Author: Todd_Lappin

Shoplifters, Scammers, and Other Challenges of Being a Cortland Merchant

/ Todd_Lappin / 14 Comments

Shoplifter.heartfelt

It’s not easy being a merchant on Cortland Avenue.

Obviously, providing products, attracting customers, paying commercial rent, and managing the books are challenging tasks unto themselves. Yet over the last few years, as your Bernalwood editor has gotten to know many of the merchants who serve our community, I’ve also been impressed by how exasperating it can be when earning a livelihood means keeping your front door open to any random person who feels like walking in.

Neighbor Darcy from Heartfelt on Cortland shared this story — and a surveillance camera video — of a shoplifter who recently swiped some of her merchandise:

In the video, you can clearly see the young woman who shoplifts. The young lady with the tan cardigan, red scarf, and green purse looks around the room and pick up two Corkcicle-brand thermoses. At 02:09 she puts one in her purse, and at 02:52 she adds the second one to her purse, after which she quickly exit the store with a companion. We think the video speaks for itself.

Needless to say, if you recognize the perp, please stop by Heartfelt to let them know.

Meanwhile, a few blocks up the street, Neighbor JoEllen from Pinhole Coffee had her time wasted by this two-bit scammer who tried to pull the old “but wait, I gave you a $20 bill” trick:

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JoEllen says:

The gentleman shown here has been trying to trick cashiers into giving him more change back. During the transaction he tried to distract me by being charming, pointing to certain areas of the room and commenting on the design…blah blah blah. He then told me he gave me a $20, when clearly he gave me a $5, and asked for more change. I said “nope.”

Norman of Elsie St. came in soon after and told us he heard he’s been doing that up and down the street that day.

Ask yourself: Have you hugged a Bernal merchant today?

Saturday: “Viva la Noche” Fundraiser Gala for Flynn Elementary School

/ Todd_Lappin

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Neighbor Daniella invites you to participate in a glamorous evening of food, wine, music, and treasure happening on Saturday night, to benefit the Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School on Precita Park:

Saturday night, March 19th, the Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School PTA will be hosting its 5th annual “Viva la Noche” fundraiser with music, hors d’oeuvres, wine, and a fantastic silent auction.

Bid on all sorts of Bernal local favorites including gift certificates to over 100 local businesses like Hillside Supper Club and Little Bee Bakery, vacations, wine, massages, and more! Fun new items this year include a weekend at Costanoa, a week in an AirStream RV, and a GoCar tour of SF.

Saturday, March 19, 2015
7:00pm until 11:00pm
@ Mission Rock Resort
817 Terry A Francois Boulevard, SF, CA 94107

Tickets are $30 at the door.

About the PTA and the School:
Flynn is the elementary school that borders on Precita Park. We serve close to 500 students from K to 5th grade in both Spanish immersion and English language programs.

The mission of our school is to promote excellence in education and create a nurturing learning environment for our students. Over 65% of our students come from low-income families who qualify for free or reduced cost breakfast and lunch.

Donations to the PTA fund the programs that the district is not able to provide — things that many of us would consider essentials for a decent education for our kids:

  • Physical Education – a program that promotes physical health and social development
  •  Sciences – programs in partnership with Mission High School, plus gardening, and water conservation
  • Arts Enrichment – Visual arts, dance and music education

Your donation is fully tax-deductible. Leonard R. Flynn PTA is a non-profit tax-exempt organization as defined by IRS code section 501 (c)(3) and our non-profit tax I.D # is 56-2587473.

**We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the local businesses that so generously donate to this event. We absolutely could not do it without you, and we are truly grateful for your support.**

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Time Machine: A Survey Tour of Bernal Heights In 1984

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

BernalJournal1984.coverJuly-August

Last night your Bernalwood editor spent some time perusing an archive of old back-issues of the Bernal Journal, the Bernal Heights newspaper from the days when news still came on paper.

This isn’t the first time that I have fallen into this archival rabbit-hole, but per usual, my exploration yielded a trove of history, context, and memory. One article in particular  caught my attention: An overview of the social and economic conditions in Bernal Heights as things stood in July of 1984.

