Potrero View 2011: September by potreroview

Southside inside - Enhanced coverage of San Francisco’s southern communities

September 2011

Alvarado Elementary Faces Large Exodus Before Fifth Grade By Sasha Lekach Alvarado Elementary School, which offers kindergarten through fifth grade classes, has long been among the San Francisco Unified School District’s (SFUSD) most popular campuses, in part due to its Spanish Immersion program. But last year the Noe Valley school lost a significant chunk of its fourth graders; at least eight parents chose to transfer their children to other schools before they graduated from Alvarado. Alvarado “always has a certain number of families who decide they want a different school experience,” said Robert Broecker, who has served as the school’s principal for the past five years. According to Broecker, some parents want their child to make an early shift to a kindergarten to eighth grade school to ease the transition to middle school. Frequently students who leave Alvarado early transfer to the Knowledge Is Power Program Academy, a fifth to eighth grade charter school with two San Francisco campuses, one in Bayview, the other in the Western Addition. Because “parents want a good middle school for their children,” leaving Alvarado before graduation ensures a spot on sixth grade rosters, said Broecker. Other Alvarado students transfer to independent schools. And there’s a steady stream of families moving out of San Francisco altogether. Broecker mentioned students going to schools in Marin and Sonoma counties, or leaving the state or country. Differing ideas about how best to educate maturing, soon-to-be middle schoolers influenced Diamond Heights resident Melinda Capiraso’s decision to transfer her son Cristian out of Alvarado. Capiraso felt that Cristian’s needs were not being met at the school. He’s now attending fifth grade at Charles Armstrong School – a kindergarten through eighth grade school that caters to students with language-based learning differsee Alvarado page 5

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Annex-Terrace Redevelopment Taking Shape, Groundbreaking Not in Sight

http://www.rebuildpotrero.com/events/town-hall-meeting-4.php

An aerial view of the proposed redevelopment of the Terrace-Annex complex, taken from the Rebuild Potrero Master Plan.

By Sasha Lekach Under for mer Mayor Gav i n Newsom, in 2008 the Annex-Terrace housing complex was one of five sites selected under HOPE SF – a program operated by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and the San Francisco Housing Authority – to be revitalized. BRIDGE Housing Corporation, and its affiliate BUILD, was chosen to lead

the redevelopment under an initiative called “Rebuild Potrero.” Three years later, despite a multi-million dollar planning process, when, and even whether, Annex-Terrace will be redeveloped remains uncertain. Home to roughly 1,200 people, Annex-Terrace covers 38 acres on the Hill’s eastside. The complexes consist of uniform sets of units lined in rows, reflecting their wartime

genesis. Redevelopment of the site poses economic, political and physical challenges, with the planning process surfacing social issues and neighborhood tensions. According to project director Charmaine Curtis, a BRIDGE Housing consultant, Annex-Terrace residents are worried about relocation during and after see redevelopment page 15

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Struggles to Launch Clean Energy Program By Sasha Lekach Sometime next year San Franciscans may be able to purchase less polluting electricity directly from the City and County of San Francisco. Under CleanPowerSF, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) plans to offer businesses and residents power fully generated from renewable energy sources. SFPUC has been struggling to launch CleanPowerSF since 2004, spending millions of City dollars on consultant fees and civil servant staff time in the effort.

Daggett Place p. 4

CleanPowerSF emerged from Assembly Bill 117, passed in 2002, which authorized Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). Under CCA local governments are allowed to sell power to energy users within their jurisdiction. However, an inability to secure reasonably-priced contracts for clean power, as well as dogged opposition from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), dissuaded virtually every municipality in Northern California from getting into the electricity business. Last year Marin County became the first locality to

Boys & Girls Club p. 1 Southside p. 9

implement CCA, under its Marin Clean Energy program. “Despite California’s enabling legislation, CCAs have been extremely difficult to establish, in large part due to the ability of large utility companies to actively block their formation,” State Senator Mark Leno wrote in an August constituent email. In 2010 San Francisco voters defeated PG&E-backed Proposition 16, which would have made CCA implementation even more difficult. “Usually customers don’t have see energy page 2 of Southside

Crime & Safety p. 24

Source p. 17 p. 17

p. 19

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

Letters to the Editor

Publisher’s View

A New City By Steven J. Moss Macro-economists, who forecast future economic conditions, have an adage: never predict both an outcome and the date at which it’ll occur. Economic changes are relatively simple to forecast: the economy goes up, and it goes down. We just don’t know exactly when. Potrero Hill’s future can also be predicted, though whether trends will unfold over a decade, or 30 years, is more speculative. And in the case of the Hill, the past is prologue to the future. Sixty years ago construction of the 101 freeway created a sharp boundary at the neighborhood’s western border. A community that used to roll gently westward, mixing with the Mission’s eastern edge, was walled off. Years later, development of 280 had a similar, if less dramatic, effect to the east. Over the decades the Hill fostered an island-like culture: a bit slower than the rest of the City, more intimate, and, as a result of lower housing prices, home to a concentration of creatives. Today, the freeways – joined by the Caltrains stations, and, to a lesser extent, the Muni T-Line – have morphed from community walls to regional arteries. A growing number of San Franciscans live on the Hill because of the throughways, as opposed to despite them. Our island culture is disappearing, with neighborhood-serving restaurants now destination places for the entire City, and local coffee and grocery merchants battered by the nearby arrival of chains. Housing is expensive. Open space, diminished by the loss of vacant lots to development, is under pressure from increasing populations of humans and dogs. The cranes on the Central Waterfront are no longer dedicated to moving shipping crates, but I-beams and rebar. That activity will only intensify. At some point soon, a Hill resident will be able to look out from the top of De Haro Street and see a semi-circle line of construction cranes or brand new medium-rises, extending from Showplace Square eastward around to the Potrero Annex-Terrace housing complex. Tens of thousands of square feet of office and research space, as well as residential units, will be built well before the students currently attending the College of Arts and Crafts reach retirement age. The Hill’s footings will become much denser, more congested, and – even with the Potrero Power Plant gone – more polluted from increased vehicle traffic. And the new city being built around us will quite likely be ugly, alienating, and subtly threatening; closer in look and temperate to Mission Bay than the charming brick buildings that currently dominate Showplace Square. It’s instructive that one of the most

interesting Mission Bay buildings is a parking garage, which features an ar ray of w i ndows plausibly inspired by The Flintstones. Such cartoon whimsy stands in contrast to the adjacent clusters of giant boxes, which seem designed to hold bundles of computer wires rather than accommodate humans. The Hill itself will become even wealthier. Blue collar housing will be steadily demolished to make way for monster homes. The population of families with school age children will continue to stagnate, or decline. Crime rates will remain low; acts of violence will become rarer. Jackson and McKinley Parks will be reimagined and enlarged; Starr King Open Space will become a critical breathing space for the community. The Central Waterfront will be recreated as a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly promenade. But there still won’t be enough green space to accommodate all of the two- and four-legged creatures looking for grass to sniff, or birds to watch. Though something profound will be lost – painters and musicians gathering at one another’s Hill homes to play music, and argue politics; salt-of-the-earth tradespeople raising large families in a tight-knit community; the rough and tumble appeal of half-derelict industrial sites – it isn’t a horrible future, especially compared with still foreclosure-plagued East Bay towns. But it could be much better. More families would be attracted to the neighborhood if a healthy slice of the new developments were required to accommodate them, with units that have ample bedrooms and play areas. And greater numbers of school-aged children would stay if a high-quality kindergarten through eighth grade school was sited, at the Downtown or International high school campuses, or in a new facility at Mission Bay. Under current policies, affordable housing will be produced – through required set-asides at new developments, and at Annex-Terrace – but even more would materialize if rent control was reformed in a way that encourages landlords to put their now vacant or vacationrental units back on the market. Much larger amounts of green space are needed. Rather than an ad hoc planning process in which scrappy neighborhood advocates have to throw pebbles at each new building proposal to get attention – more often than not resulting in façade changes, rather than fundamental improvements – a comprehensive design process merits adoption, in which community-friendly, human scale – maybe even inspired – outcomes are encouraged. The area’s see publisher’s page 9

Kudos Editor, The August issue was a riveting, compelling edition of the View. The paper is always interesting, but this one felt like the Sunday Times. It was in depth, covering important, complex topics, and had rather nice writing. I couldn’t put it down. Neither could my friend, a local political insider – from a different neighborhood – who noticed the View on my counter and promptly lost all interest in conversation until he’d finished reading it. We both cracked up at the “Magic” item under “Short Cuts. Nice of you to keep us laughing. Sharon Tetlow Missouri Street

Soil Editor, Thanks for the article on my soil project in the August View (“Dirt on Southside Gardens Uncovered”). Please note the correct website address for those looking for additional information about my project: https://sites.google.com/site/ healthygardeners/. Jennifer Gorospe Bayview

else’s access in and out of Bayview. Closing Jerrold would create unpredictable new traffic patterns, and impact property values. The ripple effect would be far beyond a simple nuisance. A View Reader Editor’s note: The View generally prefers not to print anonymous letters. We made an exception in this case due to the recent launch of the Southside section, in which the article of interest appeared.

School Editor, Until last month the oft renamed public school located on Vermont, between 18th and 19th streets – currently Downtown High School – had an ornate pair of brass clad front doors. Now they are gone. What was wrong with the elegant metal doors? Where are they now? I can imagine that they may have been scrapped because of some door salesman’s interpretation of an Occupational Health and Safety Administration guideline. And then the doors will reappear on a Sonoma County estate house, accompanied by the school’s blackboard slate, installed on the estate’s floor or countertop. Lewis Carroll Epstein Vermont Street

Produce Mart Editor, Thank you for “San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market Poised to Expand,” in the View’s July issue. I’m hoping for a sequel, and that closure of Jerrold Avenue be reversed, or reconsidered with a compromise: close the street only at night, or do temporary detours and monitor the results. Market expansion could be very nicely done without closing Jerrold. We all consider access when selecting a location in which to live or do business. Access to the market isn’t more important than everyone

Vigilante Vigilante Editor, I enjoyed your review of the documentary Vigilante Vigilante (“Local F il m makers Docu ment Graffiti Vigilantes,” August issue). In it, I’m mentioned as author of Bay Area Street Art. In fact, I’m author of two books, neither of which has that title. One is called Bay Area Graffiti; the other is San Francisco Street Art. Both were released in 2009. Steve Rotman San Francisco

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EDITOR and PUBLISHER: Steven J. Moss PRODUCTION MANAGER: Lisa Tehrani SEPTEMBER STAFF: Regina Anavy, Keith Burbank, Carol L. Dondrea, David A. Egan, Rheba Estante, Debbie Findling, Keith Goldstein, Lia Hillman, Sasha Lekach, Catie Magee, Paul McDonald, Sara Moss, Melissa Mutiara Pandika, Katrina Schwartz, Mauri Schwartz, Bill Slatkin, Simon Stahl and Jim Van Buskirk Editorial and policy decisions are made by the staff. All staff positions are voluntary. Published monthly. Address all correspondence to: THE POTRERO VIEW, 2325 Third Street Suite 344, San Francisco, CA 94107 415.626.8723 • E-mail: editor@potreroview.net • advertising@potreroview.net (advertising)

T h e V ie w i s prin t e d o n rec yc l e d n e w sprin t w i t h s oy- bas e d ink .

September 2011

High-Tech Hub Flo Cimino, who has been cutting hair from the same 20th Street location for 57 years, is at home recovering from a massive cardiac arrest he suffered in July. Rapid response from the nearby San Francisco Fire Department made the critical difference… Mission Bay, increasingly joined by Showplace Square, continues to consolidate its role as a highand medical-technology innovation hub. All of the gift showrooms at the GiftCenter, 888 Brannan Street, are closing – pushed out by the building’s remodeling plans or the Great Recession – almost certainly to be replaced by technology companies. Last month four year old online file-storage service Dropbox leased 87,000 square feet of new office space at 185 Berry Street. The company, with a staff of 65, plans to grow to 400 employees before too long. Meanwhile, Airbnb, a website company that connects travelers with spare rooms in private homes, has also moved to the neighborhood… South- of-Ma rket, on the other hand, may be looking to become the City’s fashion center. Located at 440 Brannan, with an orange jacket serving as a beacon, Underground features handmade clothes designed by Jill Giordano, Brian Scheyer, and Al Ramos, among others…Last month SOMA-based BRD Motorcycles unveiled the Red Shift, an all-electric, ultra-light motorcycle able to navigate both dirt roads and city streets…Philz Coffee now has an outlet at 25th and Potrero…San Francisco native Thomas Thong has

Short Cuts launched Tomkat, a food truck offering takes on various Asian dishes, such as Cambodian Ratatouille, Korean Bibimbap, as well as homemade teas. Look for it on Third Street, between 19th and 20th streets, in the parking lot next to Leo’s Tires Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Café Cocomo Told to Quiet Down San F rancisco’s Entertainment Commission granted Café Cocomo one more chance to keep noise under control. The club needed a special hearing to obtain an outdoor permit last month – to allow music on their patio from noon until 8 p.m. – because the 650 Indiana Street venue has a history of noise complaints and violence. According to the San Francisco Examiner, Commission president John Newlin indicated that this will be the last time the club will be granted a permit to host an outside event if significant complaints are triggered. “If this blows up, you’re not going to see much cooperation coming out of me,” he said. “You’re setting your own future with how you handle this.” Dogpatch resident Mark Infield said interaction with Cocomo’s owners and managers hasn’t been positive; he doesn’t see the venue changing to meet the community’s needs anytime soon. “It’s a business,” Infield said.

“I get that. But the problem is they have no history or connection with the neighborhood.” The event, featuring salsa and Latin-inspired music, was held as the View went to press.

Meters too Smart for their Own Good? Portola residents are complaining that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s isn’t giving them advance notice of when new smart meters will be installed, and that their water bills doubled, or even tripled, after the meters were put in place, accounting for rate hikes associated with a recent bond measure…In July the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a $115 million contract with Recology, to landfill the City’s solid waste in the tiny Sierra foothills town of Wheatland. Now Assemblywoman Fiona Ma is pushing a bill to prevent local governments from restricting the importation of solid waste into their jurisdiction. Under Ma’s legislation, Assembly Bill 1178, cities and counties would be unable to control landfills’ size, location and operation. The proposed policy is plausibly oriented, in part, to stop Yuba County from restricting the flow of San Francisco’s garbage into Wheatland. One can’t help but be reminded of a similar, failed, effort, sponsored by Assemblyman

THE POTRERO VIEW

Jerry Hill, to strip municipalities of their ability to regulate helipads, in the wake of efforts to site just such a facility at San Francisco General Hospital. If you don’t like the answers you’re getting from one government level, go to the next one; lobbyists call it “jurisdiction shopping.” Not so different from a teenager trying to get permission to go to a concert from mom after dad said “no.”

Accidental Politicians With the entry of Ed Lee into this November’s mayoral race – after a way too long “aw shucks, do you really think I should run” performance reminiscent of Sookie Stackhouse’s reluctance to bed vampires in True Blood – San Francisco has firmly entered the era of the accidental politician. Lee – who was appointed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to complete now Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom’s term – joins George Gascón – who was chosen by the aforementioned former mayor to be district attorney (DA) – as long-time civil servants who now want to become elected officials. Bureaucrats don’t rise to the level of city administrator (Lee) or police chief (Gascón) without having political skills, but those are typically of the insider variety. Politics demands a complex array of abilities, including remembering people’s names, responding swiftly and effectively to crises, and weaving stories – and leading efforts – about creating betsee short cuts page 6

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

Daggett Place Development Approved in Unanimous Vote By Melissa Mutiara Pandika More than seven years after its inception, construction of the proposed Daggett Place complex, at 1000 16th Street, is moving forward. The San Francisco Planning Commission approved development proposals under the Eastern Neighborhoods Area Plans in a unanimous five to zero vote at a public hearing held at City Hall in late-July. The proposed mixed-use development, on a former Glidden paint factory site, will occupy a triangular plot bordered by seventh, 16th, and Hubbell streets owned by Cherokee Mission Bay, LLC. The site is located at the nexus of Potrero Hill, Showplace Square, and Mission Bay; the developers envision it as a gateway connecting the neighborhoods. Financed by Archstone and designed by David Baker and Partners Architects and CMG Landscaping, the complex will include two six-story, 68-footplus buildings, with roughly 15,000 square feet of ground floor retail – including two restaurants – and approximately 11,100 square feet of light industrial, or Production, Distribution, and Repair (PDR), and Small Enterprise Workspace (SEW) spaces. PDR zoning allows the development to host businesses that provide a wide range of services, from printing, storage, and shipping, to furniture manufacturing, food production, catering, and performance spaces. SEW zoning permits small businesses, occupying from 500 to 2,500 square feet. The development will include 467 dwelling units, each averaging 765 square feet. A Seventh Street garage will accommodate 306 parking spaces, including a car share pod and ten electric vehicle charging stations. Daggett Street – also known as Daggett Right of Way – has been designated as a public park, tentatively to include a lawn, play area, built-in seating, dog run, and ample landscaping. Daggett Place development has been percolating since April 2004, when the project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was filed. In April 2009, the Planning Commission unanimously certified the project’s EIR. Four months later, the City approved the Eastern Neighborhoods Area Plans, which changed Daggett Place’s zoning from PDR to urban mixed-use (UMU). The Area Plans will guide land use decisions in the Mission, Central Waterfront, Southeast Market, Showplace Square, and Potrero Hill neighborhoods for the next twenty years. Aiming to strike a balance between the City’s need for housing and a desire to preserve PDR jobs, the Plans calls for retaining half of existing PDR zoning while transitioning the other half to mixeduse zones that permit new residential development, as well as PDR space. Although Daggett Place’s mixed uses matched the Plans zoning requirements, the partial collapse of capital markets delayed the project. When Cherokee gave partner Dan

Photograph by Paul McDonald

Daggett Triangle, formerly the location of a paint factory, has stood derelict for years.

