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MAY 2014
Dena Fischer 1965 — 2014
Dena Fischer, community crusader for public education, lost her 17-month battle to Leiomyosarcoma, a rare cancer, and died on March 26, 2014. She was forty-eight years young. Dena leaves behind her 10-year-old sons, Sam and Henry, and her husband, Brad Rothenberg. Dena moved to Potrero Hill with Brad in 2001. The Hill’s diversity, and their desire to educate their children in a public school environment, was the inspiration for Dena’s passion and commitment to making sure all children in the community had an opportunity to receive a high quality education filled with family resources and enrichment opportunities. Dena bega n her professiona l career in Hol ly wood at Creative Artists Agency, where she ran the Story Department and oversaw script development. She went on to be a development executive at two movie production companies, New Regency Entertainment and Douglas/Reuther Productions, where she helped produce several major motion pictures. After moving to the Hill, and becoming a freelance writer and editor, Dena was the driving force behind the successful 2005 campaign to save Daniel Webster Elementary School, which had been slated to be closed by the San Francisco Unified School District. As part of the effort she co-founded the Potrero Residents Education Fund (PREFund), a nonprofit that evolved to support public education and operate a bi-lingual preschool, on two sites, that serves more than 100 children, one-fifth of whom receive tuition assistance. As part of her PREFund work, Dena was instrumental in securing critical funding for three programs, Playworks, Reading Partners and Edgewood social ser vices, which
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Goat Hooves p.8
p.10
International Studies Academy p.16-17
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Sleeping Cutie p.25
Serving the Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Mission Bay and SOMA Neighborhoods Since 1970
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FREE
San Francisco Coalition Seeks to Underground Utilities BY KEITH BURBANK
At a late March meeting, the Potrero Boosters voted unanimously to endorse a new group organized to underground San Francisco’s utility wires, including power and telephone lines. About half of the City’s utility wires remain overhead, including some on the Hill. The organization, the San Francisco Coalition to Underground Utilities, is speaking at neighborhood association gatherings to raise support for its efforts. “We need Potrero Hill,” said Ann Brubaker, coalition chair. “We need your endorsement. We need your bodies to step up to the plate to do the work. We are coming hat in hand. Come with us.” The coalition hopes to marshal support for its efforts from the Board of Supervisors. “We want a program structured by them that will get the job done,” Brubaker said. “It will need to be administered by them. They will have to put an initiative on the ballot.” Already behind the coalition are the Castro/Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association, Coalition of San Francisco Neighborhoods, Cow Hollow Association, Diamond Heights Community Association, Miraloma Park Improvement Club and Russian Hill Neighbors. In 2008, Pacific Gas and Electric Company stopped burying existing utility wires. A non-representative City survey of 3,013 City residents implemented in 2006 found that 89
89 PERCENT OF HOMEOWNERS
The jumble of wires like those seen from any
A N D 6 6 P E R C E N T O F R E N T-
Potrero Hill residence. PHOTOGRAPH BY DON NOLTE
ERS WERE VERY INTERESTED IN THE CIT Y ’ S E FFORTS TO REMOVE UTILITY WIRES AND POLES. — A non-representative City survey of 3,013 City residents in 2006
percent of homeowners and 66 percent of renters were “very interested in the City’s efforts to remove utility wires and poles.” Eighty-eight percent of the respondents lived in areas with wires overhead. According to David Bancroft, a coalition member, under current plans it may take upwards of 30 years before undergrounding work begins again.
Suicide Study Findings Ignored by U.S. Military B Y D A V E M AT S U D A
It was early February 2010. My unit, I Corps, had been in Iraq for nearly a year, and was scheduled to rotate home. I walked out of my office on the second floor of the Aw Faw Palace — the United States Forces-Iraq (USF-I) headquarters — in a reflective mood. My title, cultural advisor, and my position reporting to USF-1’s commanding generals gave me access to the entire country. I’d been on mission in every province, establishing relationships with Iraqi tribal elders, military commanders and political leaders. And I’d studied the subtle corruption created by the military’s connection with elders and leaders, as well as the extent of Iranian influence in Iraq. I made my way along the palace’s
curved rotunda hallway, past windows through which the Iraqi sun pierced so intensely that I felt like an ant under the magnifying glass of a tormenting child. Brigadier General (BG) Peter Bayer stepped through the glare. “Doc, I have a mission for you. The most important work you’ll do in Iraq,” he said. I thought I’d already done my most important work in Iraq, but it’s not wise to question a general. “What are your orders?” I asked. “I want you to find out why so many of our soldiers are committing suicide. Don’t worry about having enough time, I reserved a seat for you on the last flight home.” I left to conduct the suicide study armed with two “champion letters.”
Boosters first vice president Dick Millet said he favors putting utilities underground because overhead wires are unsightly and hazardous. “All developers should be required to underground wires,” said Millet. Other Boosters echoed the idea during the meeting. “Help me find a funding source,” District 10 Supervisor Malia Cohen told Brubaker after the meeting. But Brubaker said she’s not asking the City for money. She’s looking for the superviUNDERGROUND page 19
The first, from BG Bayer, explained the importance of my mission and moved me to the front of the line in overcrowded transportation hubs. The second, from the chief surgeon, secured my access to rank and file soldiers. As a Chinook helicopter lifted off late-night to take me on my first study trip I thought about Charlie Waters, a retired senior officer and high-level consultant, who had committed suicide a month earlier. Waters, a middle-aged man, wasn’t typical of the military’s suicide victims, who tend to be young. His suicide made old-timers like me take a good look in the mirror. After securing another flight using one of my champion letters, I arrived at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Sanderson on my way to investigate recent suicides. A waiting convoy took me to Combat Outpost (COP) Arapaho, where I hopped on a resupply mission to Checkpoint Charlie. The checkpoint, SUICIDE page 4