You are entering a new term in the life of North Beach Neighbors with a new administration, mainly with a new president., with about the same board of directors. Whether one year or two one year term is appropriate  is proper is a topic that has its pros and cons and can debated at length. Those serving you was published in the Spring Newsletter and is repeated here:

President:  Susan McCollough

Vice President: Naran Leneve

Treasurer: Ella Mae Lew

Secretary: Dee Whalen

Board of Directors:

(One Year Term: 2010-2011)

Jim Lew

Slyvia Stevens

Inez Pinetti

Martin Kirkwood

(Two Year Term: 2010-2012)

Sal Busallachi

Michael Wykoff

Michael Sonn

Keith Wilson

This is an annual event and traditionally has been held at the Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center. We always try to get a speaker for this event-most of the time we succeed in securing one.

A Topic of Interest:

The 2010 Census:  It’s in your hands. What community-based and social service organizations need to know. In 2010, the U.S. census will define who we are as a nation. Taken every 10 years, the census affects political representation and directs the allocation of billions of dollars in government of funding. As a community-based or social service organizations, you have a unique and trusted connection to the people you serve. As a 2010 Census partner, you can help convey the importance of participation in this historic event and to ensure no one is left uncounted. Achieving a complete and accurate 2010 Census is in our hands.

The Census A Snapshot: The Constitution requires a national census once every 10 years;

The data collected from the Census will determine will how $434 billion in federal funds covering more than 170 different programs are distributed. It will also effect the distribution on funding within state and informs decisions on where to build roads, hospitals, schools, and workforce training centers.

In addition, the data from the Census will influence California representation on all levels of government—local, state, and federal. For the first time in its 160 year history, California could lose a congressional seat because we are projected to show a population decrease.

California has 10 of the top 50 hard-to-count populations in the nation. In 2000, the Census undercounted 525,000 people in California, costing the state $1.2 billion annually. If Californians don’t participate, California could lose about $3,000 for every Californian not counted. Given our current budget, this money California can’t afford to lose. So spread the word; be sure you and all of your friends and acquaintances are counted. The Census is nothing to be afraid of. For help in completing your 2010 Census Form, call toll-free 1-866-872-6868.

In late October 2009 the Parks and Recreation Department floated a proposal to develop soccer fields in the western part of Golden Gate Park into a sports complex with artificial turf, sports-field lighting , bleachers  and additional  parking. The proposal for this development has circulated since April 2009 among the soccer community, in the greater Bay Area and in San Francisco. However many San Franciscans do not know about the proposed project. Now we hear that major changes are proposed for the Golden Gate Park Beach Chalet Soccer Fields at Ocean Beach, adding artificial turf and intense 60 feet sports-field lighting

The Recreation and Park Department is planning to build a soccer complex at the western end of Golden Gate Park new Ocean Beach, replacing the current grassy  practice meadow with expanded artificial turf fields and intensive sports-field on 60-foot poles. The lights will be on from before sunset until 10:00 pm most nights all year. Paving will be increased. More lighting will be added at the parking and around the fields. Planning documents show the eventual addition of a fifth and sixth field. The project will change the western edge of Golden  Gate Park from a pastoral landscape  to an urbanized space extending over one-half the width of the park, an area larger than Candlestick Park.

As of this date no environmental impact report has been done for this project.  Yet potential impacts are a degraded wildlife habitat, loss of trees and natural grass lawn, in increase in Traffic in the Park and neighborhoods, decreased available parking at Ocean Beach for beach visitors, bright lights at Ocean Beach with decreased night sky darkness, and infringement on the wild nature of Ocean Beach and on the natural landscape of the western end of Golden Gate Park.

Outreach has been limited to a few meetings at the western edge of the Park. Most San Franciscans do not know anything about the project—with the exception of the soccer community, which has been gathering support last spring .  SF Ocean Edge is not against active recreation, but Golden Gate Park is everyone’s park. A change of this magnitude must have a full public review process as well as a full environmental review before it is approved. So please contact your representative and ask that approval for this project be put on hold for at least six months so that these issues can be investigated. San Franciscans need the opportunity to learn about this major change to Golden Gate Park and to express their concerns or support. For information, see the website: www.sfoceanedge.org .To  contact: sfoceanedge@earthlink.net.

