Potrero View 2023: April

San Francisco Invests in Youth Psychiatric Services

BY MATT NAMY

Late last year, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) awarded a $33.7 million grant to the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) to renovate space at The Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFGH) for new inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care facilities catering to pediatric patients up to 24 years of age.

After DHCS invited funding requests the Department “seized the opportunity given the urgent need in the City for more behavioral health treatment facilities for youth, and particularly for youth who are uninsured or on Medi-Cal,” said Dr. Farah Farahmand, PhD., Director, Children, Youth & Families System of Care at

SFDPH “This unit will be really critical for kids who are on public insurance, or uninsured, or system involved because we are finding that there are very limited resources for those youth to be able to have mental health services.”

United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) statistics indicate that adolescent mental health has worsened over the past two decades, a trend that accelerated since onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Roughly Half of Potrero

Hill High School Students Graduate

BY DWIVECK CUSTODIO

Downtown High School’s four-year graduation rates compare favorably to the San Francisco Unified District’s (SFUSD) average rates for the 2021-2022 cohort, while San Francisco International High School’s fell short. However, San Francisco International High School’s grads received more recognitions related to multilingualism and command of multiple subject areas than Downtown High School.

The schools are a mile from each other, located on Potrero Hill campuses originally constructed as elementary or middle schools. Their students are largely Hispanic/Latino who live outside the neighborhood. According to the California Department of Education’s DataQuest and Ed-Data.org, Hispanic/Latinos make up 59 percent of Downtown High School’s 134 students. Seventy-five percent of San Francisco International High School’s 293 students

are Hispanic/Latino. Hispanic/Latinos make up 28 percent of SFUSD’s overall student population.

The schools have distinct niches. Downtown High School focuses on addressing each student’s specific needs, relying on project-based learning that prioritizes development of life skills, including critical-thinking. San Francisco International High School similarly offers a variety of internships and access to college classes but is specifically designed to support youth who recently immigrated to the United States, including with intensive English language training.

DataQuest reports indicate that SFUSD had a 48 percent systemwide graduation rate for its 2021-2022 class, down from 58 percent for the previous cohort. Statewide, the 2021-2022 graduation rate was 87 percent, up from 84 percent. Downtown High School achieved a

HIGH SCHOOL continues on page 5

Residents Call for City, Developer to Proceed with Promised Rec Center Staircase

BY JESSICA ZIMMER

For almost a decade, residents have advocated for development of staircases from the point where 22nd Street turns onto Texas Street, next to The Landing at 1395 22nd Street, past the Potrero Hill Recreation Center, ending at the park entrance on 801 Arkansas Street. An abbreviated stairway at 22nd and Texas streets currently runs past The Landing and ends in a pile of dirt, unconnected to Missouri Street.

The hoped-for staircases would connect Dogpatch to Potrero Hill, giving Hill residents better access to the 22nd Street Cal Train station and Dogpatch inhabitants improved passage to the Recreation Center. In 2015, the stretch of envisioned staircases was termed “the Serpentine Steps,” because they’d follow the winding path of serpentine rock in the area.

“The one piece of staircase we currently have between 22nd Street/Texas Street, which leads to nowhere, is a deadend walkway that serves no one. The developers and the City need to fulfill their commitment to the community and

finish the connection,” said Katherine Doumani, Dogpatch Neighborhood Association (DNA) president.

According to Rachel Gordon, San Francisco Department of Public Works (DPW) spokesperson, while DPW is responsible for the land on which the existing path traverses, the trail is an unmaintained “unaccepted street.” Unaccepted streets don’t meet requirements to be fully municipally adopted, including a minimum 40 feet right-ofway and roadway width of at least 26 feet from curb to curb. Although it’s a public right-of-way, the dirt path isn’t open to automobile traffic and has no sidewalks or drainage.

Gordon said DPW assigns responsibility for unaccepted rights-of-way based on the center line of the right-of-way.

“Consequently, adjacent owners are responsible to maintain to the center line of the right-of-way adjacent to their property. If an adjacent property owner or an independent third party seeks a permit to develop all or a portion of the unaccepted right-of-way with a stairway,

Goodman 2 Arts Complex artists (L-R) : D. Maya Herrera, arts and crafts; Margarite Reynolds, book design and production; Bill Samios, painter; Susan Marie Johnson, sculptor; Lua Hadar, singer, producer, teacher; Dave Holsonback, sculptor; Sofia Carmi, painter; Carolyn Crampton, painter; Joan Schulze, fiber artist and quilts; Onyx Williams, painter, Anahid Aslanyan, visual artist, assemblage and photography. See story, "Art History on 18th Street," on page 7.

PHOTO: Peter Linenthal

PUBLISHER’S VIEW

SAN FRANCISCO

SHORT CUTS

don’t know how, we love San Francisco.

Like

Me Are Fed Up With San

Francisco,” published in The New York Times, provoked the expected reactions from resident luminaries. Mission Local’s Joe Eskenazi picked at the weak spots underlying Moritz’s proposed political remedies, like a doctor, who, after completing a patient’s annual checkup, shakes his head sadly. Tim Redmond, of 48 Hills, and Eric Jaye, in the San Francisco Examiner, similarly asserted that Moritiz had misdiagnosed the problem, with progressives largely, if not loudly, powerless in the face of a dominant, incompetent, executive branch.

The real problem with Moritz’s perspective is that he announced it so loudly. San Franciscans, particularly the chattering class – me included – don’t like it when other people pontificate about their City. For longtime residents who refuse to relocate to the Peninsula or Sacramento, it’s a bit like one’s partner criticizing your mother. Yes, she’s annoying, talks too much about the wrong topics, and is a mooch. But she’s not your mother, so keep your mouth shut!

Deep in our hearts, crusted over by walking past one too many inebriated soul who we desperately want to help but

Still, Moritz isn’t wrong, at least at the headline level; which Eskenazi pointed out he probably didn’t write. Many, maybe most, of us are fed up with San Francisco. The thing of it is, we’ve always been fed up. What’s different right now is we’re both fed up and more of us feel powerless –or in some cases, newly empowered – to do anything about it.

Which is to say, the EuropeanAmerican, Asian-American and upperincome populations have joined other groups’ long-standing sense of frustration: Black San Franciscans, victims of redlining, “redevelopment,” the prison pipeline, toxic mortgages, and environmental racism which halved their population over the past fifty years; Bayview, Dogpatch, and Potrero Hill residents whose neighborhoods were municipally neglected through much of the same period; generations of families who believe they had to exodus the City to find decent schools.