Murphy, an Urban Green DevCo, LLC principal, the go-ahead less than a year ago, it was under the condition that additional financing be found. Cherokee ultimately teamed with Archstone, a developer and operator of mixed-used communities in urban markets, to finalize the project’s design. At the July hearing, Murphy, Amir Massih – Archstone vice-president of development – and architect David Baker requested approval from the Planning Commission, stating that the site’s UMU zoning allowed for the project’s proposed retail, PDR, and residential uses, as well as its 68-foot height. According to Massih, Daggett Place will comply with the City’s land use policies, which encourages development of mixed-income housing along 16th Street. Forty percent of the project’s units will be two-bedrooms, with 20 percent affordable units offered at 55 percent of San Francisco median household income. According to the developers, the project’s design reflects extensive community input, which prompted significant alterations to the buildings’ façade and color palette. “We had kind of colorful colors, and it was sort of sticking out in the view plane, so we sampled the San Francisco skyline,” Baker explained. The project’s amenities will include on-site management, a community garden, yoga studio, fitness room, and one-toone bike parking at both a specially designated station on Hubbell Street and storage rooms on each floor of the main building, which will be located at the corner of Seventh and Hubbell streets. “What we’re finding as we’re creating affordable-by-design is that residents want amenities within the project and very close to the project, and this is a way for them to complement the lives that they lead inside of their homes,” said Massih. “In particular, we’re finding the need for secure parking on the level in which people live.” The project has been endorsed by the Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association, Potrero Dogpatch Merchants, Dogpatch Neighborhood Association (DNA), San Francisco Housing Action Coalition (SFHAC),

and San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association. In making the case for Daggett Place’s approval, the developers emphasized how protracted the planning process has been. Construction was originally expected to start in 2008, with occupancy beginning in 2010. “It has been a very slow process to come to a meeting of minds about what it is that makes a good development for a community while still making sense for a developer,” said Massih. “We think it is time.” Most of the nearly 20 community members who attended the Planning Commission meeting supported the project, generally pointing to its compliance with UMU zoning. “The project is compliant with the newly adopted Eastern Neighborhoods zoning, including height,” said Susan Eslick, DNA vice-president. “I think it would be a little unfair to set zoning standards and then not approve the projects that abide by them.” Tim Colen, SFHAC executive director,

agreed that Daggett Place met zoning requirements, and noted that although the City is supposed to expedite approval of compliant projects, it hadn’t done so for Daggett Place. The Eastern Neighborhood Plan “… was supposed to deliver certainty to projects that comply with it, that if they meet the guidelines…they’d get through quickly and easily,” he said. “We hope that that’s the case… We’re very interested in how Eastern Neighborhoods is applied.” Daggett Place, along with 2121 Third Street and 1501 15th Street, was one of the first large projects seeking approval under the new Plans. A number of meeting attendees shared the developers’ desire to see the nearly decade-long planning process come to fruition. Josh Smith, of Walton Development, which owns the property across the street from Daggett Place, testified to the sponsors’ community outreach efforts. “We participated in well over 100 meetings ourselves in terms of community outreach over the last six or seven years, and at every single one of those meetings, either Dan Murphy and/or Amir has been there.” he said. “Their outreach efforts have been remarkable, as has been said in the past, probably setting a world record of some sort.” David Meckel, director of research and planning at neighboring California College of the Arts (CCA), also commended the developers for their outreach efforts. “The developers have worked closely with us in our neighboring community, demonstrating an impressive level of outreach over the past five years, unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the neighborhood.” “Cherokee, Mr. Murphy…and Mr. Baker, have worked with neighbors endlessly in many, many meetings,” said longtime CCA see Daggett page 12

September 2011

Alvarado from front page ences – in Belmont. Her younger son is starting second grade at Alvarado, with no plans to switch schools. According to Capiraso, some of the parents of students who left Alvarado before graduating are concerned about competition to get into the City’s top middle schools. But her decision to leave was based on academics. “I’m not optimistic about middle school in the district,” she said. Alex Bernstein, who lives in the Richmond with his wife and three sons, moved two of his children after third grade from Alvarado to Brandeis Hillel Day School, a kindergarten through eighth grade independent school located on Brotherhood Way. His younger son will attend Alvarado for at least three more years. “I love the school – and my kids love the school – I just think it can be much better.” Class size increases after third grade prompted the family to reevaluate the education their children were receiving at Alvarado. Bernstein and his wife had wanted their children to learn Spanish; Alvarado’s immersion program seemed like a perfect fit. But after third grade, problems started to surface, though “we miss the Spanish immersion part and the opportunity for daily diversity,” said Bernstein. According to Bernstein, much of the school’s weaknesses can be traced to a lack of funding. Like many parents, he volunteers to help the school, starting science and math committees. “The

PTA at Alvarado does an excellent job of filling many holes the district and state create,” he said. While Bernstein is happy with his decision to transfer his sons to Brandies, the change wasn’t completely smooth. “The kids miss their friends. We try to keep those relationships fresh,” he said. Former Alvarado Parent-Teacher Association president Anna Burke transferred her son from fourth grade, after the family relocated to Ireland. Noe Valley resident Heather World is considering moving at least one of her two children before fifth grade. “I really don’t want to leave public schools,” World said, but voiced concern about the quality of Alvarado’s education in fourth and fifth grades, as well as the middle school experience the City offers. “I do sometimes feel frustrated by severe budget cuts,” she said. She mentioned that at least three other families she knows are debating leaving Alvarado before fifth grade, or have already found new schools for their children. The early exodus from Alvarado has impacted the school and its students. But, according to Broecker, “the kids get used to seeing new faces. We have a great community.” Students who graduate on the regular timeline tend to enroll at public middle schools, such as James Lick and Herbert Hoover. Though it’s unusual to have more than a handful of students leave after fourth grade, Broecker said his school has a much lower attrition than other SFUSD elementary campuses.

New Listing!

Another Apartment Building Planned for Dogpatch By Simon Stahl More than for ty com munity members gathered at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House in late-July to review a proposed development and a park improvement project. Dave Sternberg, of Sternberg Benjamin Architects, fielded questions about an apartment building slated for Third and 18th streets. San Francisco Planning Department staff d iscussed plans for Show place Triangle Park, located on Eighth Street at the intersection 16th and Irwin streets. The proposed residential building would replace a commercial gas station with 106 rental units in a U-shaped, six-floor edifice. The building’s main pedestrian entrance would be on Third Street, with access to an underground garage on Illinois Street. The existing site has several above-grade concrete gasoline tanks, with minimal underground contamination, according to Sternberg. The 22,000 square-feet structure would consist of 43 two-bedrooms, 15 one-bedrooms, and 48 studio units in “double loaded corridors,” meaning there’d be residential units on either side of the interior hallways. The apartments would range from 500 to 975 square feet. Eighteen units would likely be set aside for affordable housing, as mandated by San Fran-

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cisco law, if the units are rented; 21 units would be required if the units are offered as condominiums. The building would be 65 feet tall. The garage would feature 78 parking and at least 40 bicycle spaces, an amount business consultant and Dogpatch resident Joe Boss – who asserted that most San Franciscans own a bike – thought was inadequate. Another meeting participant commented that it was poor planning to assume that each resident would have less than one car, and that as a result the development would prompt more vehicles to be added to Dogpatch’s already crowded streets. According to Sternberg, suggestions from the Dogpatch Neighborhood Association’s (DNA) board of directors are being integrated into the plan, including making the building more pedestrian friendly. “Based on our meeting with Dogpatch [Neighborhood Association board], we set the building back more to make wider and bigger stoops, more landscape areas,” he said. Stairs were also recessed to allow more room for trees. The façade would be tan brick, with blocks of bright colors set in, reflecting DNA’s preferences. “Dogpatch wanted them brighter and warmer, more colorful,” explained Susan Eslick, a DNA ofsee Dogpatch page 7

Sales are happening in your neighborhood, keep your finger on the pulse. Sales are on an upswing with more activity and buyer interest in the marketplace. Prices are holding steady, and days on market have come down slightly in recent months. Properties that are in good repair and have nice updates are typically selling more quickly and much closer to the original asking price (and sometimes over). Location is important, so it’s no surprise that our coveted neighborhood is doing well. For all of your real estate questions and needs, contact me any time!

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

Eastern Portion of Cesar Chavez Being Redesigned

short cuts from page 3

By Rheba Estante

ter futures. On the stump Gascon has so far made clumsy progress telling compelling stories, painting an image of a kinder, gentler, more cost-effective DA’s office that keeps the public safe while rehabilitating criminals. Lee has emphasized his role as a compromising conciliator, but that approach, as modeled by President Barak Obama’s recent inept wrangling with Congress, may not be what San Francisco needs to lead it through the next four to eight years. Other accidental politicians, Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Carmen Chu – both Newsom appointees – have dispatched their duties well, with Elsbernd making a notable mark on municipal politics through his efforts to reform the City’s pension system…After Lee declared his candidacy Potrero Hill resident and former mayor Art Agnos endorsed Dogpatch resident Dennis Herrera for mayor, praising the city attorney for exposing fraud, waste, abuse and corruption in government, and recovering millions of dollars for San Franciscans.

84 acres of City-owned property. Located at 1301 Cesar Chavez, the facility will include parking, fuelCesar Chavez was a unifying ing stations, and carwash services, force in his lifetime. Now the San as well as public access to Islais Francisco roadway named after him Creek’s north shore. The facility is offers the potential to play a similar scheduled to open next July. role for the Bayview, Mission, and “The question the Planning Potrero Hill neighborhoods. Under Department is dealing with is where the Cesar Chavez East Community there should be another crosswalk,” Design Plan, the congested, bikesaid Ben-Pazi. “We unfriendly, and urge people to naviu nsightly bougate our website and leva r d w i l l be study the plans and redesigned as a prog rams, rev iew revitalized conproject objects, ne c t or for t he download reports, people who rely and find the contact o n it . “P l a n i n for m at ion t hey n i n g w i l l a l so need to get involved. t a ke i nto acThere is some concou nt pr oje c t s fusion between the of the Bayviewshort-term bike plan Hu nt e r s Poi nt by the SFMTA and R e v it a l i z at ion the Cesar Chavez Concept Plan,” Street project. said San FranPeople who want to cisco Plan ning http://www.sf-planning.org/index.aspx?page=2626 know about the bike Department The Planning Department’s planning area for the Cesar Chavez East redesign project. project are u rged urban designer to call SFMTA.” A Amnon Benc o m mu n it y op e n Pazi. “There is recognition in this process for the and be a vital part of a thriving house will be held this fall to facilineed for environmental justice in industrial zone. Public meetings to tate additional community input. Planning Department inforthe area. Thanks to a grant from discuss potential designs were held Caltrains, we are able to examine over the summer by the Planning m at i o n c an be fo u n d at w w w. plans from this perspective. Right Department. “The distribution of sf-planning.org. Call the San Frannow there are a few sidewalks, the feedback will help shape the cisco Planning Information Center which make it difficult for pedestri- vision. The public is welcome to for answers to specific questions; ans to cross the street, so it’s hard check our website for upcoming 558.6378. to plan.” dates. There is also a lot of mateThe planning process is being rial on the overall vision statement funded by the Caltrains Environ- that people can read. It describes mental Justice: Context Sensitive how we arrived at it; the five point Design Program, in collaboration statement, and describes what we with a San Francisco Municipal are looking to do with the street Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) holistically,” said Ben-Pazi. led bicycle plan for Cesar Chavez, SFMTA held a community meetfrom Hampshire to Illinois streets. ing in June to discuss the new Muni “T he mai n d i f ference between bus yard being developed at the the immediate plans for the street intersection of Cesar Chavez and versus the long-term plans is that Indiana. SFMTA is constructing the latter is looking at how everyone the yard – known as the Islais Creek will be affected,” said Ben-Pazi. Motor Coach Facility Project – on “SFMTA is taking the lead for the City on the bike project in the near term.” A five point vision for Cesar Chavez was developed by the Planning Department, under which the street would serve as a neighborhood connector – rather than a divider – be safe and convenient for all travel modes; be greener; be a place to be in, not just go through;

Cough According to Kaiser Permanente there’s recently been a spike in whooping cough amongst ten and eleven year olds as a result of the reduced protection provided by immunizations given before 2006. If your tween is hacking, get thee to a doctor.

September 2011

THE POTRERO VIEW

Blue Greenway Planning Almost Complete dogpatch By Simon Stahl Last month, roughly a dozen members and guests of the Southern Waterfront Advisory Committee joined Port of San Francisco staff at the Heron’s Head Park EcoCenter for an update on the Blue Greenway planning process. The ambitious project aims to transform a 13-mile stretch of southeastern wat e r f r ont, f r om C h i n a Ba si n Channel – Mission Creek – to the county line. “The Blue Greenway will link established open spaces; create new recreational opportunities and green infrastructure; provide public access and retain and restore natural habitat areas… support stewardship; and advocate for waterfront access,” explained then Mayor Gavin Newsom, in the project’s 2006 Vision Statement. Five years later, Blue Greenway plans are close to being completed. The Port, San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, and California Department of Parks and Recreation will be responsible for f u nd i ng i mprovements a nd maintenance on the parks they manage within the Blue Greenway. Eleven of the 26 open spaces slated for improvement are managed by the Port, which is leading the planning effort. According to Port senior wa-

http://www.sf-port.org/index.aspx?page=1433

The Port’s map of the Blue Greenway.

terfront planner David Beaupre, public spaces will be furnished with new seating, landscaping, restrooms, drinking fountains, exercise equipment, and other amenities. Streets connecting the parks along the waterfront, and linking inland neighborhoods to the Blue Greenway will be redesigned to provide a pleasant experience for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. The Greenway will feature unifying design elements, and signage that reflects the identities of the

neighborhoods it borders – such as a placard that utilized a tall yellow sail to increase visibility – celebrating their industrial roots while covering up the barbed wire and concrete. “Right now you can ride right by a park and not even know it’s there,” Beaupre lamented The project is largely being funded through 2008 Proposition A bond fu nds, which allocated $22.5 million of the estimated $40 million required by the Port for its Blue Greenway projects. The Port hopes to raise an additional $17.5 million through a 2012 bond measure, as well as grants created through California Proposition 84, among other sources. High priority projects include improving 1,300 feet of the Bayfront Park Shoreline, expanding Heron Head’s Park’s entrance, enhancing bicycle and pedestrian accessibility on Cargo Way, installing public art at Pier 90, and removing debris from Islais Creek. A description of Blue Greenway plans, including designs for individual public spaces, can be viewed at sfport.com/bluegreenway.

from page 5

ficer. “It looks so much better,” she exclaimed. DNA’s board and Boosters meeting attendees also suggested that more sustainable design elements be incorporated into the project, such as rain water capture, gray water recycling, solar energy, a community vegetable garden on the roof deck, as well as the inclusion of three bedroom units to accommodate families. Under community questioning Sternberg admitted that fifty of the building’s units would require “exceptions” to zoning regulations. Exceptions are different than variances in that they don’t require public notice, and are approved at the staff level. Planning Department staff was unavailable for comment on what the exceptions consist of, but they may be related to requirements for minimum sunlight exposure. DNA’s board is also engaged in conversations with the developer regarding contributions to community projects, such as public greening and historic renovation. Discussion of the proposed plans will continue in advance of a September 15th review by the San Francisco Planning Commission. Showplace Triangle Park’s – adjacent to Axis Café – asphalt will soon be replaced with decomposed granite; permanent seating and planting areas will be installed. While the park’s general design will remain the same, the temporary storm drain and dumpster planters will be removed. Sidewalks will be extended around the site, and street trees will flank it. These changes will keep the park compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and provide drive-through access for emergency vehicles, while maintaining the maximum possible amount of green space. The redesign focuses on sustainability and affordable maintenance, with trees and building materials that will absorb excess wastewater. Execution of the proposed changes is dependent on funding, including money for longterm maintenance. Lisa Tehrani contributed to this article.