It is back again:  Discretionary Review

The Planning Department’s Land Use & Economic Development Committee has continued this item to the call of the Chair. The proposed DR Reform could have taken away an individual’s right to appear before the Planning. The process was so complex and convoluted and only the experienced individual would have the knowledge to navigate the process. The major beneficiary would have been the development community i.e. developers, contractors, architects , and the Planning Department  itself to save staff time and some of the Planning Commissioners who don’t want to listen to the “neighborhood” DRs. The Planning Department’s insistence that DR must reach the level of “ exceptional and extraordinary” , Attorney Kathy Devincenzi has read the case law and the City Attorney Opinions concerning DR and has found that “exceptional extraordinary:” is not a requirement for DRs.

The introduction of neighborhood organization involvement into this process was bizarre. It penalized DR requestor who did know or have access to neighborhood organization. As well, no neighborhood group was aware that the neighborhood groups were selected to be pressed into service…and without any remuneration for their time in the matter. BOS Land Use Committee and Planning Department /Planning Commission failed to adhere to proper noticing procedure, and failed to recognize that there had been material and substantive changes to an amendment. Special thanks to Marilyn Amini for courageously standing up at both of the Board of  Supervisors Land Use Committee and at the Planning Commission calling out and correcting the Committee Chair’s motion and a commissioner’s motion to move amendments without proper notice. Coalition (CSFN) continues to oppose the delegation of Planning Commission powers of discretionary review to the Planning Department or Residential Design Team. The Planning Department must clearly demonstrate a case that there is a need for DR reform as is proposed. This is still a work in progress. It has been a long hard struggle by many neighborhood groups, lead by the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods, in its historic struggle to hold on the public’s right to present its view before the Planning Commission, and not a designated body within the Planning Department.

The latest word is that the Planning Department will not present it for discussion again for another six months.

The Pacific Heritage Museum @ 608 Commercial Street. If you are looking for a quiet, serene place to spend a half-hour or so, and want to look into the past, then you must visit this museum. If you are not careful, you walk right by it. It occupies three stories, on the ground floor, a level upstairs and one downstairs. It features mainly photographs of Macau, 1925-1941, taken by a Portuguese photographer.

Ticket Booths and Parking Fees in Golden Gate Park?
With the City facing a $480 Million shortfall in next year’s budget, Mayor Newsom has directed the Recreation and Parks Department of reduce their budget by one third or $11.8 million. The RPD is proposing to layoff  nine managers, 67 recreation directors, eight gardeners and park patrol, increase fees for permits, day camps, after school programs and are proposing parking meter in Golden Gate Park and charging in entrance fee at the Botanical Garden.

Golden Gate Park, like all major urban parks was once intended to create a common space where all of our citizens could gather as equals. The deYoung Museum and California Academy of Science were allowed to locate within the Park with the requirement that they be FREE to all. Those were the days. For a family of four to “see the sites” in the Park today, figure $135.00 plus for just admission fees.

Parking Fees in the Park?

Though parking meters were proposed in the past and rejected, parking fees in the Park are back for another round. With the completion of the Academy of Science and the deYoung Museum, hordes of autos descend on the park every day. Three and four hour restrictions have chased off many of the non-park users, but parking in the east end of Golden Gate Park is difficult weekdays and often impossible on weekends. The 800-space Concourse Garage usually fills before 11:00 am on weekends. The parking fee proposal adds multi-space, “smart” fee boxes in space of the time restrictions. These would take credit cards and actually test message the user’s cell phone as time ran out and allow more time to be added. Rec & Park estimate annual revenue from such meters at $500,000. When asked what installation would cost, RPD staff replied…Nothing, MTA will install and manage them.”

For many of us who love Golden Gate Park, the thought that city officials see it as more revenue source than a public retreat is abhorrent. We want a park where we can stroll without a cell phone , or even watch , sit on a bench and maybe strike up conservation with a complete stranger. It is very painful to watch our park turned into a “theme park” with fees and lines of disgruntled tourists at every turn. Paying for parking, however, May be the acceptable solution to the total lack of available spaces in the east end of the park.
Ticket Booths at the Arboretum?