Here’s how the article looked. (Don’t worry about trying to read the layout here, because the full text of the article is provided below, for your reading enjoyment.)

bernaljournaljuly1985insidespread

A few obvious and fabulous visual details:

  • That hand-drawn Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center ad! Wow.
  • That El Rio ad! With the same logo and “Your dive!” slogan they’re still using today! Hooray!

In the article itself, here are some highlights:

  • Demographically, the article describes Bernal as “predominantly white. Latin Americans, mainly from Mexico, form the second largest group, followed by Asians, particularly Filipinos, and Blacks. In 1979 there were also 59 Samoans, 42 Vietnamese, 27 American Indians, 2 Guanamanians and 2 Aleut Eskimos.”
  • In 1979 Bernal residents earned a median income of $22,300, as compared to $25,672 for San Francisco as a whole. Bernal Heights residents were, on average, four years younger than the rest of the city’s residents.
  • In 1984, a wave of Laotians were moving to the Bernal, along with “the so-
    called ‘new breed of ‘young urban professionals,’ most of whom are white.”
  • Cortland Avenue was struggling at the time, as “the neighborhood’s reputation as a high crime, poorly frequented area [was] very damaging for new businesses.”
  • Speaking of crime, “in 1983 the western slope of the hill, in the area where Cortland Avenue and Mission Street meet, had the highest crime rate in the Ingleside district, while crime figures on the eastern slope of Bernal Heights were some of the lowest in the city.”
  • “The average price of a house in 1979 was $84,300. According to Abbe Stevenson, a Cortland Avenue real estate agent, homes rarely sell for below $100,000, and there is a big discrepancy between the cost of houses at the very top of the hill, many of which are now in the $180,000 range.”
  • There was still room to build new homes in Bernal, which contained “one quarter of San Francisco’s available building lots, with land values
    averaging $20,000.” Building permits, increased 74 percent in San
    Francisco during 1983, and housing starts rose 11.2 percent in February, 1984 to their highest level since 1978.
  • However, Bernalese didn’t much care for new home construction back then either.  The article says, “Keeping speculators away from the hill is an issue that residents here have always rallied around, earning for themselves a reputation for hard-headedness at City Hall.”
  • Ultimately, the article concludes “All city neighborhoods change, as the City’s inhabitants migrate through them. Bernal Heights just seems to have done so a little slower than the rest. For that, most of its residents are grateful.”

Here’s the full text of the article, straight from 1984 to you:

BERNAL HEIGHTS REVISITED . . .
By Abigail Stexling-Vasquez

“Bernal Heights isn’t exactly the go-go market of
real estate,” says Supervisor Bill Maher, who has lived
here for the past eight years. Yet on this San Francisco
hill, where some of the wealthiest residents still live
off of dirt roads, the way things are is just the way
people want them to stay.
Continue reading →

D9 Supervisor Candidates Square Off in Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin / 19 Comments

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The political hopefuls competing to become the next District 9 Supervisor convened last Thursday night, as the Bernal Heights Democratic Club (BHDC)  held a candidate endorsement forum at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center.

Our current D9 representative, Supervisor David Campos, is termed-out this year, and five candidates seek to replace him. They are:

  • Joshua Arce: 40, a pragmatic progressive with close ties to the labor, nonprofit housing, and environmental movements.
  • Iswari España: 42, a training officer with the San Francisco Human Services Agency.
  • Edwin Lindo: 29, A Bernal resident and Bernal Height Neighborhood Center board member who is also active with the San Francisco Latino Democratic Club.
  • Hillary Ronen: 40, A legislative aide to David Campos and his chosen successor, backed by the progressive establishment.
  • Melissa San Miguel 29, a former policy manager with the National Center for Youth Law and former MissionLocal reporter

Reporter Joshua Sabatini from the San Francisco Examiner attended the BHDC endorsement forum, and he proclaimed Ronen and Arce to be the front-runners. Here’s how he described Ronen’s pitch:

Ronen says she is part of a larger movement to preserve the progressive majority bloc on the Board of Supervisors, running for one of the three open seats this November with termed out progressive supervisors.

She has secured the sole endorsements of the traditional progressive candidate backers like Service Employees International Union 1021 — the government employee’s largest labor union — and the California Nurses Associations, Unite Here Local 2 and former Assemblymember Tom Ammiano.

