. So the mayor has proposed also a parcel tax, which would um it's a progressive parcel tax. So folks who own plots of land that are smaller pay less. Folks that owe plots of land that are larger pay more. Um, but it is a parcel tax. The minimum is $129, and that's what the vast majority of single family homeowners will pay.

Jessica J. Ho 15:00

Okay.

Funding Muni: Sales And Parcel Taxes;

Emma Hare 15:01

Um, that it's it's different for Salesforce, it's different for the giant stadium, it's different for hospitals, right? Um, but the vast majority of homeowners and property owners will be paying $129.

Jessica J. Ho 15:15

Compared to the taxes I have to pay every year, um, a drop in the bucket.

Emma Hare 15:20

It's it's about the same as a monthly Muni Pass. And that will make that one is exclusively for Muni, and that will make Muni hole. So we don't have to cut Crossing Gars, we don't have to cut bus lines, we don't have to cut all these wonderful services for our city. We want to make sure that folks can get where they need to go, however, they choose to do that.

Jessica J. Ho 15:40

There really is a concern about the war on cars. Yeah. And when um I first heard about the war on cars, I didn't really think it was real. Like I just thought it was just some people overreacting to some of the changes that are were happening on the west side, like the uh revitalization of the El Terabol train that took away parking and maybe some stops. People were very upset about that. Um, Great Highway clearly is a is a very sore point, even before it was transformed into Sensit Dunes. Yeah. And so there was always, not always, but say the past 10 years, like a rising swell concern from residents. I was hearing that people were afraid that like they're just that it's gonna make it much more difficult to to try it. And it be it became kind of like a war.

“War On Cars” And The Case For Choice;

Emma Hare 16:27

Um, my first thought is that using the word a word like war for what's going on in with transportation in San Francisco is a bit much. Agree. We we should be careful with our words because we do have actual wars in in our in our world right now, and I and I think what's happening with transportation in San Francisco is there's a conflict for sure. But I I wouldn't call it a war. Right. That's my first thought. And then my my next thought is that I think our transportation system should be about choice and that people should have the choice to drive if they want to, or if they need to. People should also have the choice to bicycle if they want to, or if they need to, or to ride transit if they want to, or if they need to, or walk, or all, you know, I think it's all about choice. And that's one of the reasons that people live in cities is because they get to choose from all these different types of industries and careers. They get to choose from all these different types of housing. Whether they do I want to live in a studio or a mansion or whatever, you're gonna have all these options, or even when you look for a meal. I do I want Mexican food, do I want Chinese food? Do I want Russian food? Do I want whatever? I think that's one of the reasons we live in cities is because of there's so much choice. Um, and I think that is how I see my role in in City Hall is to provide choice to our residents who have very different lifestyles. Um, and so it makes sure it is easy, safe, affordable to get around however you want to do that. And that means if you're driving, let's make that you know safe, reliable, and affordable. And if you're biking, let's make that safe, reliable, and affordable. And if you're taking transit, let's make that safe, reliable, and affordable. And I think unfortunately, the balance um isn't there right now. Like with Muni, it isn't safe, reliable, and affordable right now. It is the buses can come late sometimes, sometimes they're messy or have someone who's having a mental health crisis on them. So we need to, we need we have work to do there. And I think when it comes to our biking network, a lot of places it's not safe to bike in San Francisco. A lot of people we've seen in survey after survey after survey with MTA, um, people say, I wish I could bike more, but I don't feel safe. And so I I see that as my role to make sure that we have better bike infrastructure for people who want to make that choice. And then for folks who want or need to drive, I think it's our duty to make sure that there is ways to do that and that people can get around safely and efficiently. Um and and I and I'm dedicated to making sure all of these methods are a viable choice for those who want to choose it.

Making Biking And Transit Safer;

Jessica J. Ho 19:02

That's a tall order because there's a limited amount of space and a limited amount of resources. Yeah. So certain certainly there's going to be tension when things are shifting as they are in San Francisco right now, and people will at least temporarily feel like they're being gypped, right? Like they don't, they got the shorter in the stick, and that the bikers are getting everything now. Yeah. And that the bikers are saying, well, the the car people are getting everything now. And so like it is kind of a hard thing to deliver for sure.