At a public meeting, held 6 April at the County Fair Building, 250 residents showed up to express their displeasure with the plan to add ticket booths to the entrances of the Botanical Garden. Current Garden Director, Brent Dennis, pointed out that about $3.12 million was currently spent in the

Garden upgrade pathways and signage, but to be the “world class” arboretum he envisions they would need an additional infusion of funds. When last asked what effect entrance fees would have on attendance and what revenue was expected, Mr. Dennis had no answers. When last studied in 2004, annual visitors numbered about 415,000. His estimate of annual revenue from a gate fee, all of which would be spent in the Arboretum , varied from $100,000 in the first year to $1million in later years, but he had nothing to support these estimates. His main response was that other arboretums charge fees and therefore so should we.

Though he proposed an annual membership of $75 and staggered daily fee structure of $5 for SF residents and $7 for out-of-towners, the public wasn’t buying it. The overall feeling was that fees for public space were class warfare. In these times of massive under and un-employment, gate fees would present a direct barrier to those most in need of open space.

Seven  months ago, 49-year old Carl Hall was a heroin and crack addict with a penchant for shoplifting clothes and electronics. He had spent more than half of the previous two years in jail when he picked again for commercial burglary and violating his probation.

Alternative court marks anniversary

Hall has kicked his drug habit and the help of methadone, is interviewing for jobs and is engaged to be married in July. He attributed his turn-around to the Community Justice Center—the Tenderloin court to prosecute low-level crimes that celebrating its first anniversary—and Carl said he probably would be headed to San Quentin without it.

Hall was one of seven men handpicked to CJC staff to tell their success stories to Mayor Gavin Newsom who played Oprah  for an hour Tuesday morning. There was a lot of laughter, some tears and plenty of relief among politicians and court staff that the controversial court has worked when its very existences was initially in doubt. It has been a  year since the court opened on Polk Street, but three years since Newsom began pushing for it after touring Midtown Community Court in Manhattan which is credited with helping Times Square. Newsom spent an afternoon behind the bench with that court’s judge, watching as defendants were offered the chance to have their alleged crimes wiped from their records if they agreed to participate in social services to address their underlying problems and community service to pay back the neighborhood.

Ending the Cycle

Replicated in cities around the world, the New York court us designed to end the cycle of incarceration. At first, Newsom pitched the San Francisco court as solving quality-of-life crimes like public urination and sleeping sidewalks. That idea drew intense scorn from homeless advocates , some supervisors and the public defender who said it wouild criminalize people for being poor.

The Superior Court, which oversees the CJC changed the focus to misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies like drug dealing, shoplifting and car break-ins.  Still, Newsom battled with the Board of Supervisors to secure funding for the court, eventually getting the money to open it last year. Jennifer Friedenbach, director of the Coalition on Homelessness said she’s pleased the focus is on more serious crimes but objects to the fact that citations for sleeping and camping on sidewalks are still send to the court. Few of those show up and the cases are often dismissed. “Now he’s talking about pushing sit/lie,” Friedenbach said of Newsom’s legislation to ban sitting and lying down on sidewalks throughout the city. “He’s made it clear that all along, he’s been wanting to criminalize homeless people.

The CJC cost $1.4 million to create and $817,000 to operate in the current fiscal year. Newsom’s budget proposal for next, duein June, will include $897,000 for the court.

Success Stories

The mayor said the success stories shared by participants prove the court is working, despite naysayers’ objections.”I’m proud of the progress and I’m proud of the impact this has had. We’ve proved to our critics were sincere, said the mayor, who, despite fighting for the court for so long, still hadn’t visited it by late 2009. He said the Tuesday visit was his fourth.

Larry Hopkins, 44, welled up as he told Newsom his story. He was arrested four months ago selling cocaine and marijuana. He’d had 40 felony arrests in the past 20 years and three convictions and was told he could get out of jail if he agreed to get services at the CJC. He admitted he was skeptical. “I thought this place was full of s—.” he said. But he is now participating in support groups, studying to get his G.E.D. and plans to enroll in community college. He said he hasn’t touched drugs since that arrest four months ago. “I’m just tired of that life, the Tenderloin life, you know? “ he said. Asked to describe his life now, he said, “My life is better. It’s outstanding maybe.” NOTE: Original article by Heather Knight in the 31March 2010 of the SF Chronicle.