Ronen blames the Mission’s crisis on Mayor Ed Lee and his allies for “short-sighted thinking and shutting out community voices and only listening to corporate voices — and their horrible negotiations.”

For the past six years, Ronen has served as an aide to Campos. Before that she was an attorney with La Raza Centro Legal, a group which advocates for low-wage and immigrant workers.

Arce, for his part, presented himself as a coalition-builder:

[Arce] said he voted for a measure last November that would have imposed a moratorium on market-rate development in the Mission. The measure, Proposition I, was opposed by real estate interests and developers, and lost at the ballot.

Arce condemned Ronen as part of a failed status quo unresponsive to district needs. “It’s not progressive to talk about meeting the needs of our community, but not returning phone calls or emails,” he said.

“People look at the Mission as being at a crossroads,” Arce said. The path forward, he added, is “working with communities and not only that but bringing people together.”

Arce frequently used the pronoun “we” during the interview. He prides himself on a political style he describes as forging unconventional coalitions to achieve policy wins.

Assembly member David Chiu, Supervisor Scott Wiener and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom are among those endorsing Arce.

By the end of the night on Thursday, the Bernal Heights Democratic Club overwhelmingly endorsed Hilary Ronen — an outcome that basically pre-ordained, given the close ties that exist between Supervisor Campos’s office and the BHDC.

The general election for the D9 Supervisor’s race will take place on Nov. 8, 2016

PHOTO: D9 Supervisor candidates at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, March 10, 2016. From left to right, Melissa San Miguel, Hillary Ronen, Edwin Lindo, Josh Arce, and Iswari España. Photo by Emma Chiang for the San Francisco Examiner

Summary Notes from the Feb. 25 Community Safety Meeting at BHNC

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

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There was a community safety meeting at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center late last month, and Neighbor Edie took some rather thorough notes which we’re sharing here. Read on for encouraging updates on some recent high-profile crimes and disappointing news from the DA’s office about auto break-in arrests:

Bernal Heights Community Convening Meeting Notes
Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center
Thursday, February 25, 2016, 6:00 pm

Welcome/Meeting Purpose
Ailed Paningbatan-Swan, BHNC

Important to have regular meetings so we can work together stay on top of issues…The Neighborhood Center will be hosting these meetings the 4th Thursday of every month.

Police Update by Captain Joseph McFadden

Esmeralda Stairs assault Update: people put in custody with the work of Bernal neighbors who looked for videos and witnesses. Booked not just the original person who assaulted, but his girlfriend who was also involved too.

Auto break-ins—Good Life and Other two arrests directly after the previous meeting, both felonies, reduced to misdemeanors and now back on the street. This is a problem that has happened with the past 4 people they’ve caught. These are primarily recidivists. Community pressure will help getting this situation turned around. Public needs to talk to DA, judges to make the point that letting them go doesn’t do any good. Send video, witnesses must agree to testify.

Questions and Answers
Q: Let’s keep a list of felons who are let loose immediately, track their cases, and go to the presiding judge and ask why they’re reducing sentences. (The Captain agreed to give us the police reports after some editing).

Q: Do you have a recommendation of video systems?
No – police can’t recommend, but SF SAFE has info.

Q: Why can’t you put bait in a car and arrest them?
Murphy’s law – when we set up, they sometimes don’t bite. Q: What happened to the video I gave the police a few weeks ago? Captain will check.

Archie Wong, Assistant District Attorney
The DA’s office has placed Assistant DAs with all the police stations to get to know the police and the area better. Archie Wong works with McFadden and Ewing in the Tenderloin. The Tenderloin CPD is planning to roll out cameras, and recommend getting the best quality you can, high mega- pixels and mega zoom, and night view. If you don’t get good images, they don’t help the police at all. On the Esmeralda Stairs assault, next court date is end of March, Judge Crompton.

Q: About the Good Life auto break-ins:
Sgt. Alvarez is tracking down white car involved, and she’s very persistent.

Q: Why do cases get reduced, people let out?
Depends on their past criminal history, what was stolen, the attorneys, the jury, the wording of the law.

