The Bernalwood Slate Card for the November 3, 2015 Election

/ Todd_Lappin / 76 Comments

Citizens! Neighbors! There’s an election coming! On Tuesday, November 3, 2015. Soon!

This is a weird one, with no major federal or statewide candidates on the ballot and an incumbent mayor running for re-election largely unopposed.  (Yadda yadda protest candidates blah blah blah.) The mayoral race isn’t expected to be much of a contest, yet this is still a crucial moment for San Francisco.

On the one hand, these are the best of times. The economy is booming, unemployment in San Francisco hovers at around 3.5%, and the City’s finances are stable. But the pressures of prosperity have exacerbated old problems and contradictions. Tens thousands of new residents are arriving in San Francisco each year, Gold Rush-style. But we don’t have enough places for them to live, which is throwing lots of things out of whack, Gold Rush-style.

sfpopulation20 years ago, in 1995,  San Francisco’s population stood at 745,000, a high-water mark after decades of postwar decline and political realignment. Today, our population has climbed far higher, to more than 852,000 — a historic peak. Yet according to the Planning Department, during the last 20 years San Francisco built a net total of just 35,000 new units of housing for those 110,000 new residents . No one should be surprised our prosperity isn’t going smoothly.

Yet here we are: Five of the 11 propositions on this ballot are about housing, but a few of them were put on the ballot by the same factions that have done much to create our housing crisis in the first place. Ballot measures are generally a terrible way to handle planning policy, because the remedies are blunt and the propositions are often crafted by special interests. (That’s certainly true in this election.) So with “Let’s Not Make Things Worse” as our mantra, here are Bernalwood’s endorsements for San Francisco’s November 2015 election…

San Francisco Elected Offices
Bernalwood attended the meeting a few months ago when the San Francisco Democratic Party voted to endorse its preferred candidates. Hearing the back-and-forth of their debates gave us more confidence about where their endorsements landed. Bernal Heights doesn’t have much real skin in these races, so we will tepidly echo the San Francisco Democratic Party here:

Mayor: Ed Lee (Meh)
City Attorney: Dennis Herrera
District Attorney: George Gascon
Treasurer: Jose Cisneros
Sheriff: Vicki Hennessy
Community College Board: Alex Randolph
Supervisor, District 3: Julie Christensen (D3 isn’t our district, but Bernal’s Dissident Parrots have spoken)

Ballot Propositions
Since the mayor is basically running unopposed, the propositions are where this election gets interesting for the citizens of Bernal Heights. Let’s make some choices.

Prop A (Affordable Housing Bond) – YES, BUT
Placed on the ballot by Mayor Lee, Prop A would authorize the City to borrow $310 million by issuing general obligation bond to fund more affordable housing. That’s definitely something we should do. But we shouldn’t kid ourselves: Prop A won’t put much of a dent in our housing shortage. Two new affordable housing development projects demonstrate why. Unveiled last July, 1950 Mission Street is a 165-unit development that will be built near 16th Street. The City already owns the land at 1950 Mission, yet each unit there will cost about $600,000 to build.  Think that’s expensive? Actually, it’s cheap; Consider the other development, at 490 South Van Ness, just around the corner. At 490 South Van Ness, the City doesn’t own the land, which jacks up the cost to taxpayers even more. Each of the 72 affordable units at 490 South Van Ness will cost a breathtaking $889,000 to build. With those comparables, Prop A’s $310 million is great, but it won’t go very far. A two-thirds supermajority of voters is required for Prop A to pass. Let’s do it.

Prop B (Paid Parental Leave for City Workers) – YES
San Francisco offers City workers from 12 to 16 weeks of paid parental leave to care for a child after a birth or adoption. Owing to a quirk in the City Charter, if two City employees qualify to take paid parental leave for the same child, they both can’t take the full parental leave. Prop B would revise the Charter so thatif both parents are City employees, both cantake the maximum amount of paid parental leave. Makes sense.

Prop C – (Lobbyist Expenditure Ordinance) – YES
Prop C could make it easier to keep tabs on special interest groups that play politics with City Hall. Prop C would require any individual or organization that spends more than $2,500 on media, organizing, or research on issues under consideration by City government to register with the city’s ethics commission, submit monthly reports, and pay a $500 fee. (Nonprofit organizations would be exempted from the fee). Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and Prop C will help bring astroturf groups and professional “activists” out of the darkness and into the light. It also comes from a credible source: Prop C was placed on the Ballot by the San Francisco Ethics Commission.