The problems with which a wider swath of us are fed up about – too many unsheltered people; problematic street

PUBLISHER'S VIEW continues on page 10

$68 Subscription $132 Subscription-Benefactor Other contribution amount $ Please send my one-year subscription to: FULL NAME EMAIL ADDRESS STREET ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP CODE Enclosed is my check. Please send, along with this form, to: The Potrero View, 1459 18th St., #214, S.F., CA 94107 I am sending my payment via PayPal to office@potreroview.net. I love the View and would be delighted to support it by being a subscriber. YES! www.potreroview.net/product/subscribe or complete the form below SUBSCRIBE

Last month the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission approved designs for a new playground,  sports viewing areas, community learning gardens and an outdoor ball court at Jackson Park. The $40 million renovation of the 4.4-acre Potrero Hill commons also includes creation of a dog run; moving the clubhouse from the park’s southeast corner to mid-block along Carolina Street, expanding the building by 4,700 square feet, renovating the kitchen, restrooms, and stage; and repositioning the overlapping ballfields to allow simultaneous games. Construction is expected to begin mid2026, completion by 2028. The project is a private-public partnership between San Francisco Rec and Park and Friends of Jackson Park

Arts Close

The McEvoy Foundation for the Arts will permanently close this summer. “Although we will no longer have the physical space for curated shows, the art collection will remain with the McEvoy family and works from it will travel, as before, to select exhibitions,” the McEvoy family said in a statement. Founded by Chronicle Books publisher and arts philanthropist Nion McEvoy, the arts organization opened its 5,000-squarefoot gallery space in 2017 as part of the Minnesota Street Project’s contemporary art campus in Dogpatch,

mounting exhibitions that utilized artwork from the McEvoy Family Collection. McEvoy began primarily as a photography collector and eventually expanded to painting, video, installation and sculpture. His late mother, Nan Tucker McEvoy, granddaughter of San Francisco Chronicle co-founder M.H. de Young and Chronicle publisher from the 1980s to 1990s, was also a noted collector of such artists as Alex Katz, Diane Arbus, and Nan Goldin. A future tenant for the gallery hasn’t yet been determined.

No Guns

Every day, somewhere in the United States, a child finds a gun, generally in their home, resulting in death or injury. “If a little child picks up a gun, the strongest digit they have on their hand is the thumb and so when they want to

SHORT CUTS continues on page 7

Steven J. Moss

ACCOUNTING MANAGER Catie Magee

MARKETING MANAGER Richard Romero

MANAGER Helena Chiu

PUBLISHER

Jackson Approved

Letters to the Editor

Residents Want Better Parks

BY JESSICA ZIMMER

Editor,

Thank you for the crosswords occasionally published in The Potrero View They’re well designed.  I appreciate the local references in the clues. Those make the crosswords unique and makes me feel special as I get the references and solve them. Moreover, I enjoy the wittiness of some clues.  From November 2022, I still remember “palindromic duty” was ‘CIVIC’.  From February, “canines that bites” was ‘TEETH’, “player at Oracle Park” was ‘ORGAN’, and “early man’s beginning” was ‘CRO’ were particularly clever, though very difficult!

My compliments to the maker.

HANDY NUMBERS

Mark Pearson Kansas Street

Neighbors and users of Franklin Square, McKinley Square, Potrero del Sol, and Potrero Hill Recreation Center parks want improvements to be made to park features, many of which were poorly rated in a recent citywide survey. Concerns include a lack of or ill maintained bathrooms, too few trash cans, and aging children’s play areas.

“In the last four years, many new residents have moved into the area,” said J.R. Eppler, president of the Potrero Boosters, a neighborhood association that advocates on behalf of Potrero and Showplace Square residents. “The parks are now being used significantly more than before because of our growing population. With the recent temporary closure of Esprit Park for renovation and the expected, later closure of Jackson Park for the same purpose, the remaining parks will bear the brunt of even higher use.”

Eppler said parks in the southeastern neighborhoods offer so few sports fields that Hill parents and schools transport children across town.

“It is a burden on parents, children, and schools to have to travel to the Richmond and Sunset districts for kids to play matches. This reflects the lack of services we’re receiving. It shows the City needs to better program parks and sports fields in our area for local uses,” said Eppler.

The Office of the Controller’s City Performance Unit and RPD staff evaluate approximately 167 of San Francisco’s 225 parks every quarter, rating a dozen features, such as buildings and vegeta-

tion. The average citywide score, reflecting all park features, has increased over the past eight years, up from 86 in 2015. The City didn’t assess parks in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The average overall park score in fiscal year 2022 was 91. Seven parks received the maximum of 100, including the DuPont Tennis Courts, Fay Park, and Gilman Playground. RPD considers a score above 85 to reflect a well-maintained park.

In 2022 Franklin Square Park received a 78, the City’s third-lowest ranking. McKinley Square Park was scored at 80, 87 for Potrero del Sol Park, 89 for Potrero Hill Recreation Center, 81 for Esprit Park, and 88 for Jackson Playground. Mission Bay Commons Park and Crane Cove Park weren’t evaluated because they aren’t under RPD jurisdiction.

“The park evaluations measure a moment in time. Someone walks through the park on a certain day and records what they find. A park could have a perfect score one day, then get dinged the next if someone sprayed graffiti overnight or made a mess of the bathroom,” said Tamara Aparton, San Francisco Recreation and Parks spokesperson. “Heavily used and beloved parks typically require a lot of maintenance. The park evaluations absolutely inform our funding priorities. Having a billion dollars in outstanding maintenance needs means we must constantly evaluate and prioritize. We do that based on facility condition, seismic

PARKS continues on page 9

Green Benefit District | GreenBenefit.org

The GBD will hold its annual meeting on Wednesday, April 19 from 6:30 to 8:30. This is an opportunity to meet our new board members, find out what the GBD has been doing in the past year, and other topics of interest to our community. The location for the meeting and details about the agenda will be posted on the GBD website on or before April 14, at GreenBenefit.org. Join us!

The Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association | potreroboosters.org

The Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association informs, empowers and represents the residents of the Potrero on issues impacting our community, in order to develop and maintain complete, vibrant neighborhoods. We’re continuing to meet via Zoom on the last Tuesday of each month. Go to www. potreroboosters.org to learn more about how to join us!

The Potrero Dogpatch Merchants Association | potrerodogpatch.com

The Potrero Dogpatch Merchants Association promotes and advocates for independent, locally owned businesses while actively supporting our neighborhood and our wonderful communities.

PREFund | prefund.org

Potrero Residents Education Fund (PREFund) brings families together to support education and build community. Learn more prefund.org

Starr King Open Space | StarrKingOpenSpace.org

The Starr King Open Space has been one benefactor of all this rain. Come check out how great the hill is looking with all the wildflowers starting to bloom

We will be hosting a naturalist guided WildFlower Walk Sunday April 16th at 11am. All are welcome, kids encouraged, just meet near the swing. Please join our monthly volunteer days on the second Saturday of the month from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This month it is April 8th.

If you can, please donate to help keep Starr King Open Space open, accessible, and well-maintained for our neighbors.

The Dogpatch Hub to Open this Year

BY SARA POWELL

Most any neighborhood would want a place like the Dogpatch Hub, “a communal space with no barriers to entry,” according to Friends of the Dogpatch Hub’s (FoDH) mission statement. Yet the Hub has had to overcome multiple barriers over its six-year quest to become a reality.