Q: If someone’s on probation, can we ask the probation dept to send them back if they commit a crime?
Felonies are on supervised probation – standards are lower for sending them back to jail.

Q: Wouldn’t it be better to have health care, jobs, and education for people who criminals who come out and don’t have any other means of earning money?
There are a lot more programs in SF to help people, but there’s a lot more crime here. There are criminal gangs and families here, looking for Louis Vuitton and laptops. At some point, something has to click for people to want to get help.

Follow-up on previous meeting issues:

1. Holladay Avenue Caltrans property
Shane O’Connor, neighbor Live on Holliday, parallel to and right above 101 – close proximity to all Bayshore 101 activity, a magnet for illegal activity: lots of cars dumped, garbage dumped, homeless, people come to park in dark areas up to no good. Set up meeting with Campos HR, neighbors did a walk in the fence area belonging to CalTrans. Meeting with DPW, city agencies to see if there’s city interest in doing something productive with the abandoned area. Instead of being a magnet for garbage, mess, and crime, it could be a magnet for community participation and planning of a beautiful area that benefits the whole city.

2. Hot Spot walks : Tentative Dates
These consist of neighbors and representatives from city agencies checking areas that need attention cleanup or repairs to prevent crime and/or preserve public safety. Scheduled walks are: Region 1: Mon 03/14, Region 2: Thu 03/31, Region 3: Thu 04/14, Region 4: Wed 04/27

Supervisor Campos’ office—Hillary Ronen

1. Car Break-ins: after last meeting, learned Weiner and Yee had already had a city-wide meeting on the topic, so Campos called a follow-up. Mayor said there’s increase in break-ins all over the city, but most in District 6. City has focused their efforts using new crime-stopping techniques on the touristy areas. Campos asked for help for all city residents, since many have been broken in to several times.

2. Homeless Encampment at Cesar Chavez : it’s important for people to have a place to go so—otherwise they just move into the nearby neighborhood. It doesn’t work to throw away people’s belongings, and it’s inhumane.. This is a health, human rights, quality of life city wide-crisis. There was a meeting today to align all city departments to streamline resources and work together, but few new ideas or solutions—expanding Pier 80 is a short-term goal.

3. March 2 public hearing on Navigation Center, a full-service for homeless people who typically don’t want to use current shelters —this allows families/opposite sex partners, belongings, and pets, which are not allowed in current shelters (except for Pier 80). Here they get counseling, connecting people with social services and long-term housing, working to create stability in their lives. The first Nav Center has been open for a year in the Mission & has 75 beds, Mayor has praised it, but no new Navigation Centers are in the works. Campos putting pressure on Mayor to do more, smarter, faster.

4. Cesar Chavez and Potrero to meet DPW, homeless outreach team; will discuss how they can block off the space after the homeless are moved to shelters so they can improve the site; neighbors are welcome to attend.

Questions and Answers
Q: Have you worked with bicycle coalition?
t’s gotten challenging to use the bike path. Not yet.

Q: What about Pier 80?
It’s at capacity, all the time. You can have opposite sex partners, belongings, and pets, but there are no social workers.

Q: Are Nav Centers offering mental health, other social services?
Yes. It’s very hard for homeless to get services, but it’s very successful in the Nav Center, and there is a lot of demand. Great idea, and trying to get it implemented, but it’s very hard to make it all happen, especially with homeless persons’ lack of documentation. We also need a safe injection center and a wet house for people who haven’t stopped drugs and drinking yet. We’re having a problem with needles on the street.

Spotlight: DPW and PUC Charles Sheehan, Communications Manager, SFPUC SFWater.org

1. City converting over 18,000 lights to LEDs over next 5 years. City owns 60%, PGE owns 40%. However, it’s not always easy to put in new lights because not every neighbor wants them (shines in at night )

2. Holliday Ave. lights: PGE is responsible. 4 poles. Pretty bright already, but could ask for an increase to 150 watt bulbs

3. Cortland underneath highway. Some lights out, should have been repaired by now. Also two MUNI poles near residences, so they could support lights.

4. Pathway up from Andover to Bernal Heights Boulevard, possible to increase lights.

Questions and Answers
Q: What’s the best way to get a light in or increased?
Call 311 and put a request for lighting assessment, that puts it into the SFPUC queue to review and have lights added.