Prop D – (Mission Rock Development) – YES
Prop D was placed on the ballot by the San Francisco Giants. It would allow the team to develop part of the parking lot on the south side of McCovey cove into ‘Mission Rock,’ a new 28-acre neighborhood with 1500 apartments, 1.5 million square feet of commercial space, eight acres of parks, plazas and open space. At least 33 percent of the residential units will priced for low- and middle-income residents. Added bonus: The development plan also includes a new Anchor Brewery on Pier 48. Mission Rock includes two tall buildings (one 190′ and the other 240′) so under Prop B, passed in 2014, Mission Rock requires voter approval. Ballot box zoning is a terrible way to craft policy, but Mission Rock was designed with ample community input, and we need 1500 mixed-income housing units far more than we need the parking lot that sits there now. Build it.

Prop E – (New Public Meeting Requirements) – YES
It’s pretty easy to argue that our City government is already buried under a crippling amount of public input. Nothing happens here without hours of public meetings and comment, which is both wonderful and disastrous at the same time. Yet our current system effectively excludes people who have regular jobs and/or residents with children. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation (a Prop E backer) explains: “Public comment is a crucial element in local democracies, since it is one of the chief ways for residents to air their grievances, propose their ideas, and give feedback to their elected leaders. But too often these public comment periods do not represent a wide variety of perspectives, since they’re biased in favor of a specific demographic: people who have the ability to travel to city hall to attend often inconveniently scheduled meetings.” Prop E would address this by requiring the City to simulcast public meetings live on the Internet, and allow members of the public submit testimony at public meetings electronically. If we don’t want to actually streamline our government, and an active, participatory democracy is what San Francisco wants, then simple fairness dictates we should enable as many citizens as possible to participate.

Prop F – (Short Term Rental Ordinance) – NO
San Francisco faces a big housing shortage, so we need good legislation to ensure that Airbnb-style short-term rentals don’t remove too many viable housing units from our rental inventory. Trouble is, Prop F isn’t good legislation. In addition to creating plenty of new bureaucracy and paperwork — inevitable, perhaps — it caps short-term rentals at a property to 75 nights a year and contains a blanket prohibition on the use of “in-law” units for short-term rentals. Most alarming of all, Prop F encourages neighbors to take each other to court, by authorizing anyone living within 100 feet of a potential short-term rental to sue homeowners suspected of violating the initiative. Meanwhile, Prop F would eliminate short-term rentals that make it possible for many struggling San Franciscans to stay in their homes. This is not theoretical; Bernal neighbors and artists Toby Klayman and Joe Branchcomb tell Bernalwood:

“We’ve been in our house for 40 years, and our bills now are enormously high! Our PG&E bill is often $400 a month. Last year we needed a new section of roof: $16,000. Another recent expense was a new sewer pipe: $4000. We live in a home that is more than 100 years old. There’s always extra money needed for repairs, a new window, a new set of stairs etc. We rent one extra room we have in our home via Airbnb — a space that would never work as a permanently rented room — to provide some much-needed income. As we approach age 81, we would have to move without Airbnb. The laws San Francisco already has in place have enough teeth to get rid of property owners who improperly evict tenants to create short-term rentals. But 75 nights a year won’t help us enough to pay our bills. We are against Prop F.”

Prop G – (Renewable Energy Disclosures) – NO
The process through which proposed initiatives end up on the ballot is due for reform. To get on the ballot, you just need to collect a few thousand signatures. To get a few thousand signatures, you just need to pay enough people to collect them. (This is why those paid signature gatherers are such a fixture on the sidewalk outside the Good Life on Cortland.) The result is that anyone can pretty much turn a ham sandwich into a San Francisco ballot proposition — so long as they’re willing to pay enough to get the required signatures. That’s how Props I and F ended up on this ballot, but Prop G shows how broken the proposition system really is. The funding to put Prop G on the ballot came from PG&E and IBEW 1245, a union that represents some PG&E employees. There’s a lot of legalese goofiness involved, but Prop G would basically make it harder for the City of San Francisco to compete with PG&E by selling electricity generated from the City’s own renewable sources. Except, the City and PG&E eventually agreed on other ways to resolve these issues, so now not even PG&E wants Prop G on the ballot. Too late. No on G, and thanks for wasting our time.

