Potrero View 2010: April

Rebuild Potrero Moves Forward

By Michael Condiff

The proposed redevelopment of the Potrero Annex and Terrace housing complexes continues to move forward, with an application for formal environmental review likely to be submitted to the San Francisco Planning Department this month. Although there’s near universal community support to renovate the public housing development, some Potrero Hill residents are concerned that the planning process hasn’t been adequately transparent or responsive to public comments.

The Annex-Terrace is one of four Southeast San Francisco housing projects being rebuilt through HOPE-SF, a collaboration between the Mayor’s Office of Housing and the San Francisco Housing Authority. The 606 units on the 33acre Annex-Terrace site – home to approximately 1,200 people – will be razed, replaced and joined by an additional 800 to 1,100 affordable and market-rate homes. The application for environmental evaluation will trigger an Environmental Impact Review (EIR), a process that requires

opportunity for public comment. When the EIR is finalized, the project will be voted on by the San Francisco Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. A final decision is expected by early 2012, with construction to begin sometime in 2013.

A wild card in the planning process is how the four redevelopment

UCSF Brain Injury Study Bypasses Informed Consent

By Ben Terrall

efforts, and associated infrastructure, will be financed. Current plans depend in large part on sales of market-rate homes to help offset the cost of the affordable units. But, with a wobbly real estate market, and an over-supply of denselydeveloped housing complexes

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Neighborhood Schools Cope with Budget Cuts

By Michael Condiff

With state revenues down substantially as a result of the Great Recession, the San Francisco Unified School Board has indicated a need to cut its budget by more than $113 million over the next two years. Individual schools received their preliminary budget allocations from the District in February. Each campus’ site council – comprised of school administrators, teachers, staff, students and parents – will vote on its recommendations for meeting those budgets in early April. The District must submit its 2010-11 budget to the state by July 1.

International Studies Academy (ISA) is a multi-cultural campus of 480 six to 12th grade students located on De Haro Street. According to principal Matthew Livingston, his campus’ proposed budget for 201011 is $2.7 million, down from $2.9 million in the current school year. Livingston said he expects the school will consolidate eight to 10 staff

positions “in any combination of teachers, counselors, support staff and administrators,” forcing class sizes to increase from 20 students to 25. “Thankfully, we’re still a small school, and our class sizes will still be relatively small in comparison with some other schools in the City,” said Livingston. “Some of the campuses on the west side will have as many as 36 kids in each class. So, keeping it in perspective, it’s hard to say increasing ours to 25 is that big of a deal.”

According to Livingston, staff consolidations could impact course availability. Currently, if a student falls behind in math or English classes, there’s a second class in that subject offered within the school day to help the student catch up. Consolidation of teaching positions and increased class sizes would likely make that impossible next year. “We would have to do it as an after school program or in some other tutorial type of setting; we wouldn’t have

the capability to do it during the school day, as we do now,” Livingston said.

Patrick Hennessey, a language arts teacher and ISA’s site council president, said consolidating courses is a reasonable response to funding short falls. “You’re really only talking about 20 percent of the courses, because the other 80 percent are mandated [as courses necessary for students to attend college],” Hennessey said. “So, we then take into consideration the school’s vision; the fact that we want to stress language skills, values, technology, social and emotional needs…Once you take all those factors into consideration, it’s not that hard to trim the list down. Now, is it hard from the standpoint of deciding who is going to lose their position or have their position consolidated? Yes. But, our hands are tied by the budget.”

Located on Vermont Street, Downtown High School is a

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Standard research practice requires scientists to provide citizens with the opportunity to choose not to participate in medical studies. However, under some circumstances – when patients are unconscious for extended periods, or medical intervention is required immediately – such “informed consent” isn’t possible. In these cases investigators must follow Exception from Informed Consent (EFIC) regulations. Adopted in 1996 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, EFIC created a narrow exception to informed consent requirements to enroll individuals in a clinical research project. An EFIC study must publicly disclose that informed consent won’t be obtained for most subjects, provide a balanced description of study participations’ risks and benefits, and offer suggestions for opting out of the research.

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) investigation into the effects of the hormone progesterone on traumatic brain injury (TBI) falls squarely within EFIC requirements. The National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, while supporting the study, concedes that “research involving TBI patients presents an ethical dilemma. Protecting patient autonomy through the informed consent process is one of the cornerstones of ethical research. Because TBI victims have an altered mental status, the process of informed consent cannot be conducted.”

Under typical protocols there’s a 12 or 24 hour wait period before a test medication is administered. But according to the TBI study’s principal investigator, Dr. Claude Hemphill, “accepting a 12 hour or 24 hour window” for testing – after which brain cells begin to die –“would to me be unethical. In studies of intervention for acute brain injuries, such as stroke or trauma, time is of the essence. There is a very short window of time between the

Serving the Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Mission Bay and SOMA Neighborhoods Since 1970

Community members examine a model of the Potrero Annex and Terrace redevelopment. Photograph by Peter Linenthal.

Publisher’s View Schools

By Steven J. Moss

In late February – weeks before early-March street protests – concerned citizens packed the Marina Middle School’s auditorium demanding more money for public schools. A phalanx of parents from Starr King Elementary was on hand in matching t-shirts, with a dozen from Daniel Webster Elementary School similarly attired in the audience. All told, parents and teachers from 70 San Francisco schools were in the room, virtually all with the same message: stop cutting resources for our children’s education.

Even before this year’s threatened two-year $113 million budget shortfall California schools were severely underfunded. The state is fourth from the bottom in per student investment, spending $2,400 less than the national average, and half as much as New York or New Jersey. Two years of severe budget deficits have driven this investment even lower, though the City’s rainy day fund filled in significant gaps last year. The list of essential educational resources that most of our public schools don’t have is exhausting: teacher’s aides, fully functioning arts or science programs, up-to-date computer technology, decent playgrounds, consistently high-quality after school programs, gymnasiums, functioning cafeterias or auditoriums. And things are about to get worse.

Despite this lack of resources, many of our students do remarkably well, their education nurtured by well-organized teachers dedicated to their craft, bolstered by families who want their children to succeed. But one out of five high school students drop-out every year. And, if my decade-long experience teaching at San Francisco State University is any indication, there’s been a steady decline in educational achievement, with too many students graduating unable to write, or even think, well.

Without a significant infusion of cash in the next four months,

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

E-mail:

essential services will be slashed. The number of teachers will go down, class sizes will go up, and art and science education will largely evaporate. In this environment, and unless it’s directly linked to the receipt of federal funds, the state should suspend testing for elementary school students. Testing costs time and money, and is of questionable value for anyone under the age of twelve. As United Educators of San Francisco’s president Dennis Kelly put it, we need to bolster the basics, focusing our resources on students, teachers, and books.

Superintendent Carlos Garcia should structure conservations about how to balance the budget in ways that prompt creative-thinking and buy-in from stakeholders. Facing a $7 million funding hole – an admittedly paltry amount compared to current travails – the Minnesota school district offered to direct 50 cents of every dollar in cuts identified by administrators, parents, teachers, and custodians into programs that they were able to demonstrate would improve student performance. This approach created an incentive for groups who would otherwise bitterly bicker over whom should get what funding scrap to find innovative ways of reducing the budget deficit while funding effective programs.

The Minnesota process resulted in $14 million in agreed-upon budget reductions, of which $7 million was redirected to desired programs.

Revenue options to fill next year’s budget gap are limited, and mostly amount to praying for federal dollars or launching a citywide fundraising campaign. Everyone needs to voluntarily step-up and write a check to a school or education fund. Billionaires, millionaires, downtown businesses, and small businesses all need to pitch in. Anyone with a job should walk to their nearest school and hand the

I’m a home owner at Vermont Street, right where the final turn of the Bring Your Own Big Wheel (BYOBW) takes place. I wanted to give an emphatic vote of confidence in support of the event. The people who take it upon themselves to add order and foresight to the fun big wheel ride ensure that the event is safe and in the spirit of San Francisco freedom of expression.

BYOBW’s last two years have resulted in lots of laughs and no discernable injuries to participants, nor damage to the neighborhood. The cleanup after the event has been top notch. In fact, several of my neighbors agreed that Vermont Street looked better and cleaner after the event. The BYOBW organizers took the time to patch potholes and cracks, roped off areas to protect vegetation, cleaned up the litter, and generally spread smiles and goodwill. Many of us on Vermont interacted more during the event and in its aftermath than we do otherwise.

The actual race – more like a fun ride with laughter and peaceful sharing of childlike joy – only lasts two hours, from 4 to 6 p.m. There are pre-event barbeque celebrations open to all starting at about 2:45 p.m. It seems to me that we can all benefit from three hours of community fun, if we all strive to keep it safe with no negative impact to the neighborhood.

Concerns about parking have largely been addressed by neighborhood organizers, including saving parking spots at the top of the park for folks who might need space for in-coming Easter guests. Space at Downtown High School may also be available for additional neighborhood-only parking. Together we can plan to make the event work smoothly for everyone.

Hip, hip, hooray for these positive, respectful people. May they continue to experience cooperation from the community, San Francisco Police Department, the City, and everyone who remembers what childlike joy feels like.

Henry Wimmer 901 Vermont Street

long affair. This was the unintended consequence of thousands of little feet all jousting for the best vantage points as the vehicles careened down the crooked street. In my opinion, no amount of staff monitoring can, or even should, curb this enthusiasm. Please take the event to a more sustainable environment that won’t leave the scars that McKinley is still recovering from after last year’s mayhem. While I did enjoy myself, like inexpensive fast food, there was a hidden price to pay. The park’s plants themselves will corroborate these concerns.

Peter Rudolfi De Haro Street

Dear Editor,

We all like a little fun, but not at someone else’s expense. Easter Sunday is cherished by many folks as a special day to spend with family and friends. I might not object to the Bring Your Own Big Wheel race if the organizers had picked a day other than a special holiday. Last year the closest place our dinner guest found to park was seven hilly blocks away. Muni has removed the number 53 line, and most folks can’t walk these hills, so that leaves automobile travel as the only alternative. But when the mass of people who have come to play look for parking spots for their cars, there will be nothing. Pick another day and we might even join you.

Babette Drefke Kansas Street

Dear Editor,

In the February issue you included a note about the impending demise of the Potrero Power Plant in the “Short Cuts” column. A lot of folks will be happy when the last evil power plant in the City is gone. The Trans Bay Cable will be the cureall for these folks when it replaces the power currently supplied by the plant, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company cleans up the plant site at historical Pier 70.

Dear Editor,

Regarding the Easter Sunday visitation by many hundreds of roller derby, skate boarding celebrants, allow me to pour a small dose of cold water on these aspirations. In my view McKinley Park, after quite meticulous cultivation over the past several years, is still returning to a condition that could not yet be described as entirely green. I attended last year’s Bring Your Own Big Wheel event, and in addition to the abundance of joy and happiness exhibited by most of the attendees there was also present, like a swam of locusts, trampled lawns, crushed planting areas, and hillside erosion from the excessive traffic during the day

What’s going to happen when there are problems with the Trans Bay Cable or other incoming power lines? The Cable has already caused momentary outages during installation testing. While the public won’t have any local power sources if a major blackout occurs, there will be many emergency generators running at hospitals, public facilities, commercial buildings, and computer server farms. How clean will the air be when all these generators are running for a while?

What’s a good use for an old gas station site? A gas station! What’s a good use for a power plant site and former gas manufacturing site? How about a state-of-the-art power plant? I won’t go as far as recommending a nuclear plant at the site, which would have far less harmful effects to the environment than oil, natural gas

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EDITOR and PUBLISHER: Steven J. Moss

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Lisa Tehrani

APRIL STAFF: Michael Condiff, Debbie Findling, Lori Higa, Catie Magee, Sarah Marloff, David Matsuda, Sara Moss, Tom Price, Mary Purpura, Mauri Schwartz, Mike Stillman, Ben Terall

Short Cuts

Crime

The February armed robbery at Chez Mama, followed by random shots being fired at Connecticut and 20th streets in early-March –no one was hurt in either incident – has Potrero Hill residents on edge. In the later incident a sports utility vehicle was either shot at, or housed the shooter, in a conflict that appears to be related to turf wars. According to Bayview District Captain Greg Suhr , additional patrols have been temporarily added to the area. In the wake of another takeover robbery at Chaya Brasserie in South Beach, there’s concern that an unwelcome trend may be developing. Armed robbery at welllit retail establishments is the sign of desperation and stupidity. Although, other than car thefts and burglaries, crime has generally declined over the past few years, chronically high unemployment rates may be leading our less imaginative citizens to (re) turn to the wrong occupation…A 32-year-old San Francisco man was arrested on suspicion of killing a convalescent center resident in the Outer Mission and attempting two subsequent carjackings last month. One of the carjackings occurred on 16th and De Haro streets, when the murder suspect crashed a Toyota Camry into a Nissan Pathfinder, knocking the vehicle onto its side. The suspect got out of the Camry and tried to carjack a silver sport-utility vehicle, reaching through a window and choking the driver. According to Robin Talmadge , the owner of nearby World Gym , gym clients saw the crash and took off after the suspect. Others helped the woman who’d been driving the Pathfinder. It’s nice to know that do-gooders in the neighborhood vastly outnumber those with criminal intent.