Q: Bennington and Cortland is a super dark area.

Neighborhood Projects—Working Together Edie Williams & Bobbie Cochran, neighbors

As a community we’re stronger if we get to know folks from all over the area, discuss our goals and concerns for Bernal, and then work together to get things done. We should work from a position of knowledge and action, rather than reacting fearfully and being victimized by unexpected crime or unsolved problems.

In the past, we’ve done hot-spot walks; the Bernal GO Team and the BHNC passed out flyers to let neighbors know how to protect themselves from theft; individuals and groups have worked with Rec and Parks to clean up the gardens and one neighbor even developed the garden walks to inform about native plants.

From January meeting survey:

What I like about Bernal:

  • Diversity
  • Nice Neighbors, great community
  • Bernal Hill, parks, weather, view, walkability
  • Shops & Services, Restaurants, Parks, & Library Parking

What I don’t like about Bernal:

  • Crime, violence, car break-ins
  • Gentrification, neighbors quarrelling
  • Not feeling safe walking
  • Trash, graffiti, dump sites
  • Parking

What else needs doing? Brainstorming Session Ideas from community

1. Get and share info on best cameras to use

2. Traffic calming in areas with the most speeding: Cortland toward Bayshore, Alemany

3. Mission between Appleton / Highland – not enough lights to see pedestrian stripes in the road or the pedestrians themselves.

4. Pedestrian safety working group? Tom Folks, DPT traffic engineer, is the best contact.

5. We can pay attention to problems and get them fixed if we all know how to use the system. The city works on data. Contact 311, explain the problem, get a CAD number, tell your friends to call too. There’s also a
new Blue 311 app you can use.

6. At Cortland and Coleridge there’s been ongoing robbery and destruction of plants, even those in pots too big for one person to take. Need to install motion detector lights on the house.

7. Clean up Cortland on both ends.

8. Use Next Door to post safety information.

9. Someone stole a bike from the bike shop on Cortland. It appears from the video to have been a crime of opportunity, and the woman doesn’t seem the type to ride this bike. Store owners would like the bike back, no questions asked. Will put up signs, see if anyone knows the woman who took it.

PHOTO: Capt. Joseph McFadden at BHNC, Oct. 20, 2015 by Telstar Logistics

Jury Decides Excessive Force Not Used Against Alex Nieto on Bernal Hill

/ Todd_Lappin / 10 Comments

nietobernalhill

After eight hours of deliberation, the jury in the  wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Bernal neighbor Alex Nieto decided yesterday that the San Francisco Police officers involved in the March 2014 incident were justified when they shot Nieto on Bernal Hill.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Four San Francisco police officers did not use excessive force in 2014 when they shot and killed a man who allegedly pointed a stun gun at them that they mistook for a pistol, a federal jury found Thursday in a lawsuit filed by the man’s family.

The eight-member jury decided that the officers had not violated the constitutional rights of Alejandro “Alex” Nieto, a 27-year-old City College of San Francisco student and security guard, when they fired multiple shots at him in Bernal Heights Park.

Officers Richard Schiff, Nathan Chew and Roger Morse and Lt. Jason Sawyer fired at least 48 shots after they said Nieto pointed what they believed was a handgun at them, but which later turned out to be a Taser stun gun.

The legal team representing the Nieto family relied heavily upon testimony from their star witness, Antonio Theodore, to undermine the narrative provided by the officers involved in the incident. But in the end, Theodore’s testimony was itself undermined by inconsistencies and concerns about his reliability, as MissionLocal explained:

Much of the plaintiff’s case rested on the testimony of one man, Antonio Theodore, who said he saw Nieto with his hands in his pockets during the shooting. He was the only known non-police eyewitness to the shooting, and also testified that the shooting occurred dozens of yards from where police testimony — and physical evidence — indicates it did.

Theodore’s testimony was corroborated by the physical evidence, Pointer said. The safety on Nieto’s taser was on in photographs after the shooting — which would have prevented it from firing — and a bone fragment was found in Nieto’s jacket pocket.