A few notes from recent Board meeting.  To bring all members up to date on what is happening at our recent Board meeting a few are presented below for interest.  From the May meeting, Vice President Naran Laneve conducted the meeting as Sue  McCollough was away on business.

Speakers for this meeting were Karen Mauney-Brodek , SF Park & Rec planner and Brian Bannon who oversees neighborhood libraries; he spoke about the branch libraries improvement program and especially city proposals for the North Beach branch.; it was noted during the discussion that NBN had opposed the demolition of the historic North Beach Library, opposed the building of new at 701 Lombard and closing Mason Street. A vote was taken on matter and it decided to withhold support of support of the plans presented evening, and to oppose putting the library on the Triangle and closing Mason Street.

NBN voted to support the Farmers Market , but opposed the closing of Mason Street for that event. For North Beach Festival , 19-20 June, Martin Kirkwood of NBN, who also heads the  N. B Chamber of Commerce, offered free space at fair, plus of some furniture. Michael  Wykoff managed the tables these two days, with assistance from other members.

June  Meeting :There were three speakers at the meeting. They were Nader Marvi of 473  Broadway who wanted support for his new lounge, Grant Chenier who spoke of a local on line net-work that unites North Merchants and with local news, chat, and special offers. Jeff Adachi, who about pension reform and the petition he supports for the  November ballot.  Ted Camesano reports the building on the corner of Faye Park will be rented by an art school and used for their use.  They will bring building to code at their cost.

July Meeting ; Some material related previous material covered such as the North Beach Festival and staffing,

They plan to have police captain for district, Capt. Anna   Brown, so that she update NBN on crime along Broadway Sue McCullough reported on the meeting she and other community leaders had with Supervisor David Chiu. One the topics covered was the Peter Pan show near the Embarcadero Center which was protested by Friends of Golden Gateway who wanted to limit the time to two weeks.

All of the meetings begin 6:30 pm and end 8:30pm.

Crime is reported up the District. We are plagued with burglaries, commercial and residential. The commercial burglaries are primarily in the downtown  area and entry is gained during night hours when businesses are closed. Residential burglaries are primarily apartment. In several cases windows were left open and it is believed entry was gained via the open windows. If you see that looks suspicious, please contact police dispatch immediately.  If something doesn’t right or feel right trust instincts and call.

Now that summer is fast approaching and vacations planned, here some things do: stop mail and newspaper deliveries; use light dimmers that can be set to go and off at specific times; install sensor lights outside; install a security alarm system; lock all windows doors;  make sure all windows doors lock properly; turn the volume on phones and answering machines down so they cannot be heard by others;  cut back bushes trees that serve as hiding places for burglars.

Exclusion  &  Cultural Incubator: Enclave and Safe Haven.

On may 6  1882, Congress passed the first Chinese Exclusion Act, renewed repeatedly  with ever larger majorities and extended indefinitely in  1904, prohibiting Chinese laborers from entering the country. For the first and only time in US history, legislation was enacted to exclude a specific nationality from immigration. From a peak of more than 125,000 Chinese in America, the number dwindled to 61,000 in 1920. From 1881 through 1900, the Chinese population of San Francisco dropped from 26,000 residents to merely 11,000.

Nevertheless, within a confined geographical area, Chinatown developed a confined  Chinese-American society , making the most of limited means–unique to its time place. In the 1885 San Francisco Municipal Reports’ Official Map of Chinatown, Chinese-owned businesses occupied the area bordered  by Broadway, Kearny, Sacramento, Stockton Streets. In 1889, Rudyard Kipling described Chinatown as “a ward of the city of Canton.” In the 1890s, photographer Arnold Genthe popularized his “Canton of the West” with black/white photographs of exotic adventurism, bustling streets and poetic beauty. San Francisco’s Chinatown became  the safe  haven.

