IN THIS ISSUE_SUMMER 2020

July, 25, 2020

An Open Letter to the Citizens of San Francisco

via Mayor London Breed

San Francisco Board of Supervisors

San Francisco Department of Public Health

Department of Economic and Workforce Development

Re: Non-sanctioned encampment sites in D10  

Dear San Franciscans, 

Homeless encampments in Bayview, including RV’s, tents, boxes and other assemblies have increased approx. 90.6% over the April, 2020 counts, to 638 per our windshield and walk survey this month.  These figures DO NOT reflect the organized Bayshore, Central Waterfront and Pier 94 Trailer Navigation Centers, the City-sanctioned tent encampments or other managed and congregate homeless overnight services, nor do they include the extant commercial RV park conjoined with the empty and unused Candlestick overflow lots.  

While our counted locations are largely concentrated in the overlooked and peripheral industrial areas, they nevertheless pose additional health and safety hazards to all San Franciscans - and to the homeless and vehicular-housed themselves - as exposure to the elements and overall environmental impacts, human waste, drug paraphernalia, and significant increase in garbage and trash continue to litter and foul these areas.  The individuals in these settings need our compassion, assistance and an enhanced level of City-wide participation for resolving homelessness.

As the summer months are upon us, with increases in temperature, the lack of sanitation, along with the increase in related and un-related dumping will likely result in additional negative consequences and broader public health impacts to those living in the open and to the surrounding community of neighborhoods.

Recognition of the advancing Covid19 infection rate and the possibility of spread among the unmasked in these areas could result in a crisis condition within Bayview-Hunterspoint and other locations in D-10, areas already impacted by high positives and 

known fatalities due to the pandemic. The social equity considerations for the resident children and families in poverty, the elderly who may lack sufficient services due to isolation or lack of funds, and to the additional vulnerable populations who reside here permanently should not be further compromised by ignoring this increase in additional, un-managed encampment populations, some originating from outside the community. 

One size does not fit all and the term overall term ‘homelessness’ is too broad when attempting to understand how to proceed in assessing the population or directing services.  There are those who are housed in RV’s and in cars, in tents, in boxes and tarps and within various assemblies; the backstories multi-factorial. Mentally handicapped individuals require specific evaluation and services; drug-abusers a different type of intervention with a ’supply-side’ debate sorely needed. There are stories of domestic violence, job loss, relationship dissolution and a need for isolation, with those situations also linked to a lack of financial independence or support.  Still other situations, though rare, may be driven by a desire by some to live off-grid in the City within a rolling resource, or to have a commuter’s overnight location near employment.  

It is entirely inequitable for stressed communities such as Bayview-HuntersPoint to take on yet another layer of social service delivery in the absence of City-wide participation. Every Supervisorial District in San Francisco should provide at least one Navigation Center and an enhanced network of support services, along with a community plan for transitional and permanent housing of vulnerable and homeless individuals and families, in our opinion. We had broached these same subjects in discussions with City Hall in 2013. Now seven years later, only Districts 6, 8 and 10 have fulfilled their empathic and civic obligations in support of various, solutions-based actions including navigation centers, managed trailer sites, congregate settings within the non-profit services networks, etc. To be clear, a third Navigation Center is currently under construction in Bayview (the fourth in D10, with additional sites now under consideration) and is supported by a broad cross-section of homeowners, renters and business owners as a viable and responsible component to solving this crisis. Similar plans and projects in other districts should not simply be considered temporary and short-term fixes, but instead must be developed, managed and maintained as sustainable solutions that are consistent with good citizenship.  The Bayview District, Potrero Hill and Visitation Valley, all in District 10, are now beyond capacity and look to entirety of San Francisco to assist us in shouldering these responsibilities.  