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

Potrero Hill Resident Born to Build By Melissa Mutiara Pandika Con necticut Street resident Alex Pavloff’s passion for carpentry struck at the young age of two, when he camped out on a rocking chair for two weeks straight and watched wide-eyed as contractors remodeled his family’s bathroom. Shortly after he was allowed to play with their tools, he began pulling apart all of the cabinets in his house. From then on, Pavloff was almost always building. When he was four, he enrolled in wood shop classes at Randall Museum in Corona Heights Park. He began making small objects out of materials given to him by Mission District handyman Stephen Fotter, as well as Lumberman Supply on 15th and Folsom streets, which he regularly frequented. When he was thirteen, Pavloff completed h is first large-scale construction job, a wooden deck on his family’s Potrero Hill home. In high school, he joined with other Habitat for Humanity volunteers to construct houses in Bayview; as an Eagle Scout, he built benches for St. Martin de Porres’ soup kitchen. All the while he worked on various jobs his family and friends gave him, which eventually led him to start his own construction business. San Francisco Bay Area Builders (SFBAB) specializes in custom homes, additions, cabinetry, and remodeling. Pavloff ran SFBAB even wh i le he was en rol led i n

Photograph by Emily Payne

California State University, Chico’s construction management program, scheduling his classes for Tuesdays and Thursdays so he could tend to his business in the City the rest of the week. When he was 22, Pavloff built his first house, a custom home for a University of California, San F ra ncisco doctor on a 40 -acre Tamales Bay ranch, with “no plans or anything.” “I was basically just brought up there, just given the opportunity to build my first house off the top of my head,” he said. The resulting building met all permitting requirements. “That’s the thing with me,” he said. “I can’t really draw anything; it’s all in my head, pretty much…As I’m doing it, I just start designing it. I wouldn’t be able to sit down and draw a picture and tell you how it’s going to be done until I’m actually doing it.” Pavloff begins each job with a rough plan in mind, which develops as he begins construction. “I guess I keep plans in my head rather than on paper,” he said. Although Pavloff’s large projects legally require architects to draft plans and blueprints, his custom jobs are designed entirely by him and his customers. When asked who taught him how to build, Pavloff responded, “That was the weird thing about it; it was kind of just innate with me. Wish I had known really, I don’t really understand it either. It’s just something I know how to do for some

weird reason. I don’t know how to do a lot things, but [building is] the one thing I do know how to do.” Pavloff’s conversational tone tends towards the casual, self-effacing. Dressed in slightly rumpled jeans and t-shirt, diamond studs in his ears, and a San Francisco Giants cap hiding his boyish, almost cherubic face, he looked more the part of average twenty-something than a carpentry genius. After graduating from Chico in 2004, Pavloff returned to the gray, whimsically-detailed Connecticut Street home where he and three generations of his family grew up. Pavloff’s great-grandfather, John Mahoney, a streetcar driver from County Cork, Ireland, bought the home for $2,000 in 1926. His son, firefighter William Pavloff, grew up there, followed by his son, Dan, and his family, which includes his wife, Kathy, and children, Christina and Alex. Pavloff plans to stay on the Hill, where he feels strong ties to the community. “I think this is simply one of the only neighborhoods where everybody knows each other,” he said. “Everyone’s pretty much friends, rather than like other neighborhoods in the City where you don’t even know your neighbor.” He recalled experiencing this sense of community even as a child. “There were a lot of kids around, so everyone was always playing outside in their backyards, building forts,” he said. “All the neighbors knew each other, so all the yards were connected, and we’d run all the way

Photograph by Melissa Mutiara Pandika

Alex Pavloff

through them.” He and the 21 other children on his block would spend hours playing together, building and setting up shop on sidewalks. Several of Pavloff’s family members, many of them retired firemen, lived, and still live, on the block. The Hill’s close ties are revealed not only in the camaraderie among residents, but in neighbors’ willingness to help each other at a moment’s notice. Pavloff remembered how swiftly his neighbors responded when he was shorthanded on his Eagle Scout service project. Within minutes after his father telephoned painting contractor John Ward for help, Ward showed up at St. Martin de Porres, family members and see CARPENTER page 18

September 2011

publisher’s from page 2

A Tour of Garbage

transpor tation system needs to be completely reimagined, based on a diverse set of feet-, pedal-, and private and shared vehicles, networked in a way in which an environmentally-friendly ride to where you want to go is just a text away. And if high-speed rail moves forward, it needs to be developed in a way that doesn’t create another eastern wall. Pol itica l scientists have a n adage: government tends to act to avoid problems that can be foreseen; it’s the unexpected ones that cause trouble. Recently, that saying has been put to test, with neither st at e nor fe de ra l gove r n me nt s willing to thoughtfully grapple with budget deficits, education reform, unemployment, or slowmoving environmental crises. But it’s hard to imagine a better issue for our crowded crop of mayoral candidates to take on. A new city is being built in Mission Bay, the Central Water front, Show place Square and Potrero Hill’s southern slope. Molding its creation – as a place future generations will look at with wonder and appreciation, rather than disgust and disappointment – is precisely the stuff of which civic leadership is made.

By Paul McDonald Every last Thursday of the month Recology hosts a three hour tour of two of its San Francisco facilities: Recycle Central, located at Pier 96; and the Recycling and Disposal Transfer Station, at 401 Tunnel Road, across the 101 freeway from Candlestick Park. The tour begins at the company’s 900 Seventh Street offices, where participants sign a release, get briefed on what to expect, and receive hard hats, safety glasses, and ear plugs. Recycle Central, located at the end of Cargo Way, is a huge, $30 million multiple-acre facility where much of the City’s recyclables are processed. Trash trucks open their back doors, raise their beds and scoot forward to dispense masses of discarded material into the facility, 24 hours a day, six days a week. Large tractors scoop the stuff up, and feed it into giant hoppers that begin the multiple stage separation process. In the first stage, large items – branches, buckets – are set aside. In the next series of hoppers employees pick through items that swiftly pass before them on conveyer belts. Sorting 1.2 million pounds of refuse a day, they’re separating materials by whether or not it can be recycled. Plastic and aluminum bottles and cans are picked-out and dropped to an area below the belt to be recycled. Plastic bags and other non-recyclables are corralled, bound for a land fill. The bane of the process is the thin plastic bags that are ubiquitous, despite San

THE POTRERO VIEW

Photograph by Pau McDonald

One of several recycled art sculptures placed in Recology’s three-acre sculpture garden, located at its Bayshore facility.

Francisco banning their use in stores. They gum up the hoppers; the plastic is too thin for practical reuse. At the back end of the building paper, glass, metal and aluminum items are repackaged for shipment. Glass is sent to a bottling facility in Oakland; paper is shipped to various recycling facilities; and metals are sent to places domestic and overseas, depending on its composition. The public can also drop off recyclables in a buyback program. The Transfer Station handles additional recycling and compost – which results in nutrient rich soil that is distributed to vineyards and local farmers – and is where non-recyclable materials are placed into large semitractor sized trucks destined for the Altamont landfill in Livermore. Starting in 2014 Recology is supposed to take over the City’s landfill contract from Waste Management of Alameda, and ship residual waste to

Yuba County. However, Yuba Group Against Garbage has filed a lawsuit against the contract. The Transfer Stations also offers hazardous waste and paint drop off, battery disposal, and, launched in 1990, a program in which Recology selects two artists every four months, provides them with an on-site studio, and lets them create art from whatever they can pick out of the trash. After their tenure, a two day open studio takes place that’s free to the public. The current pair will exhibit their creations on September 23rd and 24th. Recology’s recycling efforts have resulted in national recognition, and has earned the City honors for being among the country’s most environmentally conscious municipality. However, whether the company should maintain its monopoly over garbage collection in San Francisco will be decided by voters under a June 2012 ballot initiative.

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

School Lunch Programs Struggle to Improve By Sasha Lekach A new school year is underway, and tens of thousands of San Francisco students are chowing-down between classes. Getting food on to pupils’ plates is a feat that each public and independent school tackles their own way. Lunch programs vary, with public schools choosing different menus from items provided by the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). SF USD’s Student Nutr ition Services provides meals – breakfast, lunch and snacks – through the National School Lunch program for the City’s 105 kindergarten through 12th grade and eight charter schools. SFUSD serves roughly 20,000 lunches a day. Lunch is offered for free or at a low-cost for students from low-income families. Students who don’t qualify for the National School Lunch program can purchase breakfast for $1.50; lunch is $3. Starr King Elementary School, located at 1215 Carolina Street, and Downtown High School, on Vermont Street, participate in the National School Lunch program, among other Hill schools. According to longtime volunteer and arts coordinator Christina Quiroz, lunchtime has changed over the 22 years she’s worked at Starr King. Federal guidelines now mandate that more fresh fruit and salads be offered. In 2003, SFUSD adopted a wellness policy, which limits fats and “empty-calorie” foods, such as fried potato chips, sugar sweeteners and refined grains. Quiroz has noticed less cheese on menus. Although Starr King has a kitchen, it isn’t used to cook food. As with all San Francisco public elementary schools, lunch is delivered daily, with the kitchen used to warm meals. According to Quiroz, less than half of the school’s roughly 400 students eat National School Lunch program food, down from a high of as much as 90 percent a decade ago. “A lot of parents aren’t crazy about the lunches,” she said. So students bring their own meals. Students who do eat at the cafeteria can pay through an online system that was set-up four years ago. According to Quiroz lunchtime favorites include tater tots – the on-

campus side dish of choice for generations – burritos, pizza and chicken nuggets. Twice a week a nutritionist visits the cafeteria to teach students good eating habits. Only about 50 lunches daily are served at Downtown High School (DHS), which has a capacity of 275 students. According to assistant principal Ellen Wong, 70 percent of the school’s students qualify for free or low-cost lunches, but they don’t always eat it. School faculty and staff encourage students to utilize National School Lunch meals, but many prefer to rely on the soda and chips they bring in as early morning snacks. A salad bar, which is offered at all high schools, most middle schools and a few elementary schools, is popular. “The salad bar was a good thing because the students get plenty of fresh vegetables,” Wong said. Items that sell out quickly include teriyaki rice bowls and pizza. Like Starr King, DHS doesn’t cook in its kitchen, using the space to reheat City-provided lunches. Last year independent school Live Oak, on Mariposa Street – which doesn’t have a kitchen – offered Kid Chow, in which parents can order hot and cold lunches online through the for-profit off-site food provider. Parents also organize different food items throughout the week. On Mondays popular Goat Hill Pizza is brought-in; on Wednesdays a hot lunch option ranges from Chinese and Mexican-inspired dishes, to pasta and toasted sandwiches. Many public school students come from families who can’t afford to throw an apple, turkey sandwich and crackers into a brown sack. In response to this need, sixty-one San Francisco schools – including International Studies Academy, on De Haro Street, Daniel Webster Elementary School, on Missouri Street, and Starr King – offer onsite food pantries. Roughly 27,000 individuals are fed weekly through the SFUSDFood Bank program. Typically food is distributed “farmers market style,” said San Francisco Food Bank media manager Stacy Newman. “It’s more dignified than handing people

a bag of groceries.” Upwards of 13 different items are available; typically a lot of seasonal produce, such as potatoes and watermelons. Each family receives 20 to 25 pounds of food a week. Since 2003 the Food Bank has also collaborated with the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and their Families to provide 6,000 snacks per school day. Crackers, trail mix, and fruit are provided to participating schools, which distribute the snacks as they see fit. “Many people

we serve qualify for food stamps, or are part of a WIC [Women, Infants and Children] program; there are different types of families. For some the food supplements; some depend on it,” Newman said. Families living in Bayview-Hunters Point “have what you would call a food desert,” she said, creating a need for easily accessible Food Bank resources. City resident and parent Lena Brook has been fighting for an imsee Lunch page 2 Southside

Dogpatch Store Offers Glutten-Free Products By Keith Burbank Last Spring Dogpatch became the first San Francisco neighborhood to host a gluten-free grocery store. Gluten F ree Reviewer Grocer y, located at the corner of Illinois and Mariposa streets, is an outgrowth of a website, www.glutenfreereviewer. com, devoted to reviewing glutenfree foods. It’s operated by Calvin Chin and Topher Delaney, the latter of whom also owns adjacent landscape design firm Seam Studio. Chin developed the original website. “Gluten,” Chin said, “is wheat, barley, and rye.” The roughly 1,200 square foot grocery shares space with the design studio; shelves stacked with architectural and landscape books are visible at the back wall. The store is family friendly, with a children’s play area and four sets of tables and chairs for sipping tea or having coffee. Recently the store added a candy rack; the cooler is full of healthy drinks, such as bottled water and coconut milk. The grocery includes a wall that looks like it’s made of concrete, but is actually metal, with light sockets

that can be turned off and on with a pull-chain. The store’s many decorations make it worth a visit just to see its design. “Because we are designers, we have some nice things around,” Delaney said. But “what makes us different is nourishment education, and understanding what each person needs in terms of nourishment.” Gluten-free products tend to be higher price than standard foods, though some products, such as Vietnamese rice noodles, are inexpensive. “We’re not a healthfood store,” Delaney said, “but we’re about health. We’re like an educational grocery store.” According to Delaney, store staff is knowledgeable about nutrition; employees can help customers choose the right product for them. Some individuals benefit from glutenfree products because they have celiac, an autoimmune disease, or other autoimmune diseases. “Our customers are coping with problems related to their digestive system or upper gastrointestinal tract. We’ve become pharmacists; we’ve become a community center for gluten-free see gluten page 16

September 2011

Family Creates Community to Cope with Disease By Keith Burbank In October 2009, two-year old Cassidy Drutz was hospitalized with pneumonia. She’d had recurring respiratory infections throughout her young life, but this one kept getting worse. A year later she was in the hospital again. After being discharged around New Year’s 2011 she suffered from chronic diarrhea. Over the next six weeks, Cassidy stopped walking, eating, and talking. Her pediatrician was unable to diagnose what was wrong. “We took her to the emergency room,” said her father, David Drutz, 47, “and none of the doctors were able to diagnose her condition. During this time, my wife, Kim, and I were doing lots of research on the Internet.” The Drutz’s were also in contact with Kim’s aunt, a pediatrician in Kansas, who suspected that Cassidy had celiac disease. “Cassidy’s wrists and ankles were swollen,” recounted David. “Kim and I wanted the doctors in the emergency room to run a blood test. But the doctors were reluctant to run the blood test because neither I nor Kim are Norwegian, and neither does anyone in our families have a history of celiac disease. But because Cassidy was getting worse, and doctors still hadn’t been able to diagnose her correctly after two months, Kim and I insisted on the blood panel.” It can take up to two weeks for a blood

analysis to be completed; Cassidy’s took roughly eight days. “Cassidy had lost 15 to 16 pounds. She had a huge distended belly, like people dying of malnutrition in Africa, and was totally non-responsive; she was unable to talk, eat, or walk,” David said. “That afternoon Kim and I had an appointment with Dr. J. Antonio Quiros, a pediatrician with California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. When we told him about Cassidy, he also thought she may have celiac disease, but he wanted to look at the results of Cassidy’s blood panel. When Dr. Quiros came downstairs after looking at the results, he was ecstatic,” David said. The blood panel indicated that Cassidy had celiac disease. The inside of Cassidy’s intestines had no villi, which act to absorb nutrients from food. She remained in the hospital for a week after being diagnosed. She was fed intravenously, and put on a steroid regiment. Three months later she’d fully recovered. Quiros “…saved Cassidy’s life,” Kim said. “Dr. Quiros is a specialist in the field. He’s a great resource. He knows his stuff like the back of his hand.” Celiac disease impairs the immune system. The only way to manage the disease is to rigorously adhere to a gluten-free diet; gluten is contained in wheat, rye, oats, and barley. An individual with celiac disease who eats gluten will “at best, have bad stomach problems, and at worst, gastrointestinal cancers,” said David.