Calling it a “flex space” and “your community living room,” a July 2016 Potrero View article, “Dogpatch Neighbors Eye Historic Building as Possible Community Center,” indicates that the Dogpatch Neighborhood Association (DNA) conceived the idea because it had no regular space to hold its meetings. Moreover, the neighborhood’s population was growing, and with it the need for communal space.

Current DNA President Katherine Doumani led early efforts to create the Dogpatch Hub. Advocates researched rehabilitating out-of-use municipal properties, notified politicians and bureaucrats of community interest, developed draft budgets and secured neighborhood endorsements. They established a nonprofit, FoDH to see the project through.

As for many San Franciscans, finding a home has been difficult. The first building considered for the Hub was the long derelict police station at Third and 20th streets. As Dogpatch had no municipally owned, public-serving spaces, FoDH hoped the City would repurpose the station into a community facility. Parties advocated for the Hub at a 2018 Police Commission meeting.

Designated as surplus, the building should have been used for affordable housing based on Proposition K, passed

in 2015. However, according to the Council of Community Housing Organizers (CCHO), because of competing interests in the structure, including for use as the Hub, the nonprofit Old Skool Café, and as a renovated police facility, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development didn’t consider the site. According to the City Assessor’s Office the still unused building remains under San Francisco Police Department ownership.

In 2020, FoDH shifted its attention to the Kneass Building, located at 651 Illinois Street, on the border of Crane Cove Park. In 2021 the San Francisco Port Commission, which owns the edifice, declined FoDH’s proposal, asserting that it didn’t meet the Commission’s goals for the structure.

Now, the Hub has finally found a home. Friends of the Dogpatch Hub are finalizing a lease for 1278 Minnesota Street, close to 24th, across from the Minnesota Street Project, itself an art hub. It’s a 4,000 square feet ground floor space with a mezzanine, American Disability Act-compliant restrooms, elevator, kitchenette, and five parking spaces. FoDH is considering various uses for different areas, including gear lending and storage. Programming is being designed in collaboration with local schools, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. The Hub is expected to open by the end of this year.

Significant funds have been raised to support the facility, including $4.2 million from the University of California, San Francisco, $2.5 million from Associate Capital, a century-old real estate that’s developing The Power Station, $2.1 million from Brookfield Properties, which is redeveloping Pier

SPRING SALE

70, as well as monies from supportive Dogpatch residents.

According to the Dogpatch Hub 2023 prospectus, FoDH already has the “equity investment needed to furnish, open and operate the Dogpatch Hub.” Structured as a nonprofit, FoDH foresees an “operational model for the Hub over a ten-year period using a combi-

nation of fees from programs, earned interest, gifts, grants and donations.”

In excess of 300 Dogpatch residents who responded to a 2021 survey favored creation of the Hub. Of those, 92 percent lived in the neighborhood, a diverse age range was represented, and more than half had children at home.

San Bru no Avenue Project Reconsidered as Affordable Housi ng

BY REBEKAH MOAN

The proposed development of 1458 San Bruno Avenue has been paused while an undisclosed group in the Mission is determining whether they want to turn the project into a 100 percent affordable housing complex, according to the property’s chief spokesperson, Chris Goode.

The Goode family has owned the property, located at the southern tip of San Bruno Avenue, abutting Potrero del Sol Park, since 1927. In 2019, the family proposed building a stepped seven-story residential development; the portion closest to the park would be five stories, rising to seven at the furthest point with a maximum height of approximately 73 feet.

If the Mission group takes over the project, the building’s envelope would remain the same, according to Goode.

“The group doesn’t want to go through the process of shadow studies, so they don’t want to change the envelope of the building,” he said.

The shadow the structure would cast has been a point of contention for many in the community, particularly those affiliated with Potrero del Sol Park.

In August, Potrero del Sol’s volunteer community garden coordinator Mary Beth Pudup told the View, “This is going to affect the garden. I’m affiliated with the garden and this project will permanently destroy it. Potrero del Sol is one of the oldest community gardens in San Francisco. I do think history is worth preserving and this will irreparably shade the garden.”

In the late-1970s and early-1980s, lowriders, parties, and car shows were popular in the area now occupied by Potrero del Sol Park. The City cracked down on the activities, and the land became a gathering spot for youth.  Neighbors launched a cleanup effort, removing cement. They began calling it “La Raza Park,” San Francisco’s version of People’s Park in Berkeley. An amphitheater was added as a concert venue. The park remains a popular spot for music, including the annual Phono del Sol performance held in June.

Another portion of the site was used for an urban farm. In 1974, Jack Wickert and Bonnie Sherk rented the property from the Goode family. The couple wanted to create a model farm and environmental school for children. They kept more than 70 farm animals and established an art gallery that was home to festivals, with a punk rock venue where the Dead Kennedys and Faith No More performed. In 1987, after a series of legal disputes, Marilyn Goode evicted The Farm. Its garden, which remained intact, evolved into the Potrero del Sol Community Garden.

Last year, the San Francisco Rec-

reation and Park Commission (SFRPD) determined that the project’s shading wouldn’t pose a significant adverse impact on either Potrero del Sol Park or the neighboring James Rolph Jr. playground. It also concluded that the project’s benefits outweighed any concerns.

The currently proposed project would result in approximately 30 million square foot hours of shadow, increasing the park’s existing annual shadow load of 2.18 percent to 6.38 percent. New shadows would occur over the park’s central and southern portions, including the community garden’s northeast corner, the skate park, amphitheater, grass, and public restrooms during the morning hours, diminishing easterly throughout the day. The largest new shadow would happen on December 20th/December 21st at 8:19 a.m., gradually lessening through the end of the day. The new shadows would cover an area of approximately 60,957 square feet or 32 percent of the park across its midsection.

The shadow load is significantly greater than the allowable one percent rise for a park of Potrero Del Sol’s size under the Sunlight Ordinance, approved by voters in 1984. The law prohibits the City from issuing building permits for structures greater than 40 feet in height that’d cast a shadow on property under Rec and Park’s jurisdiction. The exception is if the Planning Commission, in consultation with the SFRPD Commission, finds the shadow wouldn’t have a significant adverse impact on park use.

There have been many iterations of the development since it was first proposed. The latest Goode family design involves constructing 225 dwelling units – 133 studios, one one-bedroom, 82 two-bedrooms, and nine three-bedrooms – along with 56 basement-level parking spaces, two of which would be carshare spaces.

The Mission group would combine many of the studios into larger apartments to allow more families to live in the building, according to Goode. He’d be happy for the group to take over 1458 San Bruno Avenue. Either directly or through brokers, the family has previously been in contact with Bridge Housing, Mission Housing, the Mayor’s Office on Housing, and others to develop affordable housing on the site. All those attempts fell through.