Prop H (Clean Energy Right to Know Act) – YES
The obvious awfulness of Prop G prompted Supervisors John Avalos, London Breed, Julie Christensen, and Scott Wiener to put Prop H on the ballot to counteract it. Prop H defines “clean energy” and “renewable greenhouse gas-free energy” in ways that are similar to California’s state standards, and makes it easier for the City’s forthcoming electricity-sale program to market clean electricity. If both Prop G and Prop H are approved, the one that receives the most “yes” votes will be enacted, but as this awkwardness demonstrates, the City’s proposition process will remain as broken as ever.

Prop I (Mission District Housing Moratorium) – NO, NO, NO
Prop I would halt all market rate housing development in the Mission District for 18 months. Here’s what it will not do: Prop I will not make housing in the Mission more affordable. Prop I  will not slow the pace of displacement or evictions. It will not reduce gentrification. It will not lower rents or create more affordable housing. If anything, Prop I is likely to increase rents and make gentrification and affordability in the Mission even worse. Those are just a few of the conclusions reached by the City’s chief economist, Ted Egan, in an analysis of Prop I which also found that relatively little housing of any kind has been built in the Mission in the last 15 years anyway. Egan says there’s “no reason to believe that either a temporary moratorium, or an indefinite prohibition, of market rate housing will reduce the number of upper- income residents in the Mission, or slow the process of gentrification.” Ouch. This may explain why Prop I’s supporters are eager to change the subject. They now say Prop I is about holding new market-rate housing hostage for at least 18 months to force the City to create a more aggressive affordable housing plan in the Mission. The only real question here is: Are they delusional, dishonest, or both?  San Francisco can’t agree on a plan to install a new bike lane in just 18 months — never mind reaching consensus to build thousands of units of publicly funded affordable housing in the Mission at a cost of at least $600 million, according to David Campos. And in the meantime, 1200 units of privately funded, mixed-income housing already in the planning pipeline would be put on hold. It makes no sense to address a housing shortage by banning the construction of new housing. Prop I will make the crisis worse, while empowering the NIMBYs and nativists who seek to preserve Burger Kings, laundromats, and abandoned warehouses instead of building housing for San Franciscans. Vote NO on Prop I.

Prop J – (Legacy Business Historic Preservation Fund) – NO
As regular readers know, Bernalwood loves our local merchants. We love our history. We love our merchants with history. Yet even as certified history geeks and militant locavores, we just can’t get behind Prop J. The goal here is to provide public subsidies to “legacy” San Francisco businesses or nonprofits at risk of displacement that have existed for at least 20 years, and which have “significantly contributed to the history or identity of a neighborhood or community.” It’s sweet idea, but Prop J would likely be an expensive boondoggle rife with cronyism and abuse. To be eligible for public subsidies, a legacy business would require a nomination from a member of the Board of Supervisors or the Mayor, which creates an obvious opportunity for elected officials to reward generous donors and political pals with a subsidy from taxpayers. Want a preview of what that looks like? Try this: D9 Supervisor David Campos spearheaded the effort to put Prop J on the ballot, with active guidance from Calle 24, the Mission’s 24th Street merchants association, where 21 merchants (!!!) would be eligible for Prop J subsidies. In addition to being ripe for corruption, Prop J would also be very expensive; if it passes, the City Controller estimates Prop J’s subsidies would cost taxpayers $4 million next year, rising to somewhere between$51 million and $94 million annually within 25 years. No on J.

Prop K – (Housing Development on Surplus City Land) – YES
Introduced by D6 Supervisor Jane Kim, this is a reasonable plan to make it somewhat easier to transfer excess or underused City-owned land to nonprofit affordable housing developers, who would receive the land for free. For-profit developers could also acquire surplus City land, but they’d have to pay for it. Prop J also expands the range of incomes that qualify for inclusion in affordable housing on surplus city land so it would span very low income to households that make up to 120% of the area median income. Developments with more than 200 units on former City land could be mixed-income, with some units having no income limit. This all sounds sensible enough, although it also seems like the kind of stuff the Board of Supervisors should be able to tackle on their own, without the use of a clumsy ballot proposition. Because that’s what we pay our Supervisors to do.