David is a sales manager for KNBR AM 680, a local sports radio station. Kim teaches seventh and eighth grade science at Burlingame Intermediate School. Cassidy, now healthy, turned four years old in August. Both Kim and David moved to San Francisco in 1992; they married six years ago. “I was born in Baltimore, and my family

Photograph courtesy of Kimberly Drutz

Cassidy Drutz enjoying a gluten-free cookie.

moved to Southern California when I was 16 years old. Kim is from Omaha. She had a sister living in the Bay Area, so she was able to move to San Francisco and have family nearby,” said David. The family’s ordeal prompted David to blog about celiac disease, and

THE POTRERO VIEW

to start a Facebook group. “Kim and I wanted to find a group with children, so we went on Facebook and started a Facebook group, which attracted people in quick order,” said David. “We became a resource for others so we could learn how to cope with the disease and help our daughter cope. Getting the group started and being involved in the group has educated Kim and I, and helped us develop community. We are able to help other families. We can give other families shortcuts past the challenges Kim and I faced helping Cassidy.” “For example, we had to get rid of everything in the kitchen,” David continued. “We had to start from scratch. We had to put in the garbage all our pots and pans, utensils, everything in the kitchen and buy all new kitchen equipment.” The community that emerged through Facebook now holds an annual summer picnic in Golden Gate Park, which last year drew 40 families. Extreme Pizza has donated glutenfree pizza; a San Carlos bakery offered gluten-free products made from local suppliers; and Dogpatch-based The Gluten-Free Reviewer Grocery provided items. One child at the picnic had a number of allergies, and a company donated dairy-free cheese sticks, exactly “what their daughter needed,” Kim said. “The San Francisco Celiac Kids Group is so that kids can have friends that they can relate to as they are growing up,” said David. “We met families that didn’t know there were other families like them.” see celiac page 15

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

daggett from page 4 employee Julie Milburn. “The project is needed. We need rental housing…I am so delighted that this project is up for approval.” “As someone who lives in the area and goes by this lot every day, it would be nice to start to see some physical, built examples of our extensive planning process,” said Eslick. Robin Talmadge, a longtime Potrero Hill resident and owner of World Gym on De Haro Street, expressed her frustration more strongly. “I’ve been born and raised on Potrero Hill for 52 years,” she said. “I’ve seen this eyesore forever.” Other meeting attendees supported the project, but opposed the Planning Code exceptions sought by the developers. Among these was an exception to the requirement of a minimum of 25 percent rear yard depth at each residential level, as well as an exception for at least seven dwelling units that fail to meet requirements to have at least one window facing a street, alley, code compliant rear yard, or open space. The developers also sought an exception to requirements of two off-street freight loading spaces for residential use in the UMU district, proposing instead to allow three loading spaces at curbside. Additionally, they requested an exception to the need to reserve the ground floor for active uses, such as retail, community facilities, residential units, and lobbies, to allow for ground-floor parking spaces. And the sponsors petitioned for an exception to horizontal mass reduction requirements, which call for a large notch in the exterior wall every 200 feet. According to Kerry Jackson, of the Homeowners of 49 Missouri Street, the Homeowners supported the development, but had concerns about the requested exceptions. Jackson also worried that the proposed Daggett Park wouldn’t be public, but rather be privately used to allow for the rear yard exception. And he pointed out that the lack of adequate windows would unfairly impact disadvantaged community members. “The purpose of this code regulation is to foster healthy community advantages, and we believe that the disadvantaged will be exploited in this case,” he said, “Additionally, the lack of proper window exposure on the dwelling units will disproportionately affect disadvantaged and at-risk populations, including the elderly, minorities, and those economically disadvantaged. We

believe that allowing this exception will make San Francisco an art area, less family-friendly, and less childfriendly.” Tom Radulovich, Livable City’s executive director, praised Daggett Place for its open space, thoughtful architectural design, and potential to enliven the Seventh and 16th streets juncture. He expressed Livable City’s support for the exceptions sought, except for the active use exceptions, which the Planning Commission had previously stated would only be granted to historic buildings and buildings on steeply sloping sites, where the front of the building is the only feasible parking location. “None of those conditions prevail here, so what the developer is asking you to do is grant an exception not for a good reason under [Planning Code section] 329,” said Radulovich. “There aren’t any seismic conditions or a historic building…It’s fine if you want to do all the other exceptions. But this active use requirement under 329 we don’t think is warranted in this case, and we think it’s a dangerous precedent. If every developer comes to Planning Department staff and says, ‘Alright, we just want to stick some extra non-required parking in our project, we want an exception from active use,’ is the Department going to grant it in every case under 329?” In contrast, Leslie Winick, partner at Simpatico Consulting Partners, LLP, and resident of 999 16th Street, directly across the street from Daggett Place, asked the Commission to increase the development’s parking ratio, from 0.65 to one-to-one, as well as add retail parking. She voiced concerns that existing competition for parking spaces in Potrero Hill and Mission Bay will increase as these neighborhoods become more developed. “What we didn’t know when [AT&T Park] was built and limited parking spaces were allocated is that people would park in our neighborhood and walk a mile to the ballpark,” said Winick. “We’re also seeing this now with a lot of the people who work in Mission Bay. They use our streets for their parking. That’s going to increase when the [University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital] opens in 2014. There’s a proposed Salesforce.com global headquarters two blocks away, and later today we’ll hear about another development on Brannan Street. My only concern with this project is the number of parking spaces allocated to it.” The 801 Brannan Street project, whose draft EIR the Commission also heard

on Thursday, proposes construction of up to three mixed-use residential and retail buildings. Community members opposed to Daggett Place included Rod Minott and Kepa Askenasy, co-founders of the Neighborhood Coalition to Save Potrero, who didn’t like the project’s height or bulk. “Simply put, this is a massive fortress-like development,” said Minott. “It doesn’t go far enough in complementing the existing uniqueness, scale and character of our neighborhood, in our opinion. We’d like to see the massive walling of the buildings broken up and articulated more, as well as lowering the project’s overall height to at least 55 feet.” Askenasy pointed out that, with the roof structures – which include a 72-foot long parapet, elevator shafts, tops of stairwells, and a solar water array – the development’s total height comes to 84 feet, 16 feet more than the 68-foot height stated in the application. She displayed photographs of the site superimposed with a scale drawing of the future development, extrapolated from a 2006 test in which balloons were flown at the proposed height to assess how the project would fit in with its surroundings. “As you can see it’s very, very, very large,” said Askenasy, “and even if the colors do go towards the color of the background of the high rises, you see how it overwhelms everything that is there. This is not Mission Bay…This is not Showplace Square, where you do have the higher heights of the brick buildings. This is not that area. This is Potrero Hill; this is lower Potrero Hill.” Minott and Askenasy also complained about a lack of transparency on the part of developers. “Unfortunately, we were never formally notified of the pending application before the Planning Commission, so our discussions have come late in the game,” said Minott. Askenasy opened her commentary with a photograph of a windblown sign posted on the chain

link fence surrounding the project; the only notification the Coalition had received about Thursday’s hearing. She added that the Coalition had been unaware of the roof structures until only recently. “Those didn’t show up on drawings that we had seen, nor the model that we saw when we actually did get to see something two weeks ago for the first time in several years,” she said. Although the developers agreed to hold last-minute meetings with them, according to Minott those only resulted in the developers offering to make “cosmetic tweaks.” “We think those cosmetic changes don’t go far enough,” said Minott. Both he and Askenasy asked the Commissioners to grant a continuance to allow the Coalition more time to reach a consensus with developers on the design. Short of a continuance, Minott urged the Commission to disapprove the project as proposed, unless the developers agreed to reduce its size. Land-use attorney Sue Hestor, who received the Planning Department’s staff report a week before the hearing, opposed Daggett Place on similar grounds. She expressed concern that issuing the staff report one week prior to hearings wasn’t sufficient for such a large development, and set a poor precedent for future projects seeking approval under the Eastern Neighborhoods Plans. “The practice of submitting documents a week in advance doesn’t function well because there is nothing that goes out to the neighborhoods to alert them how the staff is thinking about it,” she said. “It’s one thing to do outreach and another thing to do analysis that shows how the Planning Department is looking at it. This is not functional for a [400-unit project] or for any of the other Eastern Neighborhoods.” Hestor echoed Jackson’s concern that Daggett Park might not actually be public. “[The developers] are going to build out the park and see daggett next page

Kids back in school? More time to shop local!

September 2011 concer ns about the exception to active use of the Seventh Street ground floor to allow for a parking garage, Moore stated that the garage would be unobtrusive, given its 100-foot depth, and pointed out that since Seventh http://www.dbarchitect.com/projects/slideshow/99/Daggett%2520%2520Place.html Street is across from a freeway, Daggett Place Park, designed by CMG Landscape Architects. having an active street wasn’t necessary. She also claim the one for one credit for the timeliness of approval, especially dollars expended against their public given the increasing number of jobs asserted that the building’s height benefit,” she said. “I want to raise that projected for the area. “There is this met zoning requirements, and agreed issue because it looks like a private tremendous need for housing that’s with Miguel on the need for housing park.” In addition, Hestor pointed coming in to the area,” said Miguel, to accommodate the area’s influx of to poor transit access, arguing that “We often do not have a situation jobs and other active uses. “I think the lack of a public transportation where both jobs and housing start we are moving in the right direction,” connection between 16th and Third to come together at the same time; she said. “It’s a strong project, and streets would isolate the area; those hopefully if this goes forward, we it definitely has my support.” Moore without cars would have no choice but will have it in this case.” He also confirmed with Baker that air in and to make the dangerous trek over the supported the project based on the around the development would be meCaltrain tracks. And Hestor objected recommendations it received from chanically ventilated and filtered to to project approval on the grounds community groups during the hear- ensure that exhaust and particulate that it failed to comply with the ing. “The larger the project, the more matter from the nearby Interstate-280 Planning Code. “If it was consistent quirks that seem to be built into it,” he wouldn’t pose a health hazard. Commissioner Michael Antonini with the Code, there wouldn’t be any said. “In my mind, these exceptions exceptions,” she said. are extremely minor, and I’m in full expressed his approval of Daggett After the hearing was closed to support of this going ahead.” Miguel Place, but echoed some of the conpublic comment, planning commis- asked Murphy about the questionable cerns previously raised by community sioners voiced their support for the public status of Daggett Park, who members. After confirming with project. Commission vice president assured him that the park would be Archstone’s attorney that the rooftop and Potrero Hill resident Ron Miguel, public, but privately maintained by structures are exempt from the height limit under the Planning Code, he who attended community outreach Archstone. meetings held during initial planCommissioner Kathrin Moore encouraged the developers to try to ning phases, commended the extent applauded the project’s growth and mask them as much as possible. He to which the project had evolved. He maturity over the past seven years. also agreed with Winick that more agreed with the developers on the In response to community members’ parking would be ideal, but acknowledged that 0.65 was probably the best that developers could do. In addition, he raised the transit issue identified by Hestor. “I think that’s critical. I mean, that’s a major corridor between Caltrain, the light rail on Third Street, and BART at 16th and Mission,” he said, “[The developers] have every reason to believe that people using BART might want to make that

THE POTRERO VIEW

shortcut to get over to the Mission Bay area as opposed to going further along and having to take the light rail in the other direction… so I think that has to be studied.” Antonini praised Daggett Place’s architecture, and acknowledged the developers’ efforts to work with community members in making the exterior more consistent with its surroundings. “I think it’s a good project,” he said. “I certainly would hope that you can continue to work with neighbors, particularly those who spoke about their concerns about the project and its impact to them.” In endorsing the project, Commissioner Hisashi Sugaya agreed that height wasn’t an issue, but expressed disappointment in the lack of threebedroom units to accommodate families with children. Moore surmised that there hasn’t been much demand for three-bedroom units, which Murphy confirmed, explaining that the few three-bedroom units that Archstone managed to rent out would often be to three roommates, rather than families. Sugaya responded that public policy encouraging family housing should take precedent over market demands. “If this was purely market driven, we wouldn’t have any affordable housing at all,” he said. Commission President Christina Olague closed-out the hearing by stating that she, like many of the speakers, believed that the project ‘has been a long time coming.” “I think this has been vetted forever, for a long time, about six years or more, so I am ready to see this move ahead,” she said. She echoed Antonini’s encouragement of continued dialogue amongst designers, community members, and Planning Department staff, and acknowledged the need to discuss the issues Hestor raised regarding staff’s failure to adequately communicate their decision making process. Construction of Daggett Place is expected to take between 22 and 36 months.

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

SEPTEMBER 2011

N e i g h b o r h o o d N e w s F r o m S O M A t o B ay v i e w

SOMA’s Hunters Point Boys & Girls Club Yeah Yeah! Engages Youth in Healthy Activities Pony Prince By Bill Slatkin

By David A. Egan South-of-Market-based Yeah Yeah! Pony Prince produces handcrafted, block-printed apparel, in which designs are created on a linoleum block, and then painted on various articles of clothing. The enterprise was founded by artists Oscar Bevilacqua and Jodi Mullen in 2009. Bevilacqua takes care of business aspects; Mullen focuses on design. The co-founders started-out with separate clothing lines. A native of Argentina, Bevilacqua immigrated to New York when he was 21, working in different retail stores before moving to San Francisco. He launched Pony Prince Designs in 1991. Early Pony Prince apparel featured abstract faces and encouraging messages, such as “Be Yourself.” Meanwhile, Mullen was operating Yeah Yeah! Block Printed Clothing, which she launched in 2001 in Philadelphia. An East Coast native, Mullen’s father paid her tuition at Rutgers University under the condition that she earn a living from the artistic skills she learned during college. After graduating, Mullen made designs out of linoleum, a floor covering composed of renewable materials. She then shifted to incorporating block printed designs into clothing, reasoning that, since people wear clothes, her art would get more public exposure. Mullen initially sold her clothes out of see Yeah Yeah! page 3

The Willie Mays Boys & Girls Club is located h igh on a h il l, with a million dollar view, in a neighborhood that’s historically suffered from more than its share of cr ime. The club, now in its fourth year, offers Southside youth safe, productive and positive ways to spend their summer days and after-school hours. The newest of San Francisco’s nine Boys & Girls Clubs, the large, multi-function facility on Kiska Road has already provided ser vices to more than 16,500 individuals ranging in age from six to 18. With its baseball stadium, garden, gymnasium, “edible” kitchen, technology center, library, art room and other state-of-the art facilities, the clubhouse is designed around the organization’s four missions: healthy life style, academic success, developing habits of good character and job readiness. “We want to get kids ready for life by age 18,” said Rob Connolly, San Francisco Boys & Girls Club president. Connolly is in his seventh year heading the organization, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary. The San Francisco Club is affiliated with the roughly 4,000 chartered Boys & Girls Clubs located throughout the country. B e for e s c ho ol s t a r t e d l a s t month, a typical day at the Willie Mays Boys & Girls Club is noisy, and slightly chaotic, with more than 100 kids involved in a variety of

Photograph by Paul McDonald

Bayview teens help out at the front desk of the Boys & Girls Club in Hunters Point.

activities, from serious discussions about job preparation and managing family issues, to the rough and tumble of a basketball game. The energy level is high, with a boisterous, joyous vibe. “These kids could be out on the street right now,” said James Holley, clubhouse director, as he walked through the teen center, and then out among trees and raised flower and vegetable beds in the garden. “Here we can keep them safe, keep them engaged, and we hold them to a higher standard.” During a late-July tour, many of the kids were worried about a fatal shooting by San Francisco

near the venue, the club is an icon akin to Sam Jordan’s Restaurant and Bar, also on Third Street, San Francisco’s longest running blackowned eatery. “It was one of the few places in the neighborhood where you didn’t have to leave the neighborhood to enjoy yourself,” he said. Williams “…invested in the community.” Sampson praised Williams’ commitment to the neighborhood, and his efforts to revitalize the Third Street business corridor. “There’s part of me that would like to leave it as a legacy too,” said Williams. “Black people could still have a place to come. I’m not racist; black, white, whatever. But that black people still have a place

police, just a mile away. “There’s a lot of anger about this,” said Holley. “And it’s okay for young people to express what they’re feeling. We’re not getting into the details of what happened. We want to focus on the grief; to be sensitive to how our kids react to the loss of a life.” One of the adults the kids can talk to is a San Francisco police officer who is stationed at the club; not to keep the peace, but to serve as a liaison, building relationships to counteract some of the community’s hostility toward the police. There’s also a licensed behavioral health services social worker, as well as other dedicated staff to mentor, coach and just “be there” for youth. The idea to establish a club in Hunters Point started percolating among City leaders in 2004, in the wake of escalating violence in the neighborhood. In 2005, limited Boys & Girls Club services were offered at the aging Milton Meyer Recreation Center, operated under the San Francisco Housing Authority’s jurisdiction. Groundbreaking for the new club at the Center took place in 2007, when San Francisco hosted the annual Baseball AllStar Game at AT&T Park. Attendees at the dedication ceremony included Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, Hall of Fame player Willie Mays – who granted the club use of his name – then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, and other dignitaries. After it opened i n 2008, t he club i m me d iat e ly drew youngsters from surrounding neighborhoods, who paid a $10 fee

see Glitz page 3

see Club page 4

Bayview Club Owner Works to Bring Glitz and Glamour Back to the Community By Katrina Schwartz Clarence Williams, owner of The New Club Long Island on Third Street, wants to reopen the long derelict club exactly as he remembers it. In its heyday, during the 1960s and ‘70s, the club was known for top-of-the-line musical acts, and its classy, white tablecloth ambience. The club closed in the mid-1990s when Dorothy Kennedy, the widow of longtime owner Emmit Kennedy, no longer had the energy to manage the property. For Williams, a nightclub owned by an African-American man, in a black neighborhood, frequented by glamorous AfricanAmericans, is a legacy that deserves to be revived. “I never in my wildest dreams

ever thought I would own this club” said Williams, who bought the establishment in 1998 from Kennedy. The Kennedys opened the club in 1965, one of several businesses they owned, including Kennedy’s Liquors and Check Cashing located across the street. Charles Brown, and Ike and Tina Turner played at the club, as did Thelonious Monk, Bobby Bluebland, and Vernon and Garrett. As a young man raising his family in Bayview, Williams loved to go to The New Club Long Island with his wife, Bernice. Now a widower, fixing up the club has become Williams’ full-time job, and his dream for Bayview’s future. According to Kenneth Sampson, pastor at New Home Missionary Baptist Church, which is located