Emma Hare 19:29

I mean, that's it's it's an all as an aspiration, right? We want to, I want to get to that place. That's my North Star. I've long said, you know, we are developing on the west side or anywhere in town. Often these sites sit empty for months, years. And I would love to explore a program in which we incentivize developers to turn empty lots into parking temporarily while they're getting their permits and while they're getting their their ducks in a row, then like turn this empty lot into parking and we can cost share between the MTA and the developer. I can think of plenty of sites on the west side in the sunset that are empty and could be parking, uh, especially near crowded, crowded areas where there's not enough parking. I think, you know, we've we've talked about angled parking.

Jessica J. Ho 20:10

Those ideas are very interesting. You know, things are changing and they're changing at a pace I don't think that I have seen in my lifetime. And so I totally get that with everything that's happening, it makes it much more difficult in a sense to do your job.

Emma Hare 20:26

Yeah, I think I'll push you on that though, because you have seen things change like this. I mean, I I I don't want to betray your age, but I don't think you had iPhones when you were born.

Jessica J. Ho 20:36

No, I did not.

Space, Tradeoffs, And Interim Parking Ideas;

Emma Hare 20:38

Right, right. Um, and there was a time at which the internet was seen as such a threat to society, and you know, maybe maybe it is, maybe it is, but um, it was such a threat to society that we should just block it all altogether. And that um isn't how history went. Um, maybe for better, maybe for worse, but that's not how history progressed. Uh and so I think we have seen these types of technological changes, not in autonomous vehicles, not in AI, not on our streets in the same way, but certainly in our homes, in our entertainment industry, in the way in our communications industries. I mean, the the podcasts didn't exist. Yeah. Um, and so I I think we have humans are good at a couple things, and one of those things is adapting to change. Um, and it's rarely comfortable, but it is a a facet of life. Change is the only constant. Change is the only constant.

Jessica J. Ho 21:37

Oh, for sure. I mean, I think that definitely things have changed, but I think what I could I'm concerned about is that um we uh as a society have not really figured out how to legislate the internet yet. So with a new wave of technology that's uh like compounding with the internet, then I feel like we're just even that more unprepared.

Change, Technology, And Policy Making;

Emma Hare 22:05

I think the the we you're right. You're right. We have not figured out how to legislate the internet. Um, we also haven't figured out how to legislate all kinds of new things. Um, and whether that is healthcare or whether that is communications technology or all kinds of things. And that's what I think that's one of the reasons I got into the world of public service, is that it is always changing and it is always requiring a new creative idea, um, something, someone to think, look at something a different way. And and so I think we'll never be perfect at it. We're always gonna be experimenting and trying to tweak it and trying to be better, but there's never gonna be a perfect law that solves the internet, and there's never gonna be a perfect law that solves transportation or a perfect law that solves AI. I mean, that it's a constant, constant trying to improve. And that's why we have so many legislators, whether that is in the state legislature or locally or in Congress, because we I mean our democracy was designed to have different perspectives that all are contributing to a solution that works. And it's also designed to constantly have those perspectives changing. That's why we have term limits, that's why we have all kinds of things that say we need fresh ideas injected into our system. So I'm not saying it always works. I'm not saying our democracy is strong and perfect at this point in time, but it is a process and it is something that we will continue to work on, and that is that's how it's designed. Is is and that's the best we can do. That's the best we can do. Yeah.

Democracy, Iteration, And Fresh Ideas;

Jessica J. Ho 23:48

Yeah. Great. Well, thank you so much, Emma, for taking the time to chat with me and to really help us understand how our neighbors in District 7 are not so different from us after all.

Emma Hare 24:01

Yes. Well, uh, thank you for including the inner sunset in uh uh the sunset connection. And please do let me know as soon as you figure out where the west side is. We'll do.

Jessica J. Ho 24:11

Thank you.