Affordable housing development depends on public sector financing, the availability of which the Mission group is investigating. If they can secure funds they’ll proceed with the project, Goode said.

“I’ve wanted as much affordable housing as possible and I’m open to them taking over,” Goode said. “I can’t wait forever, but if they need six months, I’m fine with that.”

60 percent graduation rate for the class of 2021-2022, an improvement from the 53 percent rate for the 2020-2021 cohort. San Francisco International High School’s rates fell to just 43 percent for this year’s class, from 46 percent for the 2020-2021 cohort. The two schools averaged a 52 percent graduation rate for their 2021-2022 cohort.

Apart from the 2019-2020 year, when the rate dropped to 45 percent, Downtown High School’s graduation percentages have steadily increased since the 2016-2017 cohort’s 29 percent. After a two-year rise, which brought the school to a 2018-2019 graduation rate of 74 percent, San Francisco International High School has consistently fallen below the 2016-2017 class’s 53 percent.

Data for populations with fewer than 10 students isn’t publicized for privacy reasons, limiting information on how graduation rates varied among different demographics. At Downtown High School, 61 percent of Hispanic/Latino students and 47 percent of African American students counted among the 55 students who graduated in 2022. Only 39 percent of Hispanic/Latino students graduated from San Francisco International High School that year, with a 73 percent rate for Asian-Americans.

Student honors paint a different picture than graduation rates for each of the schools. While Downtown enjoyed greater success than San Francisco International in terms of graduation rates in 2021-2022, San Francisco International saw more accomplishments from its graduates that year. None of Downtown High School’s alumni met University of California (UC) / California State University (CSU) requirements or earned a Seal of Biliteracy, an endorsement of a graduate’s significant speaking, writing, and reading skills in at least one tongue besides English. Only one of its 55 graduates got a Golden State Seal Merit Diploma, awarded to those “who have demonstrated mastery of the high school curriculum in at least six subject areas,” according to the California Department of Education.

San Francisco International High School experienced a steep decline in the number of students who obtained these achievements between 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. Still, of 42 graduates from San Francisco International, 24 – more than half – met UC / CSU requirements, two earned a Seal of Biliteracy, and 10 received a Golden State Seal Merit Diploma.

California high school graduates are guaranteed admissions to the UC system if they rank in the top nine percent of high school students. San Francisco International High School boasted the fourth highest UC acceptance rate achieved in 2021-2022 by San Francisco’s public high schools, with Mission High School having the highest rate, 90 percent. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, out of the 17 San Francisco International students who applied to a UC, 84 percent got in, including 78 percent of the school’s Hispanic/Latino applicants; 80 percent of Asian-American candidates. The

average acceptance rate from San Francisco schools was 70 percent, with the statewide average just below that.

The average grade point average of San Francisco International High School graduates who applied to a UC was 3.71. Out of a total of 14 graduates admitted to UC from the school, just two enrolled; one at UC Davis, one at UC Santa Cruz.

When asked about initiatives that the schools are taking to improve outcomes, Laura Dudnick, SFUSD Interim Communications Director, offered a general response.

“SFUSD has developed and implemented systems to better identify and track the progress of students towards graduation including the development of on-track off-track measures for early intervention,” said Dudnick. “SFUSD has also implemented a portfolio of credit-earning options for students so if a student needs to make up a course, they can do so without falling further behind.”

Dudnick also mentioned “realworld career learning” opportunities for students and “evidence-based programs to strategically support English Learners and African American students.”

STAIRCASES from front page street, improvements, or any other type of encroachment, the permittee is responsible for the entire encroachment no matter where it is located on the unaccepted right-of-way,” said Gordon.

The entity, public or private, that constructs the staircase will be responsible for its upkeep. The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (RPD) owns the property adjacent to the dirt path. It

ending in a mound of soil before Missouri Street, there’s no staircase between Missouri and Connecticut streets. The dirt path between Connecticut and Arkansas streets is rough and steep, but not as difficult to traverse as the Missouri to Connecticut streets portion. According to Maulik Shah, Friends of Potrero Hill Recreation Center Park co-director, the section between Missouri and Connecticut streets is rocky, steep, and filled with debris like broken glass. The path is especially rough after a hard rain.

Doumani said that the path is “an absolute nightmare.” She’s tripped in the area. Jennifer Serwer, Friends of Potrero Hill Recreation Center Park co-director, said she’s spoken with two people who slipped or injured themselves walking on the hill. The City Attorney’s Office said no lawsuits or claims related to trail.

Shah said a staircase between Missouri and Connecticut streets could be an exercise amenity.

According to Serwer, community advocacy efforts to build the staircases began eight years ago. Sherman Little, The Landing’s initial developer, agreed to construct the section from 22nd/ Texas to Missouri Street. In 2015 real estate websites, such as The Registry SF, reported that The Landing was committed to installing a 181-step public staircase on approximately 6,300 square feet of outdoor space along the north side of the planned residential complex. In part due to this pledge The Landing was granted a key Eastern Neighborhoods Plan-based exemption from having to complete a detailed environmental impact report.

In 2015, Little sold the project to Align Real Estate, a City-based developer. The Landing opened in 2019,

COMMUNITY |APRIL

4/1 Saturday

Education: STEM Frenzy Festival

Explore the wonders of science, technology, engineering, math, and art. Enjoy 30+ engaging demonstrations and hands on activities at exhibitor booths hosted by local STEM professionals. Learn about Bay Area STEM programs. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free. Chase Center, 1 Warriors Way. For more information and to register: https://bit. ly/stemfrenzy23

4/1 Saturday – 4/2 Sunday

Art: Renegade Craft Fair

Featuring more than 250 craft designers, artists, and creatives from San Francisco and beyond. Free; donation suggested for entry. Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion, 2 Marina Blvd. For more information: https://bit.ly/renegade23

4/6 Thursday – 4/20 Thursday

Art: 2023 MFA Graduating Class

Featuring work from the California College of the Arts (CCA) graduate program in fine arts. This annual exhibition provides MFA graduating students an opportunity to present their work at an internationally acclaimed gallery, The Wattis.