Schools

Last month the San Francisco Unified School District notified parents throughout the City which school their incoming kindergarten, middle or high schooler could attend. While three-quarters of the applicants were offered one of the seven schools they identified as wanting to attend, that didn’t make those who received none of their choices feel any better. All hope isn’t lost, though. Last year several solid elementary schools – including Leonard Flynn and Monroe – had slots available even after the first round selection process. A wild card in the entire scheme is the class size changes that may be triggered by impending budget cuts…Next year a modified lottery will be imposed, which will provide greater emphasis on the applicant’s residential proximity to a school, with credit given to those living in low testing neighborhoods. Much of Dogpatch, Potrero Hill, and Southof-Market are in the middle or next to lowest test score areas…

Willies

At Mayor Gavin Newsom’s prompting, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has introduced a resolution to rename Third Street

“Willie L. Brown, Jr. Boulevard.”

While the View tends to be mildmannered about such generally frivolous governmental activities as street renaming, in this case we have a one-word response: No. Our offices are on Third Street. We have no interest in being transported to Willie L. Brown Street, however metaphorical this journey may be. If the current mayor and board want to name something after our esteemed former mayor, we suggest they look to The Millennium Tower, the City’s fourth largest building. Such an edifice would be more in keeping with Brown’s legacy, personal and public. If you feel similarly, let the Department of Public Works know: thirdst.namechange@sfdpw.org; 415.554.0801.

residential units and fifty-eight below-grade parking spaces. Some residents have already expressed concern that the buildings’ height could create unwanted shading of Jackson Park…Last month Fourth Street was opened to traffic through the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)-Mission Bay campus, ending at 16th Street… There are fifteen farmers markets operating in San Francisco, compared to twenty-three pot clubs: the City has fifty percent more marijuana dispensaries than farmers markets. While the green herb may have some health benefits, they can’t compare to a regular diet of fruits and vegetables. Maybe those markets need to carry more shrooms…

Little Boxes

Last month the SF Weekly posted letters to Potrero Hill residents to let them know about Brugmann LLC’s – the holding company for the San Francisco Bay Guardian – plans to

cleaning the teal canisters – in some cases scrubbed down to their sheet metal – or making deliveries in Walton’s biodiesel-fueled Mercedes. Produced in Dogpatch, green printed in Bayview, delivered by Dogpatch residents, covering neighborhood news: it’s your View!

Will Sing for Money

Last month KPIX’s Weekend Edition featured a segment on Raise a Roof campaign, which is raising money to build a preschool and parent center on the Dogpatch-based I.M. Scott campus, one of the City’s oldest educational facilities. Friends of Potrero Hill Nursery School capital campaign director Katherine Doumani , a Dogpatch resident, and Hydra Mendoza, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s education advisor and a San Francisco Unified School District board member, were featured. For information on the campaign: www. raisearoof.org...Potrero Hill resident Heidi Moss – no relation to the View’s publisher – has opened a voice studio in the neighborhood, offering lessons to individuals ages sixteen and over who’ve had classical singing experience. Moss is a National Association for Teachers of Singing member, and has performed with the West Bay Opera, Pocket Opera, and Livermore Opera, among others. For more information: http://www. heidimoss.org/.

Kids

Openings

Turns-out the View was mistaken: the space formally occupied by Lingba Lounge has already been leased to a tapas/sushi restaurant. The paper had suggested that the building’s allegedly difficult landlord would impose higher rents than the market could bear, thereby blocking occupancy for some time (“18th Street Commercial Corridor Rocked by Changes,” February issue). We’re delighted to have been proven wrong Recently rezoned from light industrial to urban mixed-use as part of the Eastern Neighborhoods Area Plan a proposed project at 1717 17th Street would demolish 12,000 square feet of Production, Distribution and Repair (PDR) and a surface area parking lot that sprawls across three buildings located between De Haro and Carolina streets. The existing structures would be replaced by two mirror image mixed-use buildings yielding 7,000 square feet of ground floor PDR, 8,000 square feet of commercial/retail, forty-one

profit from placing T-Mobile cellular antennas on top of the Guardian’s Mississippi Street building. The Guardian has previously published articles linking such antennae to increased cancer rates. The two weekly papers have been engaged in ongoing litigation over unfair competition, a fight the Guardian has so far been winning. It’s touching that the Weekly is so concerned about the neighborhood’s health. Maybe next time they could purchase an advertisement in the View to express those concerns, thereby supporting the community’s newspaper…Woe is the life of a newspaper box: used as a garbage can, homeless storage locker, and graffiti canvas. The View’s newspaper boxes are maintained by the father-son duo Walton and Kameron Chang, Tennessee Street residents. The View’s former delivery person, 19th Street resident Tom Thompson, gave up his paper route to help his wife, Karen Thompson, with her successful mosaic tile business in Dogpatch, Archetile. You might encounter the Changs

With summer fast approach – at least for those of us who need to book activities for our children –parents are turning to SFkids.org, an advertising-free website that includes a database of 1,500 local enterprises that provide services to City families with children. More than sixty content pages present information for all ages – from babies to young adults – on activities, classes, schools, and amenities in every San Francisco neighborhood. Check it out…The University of California, San Francisco Center for Science Education and Opportunity is offering a free, one-week summer Science Day Camp for children entering sixth grade this fall. Applications are due April 16; space is limited. For details: http:// cseo.ucsf.edu/ student-programs /career-exploration-educationhealth-sciences/ summer-sciencecamp… The U.S. Department of Labor’s Treasure Island Job Corps Center is looking for students. The center provides young people with an opportunity to earn their high school diploma through almost a dozen career tracks, including culinary arts, carpentry, and medical assistant. The center also offers extracurricular activities, such as student government. For more information: http://treasureisland.

Before and After: Maintaining the View’s boxes is a labor of love.

Photograph by Walton Chang.

Renovated Potrero Library Receives Rave Reviews

By Michael Condiff

Less than a week after the March 6 reopening of the Potrero Library, branch manager Lia Hillman sat at the front reference desk, pushed a loose strand of hair from her eyes and took a deep breath. “This is our first lull,” she said, glancing around the children’s section, where only a handful of adults and preschoolers surveyed the shelves. “It’s been non-stop since we opened the doors.” An unofficial headcount suggests that more than 5,000 people visited the renovated library in the week following its reopening. Roughly half of those visitors walked through the building on its first afternoon, after a ceremony that included Chinese dancers and speeches from Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell.

“The opening was really wonderful,” said Hillman. “Everyone was just amazed; the transformation is so radical from what was here before. It’s basically a brand new building.” “We’re so excited about it,” said Anna Abeyta, an Excelsior District resident who was visiting with her six-month-old grand-niece and Potrero Hill resident Kaiya Busfield. “This is her first time in a library – and I don’t think she knows what to make of it – but it’s such a beautiful space. We’ll be coming here a lot, I’m sure.”

Located at 1616 20th Street, near Connecticut, the library closed for renovation in 2008. Its $5.4 million facelift included a thirtythree percent increase in space, accommodating more than 36,000 books, CDS, DVDs and reference materials on two levels. “For some reason, people have assumed that because of the renovation, we

have fewer books,” said Hillman. “Actually, we have more. They’re just spread out over a greater area than before.”

The renovation was funded by a $105.9 million bond measure passed in 2000, and was the third to last of a sixteen part Branch Library Improvement Program, which also included a new Mission Bay branch. Designed by the San Francisco Department of Public Works Bureau of Architecture, the rebuild included seismic retrofitting and accessibility improvements to meet American Disability Act requirements. The branch was also modernized, with express self-checkout machines, wireless Internet and fourteen public computers spread throughout the adult, teen and children’s sections.

A new elevator and an additional staircase were added to access a new program room, which will host library classes and events, such as Hillman’s popular Thursdaymorning Story Time, which drew an overflow crowd of more than one hundred and twenty for its first installment in the new space. “And we had to turn some away,” said Hillman, who hosted the weekly event at St. Theresa’s Church during the renovation. “There just wasn’t room for any more.”

The facility’s most distinguishing characteristic, however, is its glass back wall. Both library levels provide striking views of the City skyline, from AT&T Park on the east to beyond the Golden Gate Bridge on the west. According to Abby Bridge, who was hired as a librarian two weeks before the Potrero branch closed in 2008 and spent the past two years working out of the Sunset branch, some visitors have spent hours simply staring out at the City.

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Top: Mary Abler, Neighborhood Library Campaign Organizer at Friends of the San Franisco Public Library (back) poses with honored library supporters, from left Abigail Johnson, Peter Linenthal, Kayren Hudiburgh, Lester Zeidman, Frank Gilson, Linda Clark and Melinda Lee. All received special recognition at the Library’s preview event. Middle: Library patrons were eager to see the new space. Bottom: International Studies Academy Choir entertained the crowd. Photographs by Peter Linenthal, Potrero Archives Project.

Big Wheels to Keep Rolling Down the Hill

without a trace.”

By Tom Price

The annual Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race will be rolling down Potrero Hill’s Vermont Street this Easter Sunday, April 4th, after overcoming several bumps in the road. Hundreds are expected to line the windy road between 20th and 22nd streets to watch costumed riders navigate the turns. As with last year, the first heat is reserved for kids.

Several hurtles had to be overcome before this year’s race made it to the starting line, including concerns from neighbors about parking, traffic, and potential impacts to McKinley Square. But after organizers met with dozens of neighbors, and reached an agreement with the Recreation and Parks Department to block off sensitive vegetation from being trampled by spectators, at press time it seemed all but certain that a street closure permit would be issued on March 25th.

“I’d like to really thank the McKinley Square Community Association for taking the time to help us understand who we needed to reach out to and connect with,” said organizer Darcy Villere. “Our goal is to have a safe, fun, free, family friendly, only-in-San-Francisco event…and then clean up after

Hill Designer and Resident Fights Child Abuse

By Lori Higa

This is the free form race’s 10th year, and third time on Potrero Hill. The Vermont street location was chosen after attendance at the original Lombard Street site jumped tenfold in one year. “It was way too many people, in a spot that was already too popular,” said Villere. There are no sponsors, no fees, and no rules except plastic tires only, and Leave No Trace. “We’ll ask for donations afterwards to help cover the port-o-potties, insurance, and permits. There are so few places where all kinds of people can get together and have fun without having to pay, or look at a billboard, or both, but thankfully this is still one of them,” Villere said.

The race will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. to insure the least impact on residents planning family lunches and dinners on Easter. Organizers are reserving nearby parking for impacted neighbors, and urge all attending to be respectful of their surroundings. For more information: byowcrew@gmail.com.

Child abuse is a chronic problem in America, according to Rhode Island Street resident and interior designer Anne Symon, who serves on the board of the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center (SFCAPC). According to the Center’s website, three million cases of child abuse and neglect – including 2,000 deaths – were reported nationally last year. In San Francisco, the Center received roughly 19,000 calls from families in crisis, served 1,500 families, educated 6,700 children about ways to keep themselves safe and trained 6,000 people to recognize and report signs of abuse.

Children are abused in a number of ways, ranging from psychological trauma to bodily harm. “Children experiencing abuse often struggle with behavioral problems at school, for which they are not prepared or ready to cope,” the Center’s

executive director Katie Albright said. Childhood abuse is associated with teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, chronic physical and mental health problems, and drug and alcohol abuse.

Symon is dedicated to Potrero Hill. “I’ll never leave. It’s the best neighborhood in the City.” When she bought her home eleven years ago, “it was the worst house on the block. You could see the previous owner had just let it go. All the neighbors thanked me!” Born and raised in San Mateo, Symon is a fifth-generation Californian. After years working as a waitress she fell into the interior design business sixteen years ago as a hobby, and decided to pursue it as a career. “It just worked,” she said. Symon moved to the Hill to be close to the Design Center. “Little did I know Potrero Hill would have the best weather, ample parking, be close to the 280 freeway, and be so ideal!”

