INSIDE
Boring Pg. 2
FEBRUARY 2018
Lead Contamination: Enola Maxwell Campus - Pg. 3
Potrero Hill Rec Center Renovation Pg. 5
NEW: Kids' Photo Contest Pg. 12
Dogpatch Cranes Pg. 13
Serving the Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Mission Bay and SOMA Neighborhoods Since 1970
Peter Tangermann Pg. 14
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Test Scores Don’t Always Louis Joseph “Joe” Boss III October 8, 1945 – December 19, 2017 Determine a School’s Popularity BY MICHAEL IACUESSA
Last month, San Francisco parents submitted their school choice lists. If demand during the 2017 academic year is any indication, Lowell High School, A.P. Giannini Middle School and Clarendon Elementary School will be the most popular requests at their respective levels. San Francisco parents submit as many choices as they want into the school lottery system – for the 2017 academic year, 53 parents ranked their preferences for all 70 elementary schools – in order of preference, as children reach pre-kindergarten, elementary, middle school and high school levels, or if they want to transfer
schools. The task of choosing the right school, and getting admitted to it, can be arduous. San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) literature states that the student assignment system “creates tensions” in balancing parents’ desire to receive a select assignment with the need to “create a robust enrollment for all schools.” According to Rachel Nip, program director for Parents for Public Schools, a nonprofit that assists families through the enrollment process, a multitude of factors make schools more or less appealing to applicants, including location, language programs, whether a sibling attends and student body size. SCHOOLS continues on page 8
from the previous year. Real estate was a factor in the deal, however, with Anchor owning the property on which its brewery and adjacent tap room reside. Anchor Distilling, which produces spirits such as Junipero Gin and Old Potrero whiskey, isn’t involved in the deal and will become an independent company. A nchor Brew i ng, wh ich was founded in the City in 1896, has long dubbed itself as the country’s oldest craft brewer. Anchor is ranked as the 22nd largest domestic craft brewing company, according to the Brewers Association, an industry trade organization. It’s unlikely that the Brewers Association will continue to consider Anchor a craft brewer, however, as it defines this category as “small, independent and traditional.” The trend of small brewers being bought out by global conglomerates has been a sore spot for craft brewing advocates, who in the last few years have seen Heineken purchase Petaluma-based Lagunitas, Constellation Brands acquiring San Diego’s Ballast Point, and Anheuser-Busch InBev swallowing 10 craft brewers this decade. “Since 2011, especially, we’ve seen big beer buying up small and independent brewers in a way we never
Advisory Group, the Eastern Neighborhood Citizens Advisory Committee, and the Potrero Boosters’ executive committee. He, along with his wife, Janet Carpinelli, helped create the Dogpatch Historic District. For more than 30 years, Boss consistently attended meetings focusing on land use, including the University of California, San Francisco’s recent public gatherings regarding the construction of student housing. He was well-known for his years-long efforts to transform Esprit’s private lot at 19th Street and Minnesota Street into a public park. And he helped elect District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell in 2000. Boss was the son of Marie and the late Louis Boss, and the brother of Judy, Nicki, and the late Mike Boss. Boss attended the College of Marin in the early-1960s. He married at the age of 20, and shortly thereafter had two children. For the next 20 years, he worked for the Reneson Hotel Group, which managed Best Western hotels in Marin and San Francisco counties. Boss started out with the group as a maintenance engineer. According to Carpinelli, he was “very good at anything mechanical or electrical.” Boss eventually became the company’s chief executive officer. In the late-1990s and early-2000s, Boss worked as a strategist, developer, and consultant for a large golf course in Calaveras County, as well as for development projects in Danville and other parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. Boss and Carpinelli bought a house on the 900 block of Minnesota Street, “pre-Dogpatch,” in 1983. “It was a completely original house. We worked on it and did all the electrical, plumbing, and carpentry. Since we loved our house and our neighborhood, we put a lot of work into the property,” said Carpinelli. The couple also owned a sailboat, “The Outrageous,” that “passed through the ownership of many friends through the years until we berthed it at South Beach Harbor,” according to Carpinelli. John deCastro, a longtime Potrero Boosters member, became a partner in the boat for several years. “Joe was one of the founding members of the South Beach Yacht Club. In the 1980s, he helped build the original clubhouse and deck. When the San Francisco Giants came to the area, Joe was instrumental in making sure the owners could have easy access to the harbor parking lot at any time,” said Carpinelli.
ANCHOR STEAM continues on page 15
JOE BOSS continues on page 14
BY JESSICA ZIMMER
Longtime Dogpatch resident and community advocate, Joe Boss, died at his home from health complications on December 19, 2017. He was 72. Boss was known for his insistent engagement in Southside issues and organizations, as well as his work as a consultant for developers. He was a member of the Central Waterfront Port Advisory Group, San Francisco Port
Anchor Remains Anchored in Potrero Hill
Anchor Brewery on Russian Hill circa 1906.
BY MICHAEL IACUESSA
Five months into the purchase of Anchor Brewing Company by Japanese beer giant Sapporo, Anchor president Matt Davenport has promised that the company will continue to be San Francisco’s largest manufacturing employer – currently with 124 staff members – with all of its beer brewed on Potrero Hill. “Sapporo is committed to preserving and maintaining Anchor’s operations in San Francisco, including the historic Potrero Hill brewery,” Davenport wrote in an email to the View. He added that Sapporo will be investing in production improvements at the Mariposa Street facility, where Anchor has been located since 1979. It’ll also be upgrading the brewery tour program and De Haro Street taproom. “Sapporo Holdings envisions Anchor as
a beacon of San Francisco culture, and as such plans to invest in the physical facility to help reinforce the historic nature of the brewery as part of the SF landscape,” Davenport added. Previous company statements indicate that the brewery, which produced 135,000 barrels in 2016, has been r u n ning at less than 60 percent capacity, and that Sapporo will be pu rchasi ng automated equipment to improve its bottling efficiency. Last August, Sapporo paid $85 million to acquire a 100 percent equity interest in the firm, which is best known for its Anchor Steam lager. In 2016, Anchor’s sales totaled approximately $33 million, a four percent drop