Organized by CCA faculty members, the show features work across multiple mediums: painting, sculpture, photography, installation, textiles, digital video, augmented reality, and social practices. Free. Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Opening reception: Thursday, April 6, 5 to 8 p.m. CCA Wattis Institute, 360 Kansas Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/CCA-MFA

4/7 Friday

Music: “Lift Every Voice” Outdoor Concert

Featuring the Mission Varrio Project. 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.; 6 to 7 p.m. Free. Golden Gate Park Bandshell, Music

Concourse Drive. For more information: https://bit.ly/ggp-music

4/9 Sunday

Race: Bring Your Own Big Wheel

It’s happening! Kids 13 and under ride 2 to 3 p.m.; adult children 3 to 5 p.m. Vermont and 20th streets. For more information: https://bit.ly/bigwheels23

4/15 Saturday

Employment: City and County of San Francisco’s Career Resource Fair

Our municipality has job opportunities in a wide range of areas: health care, public safety, technology, construction, human services, and more. The fair is an opportunity to talk with City departmental staff and find help navigating the application process. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free. Civic Center Plaza, 355 McAllister Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/SF-jobs

4/19 Wednesday

Film: Hollywood Shakes San Francisco

Jim Van Buskirk guides viewers through the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire. Watch clips from Hollywood films — some favorites; others unfamiliar recreating the single most important event in San Francisco’s colorful history. Space limited. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Free. San Francisco Public Library, Potrero Branch Meeting Room, 1616 20th Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/ sfpl-potrero

4/22 Saturday

Environment: Earth Day San Francisco

Celebrate the accomplishments of citizen-activists since Earth Day began in 1970, with music, food, art creation. Learn from dynamic speakers, green nonprofits, and exhibitors and sponsors focusing on sustainability. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free admission. County Fair Building, Golden Gate Park, 1199 Ninth Avenue. For more information: https:// bit.ly/sf-earth

4/28 Friday Community: Family Dance Party

Shake your tail to the best in familyfriendly jams. Drop in anytime during the session. 3 to 4 p.m. Free. San Francisco Public Library, Potrero Branch Meeting Room, 1616 20th Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/ sfpl-familydancs

4/23 Sunday

Dance: Bay Area Dance Week

Kathy Mata Ballet presents classical and contemporary ballet pieces, performed with live accompaniment. Company members and guests execute different dance styles; musical theater, modern, lyrical, contemporary, character and more. 3:30 to 5 p.m. Free; reservations required. Alonzo Lines Ballet, 26 Seventh Street. For more information and to reserve your space: Kathy. mata@yahoo.com or 415.756.0591.

4/29 Saturday

Media: KQED Fest

Spend the afternoon at a block party

and open house at KQED’s Mishpot headquarters. Meet journalists; tour newsrooms and studios; be on mic or on camera with producers and with media-making workshops; enjoy allages art and science activities; savor local bites featured in KQED food programs; groove to live local music presented by Noise Pop’s Homegrown Stage. 11 a.m. Free. KQED, 2601 Mariposa Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/kqedfest

4/29 Saturday to 4/30 Sunday

Art: Hunters Point Shipyard

Open Studios

More than 120 artists located in San Francisco’s landmark naval shipyard and nearby Islais Creek Studios offer a weekend of art buying and browsing, food vendors, and family fun. Meet and buy art directly from creators in their workspaces. Free; registration encouraged. Hunters Point Shipyard Studios at 451 Galvez Avenue and Islais Creek Studios at 1 Rankin Street. More information: https://bit.ly/shipyard23

Art History on 18th Street

PETER LINENTHAL POTRERO HILL ARCHIVES PROJECT

Many Potrero Hill and Dogpatch apartment complexes are products of a 1990s building boom. Between 1988 and 2000, 3000 live-work lofts, intended to provide artists with housing and workspace, were built. However, the spaces were generally too expensive for the creative class, instead nicknamed ‘lawyer lofts’.

An exception is 1695 18th Street, an innovative structure built after years of disputes over open space, affordable housing, and live-work lofts.

For many years, the southern opening of a railroad tunnel emerged on the half-block site. The tunnel was filled-in in 1962, for good reason, as can be seen on Youtube: ‘Potrero Hill tunnel fire and cave-in’. In 1990, a developer proposed building there. Neighbors, including this reporter, organized to preserve the site as open space. Anchor Brewery created ‘Potrero Commons Ale’ as a fundraiser for the effort. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors rejected the idea in 1991, preferring to construct housing for artists evicted by the Redevelopment Agency in 1983 from the Goodman Building, a huge, ramshackle, 1860 edifice located at 1117 Geary Boulevard.

The Goodman Building had for decades been a communal living, performance and education space with shared bathrooms and kitchens. During different periods residents included Janis Joplin, psychedelic poster designer Wes Wilson, and about thirty other artists, including a mad concert pianist. A paint-spattered attic featured pigeons flying in and out of jagged holes.

The Goodman artists organized

as Artsdeco and joined with other displaced San Francisco creatives. With municipal funding, help from San Francisco Heritage, and a National Education Association grant, in 1996 Artsdeco partnered with developers and found a new home at architect David Baker’s artist loft building on 18th Street. The edifice, known as Goodman 2 Arts Complex, has 30 livework studios – five of them along with a theater space owned by Artsdeco – a three-story atrium, garden, with part of the old tunnel serving as a garage. Goodman 2 has won best landscaping, best mixed-use project, and American Institute of Architects awards.

Goodman 2 mixes market- and below-market-rate owners with belowmarket-rate renters. Residents include filmmakers, writers, musicians, and visual, metal, ceramic, fabric, commercial artists,. Vacancies are rare, with applications chosen by lottery.

Artsdeco member Martha Senger described Goodman 2 as ‘the reincarnation of a grassroots cultural institution’.

SHORT CUTS from page 2

make that trigger work it’s facing them and that’s the only way they can pull the trigger,” said Ruth Borenstein, of Brady, at last month’s St. Teresa’s Gun Safety Committee meeting. Borenstein pointed to a newly adopted federal law, “Safer Community Act,” which includes a mandate to securely store guns, including with a trigger lock, unloaded and in an inaccessible case with ammunition stored elsewhere. The rule emerged, in part, because when parents with a weapon were asked whether their chil-

dren knew its location they’d respond, “no,” but when their kids were queried they’d often say, “it’s in the closet”.

No Delivery

A 75,000-square-foot warehouse purchased by Amazon in 2021 is being offered for lease. The Seattle-based e.commerce behemoth acquired 435 23rd Street with plans to turn it into a distribution center. The site was renovated, with a fresh coat of Amazon’s trademark blue lining the property. But the company exited the space last fall. Amazon indicates that its other facilities in the area, most notably a warehouse in Showplace Square purchased from Recology in 2020, will remain operational. As reported in the June 2021 View, Amazon has been wrangling with t he San Francisco Planning Department over its proposal to develop a last-mile parcel delivery facility at the location. The planned 900 Seventh Street facility would be three stories and 650,000 square feet, according to Amazon’s Preliminary Project Application.

Music Immersion

Have you every sprawled on a sofa, or bean bag chair – yours or at a friend’s – listening to music emanating from a high-fidelity source, carried away by the communal act of tuning into tunes? Nonprofit arts organization, Envelop, offers such an experience, hosting multiple weekly sound happenings at The Midway, on Marin Street. Cofounder Roddy Lindsay has lived with his family in Dogpatch since 2015. “A n entrepreneur and software developer by trade, we moved to Dogpatch because of the great community here and to be near the venue which was under construction

at the time,” he said. Envelop offers live performances, immersive album listenings, sound baths, soundscapes, and educational workshops. Lend it your ear.