Launching her business in 1994, Symon worked from her home for nine years. She opened an office on 18th at Kansas streets seven years ago. “All I had to do was paint. The building owner had installed beautiful terrazzo floors and benches because he was in the business.” For Symon, who has no children and is single, with a pit bull named Buddy, life was good.

Symon stumbled upon SFCAPC at a fundraiser the organization held at a design showroom eight years ago. She started volunteering to help raise money, and became a board member. Last year, Symon was co-chair of the Center’s annual Blue Ribbon benefit luncheon.

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Photograph courtesy of Anne Symon.

Artwork by Margo Bors

Interactive Garden Celebrates its One-Year Anniversary

By Mary Purpura

Walk down Hooper Street from 8th to 7th Street, along the border of the California College of the Arts (CCA), and you’ll notice a series of mounds, roughly three feet high and ten feet wide, planted with vegetables and flowers. Further down Hooper, beyond the mounds, mustard greens and alfalfa grow in a flat area. A sign at the corner of 8th and Hooper explains that this project is called FARM (Future Action Reclamation Mob), and that it received a 2009 San Francisco Parks Trust Innovator’s Award.

While on sabbatical from Sacramento City College where she teaches graphic communication, FARM founder Robyn Waxman pursued graduate studies in design at CCA. Waxman’s teaching job informed her CCA studies. “I’m interested in the millenials —the generation aged 18 to 29 years old — and designing effective ways to get them off their computers and engaged with community activism. My thesis looked at the role of design in the millenials’s relationship to protest.”

Waxman didn’t set out to grow food. She created a series of experiments to determine how to use design to engage young people — who she sees as atomized and disengaged from the public sphere

— in community life. One of these experiments — an interactive, digital poster located on Hooper Street — posed six questions about food justice. The screen changed daily to incorporate the responses that had been input by passers-by, many of them CCA students. “This was my initial exploration,” said Waxman, “and I found that the millenials were not interested in what I might consider more traditional forms of protest, such as marching and carrying signs. They weren’t interested in becoming gardeners — they thought of that as something older women do — but they were interested in being farmers.”

invited the homeless people in the area again and again to join us, or to help themselves to whatever was growing,” said Waxman, “but they were pretty suspicious of the food we grew.” Waxman recounted harvesting 50 fresh, ripe strawberries from the FARM, which the homeless people declined to eat. “I think a lot of homeless people have a real alienation from fresh food, maybe because a lot of what they eat is packaged or processed,” posited Waxman.

“I’m interested in the millenials — the generation aged 18 to 29 years old — and designing effective ways to get them off their computers and engaged with community activism.”

-Robyn Waxman

In response to these findings

Waxman organized a workday on March 28, 2009. One of her goals was to bring together the three transient populations that make up Hooper Street’s demographics: CCA students; day laborers who congregate at 7th and Hooper; and the nearby homeless population. Fifty people showed up at the first workday, including local residents, CCA students and their partners, and a day laborer, who remains involved in the project. “I

Before launching her urban farming experiment Waxman sought input from community members with expertise in cultivation. “We’re art students; we didn’t know anything about growing food,” she laughed. Testing revealed that soil samples from ten different locations along Hooper Street were contaminated with lead. “People from the Permaculture Guild explained how we could use sheet mulching to safely grow food on the site,” said Waxman. A sheet of plastic was used to cover the lead-contaminated soil, on top of which was placed a layer of cardboard covered with compost, which in turn

was covered with organic mulch from Bayview Green Waste. Further down Hooper Street, the FARM project is using bioremediation – a process that relies on organic agents, such as plants, to remove or neutralize contaminants in polluted soil or water – to try to remove lead from the site. FARM project members plan to conduct annual soil testing to track the progress of the bioremediation effort.

“We’ve learned so much about agriculture, and how different plants will respond to different amounts of sun, shade, and water,” said Waxman. “By accident, we learned that oyster mushrooms grow like crazy on that site, probably because we have limited sunlight,” she said. At the FARM’s one year anniversary a new mound was dedicated completely to mushroom cultivation. A variety of other projects were also undertaken at FARM’s birthday party, including tree pruning, bench building, planting, and tending to bioremediation.

Food grown at the site has been donated to the Mission’s Free Farm Stand and to San Francisco’s Food Not Bombs. Waxman invites anyone who’d like to harvest fruits or vegetables from the space to do so, and to feel free to add plants and seeds. “We are so used to things

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Garbage Transformed into Art at the Dump

By Mary Purpura

Every four months, at 503 Tunnel Avenue in Visitation Valley, there’s a two-day art show right next to the City’s dump. It might seem like an odd location for artists to show their work, but the sculptures, paintings, installations, and drawings exhibited celebrate an ethic of reuse that makes the proximity to the dump perfectly appropriate.

The art is produced through Recology of San Francisco’s Artist in Residence Program, which funds Bay Area artists to spend four months working at the dump. Every year since the program was launched in 1990, six artists have been sponsored; two are in residence at the dump at any given time. During their residency, the artists have access to a large, well-equipped studio space that includes a kiln and a complete woodworking shop. “We offer our artists all the tools they need, and a lot of support, both financial and practical,” said Deborah Munk, Artist in Residence program manager. According to Munk, Erik Otto, an artist who completed his residency earlier this year, exhibited a piece that included 168 little wooden houses, all made from material scavenged from the dump. “People on the Recology art staff helped gluegun all those little houses together,” laughed Munk.

Otto’s show, titled The Last

Shall Be First, featured paintings on wood and a large sculptural work that incorporated the 168 houses.

“I knew I wanted to do something hanging and large scale that created a bigger shape from many smaller shapes,” said Otto. Heavier, bigger houses at the bottom of the piece sunk into a collapsing wooden platform. Smaller houses hung above, spiraling all the way to the ceiling. “The houses on the bottom represent people working every day who have forgotten how much power we have in community. Those smaller houses rising above represented the release of our spiritual beings, our dreams, our hopes,” explained Otto. “I left a lot of surfaces unfinished to highlight the material.”

“In San Francisco, the current artists in residence, and two employees from St. Vincent De Paul, are the only people legally allowed to scavenge at the dump,” explained Munk. She stressed that artists in the residency program scavenge only from the public disposal area – the dump – not from any of the three bins that individual households use to accumulate waste. Garbage from the black bins goes straight to landfill, organic waste from the green bin is sent to Recology’s composting facility in Vacaville, and materials from the blue recycling bins are sorted to be sure that everything in them is actually recyclable. The

public disposal area – the dump –typically receives debris from small construction projects and people cleaning out their basement or attic.

There’s plenty of material at the dump for artists to work with. “You see the carnage of our lives when you’re scavenging at the dump,” said Christina Mazza, whose residency also ended earlier this year. Otto agreed. “The residency really opened my eyes to how much we throw away as a society. I was surprised to see lots of perfectly good dry food—cereal, pasta, boxes of pancake syrup all in their original packaging—at the dump. You also see perfectly good furniture, fabric, tiles, all kinds of stuff that could be re-used. There were a lot of big, big TVs; TVs got big before they got flat. I’d estimate that 90 percent of the electronics thrown away still worked. Initially, scavenging was very exciting. But when I had collected all the material I needed for my work, it still kept coming. Eventually, the volume of stuff that’s being thrown out becomes overwhelming and somewhat saddening.” Except for paintbrushes, Otto was able to collect everything he needed for his artwork—even paint—from the dump.

Both Otto and Mazza felt that their art benefited greatly from their experience at the dump. “I definitely

broadened my color palette,” said Otto. “Because I was committed to finding all my materials at the dump, it was like thrift-store shopping: the luck of the draw. They would have colors I’d never used before.” Otto included an installation with televisions in his show. “I had been considering something like that for a while, but that was definitely new for me.”

Mazza also found herself exploring new artistic territory. “Before the residency, I did blackand-white drawings on paper. For my show, I drew on found items, I did a mural, I worked with a cinematographer friend on a video, and I did an installation of wood siding pieces that looked like a patchwork quilt,” she said. Mazza’s favorite find during her residency was a group of wooden crates. She drew on them with colored pencil, and filled in color with gouache. From each surface of each crate, a child’s face looked out. “That piece represented the heart of my message,” said Mazza. “It referenced the discarded memories and experiences of our lives that we’ve tucked into the corners of our minds; our parents’ divorce, a friend’s death from cancer.

They all make up a part of who we are and give us our strength and character. The crates, too, were

Continued on Page 10

Eric Otto’s installation of discarded televisions. Photograph by Mary Purpura.

Maureen DeBoer Your Neighbor Bringing Good Neighbors to Potrero Hill

School Budget

Continued from Front Page

continuation campus serving roughly 275 students with a history of attendance or disciplinary problems. Principal Mark Alvarado said he expects five staff layoffs and the loss of the school’s attendance liaison. “That’s a big hit for us, because truancy is such a major problem,” Alvarado said. “It directly affects our support services and how we counsel students and parents on the importance of being in school. We’re already the last stop. Dropout prevention is one of our most important programs and without the support services, we’re not able to continue that program as effectively.”

According to Alvarado, his school’s projected budget for 2010-11 is $1.3 million, a slight increase from the current year. However, a rise in employee benefit costs and a loss of Proposition H violence prevention monies will result in a net decrease in available funds.

At the 200 student Daniel Webster Elementary School on Missouri Street, principal Moriama Machado said she doesn’t foresee a loss of staff positions, but expects a significant increase in class sizes: from 20 to 24 students in kindergarten, 20 to 27 in first to third grade, and 20 to 29

Rick Collins

Macintosh Help

in fourth and fifth grades. Machado said she’d hoped to hire an additional teacher for the second year of the school’s Spanish Immersion program, but won’t be able to do so with the proposed budget.

At Starr King Elementary School, principal Christopher Rosenberg said his budget will be trimmed $110,000, from $1.6 million last year.

Six teachers have received layoff notices from the district. Despite that, Rosenberg said he expects the school’s enrollment to increase from 330 students to 365, and the school still plans to expand its Mandarin immersion program to another grade. That program is completing its fourth year.

“Luckily, we have a parent community that is committed to trying to raise funds so that we can have the smallest teacher to student ratio possible,” Rosenberg said, adding that increased class size affects students on various levels.

“That student no longer receives as much individual attention from the teacher to support learning objectives, to support social needs…. the teacher just has less time for those things.”

Potrero Hill Eyed for Cohousing Development

By Sarah Marloff

Nearly 20 people gathering at a vacant lot in Potrero Hill’s southern slope last month as part of an effort to identify possible sites for a cohousing development. The tour was lead by the East Bay Cohousing Meetup Group, an online community of Bay Area residents interested in cohousing. Cohousing – which was first created in Denmark in the early 1970s – is based in part on an entire community helping to raise its children, with an emphasis on gender neutral domestic roles. Known as “condos with community,” cohousing “starts out green and gets greener,” according to Raines Cohen, Meetup Group’s assistant cohousing organizer. “It’s recreating an old fashioned neighborhood, where the residents create the neighborhood, which is what makes it green.” Cohen has lived in East Bay cohousing for the last decade.

Architect Greg VanMechelen identified the site – Texas and Mississippi just north of 25th Street – as one of several that could be suitable for cohousing. The tour provided potential inhabitants the opportunity to check things out. In the “spirit of cohousing, the decision should be made by the group of residents, not the architect

or developer,” said VanMechelen. Tour participants were excited by the area’s views, as well as “the strong sense of community and neighborhood we found,” said Meetup Groups’ cohousing organizer Betsy Morris. However, several people felt the space was too urban or too expensive.

There are nearly 90 cohousing communities the Bay Area. The East Bay Cohousing Meetup Group has 1,100 members. However, while informal arrangements exist, there are no formal co-housing developments in San Francisco. Creating cohousing in the City could be “expensive and risky and few groups are willing to take on that kind of risk,” said Cohen.

VanMechelen has worked on the Berkeley Cohousing community kitchen project – building a kitchen that the whole community cooks in several times a week – and other multi-family projects throughout the Bay Area. Several different sites are being considered by the Meetup group members. Cohousing concepts “include a group of 15 to 20 row-houses or a possible multistory apartment building. This depends on the site selected and the type of housing that the group

Continued on Page 11

Rebuild

Continued from Front Page stretching from South-of-Market to Bayview, financing remains a critical challenge. According to Lydia Tan, executive vice president at Bridge Housing, the nonprofit developer leading the project –labeled “Rebuild Potrero” – exact figures for affordable and marketrate homes are still in flux, but each will likely represent roughly a third of the total number of units. Most of the project’s financial aspects will take shape “when the City has said we’re ready to go. In that regard, this is a pretty typical process. I know people want answers now, but there’s still a lot to be determined here,” said Tan.