D2 southside/potrero view | SEPTEMBER 2011 Bayview Business Leaders Unite

Photograph by Bill Slatkin

Attendees from the August Bayview Merchants Association (BMA) meeting, held at the City College Southeast Community Campus, included left to right: James Mabrey, owner of Your All Day Everyday Janitorial Service and Bayview Renaissance Entrepreneurial Center member; Al Williams, BMA board member and principal of Alfred Williams Consultancy; Florence Kong, Kwan Wo Ironworks; Kent Lim, Kent Lim & Company Mechanical Contractors; and James Moore, Third Street Corridor project manager.

lunch from page 10 of View proved lunch program and greater parent involvement in food issues at San Francisco schools for the past two years. She helped organize the San Francisco School Food Coalition, now on hiatus after it fulfilled its initial goal of activating students and teachers to speak-out about the meals served at schools. Other committees, such as the SFUSD Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee, and groups such as the Food Bank, continue to push for better lunch programs. “We need a whole food reform,” Brook said. Although Brook has a daughter in third grade at Grattan Elementary School, in Cole Valley, she’s not trying to improve the food system for her own child, but for students who depend on school lunches for their sustenance. “I believe this is an equity issue,” Brook said. Students “…deserve to have good food in their bodies.” Like Quiroz, Brooks believes that the meals served at public

schools have improved over the years. “Ten years ago they were serving carnival fare,” she half-joked. But while healthier foods have made their way onto school menus, eating SFUSD-provided meals “is not a palatable experience.” Students often throw away food, she said, leading to waste and an undernourished student body. Brook has issues with the flashfrozen food that often comes from out-of-state distributors, but acknowledged that the district’s food problems stem from a lack of resources. The Student Nutrition Services is understaffed, and there’s no money to renovate outdated school kitchens. “No one knows what might be the solution,” Brook conceded, but she emphasized that students, teachers and parents need to keep the conversation going, and not settle for bad quality food. “It’s a damn shame being this mediocre,” she said about the National School Lunch program. To apply for SFUSD’s lunch program, fill out an application online at: https://schoolmeal.sfusd.edu/

energy from front page of View any choice where to buy electricity from,” said Kirsten Schwind, program director at nonprofit Bay Localize. “The goal in San Francisco is to offer cleaner energy, and we hope at the same price [as PG&E].” According to Schwind, half of PG&E’s electricity supplies are produced by natural gas fired power plants. While significantly cleaner than power generated from coal, it’s still considered “dirty energy” by many environmentalists. The rest of PG&E’s power comes from nuclear power, dams – hydropower – and renewable sources. “CCA’s goal is to ramp up renewable sources,” she said. In a statement issued last spring, PG&E’s director of renewable energy policy and strategy Aaron Johnson said, “This year, we also launched the first phase of a five-year program to build our own solar plants to accelerate the delivery of more renewable power to our customers.” The utility is working to achieve a state-mandated goal of a 33 percent renewable supply mix by 2020. CleanPowerSF will only offer power; electricity transmission and distribution services would remain with PG&E. Finding sufficient, affordable, supplies of renewable energy, and working out arrangements with PG&E, has proved challenging. “… there’s a lot of devils in the details,” Schwind said. According to SFPUC spokesper-

son Charles Sheehan, CleanPowerSF will launch next summer. “We are still on track for startup next year,” he said. The electricity offered will be 100 percent renewably generated power, compared to PG&E’s current 18 percent renewable energy supply. Rates will be higher than PG&E’s prices; $7 more per monthly residential bill on average, according to Sheehan. “Rates will only go to support the program,” he said. San Francisco business and residents will automatically be shifted to CleanPowerSF unless they affirmatively choose to stay with PG&E. CleanPowerSF is currently negotiating a supply contract with Shell Energy North America (SENA). The plan is to eventually obtain supplies from electricity generated in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area. The energy process will be “owned, produced and constructed by the City,” said Sheehan. Under a contract with SENA, Marin Clean Energy offers electricity generated from solar, wind, hydropower, among other sources, at roughly the same price as PG&E, according to Schwind. “We certainly have talked with our brothers and sisters in Marin,” Sheehan said. “Their premium product was so successful. There’s a thirst, a demand for cleaner energy. When a community takes over the energy efficiency programs and buy its own energy, it helps people save energy and money,” Schwind said.

SEPTEMBER 2011 | southside/potrero view

glitz from page 1 to come.” Williams has slowly been renovating the large building in which the club is housed, starting with its second story, sixteen-room residential hotel. He’s financing the work with the residential rents, which averages rough ly $700 a month for each room. He retired as a union plumber from the San Francisco Water Department in 2005, and has already sunk more than a million dollars into the project. Despite this investment, it may take awhile before the club opens its doors. Because it had remained closed for so long, Williams’ alcohol license was revoked by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). According to ABC’s Rose Meyer, a business must be operating to maintain its license; it’s not uncommon for an enterprise to delay opening and maintain their license, as long as they communicate with the department about their plans. Williams said ABC told him that he hadn’t kept them apprized of when the club would open, and now they won’t renew his license. Competition for licenses in San Francisco is fierce. The permits are distributed based on the ratio of an area’s population to existing licenses. There are more than 400 general licenses – which allow for beer, wine and liquor sales – in the City, with no new ones available for

the past several years. Williams and Sampson believe that the club’s license difficulties are the result of latent racism. “How many blacks in San Francisco own anything? Not many. City agencies always come along and close them down,” said Sampson. “It’s easy to open up a liquor store. But when it comes to entertainment or places to congregate, City Hall always comes up w ith something.” Williams intends to take the alcohol license issue to court. If he can’t straighten out the official paperwork, he plans on opening as a private club, a membership-only establishment in which drink tickets would be sold instead of running a cash bar. As Williams reminisced about the club’s heyday, he kept returning to the performances he saw there. He wants the club to be a place where local talent can strut their stuff. “You still got some James Browns out there, you got Al Greens, and they won’t ever know unless they get a stage. So, I’d love to bring that back. Everybody is not cut out to be a carpenter or a plumber,” said Williams. Williams would like to open the club by the end of the year, but that seems optimistic. Walking into the club one can envision what it used to be: the low lights, beautifullyattired patrons, and crisp-looking waiters. But quickly that image fades away, and what’s left is a big room that still needs a lot of work and only one retired man to do it.

Yeah Yeah!’s Andrea Mullin creating a t-shirt for Lagunitas Brewery.

yeah Yeah! from page 1 the trunk of her car in a parking lot, eventually opening a retail store. The pair met in 2007 at an arts and craft show. Both noticed that their customers tended to drift back and forth between their booths. They decided that by collaborating they’d strengthen their ability to create locally-made, socially conscious, eco-friendly items. All Yeah Yeah! Pony Prince products are made in San Francisco with recycled materials. The company offers a hoodie made from plastic bottles, and a shirt made out of soda cans. Designs are created on hand-painted linoleum block prints. According to Mullen, one of their customers expressed gratitude

Photograph by Paul McDonald

for a shirt that after several years still looks brand new, because of the recycled materials used. Comments about the company on Yelp.com include “excellent quality,” “worth every penny,” “personalized service much appreciated,” and “never need to wear real clothes again.” Yeah Yeah! Pony Prince’s clients include the California Academy of Science, Petaluma-based Lagunitas Brewing Company, and Chicagobased Ohm Shanti Yoga, among others. Customers can purchase products directly from their website, Yeahyeahponyprince.com, or at their shop, which is located at 340 Bryant Street. Mullen and Bevilacqua also direct the nonprofit Selva Cultural Center, which offers sustainabilityoriented art classes.

D4 southside/potrero view | SEPTEMBER 2011 club from page 1 to join – waived for those who can’t afford it – and – for those not yet high school age – a parent to sign them up. In the art room, youngsters get materials and help to create paintings, drawings and other projects that many proudly take home for continued work or to show family members. The tech center incorporates a television broadcast setup, with equipment provided by the Bay Area Video Coalition, and instruction for those interested in producing programs for the Neighborhood News Network and San Francisco’s public access television stations. The Learning Center – some of its walls lined with books – provides a quiet place to study, do homework, or practice reading. The decibel level rises in the Teen Center, where older teenagers lead a program designed to get kids thinking about what they’d like to do when they grow up, and discovering what they’ll need in terms of what Connolly calls “soft” skills: getting to work on time with the proper attitude; and “hard” skills: presenting experience and abilities with a resume, and knowing how to talk about how they can benefit an employer. Club members are encouraged to learn about career preparation, and to begin thinking seriously about attending college. Kids can get practical work experience operating the canteen, which features healthy foods items. “The kids want to know how to make money,” Holley said. “Here’s where they learn how to do it the right

way. Otherwise, they hit the streets for the wrong way.” Adjacent to the teen center is a full kitchen, where youth can find out what constitutes a healthy diet, and get hands-on experience turning ingredients into meals that provide adequate nourishment. Many of those ingredients come from the club’s large garden – which includes a greenhouse – where a young member, Moeshe’ Johnson, was happy to show visitors the rows of tomatoes, corn, radishes and other vegetables that youth have planted. A mong the club’s strongest attractions is its beautifully maintained baseball field, which draws teams of young hitters, pitchers and fielders from throughout the City. San Francisco Giants team members occasionally drop by to interact with the kids and offer workshops cover ing the game’s fundamentals. In addition to the clubhouses, the San Francisco Boys & Girls Club provide youth with the opportunity to spend summer weeks at Camp Mendocino. On this roughly 2,000 acre redwood forest, located on the Noyo River, several hundred Boys & Girls Club members have, during each of the past 80 summers, enjoyed water activities, sports and other forms of camp play, while learning important lessons about teamwork and self sufficiency. For many, Camp Mendocino – its low cost subsidized for needy participants – is their first experience in an environment outside the City. “This is a great experience for the kids,” said Connolly. “As the population gets larger, more people want services. We

Photograph by Paul McDonald

The technology center at the Boys & Girls Club.

a re s e e i n g k id s go of f t o college,” he’s happy to report. “The Club has helped get them ready with financial assistance, caring relationships, tutor ing and encouragement.” Boys & Girls Clubs are funded by corporate sponsors, individual donations and the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Families, with an annual budget of $8 million. “It’s a fight to get what we need,” said Holley. “But we’ve been doing this for over one hundred years, so we know how to make it happen.”

September 2011

redevelopment from front page construction, what their new units will look like and what it will be like to live in the rebuilt complex. Surrounding neighbors are more concerned about density and parking. Under current plans, 16 blocks will be recreated, designed by at least three separate architects, with different blocks featuring distinct aesthetics. “The goal is to have a really diverse looking neighborhood,” said Curtis. Over the summer, Rebuild Potrero unveiled preliminary designs for two blocks – called Block A and Block B for planning purposes – located on Wisconsin and Connecticut streets between 25th and 26th streets. “We are working on those two blocks now because those are the first to get developed,” Curtis explained. If things go according to plan, designs for the Blocks A and B could be finalized by the end of the year. Specific sketches haven’t been developed for the rest of the project; just conceptual ideas, such as building heights and square footage. “We are not going to design buildings until we have the finances,” Curtis said, about the project’s remaining blocks. Construction won’t begin until the entire site is ready to be redeveloped. “The goal is not to redevelop part of the site; it’s to redevelop it en masse.” The Mayor’s Office of Housing has paid for planning activities, with BRIDGE Housing also contributing

support. Future funding levels, either for planning efforts or construction, are uncertain. “A lot of things are up in the air,” said the Mayor’s Office of Housing director Olson Lee. Federal money that the Office of Housing and the San Francisco Housing Authority were depending on is looking less likely, given current pressures to reduce the deficit. Entitlements – such as zoning and other application reviews – are moving forward, but within twelve months the project will need to be reevaluated if significant City funds don’t become available, according to Lee, who estimated that pre-development activities have cost more than $2 million. Lee stressed that all of the money necessary for the project doesn’t need to be on hand at once, but can be collected over time, as needed to pay costs. In 2010, project developers submitted an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to the City. EIR review is expected to be completed well before the end of 2012. This fall Rebuild Potrero will submit a land use application, to obtain further approval from the City to use the space for new structures and homes. “We are past the planning stage and into the entitlement stage,” Curtis said. Another community meeting will be held after Labor Day to present Blocks A and B designs, and obtain feedback from residents. As the project waits for approval and funding, Rebuild Potrero continues to engage the community, and

connect Annex-Terrace residents with resources. “I encourage residents to be part of the process,” said Emily Weinstein, Rebuild Potrero’s community organizer. Roughly 600 AnnexTerrace residents who are officially on a lease are adults, three-quarters of whom have had some interaction with Rebuild Potrero, according to Weinstein. Some residents attend meetings consistently; others have only come to a single gathering, or are at least familiar with the rebuild process. The community development group, consisting of Potrero Hill residents, meets monthly, facilitated by Weinstein. On September 17 the group will hold a community walk – “Unite Potrero: A Community Walk. A little walk, a lot of talk” – that will culminate with a movie, as well as arts and crafts activities. The walk will start at 2 p.m. at the Potrero Hill branch library on 20th Street, and end in the AnnexTerrace complex, with a number of stops along the way for storytelling about the neighborhood and reminiscing. “The community walk is to be a linkage between different parts of the Hill [as we] walk through different parts,” Weinstein said. “Everyone has a different type of story.” According to Weinstein, who has been working for Rebuild Potrero for more than a year, Potrero Hill’s lowincome families are often neglected by City government because most of the community’s population is economically stable. “SF is a program- and service-rich City,” Weinstein said, but it’s not always easy to connect the needy with available resources. She hopes that Annex-Terrace revitalization will lead to jobs and upward mobility for housing residents, after “years of neglect.” “It’s a huge project, so it’s hugely challenging,” Curtis said, pointing to the complex’s difficult topography, the lack of federal support, and the country’s weak affordable housing system, which struggles to stay funded without adding an “ambitious” and ”complicated” development plan such as Annex-Terrace. “Topographically, socially, and politically; there are lots of constraints on the project,” Weinstein said. “Different people have different perspectives, some people are ready for change, some are scared and some want change to look and feel differently.” Rebuild Potrero publishes a monthly update in the View describing

THE POTRERO VIEW

celiac from page 11 “People shared recipes. Kids played games,” said Kim. “There’s hope that we can branch out and do other things. The University of California at San Diego has a great celiac group. We want to model our group after theirs.” Another group event may be planned for the fall. “We may start a running team to raise money for celiac research too,” said Kim. “We didn’t go through what the Drutz’s went through,” said Noe Valley resident Jamie Litz, whose daughter, Jasmine, now five years old, has celiac disease. “Jasmine’s symptoms were much milder.” Litz had both her children tested. Jasmine’s test came back positive for celiac; her son tested negative. “Mr. Drutz started the Facebook group, and the Drutz’s invited us. We met the Drutz’s at the picnic,” said Litz. “The picnic was a great idea and I think it will grow. The Drutz’s are a really great family. I think what they are doing is great for San Francisco and the Bay Area.” “The thing that was hardest for Kim and I was the length of time it took for doctors to diagnose Cassidy’s illness correctly,” David said. “Insurance companies will discourage families from getting a blood test for their child because the test is so expensive. But celiac disease is a matter of life and death if the disease is left untreated.” Doctors say kids won’t starve themselves, “but they will,” Kim said. According to Litz, her daughter’s gluten-free diet was the cure. “I feel like she is a lot healthier now. Her skin has cleared up, and her nails and hair are growing better.” “Cassidy will be fine,” said Kim. But “there is no margin for error. You can’t cheat.” Other kids have “all sorts of food issues, so she’s not close to being alone,” David said. “Cassidy knows she has celiac. And lots of people in the Bay area are gluten intolerant.” “Restaurants are definitely a challenge,” Litz said. “The wait staff may not know what gluten is. We’re very limited where we can go. We have to be sure the restaurant uses clean utensils, clean pots, clean everything, even when it’s a gluten-free restaurant. We buy a lot of fresh produce. The good thing is San Francisco has a lot of specialty grocery stores.”

