Rich Hillis, Planning Director,

San Francisco Planning Department

Rich Hillis is the Planning Director for the City and County of San Francisco. Mr. Hillis is responsible for overseeing long range city planning, development review, and environmental review for most physical development in San Francisco. He served on the San Francisco Planning Commission for eight years before becoming Director of the Planning Department.

Prior to joining San Francisco Planning, Mr. Hillis served as the Executive Director for the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture where he led its reinvigoration, investing over $60 million into the historic campus and providing a stable and vibrant home to dozens of arts organizations and events.

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Esmeralda Jardines, Senior Planner, San Francisco Planning Department

Esmeralda Jardines is a Senior Planner at the San Francisco Planning Department with more than 13 years in City Planning and Architecture. She recently completed a Master of Real Estate Development + Design program. Esmeralda has worked with and engaged numerous stakeholders from development teams to neighborhood groups, housing activists, and public officials when reviewing, presenting, and approving large-scale, mixed-use vertical and horizontal developments. She is interested in affordable, equitable, and climate-resilient buildings, neighborhoods, and cities.

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Mara Blitzer, Director of Special Projects, San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development

Mara Blitzer is the Director of Special Projects at the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD), a position she began in the summer of 2022 after having served as the Director of Housing Development since December 2015. Ms. Blitzer led a seven-person team responsible for MOHCD’s affordable housing (including mixed-used) infill production and lending goals. As Director of Special Projects, Ms. Blitzer works on a range of aspects of MOHD’s work, including developing underwriting policies and procurements, and launching programs such as the Senior Operating Subsidy. Prior to joining MOHCD, Ms. Blitzer spent two years as a policy advisor in the Office of Multifamily Housing at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, where her work focused on development of policies related to energy efficiency and supportive housing for seniors and the homeless.

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