Bridge announced its decision to seek the EIR in front of a standing room only crowd at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House in late February. The nonprofit hoped that the gathering would celebrate a 16-month long planning process that drew in upwards of 500 Hill residents. Instead, Bridge’s executive team spent much of the evening fielding questions about the project’s readiness to move to the EIR stage, and battling accusations that outreach efforts have been inadequate.

A group calling itself Responsibly Rebuild Potrero made up about half the crowd and all of the controversy. “They’ve only involved about two percent of the Potrero Hill community in this process,” said Buck Schmitz, a 19-year Potrero Hill resident and organizer of Responsibly Rebuild Potrero. “I live two blocks away and had no idea this was even going on until someone told me. I’ve talked to hundreds of people and very few of them knew about it. That’s unacceptable. This project will affect the entire community, not just two percent.”

According to Tan, every effort has been made to involve Potrero Hill

residents in the planning process.

“We used all the available conduits to get the information out there – distributed flyers, had ads and articles in the newspaper, conducted focus groups and community meetings,” said Tan. “I think we’ve done a responsible job trying to get the word out.”

David Glober, a 14-year Carolina Street resident who has attended more than a half-dozen public meetings on the Rebuild project, said some of the agitation stemmed from Bridge’s framing of the February meeting as a final master plan and celebration.

“It wasn’t the best wording – it’s more of a transition into the next process than final anything – and people got a little worked up over that,” Glober said. “But, to say that they’ve been left out or shut-out of the process…I think that is just not accurate.”

9:45 to 11:30 a.m., at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House. Bridge’s land use attorney, Steve Vettel, and its community relations consultant, Dogpatch resident Joe Boss, will provide an overview of the steps involved in the City’s permitting process, review land use and zoning issues and give a detailed description of the EIR process.

think that could actually make things worse?”

“San Francisco and America have a long history of failed urban redevelopment,” retorted Adelman. “So we don’t subscribe to the theory that anything is better than what’s there right now. History has proven that theory wrong. What’s applicable in Potrero Hill in particular is that the status quo is generally unacceptable to all parties. Everyone welcomes change, but there’s a reason why this change has been a long time coming: there is no easy solution. We’ve taken 16 months to create a thoughtful and deliberate initiative here. We’re not just throwing stuff at the wall and hoping it sticks.”

Craig Adelman, deputy director of the Mayor’s Office on Housing, flinched at the suggestion that comprehensive community involvement wasn’t solicited. “Let’s be real clear: this was an authentic community effort,” said Adelman. “Some people feel like they haven’t been included and we’re sympathetic to that, but the current plan came out of extensive and thoughtful discussions with hundreds of residents who have been in the process from the beginning. We can’t set that aside and start over because some new viewpoints are entering the game.”

The first part of the EIR process, called “scoping,” will assess the proposed plan’s possible environmental impacts and, depending on severity, consider alternatives. At least one public hearing will be held, likely within the next three months. According to Vettel the EIR process involves extensive scientific and technical analysis, and could take up to a year to complete. Once the final EIR document is published, a hearing will be scheduled before the Planning Commission to provide the public with another opportunity

“The thing is, the Potrero project is far and away the most farreaching we’ve taken on to date. It’s not simply about building housing, it’s about creating a community.” - Lydia Tan to comment.

In response to Responsibly Rebuild Potrero, Bridge held a review of the master planning process last month at Starr King Elementary School. The developer also has scheduled an informational session on San Francisco’s land use and EIR processes, to be held April 24,

Schmitz and other Responsibly Rebuild Potrero members believe that the project should be subject to a pre-application process, in which the City determines whether the circumstances surrounding a proposed project merit further investigation before proceeding. However, according to Vettel that procedure won’t be triggered until Bridge requests land use permits; after the EIR is completed and before final approval by the City. Responsibly Rebuild Potrero is also concerned about project financing, necessary improvements to the public infrastructure impacted by the development, and a lack of capital or operating support for open spaces.

“I think it’s irresponsible to ask the residents of Potrero Hill to green light a project into environmental review with no business plan, no marketing plan, no solid foundation other than some nice little drawings and this pie-in-the-sky approach that anything is better than what we have now,” said Jeannine Vaughan, an 18-year Hill resident who is active with Responsibly Rebuild Potrero. “No one could possibly disagree that substandard housing is unacceptable, so they’ve assured us that what’s to come will be better. Well, it may be worse. You’re talking about nearly tripling the number of homes and stuffing close to 20 percent more people into Potrero Hill. You don’t

Uncertainty about how increased density will affect the community is a flashpoint for all involved, said Tony Kelly, Potrero Hill Boosters Association president. “There’s a lot of fear of density; it’s one of the core issues,” Kelly said. “There’s high-density all around the Hill, and you can’t have urban development without that being a part of the equation. So, the very open question becomes: how will the City handle the things that will make a highdensity community function? What happens with crime, open spaces, community services and the big one… transportation?”

According to Tan, Bridge is still developing a means to adequately relay density information to the community “so that it’s understandable and has a context to comparable projects that have happened in the world. The thing is, the Potrero project is far and away the most far-reaching we’ve taken on to date. It’s not simply about building housing, it’s about creating a community. There’s really nothing locally to compare it to.” Tan pointed to North Beach Place, also redeveloped by Bridge, where density modestly increased over a two-block area, from 229 to 341 units. Crime decreased after that redevelopment, said Tan, in part because of a strong property management team and resident-developed housing rules. She said a similar approach would be taken at the rebuilt Potrero Annex and Terrace. “It’s imperative that the residents there get involved with shaping acceptable standards,” Tan said. “It’s going to be their community. Once it’s built, they are going to have the greatest affect on how it progresses.”

Bridge is offering a tour of North Beach Place on April 16 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Contact Ben Golvin, Rebuild Potrero’s Community Relations Manager, potrero@bridgehousing. com; 415.321.4011.

Interactive Garden

Continued from Page 6

being private,” said Waxman. “We’ve watched a trend toward privatization of everything over the last 30 years. The FARM project undoes that by introducing millenials to a publicly shared, publicly owned space. We see this as a moral issue: we cannot simply go on as independent entities. That is not a way to ensure our survival.”

Garbage

Continued from Page 7

discarded, and the children’s faces are innocent, asking the viewer, ‘Look at me, love me.’ That’s how we need to see these forgotten memories; not as an action that had intention, but simply as something that happened. By embracing these events, we become more whole.”

“The art staff at Recology was great, and really gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted,” said Mazza. “Being at the dump felt very liberating,” agreed Otto. “Coming from a gallery scene, where it’s make art, make money, on to the next thing, it was very refreshing to be working in a situation where it wasn’t necessary to sell a certain amount of work. Recology is not a gallery; they don’t need to sell to survive. My residency has changed the way I think about art and the business of art.”

“We love it when the artists sell something, but we don’t need them to sell something,” said Munk. “Our mission is to encourage people to recycle and reuse; to bring the public in contact with art and artists; and to provide a working space for Bay Area artists. That’s the point of the Artist in Residence program. In the past, mostly sculptors have been in the Artist in Residence program, but we’ve encouraged photographers, videographers, and composers to apply. Right now, we have two performance artists in residence.” One of the most memorable shows Munk remembers was that of composer Nathaniel Stookey’s. “He made percussion

instruments during his residency and wrote a score – called Junkestra – that was performed at his show by the percussion section of the San Francisco Youth Orchestra.”

“I presume that ten years from now, the artists in the program will be working with very different materials than what we’ve had available,” said Mazza, who recounted seeing lots of beautifully crafted, perfectly intact, wooden furniture during her time at the dump. “I’d also see particleboard furniture that was broken in pieces; you couldn’t do anything with it. I think there will be a lot more of that at the dump in the future.” Munk agreed that the materials society is discarding are changing: “Ten or 15 years ago, we saw lots of wood and metal in the black bins. Now they’re full of plastic.”

Recology offers popular tours – on the third Saturday and fourth Wednesday of each month – that include visits to the three-acre sculpture garden, artist’s studios, and a courtyard garden with planters made entirely from recycled materials. Applications for the Artist in Residence program are due in August. You can learn more about the application process here: http:// www.sunsetscavenger.com/AIR/ apply.htm

Since Waxman graduated in 2009, CCA students Chris Kluthe and Ashley Weiss have co-coordinated the FARM project. “We set up a seed adoption program this year,” explained Kluthe. “We used old egg cartons as little planters. Individual students took responsibility for nurturing a seed into a plant. Then they planted them out into the mounds on Hooper Street on their own schedule. Part of the enjoyment of FARM is working with something so tangible. In our classes, we work with ideas and drawings, in the realm of the theoretical. There is something very nice about being outside and literally getting your hands dirty.”

A rainwater collection system was also recently installed. A CCA industrial design student repurposed corrugated sheet metal that was

left over after the college’s graduate center was constructed. The metal sheets were placed on the college’s roof to catch and direct rainwater to a pipe that leads down the side of the building to four 55-gallon drums that were donated by an apple farm. The barrels are daisy-chained together with galvanized piping, with a spigot on the last barrel that can connect to a hose for watering the garden. At the birthday celebration, the final length of pipe was welded into place, closing the rainwater catchment loop.

“The FARM works on the gift economy — we’ve received so many serendipitous donations —flats of flowers that an anonymous donor just left for us; 200 packets of seeds from Renee’s seeds; manure from someone with horses in Davis; and the mulching material from Bayview Green Waste. In the same spirit, anyone interested in working at the Hooper Street FARM is always welcome, including harvesting and taking food home,” said Waxman. Waxman pointed out that she and her colleagues are available to help other groups develop strategies to bring people together to work on community projects.

To learn more about FARM, or to contact Waxman or Kluthe: http:// thinkdiscussact.org/farm/index. html.

Eric Otto at his art exhibit at Recology. Photograph by Mary Purpura.

Publisher’s View

Continued from Page 2

receptionist one hundred dollars. Mayor Gavin Newsom, who at the February gathering made a point of mentioning the more than one hundred calls he makes weekly to families whose children are chronically truant – a problem that bleeds both young minds and dollars from the school district – should instead start dialing for dollars among his network of well-heeled supporters. In fact, every politician sitting on the podium at the meeting – Senator Mark Leno, Senator Leland Yee, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Supervisor David Chiu, and School Board member Jane Kim – should contact their campaign contributors and ask them to donate to local schools.

The City should circle its tattered expenditure wagons around our schools. Every program that interacts with youth – from the Academy of Science to the Zoo – needs to examine how it can demonstrably increase the quality and level of services provided to school age children. Although under budgetary siege themselves, Recreation and Parks, Muni, and even our criminal justice system should screen their budget policies through a sieve that puts children first. Likewise, reforms proposed by the Department of Children, Youth and Families to make after school programs more accessible and higher

quality should be adopted.

The school district needs to unlock the revenue potential of its significant amounts of surplus properties, perhaps by spinning off building facilities into a separate operating trust, similar to the Presidio. Unfortunately in these hard economic times, new taxes need to be considered to generate more revenues. Although a parcel tax is a possibility, such an approach rests on a precariously narrow base. Twothirds of San Francisco residents rent, with property owners unable to pass on tax increases to their tenants. As a result, a parcel tax will face significant political opposition, particularly from small property owners, the same people who vote in disproportionate numbers. A better approach, championed by Leno, would be to allow counties to collect additional vehicle registration fees.

If San Francisco levied an additional .0085 percent tax on the value of the cars on its streets – $85 for a car worth $10,000 – it could collect upwards of $44 million. Leno’s idea to place a one percent surcharge on entertainment tickets sold in California – which could collect $40 million annually to help pay for arts education – should also be adopted.

In the longer-run, the state needs to sort out the mess it’s made of its financing. State and local governance is suffering from a slow death by a thousand poor policy choices, and a few stabs near the heart. Proposition 13, our criminal injustice system and related prison complex – which

eats up eleven percent of general fund expenditures – and minority rules voting requirements all need to be noticeably changed. The accretion of ad hoc taxes, fees, expensive automatic pilot policies and expenditure set asides created by ballot initiatives and legislative action should be reformed into a sensible system of revenue generation and expenditures.

Though not glamorous, fighting for such a restructuring is essential to our prosperity and our children’s future. Achieving this type of fundamental transformation will require a Lord of the Rings type quest, against all of the monsters of Mordor, in the form of too narrow special interests, fear of the future, and barriers to communication. It’s a journey we must take together.

Letters

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or coal fueled plants. But a natural gas burning plant using the best available methods and practices should be considered. Excess heat, instead of being put into the bay, could be captured as hot water, pumped to the nearby Mission Bay buildings and used for heating.