While originally a refueling station for Chinese scattered throughout the region, Chinatown became increasingly a segregated enclave–where flourished a fertile societal, cultural, and economic incubator. In 1877,economic unrest led to sandlot rallies, cries of “The Chinese Must Go!” and mobs descending on Chinatown for mayhem and murder. With rising land values and the burgeoning financial district, Chinatown’s property  became highly coveted .Prior to 1906, plans were hatched to move Chinatown to a bayside exotic “village”. Local newspapers editorialized in favor of moving the Chinese.

Shaking Chinatown’s Foundation:  The 1906 Great Earthquake

At 5:13 am, Wednesday April 18, 1906, the Great Quake of 47 seconds razed Chinatown to rubble and smoldering ashes. Of the estimated 14,000 population in densely packed blocks, actual deaths are  unknown. After the fire, the city government established the Subcomittee on Relocation the Chinese. Chinatown’s real estate was increasingly lucrative for downtown commercial interests. On Sunday, April 22, remaining Chinatown residents were moved to a North Beach camp. The historical hostility toward Chinese before the quake intensified during the days following the quake.

Meanwhile, the city officials discussed where to relocate Chinatown, without consulting Chinese residents or merchants. First, it was decided that Hunter’s Point would be the new location–mud flats on the southern outskirts of the city. That plan was challenged because the city would lose substantial taxes, likely to adjacent municipalities,  which Chinese paid into city’s coffers. Presidio golf course –possibly a permanent Chinatown location. But Presidio residents protested and the few remaining Chinese refugees were moved to far reaches of the Presidio. Meanwhile, Chinatown was being looted with no police or military protection. The mistreatment of the San Francisco Chinese reached such unashamed magnitudes that Los Angeles’ city officials offered them a new home. But amidst all the controversy, the few Chinese-Chinatown landowners had already begun reconstruction.

Chinatown: Perseverance and Resiliency: The Rebuilding of a Community.

Stiff resistance from the Chinese Consulate, the fear of losing China trade/tax revenues and quick action on the part of leading Chinese merchants led to the rebuilding of Chinatown in its original location. American-born entrepreneur Look Tin Eli took the lead in creating the pseudo-Chinese façade that would become Chinatown’s distinctive landmark and defining imagery. At the northwest corner of Grant Avenue &  California Street, he hired Ross and Bungren, Architects and Engineers, to design the 1910 Sing Chong Bazaar instructing them to make it look “emphatically oriental”. They placed a majestic pagoda tower on top of  the four story building, decorating the exterior with Chinese colors and motifs. Merchant Tong Bong followed Tin Eli’ s lead and had Ross & Bungren design the 1915 Sing Fat Bazaar across the street , with a  pagoda tower and dragon trademarks.  At Grant Avenue’s south end, the two corner buildings served as gateways to the new Oriental City. An architectural palette was established: Stately Edwardian architecture decorated with Chinese symbolism, color, balconies and rooflines Chinese-America, and it was good for business too.

Chinatown Resurgence

Having destroyed all US Customs immigration records, the 1906 Earthquake and Fire led to some growth in Chinatown’s population. An intricate underground network of false papers was to grown out of the ashes. Making claims of  US citizenship, thousands of Chinese who were in the United States when the fire occurred ,would apply to bring their sons and/or families from China. Chinatown eventually became more family-oriented, as police and community intervention curbed opium smuggling, slave-girl traffic and gambling. Between 1921and 1926 alone, the population of Chinatown increased by 7,000. When the US declared war against Japan on December 8, 1941, China became a trusted ally. The Chinese were now portrayed as heroic people united with Americans, battling a common foe. In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation repealing the Exclusion Act, and more importantly, enabling Chinese

Eligibility for US citizenship. The exclusion Acts had effectively reduced the Chinese population. By 1940 they were only one half of one percent of California’s population–compared to 10% in 1880.

The 1946 War Brides Act permitted wives of Chinese-American men to enter the US as non-quota immigrants. Before the Act’s expiration at the end of 1949, eight thousand Chinese entered the United States. The 1960’s civil rights movement stimulated an equitable immigration policy in 1965, when Asian countries were given quotas comparable to that of European countries. During the 1960’s 30,000 Chinese entered through San Francisco. By 1970 there were over 40,000 people living in Chinatown’s 42 blocks, a density rate of 885/1 persons per acre–ten times the city average.