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Bernalwood’s November 2015 Slate Card

Mayor: Ed Lee
City Attorney: Dennis Herrera
District Attorney: George Gascon
Treasurer: Jose Cisneros
Sheriff: Vicki Hennessy
Community College Board: Alex Randolph
Supervisor, District 3: Julie Christensen

Prop A: YES, BUT…
Prop B: YES
Prop C: YES
Prop D: YES
Prop E: YES
Prop F: NO!
Prop G: NO
Prop H: YES
Prop I: NO, NO, NO
Prop J: NO
Prop K: YES

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COMMENT MODERATION UPDATE: Per usual, Bernalwood welcomes robust discussion about the issues that impact our neighborhood and our City. Comments about the Bernalwood Slate Card and any of the issues or candidates on the November ballot are encouraged. However, comments containing links to other slate cards will be removed. Let’s debate the issues here, instead of waging tribal battles over competing lists.

This Weekend’s Treasure Island Music Festival Has Roots in Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

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The Treasure Island Music Festival has become one of the premier music events in San Francisco, and the 2015 edition happens this weekend. The festival happens on (… wait for it…) Treasure Island,  but it was co-created in Bernal Heights by Neighbor Jordan Kurland, the glamorous owner of Zeitgeist Artist Management and a co-founder of the NoisePop Festival.

Bernalwood asked Neighbor Jordan how that Bernal connection has shaped the Treasure Island Music Festival:

I like to say that Treasure Island is a festival for people who think they don’t like music festivals. With about 18,000 attendees and 13 artists per day, we’re a boutique in the land of mega-festivals. Much like Bernal Heights, we cater to an audience that tends to be more discerning in their tastes. We, like Bernalites, enjoy being a bit of a secret, we foster a nice community spirit, and we appreciate a stunning view. The festivities take place on the West Lawn of Treasure Island which offers bridge to bridge views of the Bay and San Francisco skyline. Sound familiar?

The format of Treasure Island has stayed very much intact since we founded it in 2007: Two stages of music and no overlapping sets, so attendees can see each and every note of each and every artist. Saturday is dance oriented and Sunday is an Indie Rock love-in. Acts performing this year include The National, Deadmaus, FKA Twigs, Father John Misty, Run the Jewels, Chvrches, and the world premier of Big Grams which is a collaboration between Big Boi of Outkast and Phantogram.

In addition to amazing performers, we also offer local food vendors and clothing designers, onsite art installations and a silent disco. Two new things we’re incredibly excited about this year are a vinyl record store and a comedy tent curated in collaboration with our friends at Funny or Die.

The festival, especially on Sunday, is quite family friendly. My son is living proof; this will be his 8th straight year in attendance. His favorite part is the Ferris Wheel, which provides the best view of our beloved city this side of Bernal Heights.

Get your tickets to the 2015 Treasure Island Music Festival  right here.

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PHOTO: Neighbor Jordan at Treasure Island

Details Emerge as SFPD Officer Recovers from Injury Incident on Mirabel

/ Todd_Lappin / 8 Comments

It’s been a little more than a week since that unpleasant incident on Mirabel, where a manhunt unfolded after an SFPD officer was struck by the driver of a stolen BMW. The October 9 edition of the SFPD Ingleside Newsletter provided a rather comprehensive summary of what happened, told in classic crime-blotter style:

It started out innocent enough. The department has been dealing with a rash of car burglaries in the City. The Ingleside District has dealt with more than its share. Ingleside Officers Stark and Carew, along with many other Ingleside units, were sent to investigate a vehicle break in on Mirabel Avenue. The caller said there were four suspects inside a white BMW. The caller gave the BMW’s license plate number to dispatch, who informed the officers that the vehicle was wanted for a previous burglary and it had fled from Mission units who tried to stop it less than an hour before the current call. Ingleside Officers Hermosura and Ferronato were first to arrive on scene and, as they pulled up, three suspects exited the BMW and escaped down a nearby stairwell. However, the driver put the BMW in gear and took off at a high rate of speed. Officers Hermosura broadcast that he was in pursuit as he chased the fleeing subject through the narrow streets in the neighborhood. After three blocks, fearing for the safety of pedestrians and other motorists, Officer Hermosura cancelled his pursuit. The vehicle was last seen driving east on Montezuma Street.