A local power plant that has the capacity to provide backup to the City when the out-of-town sources are unavailable makes a lot of sense. The narrow minded thinking by self proclaimed do-gooders prevents a better solution that will achieve the

same goals to reduce emissions and avoid wasted energy.

Dan Bosque San Bruno, California

Cohousing

Continued from Page 8 chooses. There will likely be a common house in either scenario, as this is a feature found in virtually every cohousing community,” said VanMechelen

Cohen believes that with nearby access to Muni, the Interstate 280 onramp, and Caltrain the site would be attractive to downtown and Silicon Valley commuters. “I don’t know enough about San Francisco politics and neighborhood finances to say anything about [if it will happen]. But the site is already approved for a green, 28-unit building,” said Cohen. According to Cohen, another potential cohousing site is located on Third Street. “We’re planning some more visits and meetings to see if we can help make this happen there,” said Morris. Ultimately, to move forward a core group – roughly five people – of cohousing residents would need to form. “After that happens, it would probably take a year or more, depending, to get the project designed and approved, and another year to build the structures,” said VanMechelen.

Local Biz Garners Media Attention

Potrero Hill resident and Bell and Trunk owner Vanessa Marlin was interviewed by Craft Magazine about the variety of handmade and specialty items on offer in her small flower and gift shop on 18th Street. To see the entire interview check out: http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/02/crafty_biz_spotlight_bell_and. html.

DON’T WANT TO

Dogpile

Kids on the Block

Ava Haga is delighted to announce the birth of her baby brother, Dashiell Beckett Haga, born February 19th, weighing eight pounds, eight ounces and measuring twenty-one inches. Ava is thrilled to be a big sister and is a big help to her mom and dad, Apryl von Arlt and Robert Haga.

What a year! Having Ella in our lives has brought us more joy than we ever would have imagined. From mellow dream baby to wild toddler singing “row, row, boat”, we enjoy seeing all the new things you learn each day. Happy Birthday, Ella Bella! Love, Mommy and Daddy

Twentieth Street resident Olivia Moss, a third grader at Grattan Elementary School, was lucky enough to be the first kid in the junior section of the new library. She couldn’t take her eyes off the books long enough to pose for the camera...

Bakeries Rising on the Hill

By Mike Stillman

Pinkie’s

Located on De Haro Street between 16th and 17th streets, Pinkie’s bakery is the newest addition to Potrero Hill’s roster of top notch bakeries. After a year and a half sourcing breads to local restaurants, as well as pies and cakes to Rainbow Grocery, Pinkie’s owner Cheryl Burr opened her retail location last fall.

Since graduating from City College of San Francisco’s culinary arts program a decade ago, Burr has worked as a pastry chef for hotels and restaurants in San Francisco and Hawaii, including serving as the baker and pastry chef for Bacar. Since it opened six months ago Pinkie’s has developed a devout following. Burr estimates that roughly half of her customers visit her shop daily.

Burr’s morning clientele consists of workers from nearby offices, as well as local residents. Pinkie’s offers Blue Bottle coffee and an assortment of home-style pastries and desserts, including pecan sticky buns, seasonal muffins, organic banana bread, and bacon cheddar onion brioche rolls. “You won’t find croissants here, but you will find the best cinnamon rolls and buttermilk biscuits – with homemade jam! –served in a super cute and comfortable shop,” Burr said via email. In the afternoons, Burr sells cupcakes,

cookies, brownies, blondies, pecan bars, and macaroons. Customer favorites include cake by the slice and whole panna cottas, creme brulees and bread pudding, each sold in re-usable mason jars. Burr also offers boxes of assorted pastries made from organic ingredients and sold in recycled packaging.

On a recent weekend, Burr was busy filling orders for 500 slider buns, a wedding cake for 300, a three tiered

beautiful and delicious it brought the birthday girl to tears. With reactions like that, Pinkie’s will undoubtedly become a Potrero Hill mainstay.

Baked

Baked, located on one of the Hill’s main drags – 18th Street between Connecticut and Missouri – isn’t much bigger than an oversized sheet cake. The bakery serves a variety of home-style items, including cookies, bars, cupcakes, muffins, and scones. The store also offers custom-made cakes and holiday themed offerings, with co-owner Andrea Ortega

also had attended culinary school, worked as a general manager at Williams-Sonoma before opening Baked. Neither Fisher nor Ortega had ever owned their own business. They made up for their lack of experience with their strong work ethic and commitment to making great pastries.

The pair remain the bakery’s only two employees, but according to Fisher it’s their small operating space and two person staff that sets them apart from other San Francisco bakeries. All of their pastries are made without preservatives. The bakery doesn’t have a freezer, so Fisher and Ortega have little room for error when making decisions about what pastries to sell. The duo appear to have been making the right moves: the bakery was recently featured in 7x7 Magazine, and certain items, like brownies and red devil cup cakes, have become Potrero Hill favorites.

Patisserie Philippe

birthday cake for 50, and an order of two dozen breakfast pastries. Amid the baking chaos Burr received an email from a customer who bought a birthday cake from Pinkie’s for a friend, stating that the cake was so

handling most of the decorating for their decadent creations.

Ortega and her partner Tina Fisher opened their shop two years ago, after Fisher had spent five years working as a pastry chef around the City, including a stint at Town Hall. Always a baking hobbyist, Fisher worked in data administration and finance until she enrolled in culinary school eight years ago. Ortega, who

After visiting his brother in Europe, Nelson Tolentino was inspired to embark on a major career change. For nineteen years, Tolentino had worked as a pharmaceutical salesman for the industry’s leading companies, including Johnson and Johnson, Squibb, and GlaxoSmithKline. But he’d grown weary of his exhaustive travel schedule. While in Paris, he was so impressed by the cafes that he decided to open a Parisian style pastry shop in his hometown of San Francisco; a city he felt was full of Francophiles but lacking in high end pastry shops. “I saw a need for more nice pastry shops here...I felt that we deserved a nice pastry shop in San Francisco, just like the ones they have in Paris,” said Tolentino. He enlisted his friend, pastry chef Philippe Delarue, a native of Les Mans, France who started his career

Continued on Page 19

Jolt n’ Bolt’s selection of sweets can be irresistable, especially for occupants of the American Industrial Center where new confections are made daily. Photograph by Lisa Tehrani.

April 3

Health: 2010 Asthma Walk

The Health and Environmental Resource Center (HERC) leads the 2010 Asthma Walk in Bayview-Hunters Point. HERC encourages people to “walk so children can breathe.” Beginning at Coleman Medical Center, participants walk to Candlestick Park and back. 10 a.m. Free. 6301 Third Street. Information: 401.6810 x 303.

Kids: Art Show and Easter Egg Decorating Contest

Stop by Farley’s for a reception featuring artwork by local children. Drop off your best Easter egg to compete in a decorating contest. All eggs accepted, and that’s no yolk. 4 to 6 p.m. Eggs are due by 10 a.m. for judging; prizes for all. Farley’s, 1315 18th Street.

April 5

Community: San Francisco General Hospital Town Hall Meeting

San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) hosts a town hall meeting to discuss the hospital and trauma center rebuild project. 6 to 8 p.m. SFGH Cafeteria, 1001 Potrero Avenue. Information: 206.5784; www.sfdph.prg/dph/ rebuildsfgh.

Community: 17th and Pennsylvania

Community Meeting

Join your fellow neighbors, the Department of Public Works and SF Parks Trust to discuss possible improvments to the 100 block of Pennsylvania; often used as a dumping ground and not recognized as a city street. 6 p.m. Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro Street.

Information: http://17thandpennsylvania. blogspot.com.

April 10

Outdoors: Starr King Openspace Spring Wildflower Walk Number Two

The annual blooming of the wildflowers in Starr King Openspace (SKOS) continues, with more than one hundred different kinds of plants growing in the area. Join SKOS volunteers for the second wildflower walk of the year. 11 a.m. Free. Meet on Carolina Street at Coral Road, across from Starr King Elementary School. Information:starrkingboard@gmail.com; 6336-SKO; 633.6756. Note: One more wildflower walk is tentatively scheduled for May 8 at 11 a.m. Check future View issues or starrkingopenspace.org for updates.

April 14

Community: Potrero Hill

Neighborhood Peace Walk and Rally

Join students from four local schools in a community peace walk in support of hope and change. Beginning at Daniel Webster Elementary at 9 a.m., Starr King Elementary at 9:15 a.m., International Studies Academy at 8:30 a.m. and Live Oak School at 8:30 a.m. and culminating with a rally at the Potrero Hill Recreation Center, 801 Arkansas Street. Information: 206.0460.

April 15

Community: Open Space Planning Group

Rebuild Potrero’s Open Space Planning Group will meet to discuss the project’s open space elements. If you have an idea of what is needed - everything from tot lots to community gardens to active space - come share your thoughts. 6 p.m. Starr King Auditorium, 1215 Carolina Street. Enter on Wisconsin. Information: www.rebuildpotrero.com.

RUBY wine

& ENTERTAINMENT

April 2010

April 16

Music: The Melees

The Melees, a San Francisco folk rock band, will perform original and obscure Americana tunes in celebration of Charlie Chaplin’s birthday. 8 p.m. Farley’s, 1315 18th Street.

April 17

Youth: Day of Celebration for Students with Learning and Attention Difficulties

The Parents Education Network presents a day of games, family education and support services for students with learning and attention disorders, their parents and teachers. Activities include a batting tunnel/pop fly machine, reading to animals, art projects, music, yoga, karate, a student message wall and art show. Renowned speakers and exhibitors will present the latest research and assistive technology, as well as a range of information, education, support networking and community-building opportunities. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. AT&T Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza. Information: 751.2237; www.EdRevSF.org.

Benefit: ArtSeed’s Art-A-Thon

Celebrate the opening of ArtSeed’s new art center at the Burnett Child Development center in BayviewHunters Point. Ten hours of continuous art making will help raise funds to support ArtSeed’s education programs. Participants can stay for as long or as little as they want, create their own projects or take advantage of the guidance and supplies on hand. Live music, refreshments and guest artist appearances. Participants should register and collect pledges for each hour they create art. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Optional $15 registration fee. Thoreau Center, Presidio, Building Number 1013 on Lincoln Boulevard. Information and registration: www.artseed.irg; marissa@ artseed.org.

April 20

Community: Storytelling

Tell stories, recite poetry, sing songs and play music in front of a live audience. Or be the live audience. Hosted by Susan Ford. Free. 7 p.m. Farley’s, 1315 18th Street.

April 22

Benefit: Toast of the Town benefit for the San Francisco Food Bank Hey all you 94107 and 94103 foodies, check out Wine Enthusiast magazine’s benefit extravaganza for the San Francisco Food Bank. Featuring live jazz, 500 premium wines and spirits, and food from more than 30 top Bay Area restaurants, including Farrallon Restaurant, Scala’s Bistro and Mustards Grill. 5 to 10 p.m. Tickets: VIP Tasting $169; Grand Tasting $89. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue. Information: www. wineenthusiast.com; 800.847.5949.

Music: Daniel Beckman

Local musician Daniel Beckman plays the Kora, a West African harp. 8 p.m. Farley’s, 1315 18th Street.

April 24

Community: SF’s Land Use and Environmental Review Process

This meeting will review the steps involved in the City’s permitting and environmental review processes and discuss land use and zoning issues related to the Rebuild Potrero project. Presented by Joe Boss and Steve Vettel. 9:45 to 11:30 a.m. Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro. Information: www.rebuildpotrero.com

April 25

Environment: Native Plant Society Garden Tour

The Yerba Buena Chapter of the California Native Plant Society hosts its annual Native Plant Garden Tour. The self-paced tour of San Francisco native plants enables participants to see lovely, local gardens and talk with their owners and caretakers about their efforts to save water and host local wildlife. Potrero artist Margo Bor’s studio at 785 Carolina is included. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free. Information: www. cnps-yerbabuena.org/gardens/annual_ garden_tour.html.

April 27

Benefit: San Francisco Center for the Book’s Spring Art Show and Silent Auction Showcasing traditional and experimental book art forms, the San Francisco Center for the Book’s Silent Auction and Cocktail Party benefits its free public programs. Participants can bid on fine press, letterpress editions, artists’ books, posters and related objet d’art from more than 100 artists. Live music, hors d’oeurves and wine offered throughout the evening. Early bidder’s preview hour from 6 to 7 p.m.; open bid from 7 to 8:30 pm. Tickets: Preview Hour, $75; General admission, $20 in advance, $25 at the door. San Francisco Center for the Book, 300 De Haro Street. Information: www.sfcb.org

May 1

Fundraiser: Plant and Rummage Sale Downtown High School is raising funds for its EATS (Ecology and Agriculture Together for Sustainability) class. Native plants, seeds and starts, clothing, toys, and books will be on sale. Baked goods and Mother’s Day gifts will also be available. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Downtown High School, 693 Vermont Street.