Women Architects

Potrero Hill resident Julie Jackson and her Dogpatch-based Jackson Liles Architecture, was profiled as part of “Architecture projects from female-led firms in the American West,” in Architect. The feature focuses on design of the Mission Kids Preschool.  Jackson Liles Architecture led community workshops with the Mission Kids community to identify project priorities and worked with preschool directors to plan a spacious, bright, and functional campus under tight budget constraints.  The new Mission Kids Preschool serves 80 to 100 preschool children and infants in a two-story structure with 5,700 square feet of interior space and a 2,500 square feet outdoor roof deck play area.

PSYCHIATRIC CARE from front page hopeless; more than one in four seriously considered suicide. Nearly a quarter of teenagers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning (LGBQ+) had attempted self-destruction.

Deteriorating mental health statistics coincides with the rise of social media. In 2020 Johns Hopkins University researchers found a positive association between the frequency of social media

use and depression however, causality remains unclear.

While the role of social media may be unclear, the impact of the pandemic is not. A systematic review of survey studies completed in 2022 by Olaf University and the Mayo Clinic researchers concluded that “mental health issues among children and adolescents are closely related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to various mitigating strategies,” such as social distancing, quarantine,

and school closure.”

Dr Fortuna postulates that the pandemic was “…sort of a perfect storm, where we were already seeing these increases and then the world got even more stressful, and kids got even more isolated, and kids got even more loss in their social supports and systems and healthy things for them to do to help kids thrive.”

Declining mental health is manifesting with an increased need for hospital treatment. CDC nationwide data from March to October 2020 showed an uptick in emergency room visits for children ages five to 11, and 11 to 17, of 24 percent and 31 percent, respectively, over the same period in 2019.

Rising demand falls on a fragmented psychiatric care system that’s long been overburdened. The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) projects a nationwide shortfall of 3,400 psychiatrists by 2032 due to increasing needs and aging professionals. According to AAMC, 60 percent of psychiatrists are more than 60 years old. In California, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) estimates that there are just 15 child and adolescent psychiatrists for every 100,000 children and that as many as one out of five children experience mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders.

One outcome is a significant delay between the onset of mental health symptoms and treatment. Research by Philip Wang, Harvard Medical School professor, estimates an average postponement of five to 11 years between the start of a mental disorder and psychiatric care.

“At that point you are looking at specialty services when it could have been intermittent prevention.” said Dr Fortuna.

AACAP estimates that half of mental illnesses start by the age of 14; 75 percent by the age of 24. Adequate care is essential to prevent hardship on patients and their families, and to mitigate social impacts. Homelessness and incarceration are direct consequences of inadequate care for mental illness.

Psychiatric patients are now commonly boarded at hospital Emergency Departments (ED) while they wait to be admitted into inpatient care. Stays

can range from a few hours to several days. ED environments are often loud, chaotic, and poorly suited for those in acute mental distress.

Currently, the McAuley Institute at St Mary’s Medical Center on Hayes Street adjacent to Golden Gate Park is the only San Francisco hospital that provides inpatient psychiatric care for pediatric patients. It offers an inpatient Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) for adolescent patients, as well as an intensive outpatient Counseling Enriched Educational Program (CEEP) for 11- to 18-year-old students that’s administered in partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and SFDPH.

According to Lanea T. Jueco, RN, MSN, and Director of Nursing at the BHU and the CEEP units, both programs are highly utilized. The 12 bed BHU cared for 669 patients in 2022, with from two to 48 hours wait times. The CEEP attends to an average of 25 students a month, who make their way to the facility through SFUSD and SFDPH referrals. Staff availability is a limiting factor for inpatient and outpatient services; UCSF psychiatry faculty sometimes assist.

BHU accepts Medi-Cal and uninsured patients. Once it reaches capacity, psychiatric patients need to find services outside the county. Private hospitals, such as St. Mary’s, can also reject patients, which more frequently occurs for children within the juvenile justice or foster care systems.

“Those kids are particularly hard to place, because they are often in very complicated psychosocial situations with mental health needs that a lot of units do not feel comfortable with, especially if they are under-staffed,” Dr Fortuna explained.

The ZSFGH units are being built with this underserved population in mind. SFDPH estimates that the new 12-bed inpatient bed facility will care for up to 450 adolescents annually, with an expanded outpatient program able to serve as many as 900 clients a year.

As a public hospital, ZSFGH will care for San Franciscans covered by Medi-Cal and without insurance. SFDPH

PSYCHIATRIC CARE continues on next page

was unable to provide the View with a timeline for when the new facilities will open; funding to support operations is still being worked out.

Under the California Welfare and Institution Code, minors undergoing mental health crises who are deemed at risk to themselves or others may be held for up to 72 hours under a “5585 hold.” The inpatient psychiatric hospital will care for these adolescents. Safety protocols are one reason why psychiatric hospitals have traditionally been at separate facilities or sectioned-off from other medical care services.

Outpatient services will include a partial hospital program and intensive outpatient care, oriented towards those released from inpatient care who still have significant mental health care needs, or those experiencing a mental health crises but who don’t meet inpatient admittance criteria.

“The intensive outpatient program would provide a higher level of care seen in a typical outpatient program,” Dr. Farahmand explained. “For example, instead of attending therapy once a week for an hour, a patient in an intensive program may attend therapy more frequently and in varying settings, but never for a full day. Alternatively, the partial hospital program would be structured as a five-day-a-week program that is short term and intensive in nature. These programs serve as a bridge between intensive services and inpatient level of care.”

“The need is so tremendous and to be able to have those levels of care is critical right now because otherwise kids do not have a chance in San Francisco to receive these services adequately, and often were having to go to other parts of the state and elsewhere where often they are disconnected from their social supports and families, which is not helpful,” said Dr. Fortuna

PARKS from page 3 needs, and neighborhood density.”

“The initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic saw much heavier park use than in 2019,” said Drew Becher, Chief Executive Officer of San Francisco Parks Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for parks. “Many parks saw wear and tear. RPD is still hiring and performing maintenance to recover from that period, as well as the continuation of relatively heavy use. There’s always room for improvement. It is an achievement that so many more parks are high achieving than eight years ago.”

McKinley Square Park and Potrero Hill Recreation are in Board of Supervisors District 10, which includes Dogpatch and Potrero Hill. Franklin Square Park and Potrero del Sol Park are in District 9, which contains the Mission and Bernal Heights.

McKinley Square Park concerns include pathways and lawn, both of which were rated 20 points below the City average, as well as children’s and dog play areas.

“We’d like to see the children’s play area receive an upgrade, including fresh sand, as well as better maintenance for the trails and paths in the park,” said Joyce Book, founder and president of Friends of McKinley Square Park.

According to Book, Friends of McKinley Square Park raised thousands of dollars roughly a decade ago to facilitate park design and advocacy to secure RPD’s approval of a $5 million improvement plan.