A few seconds later all the responding police personnel were startled by the distressing sound of an officer screaming for help on the radio. Dispatch quickly put out a call of “officer down” on the unit block of Mirabel Streets. Every available Ingleside unit, along with several units from Bayview and Mission Station sped to the scene. They found Ingleside Officer Bryant lying on his back on the sidewalk screaming in pain. Officer Bryant told his colleagues that he thought he was going to die. An ambulance was dispatched while Sgt. Mitchell rendered first aid.

The driver of the BMW was lying face down on the sidewalk, in handcuffs, surrounded by Officers Montero and Roche. Roche and Montero were following Bryant as they arrived on Mirabel Avenue. Just then, the BMW, driven by the suspect, arrived and stopped in front of Bryant’s patrol car which was blocking the street. All the officers exited their patrol car and ordered the suspect out of the car. But instead of exiting the BMW, the suspect accelerated at the officers. All were able to avoid getting hit except for Bryant, who was hit by the BMW’s front bumper and pinned against a parked Volvo. Officer Montero quickly pulled Officer Bryant, who was in extreme pain, out to safety. The driver of the BMW was taken into custody and booked on a variety of charges. The other occupants of the BMW were quickly apprehended in the area by other officers. Officer Bryant was treated at San Francisco General Hospital for serious injuries to his legs and chest and is now recovering at home. Report number: 150870820

Yikes. Upon reading this, Bernalwood asked Capt. McFadden from Ingleside Station for an update on Officer Bryant’s condition. Capt. McFadden shared this encouraging news:

Officer Joshua Bryant was injured in the incident. He is a very large man and did not sustain any severe injuries. He had a sprained left wrist and left ankle along with serious road rash all over his arms and legs from being dragged by the suspect’s car. He is recovering from his injuries and should be back to work within a few weeks. Thanks for the community concern. It is greatly appreciated.

The driver of the car, Jaimes Ulises, 25, of Mountain View, is charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault on a peace officer in connection with the incident. Last week his bail was set at $2.5 million.

PHOTO: Stolen BMW involved in the Oct 5 incident on Mirabel, by @NBCbayarea

Thursday: Celebrate Little Bee Baking’s Second Birthday

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

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Corrected: Oopla. An earlier version of this post contained an incorrect date for the Little Bee festivities. The fun happens on Thursday, Oct. 15.

Here’s something sweet: Though it seems like just yesterday when Neighbor Stacie Pierce opened up the fabulous Little Bee Baking on Cortland, Bernalwood is reliably informed that the glamorous Little Bee grand opening actually happened two whole years ago. Also, because of that, we are reliably informed that festivities are in order.

Neighbor Stacie from Little Bee tells us:

It is with much joy and gratitude that I invite our friends and neighbors to celebrate Little Bee Baking’s turning 2! To say it’s hard to believe that two years has past already is an understatement, and I am truly humbled by all the support and love shown to us since we opened our doors.

I’m so happy to live and work in such an amazing community of people, and Little Bee looks forward to many more years on Cortland Avenue.

Stop by this Thursday 10/15 from 10am-6pm – mini cakes, brownies, tarts, ice cream cones and beverages will be just $2

Can’t wait to celebrate with you!

Love,
Stacie and the Little Bee family

Big Bernal congratulations and high-fives to Little Bee, and thanks for all the delicious.

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IMAGE: Neighbor Stacie of Little Bee Baking

Bernal Tops List of SF Neighborhoods with Most Growth in $1M+ Homes

/ Todd_Lappin / 6 Comments

According to the number-crunchers from the online real estate site Trulia, 63% of all homes in San Francisco are now valued at $1 million or more. But which San Francisco neighborhood has seen most growth in the concentration of million-dollar homes? Gird your loins, humble neighbors, because that dubious distinction belongs to us.

Indeed, Trulia estimates that 87% of all Bernal Heights homes are now worth more than a million bucks. (Their calculation is based on the estimated value of each home, independent of whether or not its actually for sale.)

After looking at the same data, SF Chronicle columnist C.W. Nevius wrote about this strange new reality last week while describing the situation of Neighbor Jennifer and Neighbor Russ:

In June 2014, Jennifer Ott and her husband, Russ Poldrack, bought a house in Bernal Heights for just under $1 million.

