The Department of Public Works (DPW) is committed to keeping San Francisco clean and beautiful in an effective and efficient manner. I am writing to let you know that we will be adjusting our Mechanical Sweeping Program on some residential streets in your neighborhood. We are taking action based on an exhaustive study the department has undergone that suggests we can reduce the frequency of mechanical sweeper passes on some residential streets without making a significant difference in that street's cleanliness. In other words, we are using more resources now than necessary to keep some streets clean.

In the spirit of working smarter and improving efficiency, DPW will begin adjusting the frequency of mechanical sweeping in late August 2008 and will conclude the changes by December 2008. DPW will not change its sweeping schedule on commercial corridors, downtown or in dense residential areas. The day of the week and the time of day of sweeping will not change, but instead the sweeper will visit some residential streets twice monthly and not once per week. Parking restriction signs will be changed to alert the public to the new schedule.

These changes apply to the Mechanical Sweeping Program only and other street cleaning programs will not be affected, such as graffiti abatement, the Community Corridors Partnership Program that keeps busy commercial corridors clean, and our volunteer street cleaning programs.

Our goal is to keep your neighborhood clean by providing an appropriate level of mechanical street cleaning. We do not want to waste your tax dollars sweeping at a level that is not necessary. In addition to the monetary savings, we hope that residents will appreciate a byproduct of the program: parking relief. Cars will need to be moved less frequently due to the adjusted schedule.

I would be happy to join you at your next community meeting to discuss these changes. Please email Christine Falvey at christine.falvey@sfdpw.org or call 554-6920 to schedule myself or an available staffperson to visit your group. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Edward D. Reiskin
Director of Public Works