All of that, [paintiff’s attorney Adante] Pointer argued, backed up Theodore’s claim that officers fired on a man with his hands in his pockets and never drew his taser.

“Alex Nieto was just another notch on the SFPD’s belt,” Pointer said on Thursday.

But under cross-examination from the defense, Theodore admitted that he is an alcoholic with trouble recalling specific details and that he has a mild astigmatism.

Still, even if the trial had the ultimate effect of reinforcing the official narrative of what happened on Bernal Hill during the evening of March 21, 2014, it also highlighted the magnitude of the Nieto family’s loss. Examiner reporter Jonah Owen Lamb described some of that :

Friends of Nieto as well as his family lawyers called the verdict one more example of the impunity police have when they use violence against people of color.

“SFPD can shoot 59 bullets and get away with it,” said Oscar Salinas, one of a handful of angry Nieto supporters outside the courthouse Thursday.

Adante Pointer, who led the team of lawyers for the Nieto family, said in a comment to the San Francisco Examiner that this is a “sad day for the Nietos, [and a] worse day for San Francisco.”

After the verdict he said that this is just one of several cases in which the San Francisco police have allegedly used excessive force.

“This is not the only case I think they have killed someone unlawfully,” he said. “SFPD is on the map.”

Ely Flores, a friend of Nieto, said he was angry, nervous and sad when he heard the verdict. But he said the trial was also a kind of vindication. Telling his late friend’s story in court was a victory in itself. Now, he said, it’s up to the public to decide on whether it was right or not.

In a blog post called “A Letter to Privileged People” published in the early hours of this morning, activist Ben Bac Sierra captured the sentiment of Nieto’s surviving family and friends:

The jury decided against Alex Nieto and for the San Francisco Police Officers.

We, the people, did not lose.

Education lost: your fairy tale books about the way intelligence works were proven to be a farce. We argued better than you, with stronger evidence and more compelling logic. Does the stupidity of the verdict answer to you why we refuse to value your schools and teachers and puppet administrators?

We, the people, did not lose.

Your justice system lost: your sham is simply a tool to make-believe everything is fair and just and that we should accept your verdict like good players in a fixed game, where the odds are totally stacked against us.

We, the people, did not lose.

Your morality lost: you, with your white smile and perfect teeth, you were proven to be cowards who could not stand up for the right principle, for a real human being who was unlawfully killed. You feared going back to your villas in Clayton and Danville and telling your friends and family that you voted for a brown person and not the white, clean-cut poster officers.

We, the people, did not lose.

Your United States of America Constitution lost. It lost. You lost. Your lie of equality and freedom lost.

And it is only your naked conscience now that remains, your own personal empty humanity, stripped of predilections, fantasies, and superior justifications. Now, standing there exposed in your own soul, how will you respond?

If you are offended, it is not my fault. You made up the rules.

If you are challenged, it is your chance to do right and spread the news. Fight your father, your uncle, your sister, your privileged community.

We, the people, did not lose, for we continue with the truth, la pura neta: not forward, but upward, we march, we fly.

 

Aggressive Coyote on Bernal Hill Charges Neighbor Walking Dog

/ Todd_Lappin / 28 Comments

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Bernalwood has received several reports of coyote sightings in northeast Bernal Heights during the last few days, and most of them have been charming. But today, Neighbor Jeff writes about a more aggressive encounter along Bernal Heights Boulevard that took place early this morning:

Wanted to report that the coyote living on Bernal Hill attempted an attack this morning at 5:30.

I was walking my dog along Bernal Heights Boulevard when I spotted the coyote standing on the hilltop watching us. As we continued toward Folsom St., the coyote followed us along the ridge, then sprinted down the hill and charged us.

I stopped and turned to face it as it held its ground about 15 feet away.

I then started to yell at it very loudly to try and scare it off. My third yell had some success as it scampered across the road and jumped the road barrier. But then it jumped over the barrier and charged us again. This time coming up about 10 feet away from us and getting ready to pounce.

At that point, a car came down the road and conveniently scared it away.

We were very lucky.

My dog is a 130 lb Mastiff, so this would not have been easy pickings for the coyote. It was incredibly bold and aggressive.