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

Dogpatch-Based Martial Arts Group Sponsors Week of Peace By Jim Van Buskirk Dogpatch-based Heart of San Francisco Aikido will offer a series of special classes that combine Aikido waza, or technique, and the mediation model used by Community Boards during Aiki Peace Week; September 18 through 24. The week, held annually in conjunction with the United Nations International Day of Peace, was founded by Aiki Extensions, a Virginia-based nonprofit, which promotes Aikido principles outside the dojo, or school. Dojos around the world will participate in Peace Week by hosting events that highlight Aikido’s contribution to resolving conflict peacefully. Or, as phrased by Penny Sablove – a fourth-degree black belt, Heart of San Francisco Aikido’s chief instructor, and a physical therapist – addressing disagreements “off the mat.” More than three hundred dojos scattered throughout North and South America, as well as in Europe, will offer Peace Week activities, including Balikesir University Aikido Dojo in Turkey and Goshinkan in Australia. Sablove decided to join the effort after she received an email from Clarissa Henke of Berlinbased Niji Dojo, encouraging her to participate. Aikido – a martial art founded last century by Morihei Ueshiba OSensei – is non-violent, and strives to achieve harmony with nature, others, and oneself. “Aikido” is an amalgamation of three Japanese words, which can be translated as “path to spiritual harmony.” Through the discipline practitioners strive to achieve mental, physical, and spiritual growth. Rather than fighting, Aikido challenges students to meet an attacker’s energy in a relaxed fashion and with a sense of center, using fluid, spiral movements to turn the energy around so that it defeats itself. Aikido students explore self-defense, exercise, art, spirituality, philosophy, conflict resolution, healing, and meditation. In its efforts to broaden participation in Aikido, the Heart of San Francisco dojo offers classes for women, seniors and children. Community Boards, founded in 1976, help San Francisco residents, nonprofits and businesses find peaceful solutions to conflicts through mediation and facilitation. Training and certifying more than 100 new

volunteer mediators a year, Community Boards’ goal is to “manage everyday conflicts by addressing disputes before they escalate to violence or property damage, such as conflict between neighbors, roommates, youth, and families, as well as disputes that might lead to litigation.” The organization’s Neighborhood Mediation Program is the oldest, longest-running public mediation service in the United States, offering conflict resolution services in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese. A nominal fee is charged participants, with more than 85 percent of the nonprofit’s cases “resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.” In advance of Aiki Peace Week, Community Boards representatives Shannyn Bessoni and Tori Freeman will offer a free presentation at Heart of the City dojo on September 10th, from noon until 1:30 p.m. Daily between September 18 and 24 dojo member Bonnie Gordon – a licensed clinical social worker who has worked with Community Boards, California Dispute Services, and the San Francisco Department of Social Services – will offer a brief practice mediation exercise, and explore the principles of mediation: blending and harmony. For the remainder of the class, different teachers will lead a waza that explores the theme or principle presented by Gordon that day. Participants are encouraged to choose a current conflict situation from their own lives at the beginning of the autumn kangeiko, or intensive training; th roughout the week, they’ll reflect on the situation, noticing whether, and in what ways, their perspective has changed. Classes will be held at 6 or 7 p.m., or during the day on Friday and Saturday.

gluten from page 10 products and education. This is a sanctuary,” said Delaney. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has specific recommendations for people with autoimmune diseases.” The store will ultimately offer products for people with diabetes, lactose intolerance, and fibromyalgia, a disease that causes musculoskeletal pain as well as fatigue and mood swings. The biggest benefit of eating gluten-free foods for people without any particular disease is losing weight. “One person lost 40 pounds,” Delaney said. Many of the grocery’s customers maintain accounts to pay for purchases; staff know visitors’ names. “We’re experimenting on what best serves the people,” Delaney said.

“For example, if a customer asks for a product, we’ll stock it.” “We want to carry what the community wants,” Chin added. Daniel Hertado, 35, lives around the corner from the store, and stops in every morning for a cup of coffee. “I’m trying to eat a gluten-free diet,” Hertado said. “The items are inexpensive, and the other closet grocery store is on the Hill.” The grocery carries soy- and dairy-free items. “But we are interested in being the best gluten-free store,” said Delaney. “We try to keep our vendors local.” One block east of the Mariposa Street Muni T-Line stop, the store is easy to get to from other San Francisco neighborhoods, and even the east or north bays. Delaney and Chin plan on opening at least one other City location, as well as an outlet in Palo Alto.

Inside the Gluten Free Reviewer Grocery.

Photograph by Paul McDonald

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September 2011

THE POTRERO VIEW

Source Restaurant Offers Innovative Dining Experience By Paul McDonald Source, located at Division and De Haro streets, opened in March, and is quickly attracting diners to its creative and unique vegetarian/vegan dishes. Billed as a “multi-dimensional dining experience,” the restaurant offers water that’s four times filtered and ionized. A colorful decor is intended to create a sense of calm and well-being; the speakers issue undetectable sounds blended with music to soothe the soul; alcohol is replaced by delicious Jun Elixers – herbal creations – to provide mental clarity and energy. The owners, Andrew and Mitchell Fox – brothers from New York – want Source to provide an all-around experience, feeding the soul, mind and consciousness, as well the body. If all of this has your eyes rolling, Andrew won’t be upset. He wants his restaurant to be inclusive, not exclusive, and hopes that if many of the restaurant’s subtle components go unnoticed, the food and service will not. Mitchell – serving as chef – and Andrew – host/manager/concept artist/meta-physicist – have some 30 years in the restaurant business, and previously co-owned Café Metro in Fort Lee, New Jersey. They know what they’re doing, and that it takes a deep commitment and determination to

establish what Andrew called “The most unique restaurant in the entire country.” The menu, in its fifth iteration in as many months, has been honed to offer the most popular items, and is chockfull of fun-sounding dishes. It’s playful yet informative. Recreated with other well-identified ingredients, “Moo” is beef, “ Cluck” replicates chicken, “Quack” for duck, “Oink” equals pork. The burger consists of beets, celery, carrots, lentils, mushrooms, brown rice, herbs, soy protein, garlic and onions. The Awesome Burger is served in a homemade pita pouch with lettuce, tomato and, upon request, avocado. It wasn’t only delicious, but an interesting challenge to eat: grab it, or use fork and knife? The burger comes with a side of delectable fries that are accompanied with a cup of Gilroy garlic sauce and/or freshmade ketchup. Other popular items include a variety of delicious pizzas – cooked in a custom-made dragon-mouthed oven and served on fresh-made crust, influenced by the brother’s New York roots – as well as salads, sandwiches, dosas (Indian crepes) and entrées that include lasagna, shepherds pie, and truffle mac & cheese. The desserts, all vegan and baked on the premises,

Photograph by Paul McDonald

Patrons and staff at Source, with the restaurant’s dragon oven in the background.

include Snow Balls, truffles, brownies, and are proudly displayed at the front counter. Knowing that first timers arrive daily, the attentive staff and Andrew himself are on hand to assist with

questions and concerns. They know that theirs is no ordinary restaurant, and work to make sure visitors are comfortable as they discover unique dishes that won’t be seen on any other menu.

Potrero Hill Festival Returns to 20th Street in October By Keith Goldstein On October 15th the Potrero Hill Festival will celebrate its 21st anniversary. In recent years the festival has joined the roster of great San Francisco street fairs. At last year’s 20th anniversary event thousands of people enjoyed music on two stages, a vibrant kid’s zone and food from local eateries. The festival has maintained its community vibe over the years, even as it increased its profile with its move to 20th Street from Southern Heights. The festival is a fundraiser for the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House – known as the NABE – particularly the nonprofit’s unique Experiment in Diversity initiative. Since 2008 the NABE’s program offerings have been severely reduced as a result of City budget cuts. Once again, the festival will kick-off with a traditional New Orleans style mimosa brunch at the NABE, from 9 am to 1 p.m.; California Culinary Academy students will prepare a lavish spread. The Harvey Robb Trio will serenade diners with jazz grooves, with a background of superb bay views. The festival starts at 11 a.m., and extends from Missouri to Arkansas. This year the festival will stretch out a little further as it moves the kid’s

zone down Missouri Street, north of 20th Street. Local artists, merchants and restaurants will be featured. The Potrero Dogpatch Merchants Association (PDMA) co-produces the event; neighborhood businesses and organizations have provided generous sponsorships; and the View is a media sponsor. According to PDMA vice-president Brad Vaccaro, the festival is “a vital marketing tool for businesses in the neighborhood. It really helps raise the profile of Potrero Hill throughout the City.” Festival activities will include a petting zoo, pony rides, dunk tank, jumpy house, and face painting. Neighborhood restaurants will present an array of delectable tastes. The main stage will rock out with headline act Pure Ecstasy, and feature local favorites Soul Delights and The Third Thursday Band. The second stage will feature teen entertainment with music, dancing, a talent contest, spoken word and dance lessons. The Fei Tian Traditional Chinese Dancing, whose colorful outfits and graceful dances were such a hit at last year’s festival, will once again perform. A few booths are still available for local artists, vendors and restaurants. More details can be found at www.potrerofestival.com. Admission to the festival is free.

Photograph by Gig Xifaras

Pure Ecstasy, the headliner band at this year’s Potrero Hill Festival. From left: Ron Mitchell, Terry Jay Elbert, Dee Johnson and Preston Turner.

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

POTRERO BRANCH 1616 20th STREET 355.2822 Tuesday 10 am - 8 pm, Wednesday 12 noon - 8 pm Thursday 10 am - 6 pm, Friday 1 pm - 6 pm Saturday and Sunday 1 pm - 6 pm Monday CLOSED

By Lia Hillman, Potrero Branch Manager One City One Book 2011. The San Francisco Public Library, in partnership with the Bay Area Science Festival, is offering Packing for Mars: The Curious Life of Life in the Void as the book for the seventh annual One City One Book program. Science programs and book discussions will be held throughout San Francisco this fall, including at the Potrero Hill branch. The Potrero Hill Book Club meets every third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. Packing for Mars will be discussed on September 21. San Francisco Seed Library at Potrero Branch. In partnership with the San Francisco Seed Library, Potrero Branch has a wide variety of seeds available for “checkout.” For more information, visit www.sfseedlibrary. org.

September Programs for Adults Seed Saver 102. You’ve saved some beans from last year’s plants. You understand the basics of isolation distances and inbreeding depression. What? In this class you’ll learn what these terms mean, as well investigate vegetable breeding techniques, experimental trials, seed saving on a larger scale, and the specific aspects of growing various seed crops. Come satisfy your seed-saving habit with more options, information, and germplasm! September 18, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.

September Programs for Teens Teen programs are on hold this month, as our wonderful Teen Librarian, Dale Jenne, is filling a temporary position as acting branch manager at Bayview branch.

carpenter from page 8 several other neighbors in tow. Pavloff has maintained a robust clientele on the Hill, based solely on word of mouth. “I think in the bad economy that’s what kept us busy the whole time, just the fact that we had the same base of clientele,” he said. “I didn’t have to rely on advertising.” He enjoys collaborating with his clients, and appreciates the opportunities they’ve given him to hone his skills. “I thought it was nice that they trust me at such a young age to do a major project on their home, and I always liked the opportunities and the challenges that came with that,” he said. “We’re actually friends, so it’s fun to work together with them to get their ideas out.” Rather than heeding advice to charge higher rates for his work, Pavloff insists on keeping his rates lower than those charged by many other contractors. “I want my customers to be able to get what they want, and there are so many overpriced contractors,” he explained. “I try to work with my customers to make sure they get the job that they want. I’m always willing to put in more money to make it turn out right.” While Pavloff’s customers have significant input into a project, they also leave him plenty of room for creativity. “They know my style so they give me a lot of opportunities to just do whatever I want,” he said. “It allows me to figure things out. I get to create something that I get to

look at afterwards.” He attributed his ornate craftsman style to growing up surrounded by Potrero Hill’s Victorian-style homes, remnants of an era when builders “took their time and did things right.” Besides extensive remodeling of his own home, Pavloff has completed too many projects on the Hill to count. From his deck, he began pointing out individual houses, then made a wide sweeping gesture. “We did this house, we did that house next door, there’s a roof deck out there, we did all these fences, pretty much every street; Pennsylvania, Texas Street, Missouri, DeHaro, everywhere.” His most common requests are for bath room and kitchen cabinetry, for which he’s renow ned; h is custom cabinets were featured at the San Francisco Designer Showcase House in 2008. Currently, Pavloff is working on furniture for Kate’s Closet, an 18th Street clothing store. F rom the star t, SF BA B has consisted of the same core group of employees, including Mauro Perez Mauto, Pavloff’s right-hand man of seven years. Although the business has grown, Pavloff doesn’t plan to expand much further. “I’d like to keep it the way it is right now,” he said. “I don’t want a huge company.” Unlike many contractors, he prefers to work on each job personally rather than send out employees to various sites. Building and working with customers remain at the heart of his business. “That’s what I like best; just actually being there and being able to do the work,” he said.

September Programs for Children Korean Storytime. For families interested in learning Korean songs and reading Korean books together. This program is offered by community member Hannah Chung, in partnership with the library. For children up to five years old and their caregiver. September 11, 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. Baby Rhyme and Play Time. For infants up to 18 months old and their caregiver. September 6, 13, 20, 27, 1:15 to 1:45 p.m. Family Storytime. Storytime featuring stories, songs, and rhymes. For children up to five years old and their caregiver. September 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 10:30 to 11 a.m. and 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. Fun Flicks. This film program is offered every second Wednesday of the month, and includes short films based on children’s books and stories. This month’s films are Weekend With Wendell, What’s Under My Bed?, When the Dust Settles, and Whistle for Willie. Bring a snack! For children ages three to eight. Wednesday, September 14, 6:30 to 7:15 p.m.

Special Programs Hands on Snakes. Learn about the extraordinarily docile, beautiful, harmless, and nonvenomous snakes that are indigenous to California. For ages three to 103. September 17, 4 to 5 p.m.

Donate to Potrero Branch Library Friends of the San Francisco Library accepts donations. If you’d like to make a contribution to Potrero Branch for programming, equipment, or supplies, call 415.626.7500 or email Mary Abler at mary.abler@friendssfpl. org.

Need a Massage? Acupuncture? Find local providers in the View’s online Merchants Directory - we list all Potrero Dogpatch Merchants Association Members www.potreroview.net/merchants

September 2011

THE POTRERO VIEW

KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Zia Beatrix Kenny Wolf was born at 6:15 p.m. on August 8, weighing in at six pounds ten ounces. Parents Michael and Noelle are excited she’ll be growing up in the City’s best neighborhood.

Happy Birthday Jecca! Three and at Potrero Kids at Daniel Webster! Love Mummy, Daddy and Joshua xxx

Happy first birthday, Kai! Love, Mama, Dada, and Tinker

To our favorite berry picker, Coco Tricamo, happy fourth birthday! You make us smile. Love, Mommy & Daddy

Rohan Birla celebrated his first birthday on July 24th, 2011! What a year!

Gabriel turns two. Happy birthday to our little guy! We love you very much!

Happy sixth birthday, Viktoria! Lots of love from Daddy, Mamma and Emilia

Sadie Kiyoko Magnawa Crawford celebrates sunny weather, first grade and turning six!

The View is delighted to publish local kids’ birthdays, accomplishments, and milestones. Please email your image and/ or caption to graphics@ potreroview.net by the 18th of the prior month. High resolution photos, please!

Happy sixth birthday to Cole, our superhero! Lots of love, Mommy, Daddy & Miranda

Happy belated ninth birthday to Avalon and her new tree house! Love you always from Mama, Daddy & Lola boy

Even though he’s now 20 and not a little baby anymore, he’s still our baby. Happy Birthday T.J., from Mom and Dad

Last month fifteen-year-old Israeli teenagers, Yael Goldberg, Keinar Yosef and Adi Kamin, dined at Aperto with Potrero Hill native, ten-year-old Sara Moss. The teens, who were hosted by View publisher, Steven Moss (in background) and his family, spent three-days touring San Francisco before heading to Yosemite for three weeks as part of Camp Tawonga’s Noar l’Noar (Youth to Youth) program, which brings Muslim and Jewish Israeli teens and young adults, including Ethiopians, to camp each summer to interact with Bay Area youth. Launched in 2006, with support from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, the program has brought more than 200 young people to camp. For Bay Area campers, the Muslim and Jewish Israeli teens are an uncensored, direct source of information about the Middle East. For the Muslim and Jewish Israeli participants, spending a summer in the United States provides invaluable insight into Americans, and a needed respite from the Middle East conflict.

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

Why Did This Potrero Hill Home Sell Before Ever Reaching the Market?

This two bedroom home at 519 Kansas street sold before ever reaching the market for $1,100,000.

The demand on Potrero Hill is so strong I sold this home in August for $1,100,000 without ever bringing it on the open market. If you have been thinking of selling your home this may be an excellent time to take advantage of strong demand from buyers.

Sales Prices for All Potrero Hill Homes Sold in 2011* 2009 17th st ............... $750,000 2005 19th st ............ $2,150,000 1306 20th st ............... $825,000

890 De haro st ........... $920,000 1136 De haro st ......... $840,000 1470 De haro st ......... $520,000

1429 Rhode island st ... $855,000 538 Utah street ........... $710,000 531 Vermont st ........... $995,000

758 Arkansas st .......... $500,000 752 Carolina st ........ $3,250,000 1056 Carolina st ......... $795,000 646 De haro st ........ $1,060,000 706 De haro st ........ $1,437,500 860 De haro st ........ $1,960,000

519 Kansas st .......... $1,100,000 1308 mariposa st ........ $900,000 407 missouri st ........ $1,050,000 628 missouri st ........... $480,000 654 Pennsylvania st ... $717,000 1013 Rhode island st . $1,040,000

823 Vermont st ........... $765,000 600 Wisconsin st ..... $1,595,000 636 Wisconsin st ..... $1,201,000 1163 Wisconsin st ...... $660,000

In 2011 the average sales price for a home on Potrero Hill has been $1,083,020*. If you’d like a free report on the value of your home, call Tim Johnson at 710-9000. Tim Johnson

Paragon Real Estate Group DRE# 01476421

415.710.9000 tim@timjohnsonSF.com www.timjohnsonSF.com

*Sales information as of August 18, 2011 in SFAR MLS.