It’s a fixer-upper.

It needs such extensive renovation that it scared off house flippers who speculate in the white-hot real-estate market, Ott says. That’s why, she says, they were able to land what she jokingly calls “the ugliest house in the nicest neighborhood we could afford.”

A year later the house is valued at $1.2 million, and Ott says there’s no way they could afford it now.

They got in just in time.

Only five years ago, 7 percent of the houses in Bernal Heights were valued at $1 million or more. Today, more than 86 percent are million-dollar homes.

That astounding fact was rooted out by housing economist Ralph McLaughlin, who produced a study for the real-estate web site Trulia on the spike in housing values across the city from 2010 to 2015.

But, but… why? Why have home values in Bernal increased with such nose bleed-inducing quickness? Bernalwood also reached out to Ralph McLaughlin, Trulia’s housing economist, for some explanation. He told us:

With respect to market dynamics, Bernal Heights likely made the top of our list because of it’s relative proximity to already expensive neighborhoods in 2010. In 2010, Bernal Heights didn’t have many $1 million dollar homes, but was in very close proximity to Noe Valley, Portrero Hill, and the Mission, which did. So as demand increased between 2010-2015, $1 million dollar homes spilled over into other “bargain” neighborhoods that were close by, such as Bernal Heights. A similar phenomenon occurred in the Central and Outer Sunset, which were in close proximity to other million dollar neighborhoods in 2010 (Forest Hill and West Portal).

Saturday: Celebrate at the Bernal Heights Library’s Gala 75th Anniversary Party

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

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Bernal Heights Library Dedication, October 20, 1940

Bernal Heights Library Dedication, October 20, 1940

Its not hyperbole to say that the Bernal Heights Branch Library is a pillar of our community, and we are incredibly lucky to have it. The building is lovely, the role it plays is invaluable, and the library staff work hard to make it all happen.

Our library turns 75 this weekend, and Bernal branch manager Valerie Reichert wants you to come to the birthday party:

We are having our 75th Anniversary on Saturday!

Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Bernal Heights Branch!
Saturday, October 10th 1:30- 4:00 pm

The Bernal Heights Branch is 75 years old. Come share stories and help celebrate our beautiful WPA branch built in 1940. Activities include : San Francisco Mandolin Orchestra, crafts making in the Children’s Room, refreshments and history slide shows. Volunteers and staff will invite you to record your “Hot Bernal Minute” which will be captured on iPads.

Fun! But let’s back up. Where did our glamorous library come from?

Here’s the basic history:

The Bernal Branch as a “library deposit station” was established in 1920 at 303 Cortland Avenue. As the neighborhood and library grew, it was moved, in 1936, to 324 Cortland. When that proved inadequate the neighbors lobbied for a new building.

The one floor branch library at 500 Cortland, was the 21st in the system and built on the site of the original Bernal School at a cost of $94,600. It was designed by Frederick H. Meyer, one of the most prolific and versatile architects in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century, funded by the Work Projects Administration and dedicated on October 21, 1940.

After 68 years of use, the branch closed for renovation, as part of the Branch Library Improvement Project, in February 2008. The renovation, with a budget of $5.7 million, was designed by staff of the City’s Bureau of Architecture under the supervision of Andrew Maloney. His design is an intelligent and elegant response to Meyer’s building which originally devoted only the upper level to library purposes, and incorporates such modernizations as ADA accessibility, and seismic and technological upgrades.

Thank you, FDR! See you on Saturday.

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PHOTOS: Top, Bernal library, circa 1940, via SFPL Online Historical Photo Archive. Below, parade on Cortland for the Bernal Heights Library, October 20, 1940. Via Living New Deal. 

Sunday: Bagel Popup at the PizzaHacker (But Don’t Sleep In)

/ Todd_Lappin / 11 Comments

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Heads up, bagel fiends: You’re gonna want to get up early on Sunday morning.

Shegetz Bagel is having a pop-up bagel bonanza at the PizzaHacker (3299 Mission @29th) starting at 10 am this Sunday, October 11. But if you want in on the bagel action, don’t linger over the crossword puzzle. Bernalwood is told:

On Sunday, October 11th, Shegetz Bagel will host their second pop-up at PizzaHacker featuring a limited run of 240 bagels. The guys behind Shegetz Bagel don’t believe that it takes a New York City zip code (or water supply) to make a great bagel, and they intend to prove it by boiling and baking up quality bagels right here on the West Coast.