May 2

Family: Synchronized Swimming

Exhibition

The San Francisco Merionettes, founded in 1956 and one of the country’s oldest synchronized swimming clubs, holds an exhibition of their 2010 season routines. The event includes a registration table for the summer swim program, aimed at improving swimming stroke skills and introducing beginning level synchronized swimming skills for ages 7 to 18. 5 p.m. Free. Balboa Pool, 51 Havelock Street at the corner of San Jose. Information: www.sf-merionettes.org.

OUR NEW YEAR IS BUSY!

Inventory on Potrero has been very low since last fall, which has created incredible pent-up buyer demand. The tax credit for 1sttime home buyers will end April 30th, so buyers are looking hard for good properties. NOWis the time... call me for a FREE assessment of your property value.

April Chartrand moved to Utah Street shortly after she married. She enjoyed the tight-knit Potrero Hill community, and the sunny weather. However, domestic violence marred her marriage, forcing her to change her life. Now living South-of-Market, Chartrand recently published a book of poems and illustrations, Angel’s Destiny , that chronicles her journey towards healing. For more information: angelsdestiny2009. blogspot.com

Fighting Abuse

Continued from Page 5

Symon is passionate about preventing child abuse. “Child abuse is a truly big issue in society. It causes so many problems later in life. Eight-five percent of people in jail were abused as children. Many abusers were themselves abused. So it’s a cycle of violence that continues. The Center does everything it can to intervene and stop this cycle,” she asserted. “I love children and I wanted to do something to help them. My work is great, but this affects me at a deeper level. It’s like soul food for me.”

“We believe a community is better served by supporting our families, educating our children, and being proactive with services that prevent child abuse rather than reacting to tragedy,” Albright said. “We at the Center are so incredibly grateful for the support of leaders and volunteers like Anne Symon. From our roots with the Junior League to our TALK Line and other programs staffed by committed and caring volunteers, we are keenly aware that we cannot do this work alone. Everyone has a role to play in preventing child abuse,” she observed. The thirty year old Cente r is located in the Haight in an old firehouse.

“Our focus truly is prevention. So we have an array of essential services, such as on-site child care and counseling. We make it easy for parents...they can leave their kids in good hands and go to their AA meetings right there as well. We’re

the only organization that offers this,” said Symon. Among the most effective interventions the Center provides is its 24-hour TALK Line. “We’ve literally talked people off the ledge, stopped them from hitting their kids,” said Symon. “The talk line is instant therapy.” The Center also offers an off-site respite center where parents can drop off their children for the day, while they look for work, go to work, or go to appointments. “There’s a playroom, with a yard outside and occasional excursions to parks for the children. Kids have really flourished by being loved here,” Symon said.

For Symon, “The Center is a great fit. It really clicked for me, this really pulled at me. Many abusers have substance abuse issues, are homeless and single parents. Child abuse is a rampant problem, and the work the Center does nips it in the bud. Why spend money on building more jails? Our state has $8 billion for prisons, why don’t we put the money into fighting child abuse instead?”

Symon is gearing up for the Center’s 13th Annual Blue Ribbon Fundraiser, which will be held on April 30th at the Westin St. Francis hotel, featuring keynote speaker Riki Ellison, former San Francisco 49er and three-time Super Bowl champion. “We can always use more funding, more services, a bigger building so we can serve more parents and children,” insisted Symon.

For more information about Symon and the Center, see www. annesymoninteriors.com and www. sfcapc.org

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1922 - 2010 Henri Marie-Rose

of it. It wasn’t easy; he had no tools. But Marie-Rose befriended the local ironmonger, who let him use his fire to make a cold chisel. And so began the sculptor’s career.

Born in François, Martinique on January 5, 1922, the son of Appien Constance Raymonde and Quentin Joseph Marie-Rose Dit Cétoute, Henri Marie-Rose Dite Cétoute, who informally shortened his name to Henri Marie-Rose, was a San Francisco resident for 58 years, spending most of that time living on Potrero Hill.

As documented in a 1995 retrospective exhibition sponsored by the Alliance Française de San Francisco, Henri began sculpting at the age of seven. His artistic talents first emerged when as a child he was walking in François. Marie-Rose saw a stone lying on the ground. Somewhere inside the stone, he saw a dog. The little dog – a mongrel – was crouching. He picked up the stone and eventually brought the dog out

Marie-Rose soon turned to painting, and again his resourcefulness came to the fore. Watercolors and art supplies were not easy to come by in Francois. MarieRose went to the local paint factory and begged for pigment. He mixed the pigment with okra, guessing correctly that the vegetable’s gooey liquid would act as a binding agent. Later, he perfected his paint by replacing the okra with tapioca starch.

Marie-Rose attended the Ecole des Arts et Métiers and the Ecole des Arts Appliqués in Martinique. Before he turned twenty he’d mounted three one-man shows, and was appointed Attache Culturel au Projet d’Urbanisme. He was commissioned to create a bust of the prominent volcanologist Frank Peret, which to this day stands in St. Pierre’s town square. He was honored by the United States Navy, stationed off the island, with a battleship tour of the area.

Marie-Rose received a scholarship from the French government to study at the Ecole National Superieure des Beaux Arts for eight years in Paris ,but got only as a far as North Africa because of the Second World War.

He studied ceramics with Lamaly, Master of Safi. He mounted two one man shows in Casablanca, and was sponsored by the French painter Joseph de La Néziere, who deeded Marie-Rose a beautiful home and garden located in Paris’ Montmartre district. Marie-Rose later gave the house to the family of his sponsor. During that time he was in active duty in the French Army from 1944 to 1945.

Marie-Rose attended Ecole des Arts Appliqués and Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, mounting one man shows between 1947 and 1953 in Paris, Baden Baden, Berlin, Munich, and Corsica. During this period, he met Marjorie Raitt, who was attending the Sorbonne and Academie Julian, and who had just graduated from Stanford University (Class of 1949). Raitt and Marie-Rose married in 1952. The couple traveled by freighter to San Francisco in 1953, settling in North Beach. Two years later, the couple purchased a home on Potrero Hill, where Henri continued to sculpt, paint, create jewelry, draw, and renovate their small Victorian house.

In 1956 Marie-Rose won the Emanuel Walter Purchase Prize. In the later part of the 1950s he participated in a series of events, including the Third Biennial of Sao Paulo, Brazil, winning prizes and recognition for his paintings. He exhibited throughout California, Oregon, Washington, and New Mexico. He was a faculty member of the California School of Fine Arts from 1956 to 1959, and performed an eighteen-week series entitled Techniques in Sculpture on Public Broadcasting affiliate KQED. In 1960, an exhibition of Marie-Rose’s work at the M. H. De Young Museum filled two large rooms, and included twenty-eight sculptures of welded steel, copper and brass, sculpted lead, and carved wood and marble.

Marie-Rose entertained scores

of people over the years, singing songs from Martinique and France while playing his drum. He helped organize and performed at the annual Potrero Hill Library Art Show. He could recite entire passages of classical French poetry and plays.

Marie-Rose spent his later years as a teacher and mentor at the Artist in Residency Program sponsored by Recology, which provides young artists with the opportunity to create art from discarded materials.

Marie-Rose’s love of nature and art never waned. In a 1995 interview he said, “Sculpture puts me in touch with the sensuality that speaks to the mind and the soul. Sculpting is like vacating the shell and looking at it. I try to make sculpture that is decent, neat, organic. Then it is there, and everybody takes what they want from it...or not. I sculpt for the pleasure of discovering what is beautiful and what is not. Sculpting soothes my apprehensions.”

A retrospective show of MarieRose’s work will take place in May. In addition to his wife, Marie-Rose is survived by his two sons, PierreJoseph, a pediatric specialist, and Philippe-Laurence, an industrial psychologist, born in 1961 and 1963 respectively. Philippe lives just outside Seattle with his wife Karen and two children, Madeleine, 10 years old, and Connor, nine. Pierre, a life long Potrero Hill resident, lives with his wife Yesenia and daughter, Andrea, four years old. Other survivors include his sister Raphaelle, who lives in New Caledonia, and numerous half-siblings, who live in Martinique and Paris. Marie-Rose’s family is currently searching for a permanent location in Martinique to display his work, as was his wish.

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52nd Annual Art Exhibition

Potrero Branch Library hosts the 52nd Annual Art Exhibition, May 1 to May 30. Artists who live, work, or study on Potrero Hill are invited to participate in this non-juried show. We’ll be accepting artwork from March 30 through April 25 during open hours. Submission guidelines are available at the library and on the Potrero Branch Blog, http://potrerolibrarysfpl.blogspot.com. The exhibition is the oldest annual art show in San Francisco, and owes its longevity to a group of artists who painted with, or under the tutelage of, the late Charles Farr. More than 100 artists participated in the 2006 exhibit. An opening reception is on May 1 from 1 to 4 p.m.

April Adult Programs

Poets Eleven – District 10. Presented in conjunction with Friends of the San Francisco Public Library as part of a citywide poetry contest and reading series, this program will feature three poets selected from District 10 by Poet-in-Residence Jack Hirschman. April 27, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

April Children’s Programs

Baby Rhyme and Play Time. Tuesdays, April 6, 13, 20 and 27, 1:15 p.m. For infants to eighteen months old and their caregivers.

Family Storytime, featuring stories, songs and rhymes. For children from birth to five years old and their caregivers. Thursdays, April 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29, 10:30 to 11 a.m. and 11:15 to 11:45 a.m.

Music is Everywhere. Listen, interact, dance, laugh and sing with Lee Weiss. For pre-kindergartners. April 24, 2 to 2:45 p.m.

All Potrero Branch Library programs are held in the second floor meeting room. Additional branch information: http://potrerolibrarysfpl.blogspot. com.

Potrero Library Campaign

The Potrero Neighborhood Library Campaign Committee meets monthly to discuss fundraising strategies and progress. To join the committee contact Mary Abler, Friends of the Library, 626.7512, extension 107; mary.abler@ friendssfpl.org.

Mission Bay Library

The Mission Bay Library is located at 960 Fourth Street, at Berry, near AT&T Park. The library is open Tuesdays and Thursdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesdays noon to 8 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Sundays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Public transport to the library includes the N, T, 10, 30, 46, and 47. There’s unmetered one-hour street parking on Channel Street, a block away. Additional branch information: 355.2838; http://missionbaylibrary. blogspot.com

April Senior’s Programs

Prescription Assistance for Low-Income Seniors. A presentation about help with prescription costs for low-income seniors, with one-on-one counseling available. April 3, 2 to 4 p.m.

On-line Social Networking for Seniors: A Way to End Isolation and Loneliness One Network at a Time. April 7, 2 to 4 p.m.

April Children’s Programs

Baby Rhyme and Play Time. Interactive music, rhymes, bounces, books, and more for infants to 24 months and their caregivers. Thursdays, April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 10:15 a.m.

Toddler Tales and Play Time. Music, movement, rhymes, books and more for 18 to 36 months and their caregivers. Fridays, April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 4:30 p.m. Preschool Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes and more for children ages three to five. Thursdays, April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 4:30 p.m.

Children’s Crafts with Sophie. A variety of fun craft projects for children of all ages and their caregivers. Drop in between 4 and 6 p.m. on April 14.

Library Opening

Continued from Page 4

“They’ll grab a book and sit down to read, but it’s hard not to look out; it’s such a unique view,” Bridge said.

“It’s amazing,” said twenty-six year old Heidi Holmquist, a student at the next-door American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who was perched in one of the cushioned seats that line the secondtier window. “It’s such a nice place to come and study. I’m actually hoping not too many people find out about it. I’d like to keep it to myself as long as I can.” “It’s such a special place. Just the fact that you can look through it from the street to the skyline… it’s just so Potrero,” commented Maxwell

And it wouldn’t be Potrero, Hillman said, without community members being quick to point out ways in which the new library could be improved. “On the first day, I had a guy come up and ask: ‘When are you going to expand?’” laughed Hillman. “Expand where? There’s no place to go but up.”

The Potrero branch library is open Tuesdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesdays, noon to 8 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 1 to 6 p.m.; and Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. It’s closed on Mondays.