September 2011

THE POTRERO VIEW

c o m m u n i t y CALENDAR September 2011

Through September 5 Art: ReGeneration a.Muse Gallery presents the photographs of eight artists—older, veteran and younger, up-and-coming photographers—who occupy either side of the generation gap. The photographs are exhibited in pairs, a piece from one group alongside a piece from the other, to explore generational differences and facilitate artistic dialogue. Free. 614 Alabama Street. Information: www.yourmusegallery.com.

Community: Farley’s Parklet Celebration

Help Farley’s dedicate its new parklet and celebrate Labor Day. After a year of planning and work, the new space is open to the entire community, not just Farley’s patrons. The dedication ceremony will feature fun for kids and adults alike, as well as a few speeches or two, as Roger Hillyard formally turns over the café to Chris and Amy, his son and daughter-in-law. Playing at the event will be the Mighty Fine Trio, featuring Macy Blackman on keyboards and vocals, Nancy Wright on sax and vocals, and Bing Nathan on string bass. 3 p.m. Free. 1315 18th Street.

Community: Daggett Place Park Design Review

Help the Planning Department finalize the design for a new public park on the Daggett Street right-of-way. The proposed approach is based on the initial design developed by the community and City staff as part of the Showplace Square Open Space Plan. Once the design is finalized and approved by the City, it’s anticipated that the park will be constructed along with the new housing development on the surrounding parcels. 6 to 8 p.m. California College of Arts. 1111 8th Street. Information: http:// showplace.sfplanning.org.

September 9-October 2 Theater: Patience Worth

Symmetry Theatre Company presents Patience Worth, a world premier play by Bay Area playwright Michelle Carter, winner of the PEN and Garland awards. In July 1913, a 17th-century spirit named Patience Worth made her first appearance via Ouija board to Pearl Curran, a St. Louis housewife. In the 25 years that followed, Patience Worth would purportedly dictate nearly four million words: seven full-length novels, numerous short stories and plays, thousands of poems, and n ine volu mes of conversations with hundreds of visitors. Fridays and Saturdays 8 p.m.; Sundays 2 p.m. Tickets: $30. Thick House, 1695 18th Street. Information: www.symmetrytheatre.com.

Festival: Under the Moonlight

Help celebrate the year’s harvest and express friendship and gratitude on the traditional Chinese Thanksgiving holiday with a Mid-Autumn Festival. The Asian Art Foundation presents an evening of classical Chinese music and art at the Art People Gallery. Live Erhu (Chinese violin) performance by Erhu virtuoso and Fei Tian Academy of the Arts musician Mei Xuan. Classical Chinese painting and calligraphy demonstration by a master Chinese brush painter. 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets: $50. 50 Post Street. Information: 845-467-1763.

a window into the cultural understanding and variation of democratic public expression. To date, three other productions in the series have been presented: in Italy, Germany and Austria. Standing room only. 8 p.m. Tickets: $10. Z Space, 450 Florida Street. Information: www. zspace.org.

Community: Unite Potrero - A Community Walk

Join Rebuild Potrero and Potrero Community Building Group for a community walk through Potrero Hill, culminating with arts and crafts activities, free food and a

Cuban Art Schools Revealed Tennessee Street resident John Loomis has written a new edition of Revolution of Forms, Cuba’s Forgotten Art Schools. Before its initial publication in 1999, few Cubans or Americans were aware that one of the Cuban Revolution’s most outstanding architectural achievements, the Escuelas Nacionales de Arte (National Art Schools), stood neglected just outside Havana. Three architects, Ricardo Porro, Roberto Gottardi, and Vittorio Garatti, who wanted to reinvent architecture, similar to the way the Revolution hoped to reinvent society, were commissioned to design the facility. However, before construction was completed, the schools were attacked for diverging from revolutionary ideals; the organic complex of brick and terra-cotta Catalan-vaulted structures was abandoned. The original publication of Revolution of Forms brought them to the world’s attention, and induced the Cuban government to restore them. Last November they were given national monument status, and will soon be granted world heritage status by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The updated edition adds a new preface, epilogue, and chronology to the first version’s numerous photographs, drawings, and interviews. Loomis is an architect and educator at San José State University. His writings have appeared in Design Book Review, Casabella, and Progressive Architecture, among other publications. More information about Revolution of Forms can be found in English and Spanish at www.revolutionofforms.com, and the book is available at Christopher’s Books, christophersbooks.com, 1400 18th Street at Missouri. On September 25, 4 p.m., there’ll be a book-signing event, with video and slides at Farley’s, www.farleyscoffee.com, 1315 18th Street, at which books will be available for purchase, courtesy of Christopher’s Books.

Performance: The 16&17 People: San Francisco

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Z Space present New York-based performance troupe Big Art Group’s The People: San Francisco, a site-specific, outdoor extravaganza that combines live theater with large-scale, real-time video projection. The narrative, constructed from interviews with members of the local community who shared their thoughts about democracy, war, terrorism, and justice, loosely recreates the story of Aeschylus’ Oresteia. Live theatrical reenactments are intercut with earlier, taped interviews, projected via large-scale video onto the side of a building; live play and video are viewed by the audience at street level. The People: San Francisco is part of a larger cross-cultural work in which the video choruses from several locations will be combined to create

screening of the movie Rio at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House. The walking route includes four designated “story stops”; at each stop someone will talk about the history of the location and share personal anecdotes. Along the route, participants will be welcome to share their own personal stories. Events kick off at the Library at 2 p.m. Activities at the Neighborhood House begin at 4 p.m.; movie begins at 5:30 p.m. Free. Meet at the Library, 1616 20th Street, or the Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro Street. Information: 806.1429.

Spoken Word: Storytelling at Farley’s

Farley’s presents the third annual Older Writers Laboratory [OWL] Poets’ fundraiser, With Sickness and With Health, to benefit Circulo de Vida (Circle of Life), a cancer support organization for Spanish-speaking San Franciscans.

OWL, a group that meets weekly, will join local storytellers, writers, singers, and musicians, and the hat will be passed to support Circulo and its work with Latino families affected by cancer. Open Mic. Come share a poem, story, song, or music. 7 p.m. Free. 1315 18th Street. Information: Susan Ford, 407.4297; email suford@ earthlink.net.

Festival: Roadworks

Family: Elementary School Fair

Community: Mayoral Forum

The San Francisco Center for the Book’s annual Roadworks Street Fair is a daylong arts festival showcasing printmaking and the art of the book. Using a three-ton construction steamroller and an unlikely letterpress bed — the street — a team of artists and printers make large-scale linoleum carved block prints. In addition to the steamrollerprinting centerpiece, artists, vendors and organizations will offer for sale an assortment of fine and affordable wares. Noon to 5 p.m. Free. Rhode Island between 16th and 17th streets. Information: www.sfcb.org/events/ roadworks.

The Friends of Noe Valley Recreation Center sponsor a free elementary school fair, featuring public, private and parochial schools conveniently located to families in central and southern neighborhoods. Parents and administrators from schools in Glen Park, Bernal Heights, Noe Valley, the Mission, Eureka Valley, the Castro, Miraloma Heights, the Market Street corridor, and the 280 corridor will be on hand to answer questions. Parents for Public Schools will host an enrollment workshop between 9 and 10 a.m. The San Francisco Public Library and San Francisco Parks & Recreation Department will also be available to sign up new family accounts and issue library cards. Free. Upper Noe Recreation Center, 295 Day Street, between Church and Sanchez streets.

Bayview Merchants Association sponsors a mayoral candidates forum. Candidates will be asked to discuss issues specific to District 10’s business community. They’ll be supplied with some questions beforehand, and invited to provide written responses. These questions and the written answers will distributed to community members attending the forum. Other questions on the same topic will be posed at the event. Co-sponsorship provided by merchants associations from the district’s Potrero, Dogpatch, Portola and Visitation Valley neighborhoods. 6 to 8 p.m. Alex Pitcher, Jr. Community Room at Southeast Campus of City College, 1800 Oakdale Avenue.

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

Dogpatch Blooms By Lisa Tehrani

View photographic contributor Richard Christian recently shot images of the local flora in Dogpatch. The non-native plants he discovered all had one trait in common: they prefer non-inclement weather. They add quite a nice splash of color to the neighborhood, too. Their appearance brings a bit of South Africa and South America, among other foreign locales, to the community.

African Daisy (Dimorphotheca aurantiaca): A South Africa native, this hearty spreading annual has daisy-like flowers in shades of white, yellow and orange. Prefers full sun.

Bougainvillea: A South America native, there are between four and 18 different species in the genus. This thorny, woody vine produces bouquets of small white flowers that group in threes, and are surrounded by three to six bracts of brightly colored magenta, pink, purple, red, orange, white or yellow leaves. This drought-tolerant vine is happiest in warm climates.

Agapathus Africanus: Commonly referred to as Lily of the Nile, though it’s not a lily. All species are native to South Africa. Agapanthus blooms in the summer, when its funnel-shaped purple or white flowers form dramatic, circular clusters. Best grown in mild-winter climates.

Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia): These eye-catching shrubs or trees are typically covered in large dramatic trumpetshaped flowers in varying colors: white, yellow, prink, orange and red. Native to subtropical regions of South America, Angel’s Trumpet has a delicate, attractive scent most noticeable in the evening. However, the plant is highly toxic; it may be fatal if ingested by humans or animals. Consequently, some municipalities prohibit the sale of these plants. Angels Trumpets are easily grown in a moist, fertile, welldrained soil, in full sun to part shade, in frost-free climates.

Jacaranda: Native to tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, the species are found as shrubs and large trees, with flowers produced in conspicuous large panicles, each flower with a five-lobed purpleblue corolla. Some species have white flowers. Pretoria, South African is commonly referred to as The Jacaranda City as a result of the large number of trees planted along its streets and in parks and gardens. Legend has it that if a Jacaranda flower drops on your head during exam time at the University of Pretoria, you’ll pass all of your exams. Other parts of the world mark the blooming of the Jacaranda as a sign of spring. The tree grows best in welldrained soil, tolerates drought and brief spells of frost and freeze.

Photographs by Richard Christian

September 2011

THE POTRERO VIEW

Artist Escapes Arranged Marriage to Find Creativity By Simon Stahl Potrero Hill has long been known as a home for artists, drawn to the neighborhood by its once low housing costs and eclectic mix of tradespeople, craftsmen, and shopkeepers. June Li had to overcome a unique challenge to find artistic fulfillment on the Hill: an unhappy arranged marriage. Li spent four years studying commercial art and marketing at the China Normal Teaching University in Guangzhou. She dropped out to marry a Chinese-American who was visiting the area in search of a bride. Li’s mother had found him through a matchmaking service, and thought that life in America would be the best thing for her daughter. Under pressure from her family, Li agreed to the marriage. “Somehow they convinced me to marry him. I didn’t know him too much, but he seemed a nice guy at the time” said Li. “I was taught that marriage and love are separate…it’s a responsibility, it’s not about romantic love.” A few weeks after an initial meeting, they were engaged. A year later they were married, and Li moved with her husband to Sonoma. It took less than a year for Li to decide she didn’t belong with her new husband. “We were two people who had completely different personalities and values in life.” By that time she was already pregnant with her son. Three years after he was born Li asked her husband for a divorce, but his severe response stopped her. “He was really angry, that scared me…he was a gambler, he was violent.” Li stayed with her husband for eight years, working in the two restaurants he owned. Eventually

she gained the courage and legal savvy to petition for a divorce on her own, and left her husband. Fearing reprisal and wanting a clean break, she signed away her rights to their shared property. Forced to support herself for the first time in her life, Li found marketing work for a local Chinese language newspaper, and soon moved on to a variety of graphic design work. Inspired by her father, who was forced to abandon his artistic inspirations early in life to support his family, she began to paint in her spare time. With steady income from her design job, she could afford to support herself and pursue her artistic talents. Li’s art tends towards abstract expressionism, with influences from Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning and Gustav Klimt. Her early work, which includes many colorful figures, reflects her love of Matisse. Her most recent paintings are more abstract, with limited palettes and expressive forms and splatters. Her subjects change frequently, from underwater scenes to nudes to pure abstraction. “I like to express my feelings through canvas and brush, because I have limited English. [Viewers] feel my language through the painting… my style is more organic shapes and forms, it carries a lot of emotions.” For Li, the creative process is a celebration of the freedom she fought to earn. “I get the canvass, I stare at it for a while, then I just put paint on it, with the mistakes I’ve made, the music I’ve heard, the stories I have been told...I don’t know what the finished image will be…it flows with the atmosphere, with the state of my see li page 25

Artist June Li.

A Potrero Hill Life Aldo Brondello 1925 ~ 2011

By Katrina Schwartz Last month Potrero Hill lost one of its native sons. Aldo Brondello died at the age of 86, after a full life as a committed member of the Hill community. His wife of 63 years, Mary, still lives in the Kansas Street home that Aldo and his brothers built in 1959. Their daughter, Christine, and son, John grew up there, and attended Saint Theresa’s School. Aldo and his older brother Mario were born to Anna and Giovanni Brondello. Giovanni died when Aldo was three; Anna’s second husband, Biagio Crespi raised him. Aldo’s youngest brother, Vic, was born to Biagio and Anna; he bears the surname Crespi. When Aldo was growing up in the 1920s and ‘30s the Hill had few houses and ample industrial space. Aldo used to play by the waterfront with Mario and other neighborhood kids. He loved the Hill’s sunshine; so different from San Francisco’s west side. A ldo lear ned the plastering trade from his stepfather, a skill that became the foundation for his later accomplishments. After serving in the Army Air Corps in World War II, Aldo returned to Potrero Hill to join his stepfather and brother in the plastering business. Slowly, the enterprise expanded into contracting, and then into construction of large apartment buildings and commercial spaces, including three shopping centers. Many of the shops on 18th Street’s commercial corridor were built by the Brondello – and Crespi – families. The Brondello/Crispi families had a large role in Potrero Hill’s

development. During the 1950s, when the 101 freeway was being built, the Brondello/Crespi brothers purchased Potrero Hill lots inexpensively, and then either built or moved houses onto them. According to John Brondello, the practice of moving homes wasn’t uncommon in San Francisco mid-century last. “They started moving homes. They’d buy the homes and move them to different lots and reassemble them. They moved it with cranes, on rollers. It was kind of unique, but lot of guys in San Francisco were doing that in the ‘50s.” John works for the family company, Pacific Coast Properties, which still owns and manages numerous apartment buildings on the Hill. He described his father’s later years as ones of simple contentment. “You could just see him driving around Potrero Hill in a little brown pickup, smoking a cigar. [He was] happy driving around, visiting his apartments, talking to his tenants.” Throughout his life Aldo and his wife maintained tight relationships with twelve couples; the husbands were playmates of Aldo he met while attending elementar y and high schools. Most of the friends grew up in the Mission District or Potrero Hill. One was born on the same day as Aldo; after the midwife delivered one of them she went up the hill to deliver the other. The couples visited one another’s homes monthly for dinner, staying up late to converse and carouse. They also took many trips together; one on Amtrak across the United States and a couple to Europe. In their older years they switched to gathering for lunch at restaurants. see Brondello page 25

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

Crime & Safety REPORT Sponsored by Mainline Security

By Regina Anavy

Night Burglary at Construction Site According to a contractor who prefers to remain anonymous, a house he’s remodeling at 19th and Mississippi streets was broken into the night of July 24. “The burglars climbed the scaffolding, went over the neighbor’s roof on the downhill side and broke in through a piece of plywood covering a doorway on the second-floor deck. All they took was the only tool left on-site, a very old and very heavy air compressor. This being my fifth burglary on Potrero Hill in five years, I am very familiar with filling out pol ice repor ts for th is t y pe of thing. After the second burglary at another house on Mississippi Street a couple of years back, the burglars became so brazen that they just pulled their pick-up truck into the driveway and started loading it up. The neighbors on the corner were vigilant enough to write down a description of the truck along with a license plate number.” On July 31, a tail-light assembly was stolen off the contractor’s truck. “All that’s left is a cut wire and a hole. Either I am the unluckiest person on the Hill or this neighborhood is out of control.”

SWAT Team Raids Missouri Street House O n t he mor n i n g of Au g u s t 10, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team members raided an illegal marijuana-growing operation at 228 Missouri Street. Neighbors had been complaining about the traffic in and out of the house for years. According to Sergeant Jack Hart, the police action took place “after obtaining a search warrant from the San Francisco Superior Court subsequent to an investigation where a carload of illegally-possessed marijuana was seized from an occupant of the house. This house attracted a lot of people who wouldn’t ordinarily be on lower Potrero. Then they would look at these million-dollar houses and nice cars.” No arrests were made. “Our target was not at home. We will be seeking an arrest warrant from the District Attorney’s office. We removed the equipment and about 140 marijuana plants in various stages of growth.” Ammunition was also found in the suspect’s bedroom.