IMAGE: Coyote on grassy slope on Alabama just below Bernal Heights Boulevard, March 8, 2016. Photo by Judy Ko.

Tonight: Community Meeting to Discuss More Improvements to Esmeralda Slide Park

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

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The SF Department of Public Works has organized a community meeting tonight at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center to discuss the next wave of improvements planned for the now-restored Esmeralda Slide Park. Neighbor Joan, the award-winning superhero who helped lead the charge to improve the slides, says:

Lots has been happening behind the scenes for Esmeralda Slide Park. We’re going to be getting irrigation throughout the Park from the City. Even more is on our horizon.

Come to a Community Meeting Wed. March 9 put on by the Department of Public Works from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM at Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, 515 Cortland Street in the Conference Room.

This presentation will be put on by DPW; however, we have been involved from Day 1 to represent our community. The City has welcomed our input and welcomes yours….

PHOTO: Neighbor Joan

Summary of the Testimony Thus Far in Neighbor Alex Nieto’s Wrongful Death Trial

/ Todd_Lappin

nietobernalhill

Last week, the civil trial pursued by the family of Bernal neighbor Alex Nieto against the San Francisco Police Department got underway to determine if police wrongfully killed Alex Nieto during a March 21, 2014 officers-involved shooting on  the north side of Bernal Hill.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Kale Williams described the key elements of Wednesday’s testimony when SFPD officer Richard Schiff was on the stand:

Upon pulling within 25 to 35 yards of Nieto, Schiff testified, he got out of his car and immediately demanded to see Nieto’s hands, at which point Nieto began walking “purposefully” toward the officers and responded, “No, you show me your hands.”

“As we got out of car, he took what we call a boxing stance,” Schiff said, getting up to show the jury how Nieto allegedly raised his arms to his chest. Schiff said he saw the pointed weapon and the red laser beam before he began shooting, and stopped when [SFPD training sergeant Jason] Sawyer instructed him to cease fire.

Schiff said he continued to fire even after Nieto went down because Nieto ended up in a “prone position,” still facing the officers and appearing to point the Taser.

On Thursday, lawyers for the Nieto Family presented their new witness, Antionio Theodore, who described seeing something very different that night. Joe Rivano Barros from MissionLocal summarized Theodore’s testimony:

Theodore — a Trinidadian singer with the group Afrolicious — said that Nieto had his hands in his pockets the entire time and did not make any movements towards his waist. He also said the only command he heard from officers was one “Stop,” before they started firing and said he heard nothing from Nieto, a contradiction of police testimony offered on Wednesday.

“[One officer] fired a first shot at the man in the red jacket,” testified Theodore, who was the last witness called to the stand and was examined by the plaintiffs until the trial ended for the day. “He then fired another shot, fired a third shot, the person then fell on their knees, [and] within a second he got a fourth shot and he fell on his face.”

Theodore then testified that a 45-second pause followed the fourth shot, when Nieto had already fallen to the ground. At that time, another officer in a parking lot down the hill “was loading up a semiautomatic rifle and he got on the scene [of the shooting] right after the fourth shot, and they all started firing up on the man while he was on the ground.”

Theodore returned to the stand on Friday, as Deputy City Attorney Margaret Baumgartner, representing the defense, questioned his recollection of events.  Kale Williams from the Chronicle described what happened next:

Baumgartner repeatedly questioned Theodore about a deposition she took from him in May 2015, in which some of his answers were purportedly different than the ones he gave in court.

Theodore had not gone to police to give a statement in the immediate aftermath of the killing — he said he was scared of them and didn’t trust them — and city lawyers have suggested he is biased against law enforcement.

Asked Friday whether he had ever spoken with an investigator from the offices of the Nieto family’s attorney, Theodore replied, “No.” But Baumgartner read a transcript from the deposition in which Theodore recounted speaking with the investigator on three occasions, once in person and twice on the phone.

Baumgartner also indicated that, in the deposition, Theodore had recalled telling the crowd at a music venue that he had witnessed the shooting and thought it was unjustified. But Friday, Theodore said he had not made such a public statement.

At one point, Theodore attributed his difficulty recalling specific dates and times — and recalling his deposition answers — to heavy drinking.

“You have a different memory now from the one in the deposition?” Baumgartner asked.