“(It) provided substantial upgrades, including a new children’s play area, dedicated off-leash dog areas, and installation of much-needed safety measures, such as an emergency fire road to be located along the lower path areas of the western hillside. Unfortunately, there continues to be a lack of followthrough by supporting agencies, such as the Eastern Neighborhoods Community Advisory Committee, to provide funding. Of the three designated parks located in Potrero Hill, McKinley Square Park has continued to be denied muchneeded park improvements for over 30 years,” said Book. “It’s becoming quite normal to see wind gusts of between 50 and 70 miles per hour…weaken branches and damage the beautiful ornamental gardens below during periods of high wind. On the plus side, our new gardener is excellent! He has managed to resurrect the upper turf areas and provides consistent care. The ornamental beds are currently receiving repairs.”

Potrero Hill Recreation Center Park’s concerns included tree maintenance, rated more than 15 points below the City average, mostly because of weeds around beds, buildings, bathrooms, and landscaping.

According to Jennifer Serwer, Friends of Potrero Hill Recreation Center Park co-director, the recreation building should be renovated.

“It needs to be painted and could use a complete remodel. There’s an enormous potential for this recreation center building and the whole site. We have so much more land than other recreation centers. The site has many beautiful areas that can be improved,” said Serwer.

Serwer said dog play areas, which were approximately three points lower than the City average, can be hard to maintain because the building shades grassy areas, leading to drainage issues.

“The grass gets muddy and damaged over time. It can become patchy. Staff fences in some of the areas at different points to allow the grass to grow back. As to the ornamental beds, they need time to fill out and grow in. It’s just a matter of time,” said Serwer.

Aparton stated that the dog play areas earned a perfect score on the previous three evaluations.

“They got dinged most recently for issues with fencing and signage. That didn’t have anything to do with shading or drainage,” asserted Aparton. “As to ornamental beds, an evaluator noted something was improperly pruned at one evaluation. There was also a cleanliness issue at one of the evaluations. This is usually due to someone littering.”

Potrero del Sol Park concerns included the children’s play area, scored more than 20 points below the City average, restrooms, 24 points under average, and tennis and pickleball courts.

Gail Meadows, principal of the Meadows-Livingstone School, a private school on Potrero del Sol Park’s southern edge, said the children’s play area and courts are in good condition.

“We regularly take the children to play on the equipment in the park. The tennis courts recently had the nets and surfaces repaired. They are used more than they have been in the past. We are frustrated that RPD took the women’s bathroom from the park and gave it to a daycare center. We have the students use bathrooms at our school rather than the park, due to safety issues,” said Meadows.

Issues at Franklin Square Park include children’s play areas, which was scored almost 25 points below the City average, buildings, close to 30 points under average, and hardscape, 19 points below average.

Jolene Yee, a Friends of Franklin Square Park board member, said the children’s play equipment could use an upgrade, given that it’s about 15 years old and “pretty shabby.” Her primary concerns are the absence of bathrooms and that the park has a single trash can.

“Franklin Square Park has a soccer field that is heavily visited, but no public bathroom. There’s nowhere for kids or adults to go to the bathroom. There’s not even businesses close by. The amount of biohazards left at the park is a problem,” said Yee.

Mark Evans, a Financial District resident who used to play regularly at the park said the lack of bathrooms was one of the reasons he changed fields.

“Even one or a few Porta Potties would help. It’s not a good situation for child or adult leagues to have people going to the bathroom near the gate of

the park,” said Evans.

Santiago Lerma, legislative aide for Supervisor Ronen, said Ronen agreed that Franklin Square Park should have bathrooms.

“It may cost upwards of $2.5 million to build a single permanent bathroom. We’re talking to RPD about how that could happen. We want RPD to look at ways to bring the cost down. We’ve also requested that RPD install Porta Potties by April. In addition, we’ve asked RPD to add more trash cans,” said Lerma.

A permanent bathroom for park users could be developed at the Potrero Bus Yard, Bryant and Mariposa streets. According to Stephen Chun, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency deputy spokesperson, the Potrero Neighborhood Collective, LLC (PNC), lead developer of the Potrero Yard Modernization Project, is preparing designs to submit to the City Planning Department as part of the project’s Environmental Impact Report and entitlement process. The PNC team may include proposals for a public restroom on the corner of Bryant and 17th streets and a café with restrooms open to the public on the corner of 17th and New Hampshire streets as community benefits.

Yee said that Friends of Franklin Square Park wants park users to have access to a safe and clean bathroom during park hours.

“This is a small park, which attracts users from all over the City because of its soccer field. The Friends of Franklin Square supports the park in many ways, with biannual clean-ups and advocacy. Since the park isn’t large, it doesn’t get the resources needed to keep it clean. That’s why we’re raising awareness about the issues. We want residents and other users of the park to be able to enjoy the park safely,” said Yee.

Dear Readers

The once iconic Potrero Hill mural at the corner of 17th and Connecticut streets was erased last month. PHOTO: Potrero View Staff

behavior; litter; schools that don’t, or can’t, rise to meet students’ needs; smash and grab crime, or worse; high taxes that seem poorly spent; municipal corruption – have intermittently flared or lingered for a long time. Some have worsened, others gotten better, but all now seem beyond government’s ability to solve. This, as Moritz points out, is a political failure. Eskenazi is right that it’s as much an institutional breakdown, with municipal bureaucracies chronically underperforming. It’s also due to the fraying of cultural and social ties and norms that fostered productive, occasionally polite, informed civic engagement.

Traditional remedies are available to address some of our challenges. Chicago recently demonstrated that if an incumbent mayor isn’t performing well she can be replaced. Others merit structural reform, as encouraged by Moritz, such as full or partial return to citywide supervisorial elections. We may need to accept that some problems can’t be entirely solved, but just better managed, while others – anything related to children – need persistent, coordinated, effective, efforts across institutions.

Mostly, though, we need to stop whining, and do the work necessary to create the place we want to live in. If we’re all “fed up” – bored,  annoyed, or  disappointed over a San Francisco that hasn’t been what we wanted it to be for too  long – then let's find ways to make things better. Bayview, Dogpatch and Potrero Hill have repeatedly demonstrated that communities can flourish even in the face of government neglect or incompetence. Citizen-activists, far more than politicians and bureaucrats, closed filthy power plants, nurtured the emergence of parks and open spaces, improved elementary schools, cre -

CLASSIFIED ADS

Freelance Writers Wanted

Modest pay, interesting assignments. Contact: editor@potreroview.net

Legal Notices

The View accepts legal notices. Please contact: production@potreroview.net; 415.643.9578.

Muir Beach Studio and House

Walking distance to the beach, with the crashing waves visible and audible.

Studio: Cozy studio comfortable for two-people. Includes kitchenette and private patio. $200/night plus cleaning fee, two-night minimum. Editor@ potreroview.net or 415.643.9578.

House: Three bedrooms, two full baths, with two decks. $400/night, two-night minimum. Editor@potreroview.net or 415.643.9578.