More Auto Break-ins According to Bayview Station Captain Paul Chignell, automobile break-ins continue to be a significant problem on Potrero Hill. “There’s been a rash on the 500 block of Rhode Island. We’re constantly looking for patterns where they’re occurring so we can deploy resources. There’s also a surcharge on every vehicle registered in San

Francisco that goes into a fund that police inspectors use for overtime. If we find and arrest an auto burglar, the burglaries tend to stop in that area once we incarcerate him,” he said.

Gangs Active in Potrero AnnexTerrace Sergeant Chris Shaffer said that there’s currently significant gang activity in the Potrero Terrace and Annex complexes. “It’s like a roller coaster ride. Things heat up and cool down quickly. There could be fighting over stupid things. When I sit down and talk to somebody, to me it’s not important but to them it is. Because they grew up out here, they’re dealing with it. A lot of the shootings are targeted. Most of the guns are found in the housing projects, but there are also people driving around. We try to get involved and get information.” Shaffer said the plainclothes officers’ job is to “go after violent criminals and get them off the street. We pass around information about who we’re looking for, who’s doing what, what the word is on the street, and then we investigate and build a case from there. We might do a traffic stop, or check a known gang member to see if he has a gun.” Shaffer pointed out that under the conditions for their release, parolees are subject to a search at any time. Shaffer advised San Franciscans to call 911 if they see someone looking into cars. “We get a lot of car break-ins up on Potrero Hill. If you see someone actively looking in cars, by all means call 911. We would probably follow the guy. I’ve arrested a lot of people just from phone calls.”

Officers Involved in Shooting Get Counseling Chignell said the officers involved i n the Ju ly 16 Bay v iew shooting are “doing fine and getting counseling.” In addition to the police investigation into the incident, investigations are being conducted by the District Attorney’s office and the Office of Citizen Complaints, which is under the supervision of the Police Commission.

St. Teresa’s Hosts Monthly Police Meeting On August 3, Chignell held the monthly police/community meeting at St. Teresa’s Church, located at 19th and Connecticut streets. “Our vision is to not have very many monthly meetings at the police station but instead to go out into the various neighborhoods of the police district. This is our maiden voyage on Potrero Hill.” To sign up for the Bayview Station newsletter, which is currently issued three times a week, contact Paul.Chignell@sfgov. org.

Photograph by Regina Anavy

Sergeant Jack Hart confers with SWAT team after a raid on Missouri Street.

Community Policing Principles to be Codified According to former San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Deputy Chief Rick Bruce, Police Ch ief Greg Su h r has convened a committee – composed of Rick Bruce, Captain Sharon Ferrigno, Lieutenants Michelle Jean, Mike Redmond, and Raj Vaswani – to cod i f y 11 com mu n it y pol ici n g concepts into a manual, to be used consistently throughout the department. “The issue of community policing is near and dear to the Chief’s heart,” said Bruce, “and he would like to memorialize and institutionalize the concepts that

have been practiced for the last 23 years. There are 10 districts, and they almost operate as 10 small police departments. You find that the interactions people have with their local police vary greatly.” The concepts include creating partnerships between the police, the community and City agencies. Problem-solving is to be facilitated by having a police presence in the neighborhoods “breaking bread with people and talking to them in the coffee shops.” Connecting with youth in disadvantaged communities is especially important. “If police interact in a positive way, see crime page 26

September 2011

li from page 23

brondello from page 23

mind.” Li has found artistic success, landing her pieces in numerous local galleries and other venues, including Artist’s Alley on Mission and 4th, Vin Club on Broadway and Kearney, and District on Third and Townsend. She lives with her son, works from her 17th Street studio, and hopes that her art and story will help motivate others to pursue their dreams. “I hope my painting can inspire others, like my father’s inspired me; life is short and precious, find a way out of your unhappiness. The most valuable moment is when you fully express yourself,” she said. Li, who is available for gallery showings and commissions, can be contacted through her website at www.juneliart.com.

Over Aldo’s lifetime Potrero Hill transformed from an industrial neighborhood cut off from the rest of the City to a thriving home to almost 15,000 residents. Through it all he proclaimed he’d never live anywhere else. And he never did. Aldo is remembered in the community as a kind man and a good landlord. “He was such a genuine old-fashioned, nice person,” said Anna Mary Hanavan, a family friend who grew up with John Brondello. Aldo is survived by his wife Mary, son John, daughter Christine Kelly, grandchildren Renee Kelly, John Kelly, Angela Ann Mullin, Annette Brondello and Michael Brondello; great-grandchildren Nicole and Justin Catanach, Madison and Anthony Mullin and Ryan Kelly.

HOW TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD: UPDATE, POST, & PAY ONLINE Visit www.potreroview.net & follow the instructions for placing your ad. COST $25 for up to 200 characters including spaces. Recieve an additional 20% discount provided for ads paid for six months in advance!

MAIL OR CALL IN YOUR AD View Wants Ads 2325 Third Street, Suite 344 San Francisco, CA 94107 415.626.8723 / office@potreroview.net * Payments and/or text changes must be received by the 18th of each month for ad to appear in the following month's issue.

THE POTRERO VIEW

Get a Job By Mauri Schwartz The View asked Hill resident and career expert Mauri Schwartz to answer questions from job seekers. Submit your questions to editor@potreroview.net. Q: I’ve used many of the tips you’ve written about, including using Indeed.com to search for jobs. However, there aren’t many listed that are at the right level for me. Do you know of other options? A: Most job searches should have a two-pronged approach: 1) search for suitable job postings using different search tools and databases, such as Indeed; and 2) identify companies that might have the type of position you’re seeking. You’ve tried the first; let’s talk about the second. To start off you have to define your target market, just like any company that sells a product or service. What size organization would have the role you want, and what size would be most comfortable for you? Focus on companies that are growing, and are in expanding industries. A good information source is the San Francisco Business Times, which includes articles about companies that are downsizing – avoid those – and that are hiring. Look for articles about companies that have just signed a lease for office space that’s much larger than their current location. Another good resource for identifying companies in specific industries is the San Francisco Library. With your library card, you can go to the library’s online site.

Click on eLibrary underneath the webpage’s title. Then select “Articles and Databases” from the drop down menu. Next choose “Business” from the Database Category menu. Toward the bottom of the first page of this category will be a database called “Reference USA Directory.” You’ll then be asked for your library account information. You can also find excellent information in the Business & Company Resource Center, which is listed on the same page as the Reference USA Directory. After you’ve selected your top 10 targeted companies, visit their web sites to learn as much as possible about the organizations, management teams, and products. Also, do a Google search on the firm for news that isn’t listed on their web site. To find employees whom you may know, sign on to LinkedIn, and use the “Companies” feature. You can search for each of your companies, and see a list of employees who are in your network, are recent hires, and even those who are alumni of the university you attended. If you sign up to follow a company, you’ll regularly receive relevant updates. Mauri Schwartz is President/ CEO of Career Insiders www.CareerInsiders.com.

CLASSIFIED ADS 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.

Employment JOURNEY LEVEL PLUMBING TECHNICIAN WANTED We seek a journey level plumber that has at least 3 years of experience in residential service for full time work. Please call O’Grady Plumbing at 415-647-9200 if you are interested. BOOK KEEPER/ADMIN NEEDED Parttime book keeper and administrative assistant needed for small San Francisco enterprise. 30 to 40 hours a month, $25 an hour. Must know Quickbooks, Excel, and have some web skills. Send resumes to: dogpatchbookkeeper@gmail.com.

For Sale TOMBOY TOOLS Ergonomically designed for a smaller hand. Discover our quality tools for women at home parties,

events & online. On Potrero Hill Cathy Ritter 729-3955 www.tomboytools.info/ cathy.

Garden Services EXPERT GARDEN & LANDSCAPE SERVICES We do it all - garden maintenance, design, construction, irrigation systems, lighting, stonework, tree service & fine pruning. No job too big or too small. Free estimates, excellent references, insured, over 20 years experience. Call David at 415-846-7581.

resident. Call Ed 596-0883 Lic#945019. 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. HANDYMAN EXTRAORDINAIRE! 20 Years Experience Repair Remodeling Elec Plumbing Light Fixtures DOORS! Windows Cabinets Decks Staircases Built. $40-50/hr mike@trivelocarpentry. com. Mike(415)308-2380.

GARDENING, LANDSCAPING & DESIGN Quality work, ornamental pruning, hardscaping. References. Free estimates through June. We can help transform your garden. Klasky & Sons Landscaping 415-531-6890.

Housekeeping

Home Services

CLEANING PROFESSIONAL 25 years Experience. Apartments, homes, or offices. Roger Miller, 415-664-0513 or 7944411 9a-5p.

CARPENTRY & PAINTING also: plumbing, seismic/structural work, stucco, roof repairs & gutter cleaning, tree trimming. www.FarWestConstr.com Jim Kennedy, 415-276-1990 Ca. Lic. 751689. 180 DEGREE DESIGN-COLOR HELP Struggling to find the perfect paint colors for the interior or exterior of your home or business? Get the Color and Design you want! Color Designer for HGTV the Expert in Color Kathyjean Boise 415-285-3014. E M S PLUMBING Licensed & Insured contractor for your plumbing needs. Water heater 10+ yrs old? Thinking of going tankless? 4th generation Potrero Hill

DO YOU NEED HOUSECLEANING? We will do it just call Sara and Marco 4153108838.

Pet Services DOG LOVER, RUNNER, WALKER, jumper, toy launcher, cuddler, expert treat-giver, water freshener, gentle leader. Solo walks, overnight stays. Especially sensitive to senior pet needs. Nicole 907-947-5115.

Photography FREE PORTRAITS BY PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED HOBBYIST I am a retired professional who now does portrait photography as my hobby/passion.

I have a studio on Potrero Hill with top quality equipment where I do free portraits & prints for families or individuals. There is no catch, professional quality for free, and fun for all. Contact me at alcastino@mac.com and I will send a link to sample photos.

Rentals SPACIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL Furnished guest garden apartment. Private. 1/2 blk. to restaurants. Non-smoking. 2 people. 415-861-3208. CHARMING GARDEN APARTMENT One BR, 2-night minimum. Fireplace, patio, deck, French doors. 415.641.4488.

Technology Services STEREO REPAIR / HOME THEATER INSTALLATION Gene’s Sound Service offers expert component-level repair and installation of audio, video and home theater systems. On-site service with convenient day, evening or Sat appointments. Many local references. “Gene’s honest and knows his stuff. Give him a try.” Bobby McFerrin. Call Gene at 415377-1258. More info at www.genessoundservice.com. COMPUTER PROBLEMS DRIVING YOU BUGGY? Problems fixed! 25 years of industry experience. Personal IT consulting to small businesses or busy professionals. We can install and/or help shop for computer/network/printer or setup/ troubleshoot wireless networks. If you’re not technical, don’t worry we are. Rob 415.244.3305 rob@sfcomputech.com.

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011 City and County of San Francisco For Papers September, 2011 Public Art for the New North Beach Library Come see the three proposals for the new public artwork! Three artists - Bill Fontana, Paul Hayes, and Mark Malmberg - were selected by the North Beach Community Artist Selection Panel to create proposals for the new artwork to be placed at the new library. Come see the proposals and provide us with feedback on the comment forms located onsite. On view from September 1-15, 2011 at the North Beach Branch Library, 2000 Mason Street. Visit www.sfartscommission.org/pubartcollection for more details.

Bayview Police Station Captain’s Community Meeting is held on the first Tuesday of each month. September meeting will be held at Bethel Grace Lutheran Church, 465 Woolsey Street. Next meeting: September 6th, 6 p.m. Dogpatch Neighborhood Association usually meets the second Tuesday of each odd-numbered month. Next meeting: September 13, 7 to 9 p.m., 654 Minnesota Street @ 19th Street. Voting membership is open to anyone living in or owning property or a business in Dogpatch. For more information or to join/pay online: mydogpatch.org.

McKinley Square Community Group is a communication and discussion group regarding events and activities, clean up days, improvement and beautification, and other concerns, such as crime in the neighborhood. MSCA board meets approximately quarterly on the second Wednesday of the month. Look to the online discussion group for postings of upcoming meetings. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/McKinleySquareCommunity. Locations vary between the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House and Downtown High School. For updates, including sustainable gardening and park workdays, and our grant progress, check out the MSCA blog at: http://mckinleysquareblog.blogspot.com.

Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association meets the last Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. (social time begins at 6:45 p.m.) in the wheelchairaccessible Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro Street. For more information: www.potreroboosters.org or email president@ potreroboosters.org. Next meeting: September 27. See www.PotreroBoosters.org for more information. Potrero Dogpatch Merchant’s Association 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: September 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 Street. For more information: 648.6740, www. PHDemClub.org. Next meeting: September 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 organic, edible, or ornamental gardening appropriate for Potrero Hill’s microclimate. Call 648.1926 for details.

Starr King Open Space The Starr King Open Space Board Meeting is on Tuesday, September 13th, 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the library of Starr King Elementary School, 1215 Carolina Street. The third Saturday of each month neighbors and friends of SKOS are welcome to get down and dirty while sprucing up the open space. Come learn about our native flower’s while being a steward for our land. The next Land Stewards Work Party is September 17th, 9 a.m. to 1p.m. Meet at the Open Space along Carolina Street, across from Starr King Elementary School. For more information: www.starrkingopenspace.org; email the Board of Directors at starrkingboard@gmail.com; voice mail 415-6336-SKO (756).

crime from page 24 those kids are less likely to get in trouble,” Bruce said. According to Bruce, District 10 is “a huge district, going from the ballpark to the county line. When you look at the demographics and myriad problems that we have here, you’re looking at problems that you would find in a normal city. It’s that diverse.” He agreed that community policing won’t solve the lack of hope that exists in disadvantaged neighborhoods. “There are a lot of problems out there that community policing is not going to solve. And the police constantly direct people to services. They do

that on a regular basis. They direct the homeless to shelters. People with substance abuse problems are directed to programs. Some of these things are larger social issues and beyond the ability of the police to control.”

Volunteers Needed for Neighborhood Courts Training programs are being scheduled for those interested in the restorative justice project. Volunteers serve on a panel to direct minor offenders on how they can repair the harm they’ve done to the community. For more information, contact Jackson Gee: 575.6328; Jackson.gee@sfgov.org.

Port of San Francisco Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Public Relations and Media Services (As-Needed). In preparation for the Port of San Francisco’s 150th Anniversary in 2013 and the proposed 34th America’s Cup Event on San Francisco’s waterfront in 2013, the Port seeks a pool of qualified consultants for as-needed contract services to support the Port’s Public Relations Manager in developing strategic media relations and marketing initiatives. Pre-proposal meeting Thursday, September 8, 2011; 2:00 p.m. The RFQ is due Monday, September 19, 2011; noon. For more information please visit http://mission. sfgov.org/OCABidPublication/, www.sfport.com, or email Linda Battaglia at linda.battaglia@sfport.com. The Department of Building Inspection (DBI) DBI is now offering a Voice Inspection Scheduling System – where customers may telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to: schedule an inspection, reschedule or cancel an inspection, obtain inspection results, or obtain an inspection history. To use this new customer convenience – available in English, Cantonese and Spanish – you just need a TouchTone telephone, a site-specific Permit Number, and the appropriate Inspection Code. These Inspection Codes are listed by Electrical, Plumbing and Building – and are available online at the DBI website, www.sfdbi.org, when you click on Inspection Services and then on the Voice Inspection Scheduling System link. Once you dial into the system at Telephone Number 415/575-6955, just follow the voice instructions you will hear. It’s simple. It’s convenient. It’s fast. If there’s a problem, just press the “O” button on your phone and you’ll be connected to an inspection staff person to assist you. Try it TODAY, and manage all your inspection needs with your phone. For more information, visit www.sfdbi.org. San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) SFAC Gallery presents Passport 2011 in the Castro! SFAC Gallery hosts Passport 2011 in the Castro on Sunday, October 23, 2011. Passport invites the public to create an artist’s book by collecting stamps designed by 12 emerging and established Bay Area artists in a customized notebook. From Noon to 4 pm, you can take to the streets, following a three-square-block route to collect stamps from the artists themselves. Buy Passports online for $25. Proceeds from Passport 2011 benefit SFAC Gallery’s exhibition and public programming, dedicated to supporting San Francisco artists and bringing challenging contemporary art to the City. For more information: www.sfartscommission.org/gallery/ or call 415-554-6080. The City and County of San Francisco encourage public outreach. Articles are translated into several languages to provide better public access. The newspaper makes every effort to translate the articles of general interest correctly. No liability is assumed by the City and County of San Francisco or the newspapers for errors and omissions.

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September 2011

THE POTRERO VIEW

SAVE THE DATE! The 12th Annual Potrero Hill History Night

Saturday October 22 International Studies Academy / DeHaro & 18th Street Jazz & barbeque to benefit I.S.A. begin 5:30 pm Free program 7 to 9 pm featuring long-time Hiller & music critic Joel Selvin, Country Joe of Country Joe and the Fish, and much much more. Note: History Night is a week earlier than originally scheduled so we can all go trick-or-treating!

THE POTRERO VIEW

September 2011

save for GLG