Final Memories

We need to form a long-range vision emphasizing sound principles of urban design and planning. When funding and opportunities are limited, design options need to be prioritized to maximize the best catalytic ripple effects on future neighborhood patterns.

San Francisco’s Chinatown, America’s first Chinatown encompassing the largest Chinese population outside of Asia, was founded by descendants from China’s Pearl River Delta. In 1848, at the start of the Gold Rush and the birth of the City of San Francisco, the first 780 Chinese immigrants began a journey that has continued to the present day. The spirit of cultural journey and interchange must be institutionalized in the architectural and urban design icons that we leave.

This is the last of three articles on San Francisco’s Chinatown. As stated at the beginning of the series, Howard Wong (AIA) was the main author. He is Co-chair of A Better Chinatown Tomorrow (ABCT) a community-based coalition dedicated to promoting the historical roots, architectural beauty, cultural vitality and economic vibrancy that expresses the unique character of Chinatown, San Francisco. Along with ABCT Founder and Co-Chair Wilma Pang, ABCT has sponsored dumpling festivals, zhongse-making events, Chinese New Years Celebrations, Chinese calligraphy, music, dragon boat parties, dragon parades, lion dancing on Chinatown’s streets and advocated streets for Chinatown’s economic interests.

2009 Xmas Dinner
As mentioned in the last Newsletter, the annual Xmas holiday was held at Pat’s Note on Meeting of 9 December at PAT’s Café on 9 December 2009. It was attended by some 26 persons. It was a  thoroughly enjoyable evening. Many members do not attend any of the meetings and hence do not meet any other members of NBN. If you happen to be one of those, you may want to attend an Xmas dinner affair. They are fun. It is always held in a North Beach restaurant, and most of the time within walking distance. We look forward to seeing you at the next event.

Note on meeting 11 January 2010: This meeting was concerned mainly with the tour bus industry  the North Beach area. It is a vital part of a very important industry in the city and that business is catering to the to  the tourist-the visitors who come to San Francisco to see San Francisco.

Neighborhoods and Districts in San Francisco.

We all live in certain districts in San Francisco and within those districts, particular neighborhoods. A few of the best known are: Russia Hill. San Francisco’s steepest street is located here. The block of Filbert Street between Leavenworth and Hyde (31.5 percent grade). Jack Kerouac  started three of his major works, including  “On the Road” at a cottage near Hyde & Union streets. By all accounts, San Francisco was not prepared for the discovery of gold in the Sierra foothills. Shortly after the discovery in 1848, the city grew virtually overnight. While fewer than 500 people lived here in 1847, just five years later the city had about 35,000 residents.

That phenomenal growth left little time for thoughtful city planning around the steep hills and newcomers plopped tents and houses wherever they could. Later, the invention of the cable car would make it more enjoyable to love atop San Francisco’s hills.

Chinatown: The neighborhood known for sellingT-shirts to tourists and lychees to locals was once the home of California’s first public school. Back then, Portsmouth Square  was the center of town long before Yerba Buena Cove was filled in and became what is now the Financial District.

Nob Hill: Many fascinating stories surround Nob Hill, which was once the home of each of the Big Four:  Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, and Mark Hopkins. The corner of California and Powell streets is the only place where the city’s cable car lines intersect, forcing operators to drop a cable and expertly pick it back up to avoid a collision.

North Beach: This area was once part of the infamous and seedy Barbary Coast, later a thriving neighborhood of Italians, and eventually a haunt of Beat poets. The North Face mountaineering outfitter started here with a small shop in 1966.

9 December 2009

No Host Bar:6::00PM, Dinner: 7:00 PM, Appetizer, Salad; Entree Choices:

1. Hanger Steak;
2. Roasted Pork Tenderloin;
3. Beef Bourgignon;
4. Sauteed Salmon;
5. Risotto w/fresh vegetables;
6. linguine.

Bring a gift for the fund raising raffle, Price: $43.00 and $48 if you pay at the door. send check with choice of entree by number. send to NBN PO. box 330115, SF, CA 94133

AGENDASEPT.09

Board meetings are open to all members, and held at Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center on the second Monday of each month at 7pm.

Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center,
660 Lombard Street
Members are welcome to attend.