Shegetz is a collaboration between two San Francisco natives, Oliver Steele and Ben Kaminsky, and their long-time friend Alex Rogers; all three well-known staples in the Bay Area food and coffee scene. Rogers developed the lauded bread recipe for Local’s Corner, and became well-versed in bagel-making, working with Michelle Polzine at 20th Century Cafe (though Shegetz will be more akin to the New York style). Steele, a member of the industry darling Pizzetta 211, is a practiced set of hands in the world of dough and pastry. Kaminsky is a three-time US Cup Tasters Champion. After a three year stint as the Director of Quality Control and Espresso at Ritual Coffee, he has become a sought-after international coffee consultant and most recently helped launch Saint Frank in Russian Hill.

The trio focus on the details and obsess over perfecting the rise, density, crust, and dough flavor. Of course, topping things off with a little whipped Humboldt Fog never hurts either.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • Doors open at 10am on Sunday Oct. 11
  • Bagels will not be toasted. Fresh bagels do not need to be toasted (because, you know, they were just in an oven)
  • Our West-Coast style bagels use sourdough starter
  • Bagels will cost $3–12 depending on toppings
  • There will be coffee. There will be sparkling wine
  • There will be a full staff to assure great service
  • The bagels are likely to go fast

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PHOTO: Shegetz Bagel

Superstar Bernal Journalist Is Co-Host of New KQED Podcast

/ Todd_Lappin / 6 Comments

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Bernal Neighbor Amy Standen lives on Gates, but she also happens to be an audio-famous public radio reporter for KQED. (That’s Neighbor Amy on the right in the photo.)

Her radio work is always lively and whip-smart, and now she’s co-hosting a brand-new KQED podcast called The Leap. Here’s how she describes it:

I’m spreading the word about a new podcast. My new podcast! I’m making it with my friend Judy Campbell, who in regular life produces KQED’s Forum.

The podcast is called The Leap  and it’s about people trying to transform themselves somehow. Each episode — one every other week — introduces you to a person in the midst of such a leap, and then kind of spirals out to the people around them and their own weird transformations.

We launched this week with two stories: Episode 0 explains what we’re all about and previews a few upcoming stories.

Episode 1 is an actual story, our first. It chronicles the invention of a really bad smell (this smell) and traces its journey from a high school kid’s bedroom through the decline of the American manufacturing industry to a fake Iraqi battlefield.

Next story comes out on October 20, and it’s a tear-jerker.

Your Bernalwood editor listened to Episode 1 yesterday, and it was… engrossing! Wonderfully so. The first installment of The Leap tells you everything you ever wanted to know about the bizarre history of Liquid Ass — which perhaps may not seem like something you ever wanted to know anything about, but which is actually rather fascinating once you hear the tale. Of course, that’s the hallmark of a really good podcast.

Congrats to Neighbor Amy and her co-conspirator Judy Campbell, and tune in.

PHOTO: Courtesy of KQED

Don’t Panic, But Two Trees Were Removed from Bernal Hill Yesterday

/ Todd_Lappin / 24 Comments

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Yesterday Bernalwood received an alarming news flash via our Twitter red phone: A work crew was hard at work on the top of Bernal Hill near Sutrito Tower,  chopping down some of the trees.

WHAT???!!!

We dispatched the Bernalwood Action News Satellite Uplink Miata to rush to the scene. When we arrived, the work crew was already gone, but two freshly cut stumps were all that remained of the former trees.

bernalhillstumps

Sadness! Confusion! Anxiety!

Bernal Hill is public parkland, so Bernalwood reached out to San Francisco Rec and Park see if they could explain what the f*&^$#*ck had just happened. Connie Chan, Rec and Park’s Deputy Director of Public Affairs, responded with this statement:

As we have already mentioned earlier in September, the Department has been in the construction planning process to renovate and improve the Bernal Heights Trails. In the meantime, we are working with a contractor to complete abatement work for a few trees that were assessed as potential hazards.

Two dead trees near the top of the hill are expected to be removed (their branches were already removed by our staff to minimize hazardous conditions), and one Evergreen Ash tree on the west slope of the hill is planned to be pruned to remove or reduce the length of the stem with decay.