Continued

as an apprentice in France and has worked as the head pastry chef for restaurants in London, Montreal, and across the United States. Tolentino and Delaure are now co-owners of the chic French style bistro Patisserie Philippe, located at 655 Townsend Street.

For the past three years Patisserie Philippe has been serving a variety of pastries that are common in Paris but can be hard to find in San Francisco. Offerings include wellknown treats like croissants, éclairs and macaroons, as well as lesser known French desserts, like the popular Verdon Cake, which consists of layers of hazelnut and chocolate mousse, meringue, and rum with a chocolate glaze.

Patisserie Philippe also features a French style lunch menu which includes baguettes and paninis. And the bakery sells a variety of impressive wedding cakes, including the elegant Croquembouche. Shaped like a cone and filled with pastry crème, this cake is considered a masterpiece for French pastry chefs.

Mi2 Sweets

Mimi Young is the owner and sole employee of Mi2 Sweets, a custom bakery located on De Haro Street between 16th and 17th streets, in the same building as Pinkie’s. After sixteen years working as a pastry chef for a number of Bay Area establishments – including

John Frank, Grand Café and Scala’s Bistro – Young opened her own bakery a little under a year ago. She sells wholesale pastries to a couple of Financial District cafés. But the core of her business is custom orders. Young’s website proudly displays the logo, “If you can dream it, Mi2 Sweets can make it.” According to Young, because she doesn’t have a storefront to maintain she can be creative, and tailor her pastries to her customer’s exact needs. In the short time she’s been in business Young has developed a reputation for making great tasting, unique pastries. She describes her style as putting standard ingredients together in an unusual way. “I don’t consider myself all that quirky, but I do stuff that’s not run of the mill,” Young said. Some of her more popular creations are her chocolate peanut butter bars and maple bacon blondies. Her red velvet cupcakes, currently a hot item in the bakery world, are also a customer favorite.

Although Young knows aesthetics are crucial for selling pasties, she believes that deserts should taste good first, and avoids the use of inedible props or supports in her custom wedding and birthday cakes. To order one of Young’s one of a kind creations, visit her website www. mi2sweets.com.

Jolt n’ Bolt

Tucked away in a 600 square foot space in the basement of the American Industrial Center (AIC) on 3rd and 20th streets, Jolt n’ Bolt can be hard to find. But during

lunch hour in-the-know locals line up out the door to sample their soups, salads, sandwiches, cakes and cookies. This first rate bakery can be accessed through an entrance on 3rd Street or through a loading dock on Illinois Street.

Jolt n’ Bolt owners Gerhardt and Mary Mechler offer catering services, and sell wholesale deserts to restaurants under their business Creative International Pastries. In 1989, the couple launched their enterprise, working a midnight to 8 a.m. shift in a shared kitchen on Folsom Street. They moved to the AIC building in 1990, and now operate out of four units in the facility. Jolt n’ Bolt opened in 1996.

The café’s lunch menu rotates daily, and consists of eight or so options, usually including foccia and pannini sandwiches and the occasional pasta or fried rice dish. A popular half sandwich and soup combination is always on offer. Jolt n’ Bolt’s pastries are the same ones that Gerhardt Michler serves through his catering business, which has handled such big name events as the opening of the San Francisco Opera and the Black and White Ball. A pastry chef since the age of 16, Michler learned the trade while growing up in his native Austria. He still garnishes his cakes, tarts, macroons, and tiramisu squares with fresh fruit, in a distinctly European style.

Are you ready to sell your home?

Get a Job!

By Mauri Schwartz

harm your reputation and ruin your chance of getting a job. In some professions outrageous behavior may be considered attractive, but not in most, and especially not in more conservative industries and professions.

Brain Injuries

Continued from Front Page

injury onset and the time when brain cells die. From animal research and earlier-stage patient studies, we know this is generally only a few hours.”

The View asked Hill resident and career expert Mauri Schwartz, President / CEO of Career Insiders, www.CareerInsiders.com, to answer questions from job seekers. Submit your questions to editor@ potreroview.net.

Q: What do you think about using Facebook for my job search?

A: There are certain things you need to keep in mind when it comes to using Facebook as a job search tool. Many people fail to understand the concept of leaving footprints on the web. What you do and what you say online is easy to track. Many people are too comfortable on social platforms, and say things that shouldn’t be said in public and/or upload images that are too personal or provocative. These behaviors can

You can control what people can see on your Facebook profile. However, you can’t control everything your friends write on your wall. You can prevent people from writing on your wall altogether, and you can prevent people from reading what’s on your wall. However, if you become too restrictive you end up defeating the purpose of using Facebook to communicate with your friends. Even if you go back and clean up your profile, some old pages may still be lurking on the internet.

People often put personal information on Facebook that opens the door to identity theft. From information such as birthday greetings sent and received, school and work gossip, photographs of family vacations, and movies watched, someone can create a picture of a person’s identity, down to their Social Security number. And they can determine when you’ll be away from home.

THE VIEW NEEDS YOU!

We need writers, editors, and gossip-mongers. We’ll also take artists, cartoon writers, and photographers. We’ll even consider poets. Little, if any, pay, no benefits, but plenty of love.

Preliminary TBI studies discerned no impact from progesterone, but in that research enough time had passed that brain damage had already occurred. According to Hemphill, “the biology of the disease dictates” that the TBI study’s time window be much shorter.

Lack of informed consent is an especially sensitive issue for AfricanAmericans because of a record of abuse in past studies. During the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment, which was conducted between 1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama, by the U.S. Public Health Service, 399 impoverished African-American sharecroppers with syphilis were recruited into a study examining the natural progression of the untreated disease. The research continued long after the 1940s validation of penicillin as an effective cure for the disease.

Hemphill, director of the Neurocritical Care Program at San Francisco General Hospital, explained that medical research without informed consent has happening since the 1960s. Without such an approach the automatic external defibrillator (AED), which is used in cases of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, wouldn’t be available. AED uses electricity to stop cardiac arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm. An individual in cardiac arrest can’t provide consent to the treatment, nor is there typically sufficient time to ask a family member for permission.

According Michele Meeker, clinical research coordinator at UCSF’s Brain and Spinal Injury Center Meeker, in addition to the TBI research the university

is also undertaking the Rapid Anticonvulsant Medications Prior to Arrival Trial (RAMPARTS) study, which raises similar questions about informed consent. The RAMPARTS study focuses on prolonged epileptic seizures that don’t stop. An individual in seizure is unconscious and unable to give consent to participate in a study. As with the TBI research –called Progesterone for the Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury ProTECT –in the RAMPARTS study medication must be given rapidly.

EFIC requires that information about the study be disseminated to the public before, during, and after the research has taken place. The public must be notified of the research team’s contact information, and be provided with ways to object or opt out of the study. ProTECT will provide medical alert bracelets or tags with the words “ProTECT declined” to those individuals who refuse to participate in the trial.

ProTECT study outreach included a presentation at the monthly community meeting held at the Bayview District police station. Meeker will also speak to the San Francisco Motorcycle Club, San Francisco Bike Coalition, San Francisco General Hospital Traumatic Brain Injury Support Group, and the Asian-American Health Coalition. ProTECT researchers have consulted with homeless advocacy groups to determine how to reach that population, since homeless individuals make up a significant portion of the TBI population. Advertisements will be placed the Coalition on Homelessness newspaper Street Sheet, the Spanish-language newspaper El Tecolote, the Chinese newspaper International Daily News, the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner. This outreach effort was largely completed last month.

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Short Cuts

Continued from Page 3

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Bluepeter Less Blue

Last month the San Francisco Port Commission authorized two alternative designs for Bay Front Park in Mission Bay. One of the options is to preserve the Bluepeter building. Friends of Bluepeter has until March 1, 2011 to find the roughly $300,000 needed to stabilize the structure, and to secure a viable development partner to rehabilate and re-purpose thebuilding for a public serving capacity, likely to include a restaurant.

For more information: www. bluepetersf.org.

Water Bugs

The Hamilton Swimming Pool opened in Western Addition last month. The sparkling new facility features two water slides, an ample fenced-in children’s playground, and resurfaced tennis courts. With the surrounding urban density, it’s a breath of the best of New York in the Golden City. Bugs do need to be worked out, however. One of the slides dumps into the stair-cased shallow end of the pool, forcing lifeguards to clear the area of babies whenever that slide is operational. The showers are coldwater only, which on a recent visit prompted a gaggle of pre-adolescent girls to warm their bodies with the on-site hair dryers, a practice which if it’s repeated will not result in the desired energy savings. The entry fee should be doubled from $1 to $2 for kids – $3 for non-San Francisco residents – to help pay for lukewarm shower water and maintenance of the playground’s grassy areas, which, if they replicate the children’s playground in Golden Gate Park, will quickly be denuded. Low-income families should be given free seasonal passes. Complaints, we have a few, but it’s wonderful to

see the renovated facility available to a generally hard-pressed neighborhood. Dive in!

Coming Clean

According to Appliance Handbook for Women: Simple Enough Even a Man Can Understand, by Vernon Schmidt, most of us are using 10 to 15 times more soap than necessary in our dishwashers and washing machines. These appliances use much less water than in our parents’ day, and as a result need less soap. Detergents have become increasingly concentrated; a little goes a long way. Too much soap costs money – think of it as paying ten times the price for a box of Tide – can stiffen clothing, and shorten the machine’s life. Sometimes less is indeed more.

Corrections

Last month’s article “GreenTrustSF Champions EcoFriendly Vision for Dogpatch” incorrectly stated that the UCSFMission Bay campus will ultimately include an estimated 21,000 parking spaces. The actual number of expected parking spaces at full build-out is less than one-third that amount...In our call for contributions to support independent news coverage of this year’s District 10 supervisorial election the View incorrectly identified the Neighborhood Newswire’s url. The correct web address is www. neighborhoodnewswire.net. Those who’d like to donate to this effort are encouraged to do so, by sending a check to “San Francisco Community Power,” 2325 Third Street, Suite 344, San Francisco, California 94107.

Bayview Police Station Captain’s Community Meeting is held on the first Tuesday of each month in the Bayview Police Station Community Room at 201 William Street. Access can be gained by entering through the Newhall Street door. Next meeting: April 6th, 6 p.m.

Dogpatch Neighborhood Association usually meets the second Tuesday of each odd-numbered month. The next meeting is May 11th, at the UCSF Building at 654 Minnesota Street from 7 to 9 p.m. Voting membership is open to anyone living in or owning property or a business in Dogpatch. DNA supports members’ neighborhood interests in Dogpatch, Central Waterfront and the surrounding areas. For more information or to join/ pay online: mydogpatch.org.

McKinley Square Community Group is a communication and discussion group for community awareness regarding events and activities, clean up days, improvement and beautification, and other concerns, such as crime in the neighborhood. Next board meeting: April 14th from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Downtown High School, 693 vermont Street. Board meetings open to the public. Visit www.mckinleysquare.com for more information.

Potrero Boosters meets the last Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. (social time begins at 6:30 p.m.) in the wheelchair-accessible Game Room of the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro Street. For more information: www.potreroboosters.org or contact Tony Kelly at 341.8040; president@ potreroboosters.org. Next Meeting: April 27th.

Potrero Hill Association of Merchants & Businesses (PHAMB) meets the second Tuesday of each month at 10 a.m. at Goat Hill Pizza, corner of Connecticut and 18th streets. Visit www.potrerohill.biz or call 341.8949. Next meeting: April 13th, 10 a.m.

Potrero Hill Democratic Club meets the First Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House. 953 De Haro St. For more information: 648.6740, www. PHDemClub.org. Next meeting: April 6th, 7 p.m.

Potrero Hill Garden Club usually meets the last Sunday of the month at 11 a.m. for a potluck lunch in a local home or garden. Discussions are held on subjects related to organic, edible, or ornamental gardening appropriate for Potrero Hill’s microclimate. Call 648.1926 for details.

Starr King Openspace Volunteer Work Day is held the third Saturday of every month. Meet your neighbors, get some fresh air, and care for this unique oasis of nature in the heart of the big City. Meet on the Openspace on Carolina Street, across from Starr King Elementary School. For more information: http://www.starrkingopenspace.org/ or contact the SKOS Board by at skosboard@gmail.com. Next Work Day: April 17th, 9 a.m. to noon. The SKOS Board meets on April 22nd at the Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro Street at 6:30 p.m. Topics include: Updates from each subcommittee, plus discussion of changes to bylaws and fundraising status. All monthly board meetings are open to the public. Time will be set aside for public comment. The board may set aside some agenda items for closedsession discussion.