Below Market Rate (BMR) Rental Apartments Available

603 Tennessee at 603 Tennessee Street, San Francisco, California 94103

3 Below Market Rental Units Available

One-1 bedroom rental unit available at $1,436.00 per month

Two-2 bedroom rental units available at $1,597.00 per month

Two parking spaces available to BMR renters for an additional $100 a month and will be offered to households in lottery rank order. Must be income eligible and must not own a home. Households must earn no more than the maximum income levels below:

55% AMI (MOHCD)

1 person- $53,350

2 persons-$60,950

3 persons-$68,600

4 persons-$76,200

5 persons-$82,300

Applications must be received by 5PM on Friday, April 21, 2023. Apply online through DAHLIA, the SF Housing Portal -DAHLIA at housing.sfgov.org. Please contact the Imagine That Consulting for building information at (916) 686-4126 or 603tennesseebmr@gmail.com.

Units available through the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development and are subject to monitoring and other restrictions. Visit www.sfmohcd.org for program information.

www.potreroview.net/advertise

ated communal meeting spaces, and sustained local businesses that in turn sustained us.

San Francisco has changed its personality and politics dozens of times over its history, often in the face of “intractable” conditions. What’s stopping us from doing it again?

without provision of the full Serpentine Steps. In 2019, Julian Marsh, Align Real Estate principal, wrote Doumani that Align was eager to complete the staircase’s last section but was waiting for approval of the necessary major encroachment permit.

“The application was submitted in June 2017, it has been approved by all City agencies, but needs final approval by the Board of Supervisors,” Marsh wrote. “I am hoping this will be soon. Once the permit is issued, we will complete the work.”

In November 2022, Doumani notified Marsh that DNA had been informed that the Serpentine Stair encroachment permit had been approved. Doumani requested that Align share the schedule to complete the project. Align didn’t respond. Align also didn’t reply to an interview request.

In 2015, Little also promised $1 million for community open space projects. The staircase from Missouri to Connecticut streets would’ve been an obvious use of these funds. Little later asserted that this liability had been transferred to Align as part of its purchase of the project.

“Align commented that they were surprised by the $1 million that they acquired along with the project. Yet when Align assumed control of the project in 2015, it communicated with Friends of the Potrero Hill Recreation

Center Park. Align stated it would help the Friends of the Potrero Hill Recreation Center Park with funding the second staircase,” said Serwer.

In 2017, the University of California, San Francisco became aware of a lapse in communication between Align and Friends of Potrero Hill Recreation Center Park and provided a $500,000 construction grant for the staircase. UCSF will release the funds once the project is started.

In 2018, MOHCD awarded $100,000 to Friends of Potrero Hill Recreation Center Park to draft staircase construction documents. In 2021, the nonprofit issued a request-for-proposal for a staircase between Missouri and Connecticut streets. Bids for a concrete stairway were submitted by Plant Construction and Yerba Buena Engineering.

“The cost for a new concrete staircase is about $2.5 million. We are now considering building a trail staircase with the $500,000 we have from UCSF. This would consist of a series of steps edged with wood material and filled with gravel and permeable pavers,” said Serwer.

Julie Christensen, DogpatchNorthwest Potrero Hill Green Benefit District (GBD) executive director, favors using the UCSF funding to construct a trail stair between Missouri and Connecticut streets.

“This would be a huge improvement over current conditions,” said Christensen.

According to Shah, in 2021, Friends of Potrero Hill Recreation Center Park reached out to RPD and DPW in the context of applying for grants.

“Some…could have been used for the staircase from Missouri Street to Connecticut Street. The grant requires a government agency to apply for the grant. We had follow-up emails and calls with them in January 2022. But RPD and DPW both declined to take responsibility, so we missed the opportunity,” said

Shah. “We have no plans to currently apply” for the 2023 Clean California grant cycle. “We need RPD or DPW to submit the application. Until they commit, there isn’t anything we can do.”

Last month, as this article was being developed, Friends of Potrero Hill Recreation Center re-engaged with RPD.

“The next step would be finalizing a plan and securing more funding, if necessary,” said Tamara Aparton, San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson.

Christensen said San Francisco’s southeastern neighborhoods haven’t benefitted from bursts of civic infrastructure construction over the past 100 years.

“Our area has a disproportionately high number of unaccepted streets and neglected rights-of-way, places where there should be City-engineered streets and stairways. The dirt path along 22nd Street could connect Potrero Hill to the waterfront and SFMTA’s T Third Street Line and Dogpatch to the Potrero Hill Recreation Center. Though neighbors on the Hill pay their taxes like everyone else, they get less. The City won’t take responsibility for bringing these car and pedestrian links up to code. They put insurmountable hurdles in the path of neighbors who try to do it themselves,” said Christensen.

Doumani said community groups shouldn’t be continually asked to fundraise for neighborhood improvements, relieving the City of its obligations.

“The City isn’t funding community amenities like the staircases. It encourages the community to do it. After the community raises funds, the City does not act. As the project stalls, the costs shoot up. Later, when the community tries to fundraise again, donors express frustration. They feel projects go nowhere. City agencies need to work together to solve problems so projects get completed,” said Doumani.

STAIRCASES from page 5

at 5:00 p.m.

You may attend this public hearing online or in-person. Four (4) hybrid meetings, one in English, one in Filipino, one in Cantonese, and one in Spanish, will be held simultaneously. To attend virtually, please register below for the meeting that meets your needs.

Virtual (Zoom) Registration Links English meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rgz_vokwTdWYtsGPlQFpBw

Filipino meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYldO-pqTMoEtbHiq63V-Sc9ZLx1KHYeJOm

Cantonese meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vANmtdDCQSulYRAbLnqmKw

Spanish meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Fmoq8ybUT0SV6kkiWCmzCQ

PLEASE NOTE: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email from Zoom containing information about joining the online meeting.

To attend in-person, the meetings will take place at the MOHCD office located at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 5th Floor in San Francisco. Please register for in-person attendance by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 20, 2023, by emailing Gloria Woo at gloria. woo@sfgov.org

The Draft 2023-2024 Action Plan will be available for public review and comment from March 13, 2023 to April 11, 2023. The draft document will be available electronically on the MOHCD website at https://sfmohcd.org, OEWD website at https://oewd.org and HSH website at http://hsh.sfgov.org on the dates listed above.

Members of the public who wish to provide feedback on the draft document, including funding recommendations, may do so at the March 21st public hearing or by submitting written comments to gloria.woo@sfgov.org. The deadline for receiving written comments on the draft Action Plan and preliminary funding recommendations is 5:00 p.m. on April 11, 2023.

For more information, please visit https://sfmohcd.org.

CREATIVE YOUTHS!

The View invites those under 18 to submit any creative work suitable for publication, including drawings, short stories (fewer than 150 words), photographs, comic strips, jokes, before the 20th of each month. Winning entries will receive a $20 prize. Please send submissions to editor@potreroview.net