As you can see on the map shown via the web link, the red circles are the the two removals, and the tree still to be pruned is the yellow circle.

Bernal_Tree Work map.pdf

Okay, that’s good to know. Rec and Park didn’t exactly do a great job of proactive outreach beforehand, so our collective panic was perhaps to be expected. Nevertheless, we’re glad to know the tree removals atop Bernal Hill are now complete, so we trust there will be no more unpleasant surprises in the days and weeks ahead.

Oh yeah, and PS: All this is happening as part of the Bernal Hill Trail Improvement Plan we told you about waaaaaaaaaaay back in 2012.

PHOTOS: Top, @BernalJournal. Stumps by Telstar Logistics

Bernal Artist Offers Handy, Handmade Moon Calendars For 2016

/ dfyoung / 4 Comments

moonmap4

After our spooky moon sightings and a super rare bloodmoon, it’s already been a great lunar year. Luckily, Neighbor Annie on Precita near York has been making moon calendars for the past five years, and she recently cooked up a new batch.

Wolf moon! Snow moon! Sturgeon moon! Beaver moon! Who knew there were so many moons?

Neighbor Annie says:

I originally began making these calendars as holiday gifts for loved ones when I moved here from Canada five years ago. They were so popular that I kept doing it, changing the design each time since I knew I wouldn’t want to look at the same calendar every year. Plus, it keeps it fun! This year, I was looking to give it a bit of an art nouveau/architectural feel. I hope it reads that way!

If you’re in the neighbourhood and you want to do a local pick up, just send me a message and we can arrange one.

Alternatively, you can also pick them up on her online store. They’re two-color screenprints that measure 16×20 inches — plenty big enough to ensure you’ll never to miss another full moon again. Plus, they’ll look great on the wall of your personal observatory.

PHOTO: via Annie Axtell

Your August 2015 Bernal Heights Real Estate Report: 20 Homes Sold, Average Price $1.3 Million

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

bernalhomesAug2015.all

Let’s just cut to the chase: According to the August 2015 Bernal Heights sales report prepared by Downing and Company, the pace of home sales in our neighborhood remains brisk. Prices are lofty as well, with the average sale price in August weighing in at (ooof!) $1.3 million. Downing says:

August was a busy month for home sales in Bernal Heights. A total of 20 transactions were completed which was a spike compared to most months where the number of transactions often register in the low to mid teens.

The market remains hot with elevated prices and quick transactions. The average home price last month in Bernal Heights clocked in at $1.3 million. With tight market conditions and sellers in control homes were on the market for an average of only 20 days before going under contract.

For homebuyers looking to purchase for less than $1 million – alas there is still some hope in Bernal Heights. Three homes traded under that threshold last month (63 Arnold Ave, 1510 York St, and 29 Cuvier St.).

Click through to see details and specifics on each of the Bernal home sales shown above.

IMAGE: August 2015 homes sold montage from Downing and Co.

Late-Night Manhunt After Auto Burglary Suspect Injures SFPD Officer on Mirabel

/ Todd_Lappin / 25 Comments

mirabelcrimescene

Were you awakened by the sound of the helicopter circling low above Precitaville at around 12:30 am last night? That was a California Highway Patrol chopper that was brought in to assist the San Francisco Police in a coordinated search for auto break-in suspects who tried to run down an SFPD officer on Mirabel.

SF Chronicle reporter Kale Williams explains what happened:

A police officer was injured in San Francisco Sunday night when an auto burglary suspect tried to run him over, pinning him against his patrol car, authorities said.

Around midnight, officers responded to reports of the burglary on the 100 block of Mirabel Ave in the city’s Bernal Heights neighborhood, said Officer Carlos Manfredi, a police spokesman.

As the officer stepped out of his cruiser, the suspect, who was sitting in a stolen BMW, tried to run him over, Manfredi said, pinning him against his vehicle.

The suspect, whose name was not immediately released, then attempted to flee but was blocked by another patrol car, which he also hit, Manfredi said. He was arrested at the scene.

The injured officer may have suffered broken ribs and injuries to his legs. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was in stable condition early Monday morning.

Yikes. Bernalwood sends sincere gratitude and get-well wishes to the injured SFPD officer.