Police Blotter

March 10, 10:45 a.m., Dakota and 25th Streets, Possession of a Loaded Firearm, Warrant Arrest.Acting on a tip, Gang Task Force officers conducted surveillance in an area known for gang-related activity. The officers gathered intelligence that a retaliation involving weapons was being planned in retribution for an earlier gang-involved incident. The officers’ investigation led them to several suspects and a house in which three loaded handguns as well as suspected narcotics were recovered. The crime scene unit is processing the weapons for evidence. The investigation is ongoing.

March 4, 12:30 p.m., Missouri and Watchman: Officer Booth responded to a call about a burglary. Someone

gained entry into the victim’s residence through the upper floor bedroom window while the victim and family were downstairs. The indivudal stole a laptop computer and PS3 gaming consol from the bedroom, and left the residence undetected. Crime Scene Investigation responded to collect evidence at the scene.

March 4, 2010, 5 p.m., Marin and Bayshore: Officers responded to a burglary at a storage rental facility. The victim stated that the padlock to her storage unit was gone and the door was open. Missing from the storage unit was a laptop computer, camera, and musical instruments valued at more than $3,000.

Going to War

By David J. Matsuda

Saddam Hussein in Iran and who share with their Persian neighbors a religious ideology that emboldens them to influence Iraqi politics, attempt to control oil revenues, and extend the Islamic revolution throughout the region.

Niger on the Brink of Catastrophy

Special from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

As winter chill gives way to milder spring weather, and I-Corps prepares to be replaced by III Corps, I’m on the road as cultural advisor to Lieutenant General Charles Jacoby, the second highest ranking American officer in Iraq. I’m conducting a “gauge the youth vote survey” that’s taken me to five universities in the Kurdish north, a technical college in Kirkuk, and to Mosul, where I had to meet students outside the university because of threats that they’d be targeted by al Qa’eda for talking to me.

Working with Iraqi students who plan to vote in the upcoming elections has been an amazing experience. There’s a strong division between Arabs and Kurds, which has split the Kurdish vote between elders who want to compromise with Arabs and youth who want a fully independent Kurdistan. Will Kurdish youth voters obey their elders and vote for incremental progress, or will they opt for changing the old guard and pushing for their country?

Farther south, Sunni and Shi’a Arab youth feel that the Government of Iraq has made too many compromises with the Kurds, and that these ambitions should be curtailed. Shi’a youth are split between nationalists who’ll vote against what they see as religious extremism and foreign influence, and those who found sanctuary from

I travel at the mercy of the Responsible Draw Down of Forces plan, which has remove troops and equipment from the war theatre. There’s less of everything, including helicopters. I was conducting an independent assessment of an intensive course on Iraqi language and culture. From there I have to travel far north to make another youth vote study, and then make my way back towards Baghdad, stopping at selected bases to study the organizational context in which suicides occur. In the middle of this journey the air operations officer confronted me with bad news. My AMR, that’s military for reservation, was bumped. I had to scramble to find transport.

I was up late into the night getting conflicting information from multiple air wings. “Yes we have a flight, no there is not a flight, yes there is but it was cancelled.” Finally I reached an air wing that was going my way, but they couldn’t reserve a spot for me. I’d have to take my chances and wait to see if there was a seat. Military air is great; until you have to depend on it, making it next to impossible to keep an appointment.

Dave Matsuda returned from his second tour of duty in Iraq to his Potrero Hill home last month.

A severe food and malnutrition crisis is looming in Niger, a landlocked country in West Africa. More than 20,000 under-five children are being treated for malnutrition nationwide, and at least another 200,000 are at risk of severe malnutrition, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “You need to go to the field to realize that we need to act now,” said Kalil Hamadoun, Médecins Sans Frontières field director in southern Niger, which had the country’s second highest percentage of children underweight for their height, according to a December 2009 government study.

Selling prized cattle, cutting meals, eating food intended for animals and scrounging for anything to sell as firewood or animal feed have become increasingly common, according to local officials and the national information system for livestock sales. Food and fodder prices in parts of the country are up around 30 percent. But March incomes have been cut in half since last September due to more agriculture workers competing for dwindling jobs. “We need to ensure people have access to food. We are not even in the hungry season yet,” said Aboubacar Mahamadou, the Health Ministry’s deputy director

of nutrition services, referring to the June to September planting season, when most families have finished eating their previous harvests and are waiting for the next one in October.

The World Food Program (WFP) is planning food distributions to 500,000 children aged 6 to 23 months in 20 of the neediest communities. “If we look at a map of interventions at the moment, we see they are drops of water in the ocean [of need],” said WFP regional director in Zinder, Doumbaye Djimadoumngar. According to OCHA estimates it will cost more than $200 million to cover 60 percent of Zinder’s food needs before the next harvest, and to continue nutrition activities.

The European Commission for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) has pledged an additional $27 million to fight malnutrition in Niger and neighboring Sahelian countries. The amount Niger will receive will be decided in the coming months. Last year, ECHO granted Niger $17.7 million. The United Kingdom recently announced additional emergency funding for Niger. This comes on top of $81 million emergency aid from the European Commission, Islamic Development Bank, and the governments of Japan, Spain and the United States.

Those interested in donating to Niger should contact Steven Moss, steven@moss.net, 415.643.9578

Art and Music

PIANO LESSONS with patience and humor. All ages, all styles. Former member of the Pickle Family Circus and SF Mime Troupe. Randy Craig 415.334.2451.

ATTENTION ARTISTS Goat Hill Pizza is looking for local artists to show their work at the restaurant. Please call Alicia Wong at 415.641.1440 if you are interested.

Business Services

TAX AND AUDIT SERVICES Need an extension? Have last minute questions about your taxes? Need audited financial statements for your investors? I am local and can help. Michael Dreyer, CPA mpdreyer@gmail.com.

GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR PRINT AND WEB Get your business/product noticed: logo, web site, ad, brochure, Flash animation, stationery, invitations, sell sheet, more. On the Hill. www.jcarpinelli.com.

Community Activities

SENIORS (60+) DON’T EAT ALONE Join us for daily lunch and add to your social life. Mon-Fri, hot nutritious meals--your first time with us you get a free lunch! Bingo, cards, birthday celebrations, special events, and other activities. For more information, call Dolores Maghari at 415.826.8080. PH Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro St.

Education

TUTORING Get help with tests & homework. See www.myStudyBuddy.org. Jane Radcliffe, M.A., CA Credential #150007. 415.586.4577.

HOME BUYING SEMINAR Learn how to buy a home in today?s market & get the best loan rate. 1st & 3rd Wed. each mo., 7-8:15pm on Potrero Hill. RSVP: Michelle 415.637.1898, Zephyr RE DRE #01224725.

SPANISH LESSONS Beginner, intermediate, advanced levels. Grammar and conversation tailored to your own needs. Cultural events. Native teacher. Agora Language Resources. 415.248.1881. agoralrs@yahoo.com.

Employment

HOME LANGUAGE PROGRAM NEEDS

ENGLISH TEACHERS DO YOU NEED ADDITIONAL INCOME? Are you a qualified teacher, or do you have a university degree? Could you provide a single room, 3 meals per day and teach English to a foreign student in your own home in the San Francisco area? Rates from $500$700 per student per week. Please reply to: Maya Lyn at SFHomeLanguageStudy@ yahoo.com.

Garden Services

COMPLETE GARDEN CARE I will help your garden evolve into a natural paradise. Maintenance, renovation, organic soil building. Calif. Native plants a specialty. Call Jeannine Zenti, 415.642.0246.

PACHAMAMA LANDSCAPING Organic Maintenance, Design and Installation. Specializing in Native Plants, Edible Gardens, Wildlife/ Bay- Friendly, Composting, Drip Irrigation, more. Free Estimates 550-1598.

Health, Healing & Beauty

PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINER Have a plan for your goals ? I can help you to improve cardio, strength, flexibility, quality of life! Train near Potrero Hill. Susan Sullivan, 786-9939. susan@binkysbarn.com.

MAGNIFICENT MASSAGE (POTRERO HILL/DOGPATCH) Relieve pain, muscle tension, stress, chronic muscular holding patterns, and return to a sense of general well being with a Swedish and Deep Tissue-based massage. Hot stones also available! $90 for 75 min; $80 if you mention this ad. Mark Vogel, CMT (415) 994-9668 www.markvogelmassage.com for info/testimonials.

YOGA BASICS AT YOGA SITA Start or re-start your practice in a friendly 2-hour class with Nancy Clarke. Offered April 14; May 19; June 9; 6 - 8pm. $25/per. Yoga Sita, 1501 Mariposa St. #308. www. nancyoga.com 510.735.1345.

Home Services

HANDYMAN MIKE Electrical, Carpentry, Custom woodwork, Decks, Doors, Dry rot

Fences, Garbage disposal, Locks, Siding, Molding, Painting, Plumbing, Toilet, Sheetrock, Stairs, Tile. 415.756.9896.

ORGANIZE YOUR HOME/HOME OFFICE and feel calmed, inspired, happy. Rates sensitive to economic times. Phone Your Home Organizer, Linda James at 415.285.3266.

TOM’S PLUMBING Tom has been satisfying Potrero Hill customers for over 30 years. All plumbing needs handled promptly and efficiently at a very low cost. Keep it local and call Tom Keats: 415-824-3538.

COLOR CONSULTING- INTERIOR DESIGN-180 DEGREE DESIGN Trouble picking out those perfect colors for the exterior or interior of your home? Want to finally re-design your kitchen or bathroom opening a new business space? Kathyjean Boise is a featured designer on HGTV. For the professional help you need to make the perfect rooms for life-Call 180 Degree Design-Kathyjean Boise-415-285-3014.

J.A. EMMANUEL CONSTRUCTION License #861994 is organized to provide service with optimum efficiency and flexibility. Quality work with experience in residential construction can help make your dreams a reality. New construction, house addition, remodeling and conversion. House, apartments, condos, kitchen, bathroom & more. Reasonable rates. All insurance necessary for the projects. Call 415.902.2469 for FREE ESTIMATE or visit www.jaemmanuelconstruction.com.

Housekeeping

CLEANING PROFESSIONAL Cleaning

Professional. 24 years Experience. Apartments, homes, or offices. Roger Miller 415.664.0513 or cell 415.794.4411 (9 am - 5 pm).

DO YOU NEED HOUSECLEANING? We will do it. Just Call Marco & Sara 415310-8838.

Pet Services

TRU-LUV CATSITTING ON HILL SF/SPCA volunteer (10 years) and Cat Lover. Complete care for your cat(s) for your complete peace of mind while you are away, including medication if needed. References (see Yelp). Low Rates. Trudi 415.285.5526.

Rentals

OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT Furnished office for rent in Dogpatch, including access to Mac computer, printer/copier, high-speed internet, fax, and hard-wired telephone. $500 a month. Contact Steve Moss, 643.9578; steven@moss.net

SPACIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL Furnished guest garden apartment. Private. 1/2 blk. to restaurants. Non-smoking. 2 adults only. 2 night minimum. 415-861-3208.

VACATION RETREAT FOR POTRERO

HILLIANS. Calistoga/St Helena area 3 bdrms 2 baths sleeps 6 (max). Lrg decks w/ views of stream woods & meadow. Frplace w/wood, 30 acres trails, all-year stream. Dogs OK. 3 night wkend=$500 Week=$900. Discount for repeat guests. Photos: spot02.googlepages.com. 415.647.3052.

CHARMING GARDEN APARTMENT One BR, 2-night minimum. Fireplace, patio, deck, French doors. 415.641.4488.

ACTIVSPACE, FOR ART, HOBBY & BUSINESS. Rent from $395 a month utilities included. Private, Secure, Affordable, 24/7 access. Call Tama for further details 415-355-1515.

SPECIAL OCCASION COMING UP? Host your celebration at Slovenian Hall! Great rates and convenient location on Potrero Hill, just off Hwy 101. Ideal for birthdays, graduation or wedding receptions. Capacity up to 250. Space also available for seminars, meetings or classes. Short or long term rentals available. Call 864-9629 or email slovenianhall@gmail.com.

Technology Services

COMPUTER PROBLEMS DRIVING YOU BUGGY? Problems fixed! 25 years of industry experience Personal IT consulting to small businesses or busy professionalssetup/troubleshoot wireless networks. We can install and/or help you shop for new a new computer/network/printer or shows how to use yours. If you’re not technical, don’t worry - we are. Rob (415)244-3305 www.sfcomputech.com rob@sfcomputech.com.

“I feel it’s important to support local businesses like the View. The exposure and the ad rates further confirm my choice to advertise.”

-Roger Hillyard, owner of Farley’s on 18th Street