Vol. XLVIII, No. 2
February 2024
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THE NOE VALLEY VOICE Did You Hear the One About a Comedy Night at The Dubliner?
Parking and the J—They’re Always on Our Minds
Noe Valley Shines After Dark at A First-Friday Showcase
Upper Noe Neighbors Tackle Church Street Challenges
By Heidi Anderson
By Kit Cameron
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he old joke about Noe Valley is that it shuts down after dark. Unless, of course, you need a donut. But now a local comedian is hoping to correct that situation. At least for one night a month. On a chilly Friday night in January, customers who walked into the Dubliner bar at 3838 24th St. (near Vicksburg) were treated to a live standup show. For a little over an hour, professional comedians took turns at the microphone, each doing a short monologue to try to get the crowd laughing. Doug Cordell, a storyteller heard on National Public Radio, quipped, “I was at a poetry reading in the Mission. Five dollars to get in, and $10 to get out.” His colleague Art Galustyan, who
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observation about the tech industry: “I interviewed with some tech companies recently. These guys looked like their moms still did their laundry.” Others took jabs at the “$1.7 million toilet” once slated for the Noe Valley
arking and potential changes to the J-Church line were front and center among the score of highly energized Upper Noe Neighbors at the group’s bimonthly meeting Jan. 17 at the Upper Noe Recreation Center. Kathy Setian and Karen Kennard, of the Restore the J Workgroup, reported on their work monitoring the city’s JChurch Safety and Accessibility Project, which they cast as a thinly veiled attempt to curtail direct service from the end of the line to downtown by terminating the streetcar at Market Street, forcing riders to transfer to trains running in the tunnel. Setian pointed out that it was the Restore the J group that pushed Muni
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Cross Your Heart. Love reigns in Noe Valley, and if you need to travel outside our fair neighborhood, take your good vibes with you. Photo by Jack Tipple
speaks English, Russian, Armenian, and Spanish, talked about life in Los Angeles. “They’ve got 60,000 homeless down there, but what are they doing? Sending actors’ ashes into outer space!” Fellow comedian Karen Braswell, who has appeared at Cobb’s Comedy Club and the Punch Line, shared an
Carrie Barnes and the Politics of Local Democratic Club Leader Seeks Central Committee Seat By Matthew S. Bajko
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oe Valley Democratic Club President Carrie Barnes, having helped revive the neighborhood political group amid the Covid pandemic, now has her sights set on rejuvenating the San Francisco Democratic Party. She is running in the March 5 primary for a seat on the party’s Democratic County Central Committee, known as the “D-triple-C” for short.. DCCC members determine the party’s endorsements for ballot measures and races in the city. By sending mailers out to voters ahead of contests, they wield a powerful tool in influencing the outcome of elections. Barnes wants to pick candidates who will find practical solutions to the city’s problems. She also wants to persuade Democratic leaders to put aside partisanship. “We have different challenges now in the city to address. It requires more common sense, if you will. For some reason, common sense itself has become charged,” said Barnes, who is a member of the Class of 2024 of Emerge California, which trains and recruits women to run for elected office. Listed on the March ballot as a “Community Organizer/Mom,” Barnes is among 30 people seeking to fill one of the DCCC’s 14 seats in the city’s 17th Assembly District, covering eastside neighborhoods such as Noe Valley, Glen Park, and Diamond Heights. Another 10 DCCC seats are set aside for residents of the city’s 19th
Assembly District, covering westside neighborhoods. The winners of both races will serve four-year terms and will be sworn in this spring. Barnes kicked off her candidacy Nov. 15 at the Valley Tavern on 24th Street. She is part of the San Francisco “Democrats for Change” slate of moderate DCCC candidates, a group that includes fellow Noe Valley parent Laurance Lem Lee, a small business owner who lives on Vicksburg Street. Barnes told the Voice in December that she sees serving on the DCCC as the logical next step in her political pursuits. She had already been elected as a delegate to the California Democratic Party for the 17th District, enabling her to cast votes on the state party’s endorsement of candidates and statewide ballot measures. “This too has inspired me to run for the DCCC, as I would love to be able to have more direct say and influence over the candidates and policies that impact San Francisco,” said Barnes. “That, plus continue the community work I already started with the Noe Valley Democratic Club, which is sometimes controversial in nature but collaborative in scope.” Pro Affordable Housing Among her priorities are building more housing, specifically affordable homes, in the city and “leveling the playing field for women,” especially in the political realm. Public safety is also a top concern, with Barnes pointing to the neighborhood’s problems with car break-ins and CONTINUED ON PAGE 13
Carrie Barnes relaxes at her home on Homestead before going back out on the hustings to win support for a more collaborative style of politics in San Francisco. Photo by Art Bodner