“Slightly,” Theodore responded. “I drink a lot and that kind of helps sometimes, but I do not remember.”

The Nieto trial resumes this week, with testimony expected to continue at least through Friday.

(Review all Bernalwood coverage of Alex Nieto)

Hail to the Chief! Meet the New President of Mission-Bernal Merchants Association

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

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It’s presidential campaign season, but (hooray!) here’s one story that doesn’t involve Donald Trump.

Neighbor Eden Stein from Secession Art & Design is now the president of the Mission-Bernal Merchants Association, the merchant group organized along the Bernal/La Lengua’s Mission Street corridor.

Neighbor Eden now presides over the proud territories that once belonged to the “South of Army-Mission Merchants Association” in days of yore, but she brings a thoroughly contemporary approach to the office. President Eden writes:

Wearing my heart on my sleeve and being locally-minded are part of my approach to life. I live and work passionately everyday being the owner and curator of Secession Art & Design. I often get asked “what is your art?” Secession is my art, and the 60+ independent makers are my muses. Outside my doors is my community.

I am honored to announce that I am now President of the Mission Bernal Merchant Association. This leadership role is a way for me to help our neighborhood have a strong voice that will benefit merchants and residents. I look forward to collaborating with local business and government to help unite and transform our neighborhood into a destination that supports our local community.

See you in the neighborhood soon!
XO Eden

See Bernal History Celebrities This Weekend at the San Francisco History Days Festival

/ Todd_Lappin

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It will be an exciting weekend for San Francisco history geeks aficionados! San Francisco History Days is an event that brings together history geeks aficionados from all across town, and it’s happening this weekend at the Old Mint.

Former Bernal neighbor (and Bernalwood correspondent emeritus) David Gallagher  shares some of the highlights:

San Francisco History Days is coming up this weekend (Saturday 11-5, Sunday 11-4) at the Old Mint, 5th and Mission.

Vicky Walker from the Bernal Heights History Project and I have been working hard on the host committee to make this the best year ever.

It’s going to be larger than ever before with more presentations, exhibits, and more of the Mint open to the public than ever before.

Vicky and John Blackburn of Bernal History Project are doing “How to Research your San Francisco House—For Free!” on Saturday at 2pm.

The Western Neighborhoods Project (Woody LaBounty, Nicole Meldahl, and I) are doing a presentation on our new OpenSFHistory site on Saturday at 3 pm.

UPDATE: Neighbor Vicky tells us about more Bernal celebrities who will be attending:

Bernal neighbors Emperor Norton and Countess Lola Montez will be there too, aka Park Street neighbors Joseph and Gav.

Bernal History Project will be displaying ephemera, posters, maps, and Terry Milne’s collections of historical Bernal photo books on display, as well as postcards to give away, and a running slide show of neighborhood photos. We’ve got ads for long-gone Bernal businesses, and photos of people who may have lived in your house.

In addition, John Blackburn of BHP has constructed a 10-by-14-foot “ghost” earthquake shack from PVC pipe. You can take a “shack selfie” and read more about how many earthquake refugee cottages survive to this day in San Francisco — with dozens of them in Bernal Heights. (And can anyone loan us a potbellied stove?!)

IMAGE: Top, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev drives past Bernal Hill in 1959, on his way into San Francisco. via OpenSFHistory’s Bernal Heights collection.
History Days poster

New Murals Take Shape Inside Sutrito Tower Complex

/ Todd_Lappin / 9 Comments

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In case you hadn’t already noticed, the muralization of the the Sutrito Tower utility building is well underway on Bernal Hill. Omar Masry from the SF Planning Department says:

Precita Eyes Muralists has begun work (see attached photos) on the mural on the walls of the main equipment building (nothing is being added to the fence or tower). Weather permitting, the mural should be completed in a few weeks.

The building permit to remedy prior site deficiencies has been completed, with landscaping (non-invasive type) and a water tank (will generally utilized recycled water) for landscaping. We are also working with American Tower (the site operator) on making sure lighting is not on all night.

If you see anything suspicious or attempts to trespass please contact the Ingleside Police Station at (415) 404-4000.

IMAGES: Courtesy of SF Planning Department