Please prepare your own districts and your local leadership for these discussions and debates.  We fully expect you to step up and share these stressors, and we look forward to witnessing your progress.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Jorge Alfaro, Bayview Resident

James Ansbro, Bayview Resident

Kathleen Anderson, Bayview Business Owner and Employer

Nathan Apple, Bayview Business Owner

Mrs. Edward Banks, Bayview Resident

BAYVIEW MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION

Daniel Barkman, Bayview Resident

Rose Balderian, Bayview Resident and Business Owner

Linda Blacketer, Bayview Resident

Sharon Bliss, Bayview Resident

Sue Brown - Resident and Bayview NERT coordinator

Willie Cain, Bayview Resident

Janet Carpenelli, Dogpatch resident

Stacey Carter, Longtime Bayview Advocate

Jon Chester, Bayview Resident

Nancy Chiesa, D10 Resident

Robin Chiang, Friends of Islais Creek

Margaret Cliver, Bayview Resident

B.C. Cliver, Bavyiew Resident

Malia Cohen, Member, State Board of Equalization, 

  Former President, SF Board of Supervisors 

 Bayview resident

Catherine Coleman, D10 Resident

Ann DeJesus, Bayview Resident

Jignesh Desai, Bayview Resident

Xan DeVoss, Bayview Business Owner and Employer

Dan Dodt, Bayview Resident and Business Owner

David Eisenberg, Bayview Business Owner and Employer

William Farley, Bayview Resident 

Erin Farrell, Bayview Resident

Laurie Fenech, Bayview Resident

Rodney Fleming - Bavyeiw Resident, 4800 HOA President

David Froehlich, Bayview Resident

Tim Garlick, Business Owner

Jonathan Germain, Bayview Resident

Gerardo Gonzalez, Bayview Resident

Heidi Gorenflo, Resident

Jim Growden Visitacion Valley Greenway/GOAL

Flora Grubb, Business Owner and Employer

Carl Hall, Resident, Business Owner and Employer

Marc Ellen Hamel, Resident

Jacob Hansen - JC Lionheart Foundation, Bayview Resident

Cris Hansen, Bayview Resident

Stephanie Haughey, Resident

Heidi Hardin, Bayview Advocate

Chris Harney, Business Owner and Employer

Gl Hodge, Community Leader and Non-profit Director

Tracy Hoger, Bayview Resident 

Helen Howlett, D10 Resident

Brian Johnson, Bayview Resident

Henry Karnilowicz, South of Market Business Association

Lyslynn Lacoste, Bayview Community Leader and Non-profit Director

Jaime Madden, Bayview Resident

Marsha Maloof, President and Board Member- Bayview Hill Neighborhood Association

Fran Martin,  Visitacion Valley Greenway/GOAL

James L. Martin, Community Leader and Long-time Advocate

Shannon Maxwell, Bayview Resident

Sophie Maxwell, Bayview Resident

Ken and Kellie McCord, Residents of Vis Valley; owner of Mission Blue, Leland Ave.

Chase McCord, resident of Vis Valley 

Kayla McCord, resident of Little Hollywood 

Hannah McCord, resident of Vis Valley

Connor Moncrief, Bayview Resident

Lesly Morazon, Bayview Resident

Joi Jackson-Morgan, MPH Executive Director, 3rd Street Youth Center & Clinic

Susan Murphy, Community Leader and Advocate

Jake Myrick,  President of Sequoia sake, employer

Barbara Ockel, Non-profit Executive Director

Keith Osiewicz, Bayview Resident

POTRERO BOOSTERS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

POTRERO-DOGPATCH MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION

Adam Robers, Resident

Jonelle Rodericks, Resident

Milton Scott, Resident  

Annette Scott, Resident 

Mary Severance, Bayview Resident

Diane Wesley Smith, BVHP

Jack Siu, VISITACION VALLEY STRONG FAMILIES

Ann Mari Spector, Bayview Resident and Business Owner

Brett Stephens, Owner, San Francisco Landscapes

Julia Street, Bayview Resident

Justin Street, Bayview Resident

Angelique Tompkins,  Longtime Resident and Community Leader

Cam Tran, Bayview Resident

Walter Turner, Bayview Resident- 63 years 

 Exec. Director, Parents Who Care / Juvenile Justice Commissioner

Guadalupe Vazquez, Bayview Resident

Roberto Vazquez, Bayview Resident

Mie Yaginuma, Resident & Founder of Friends of Palou Phelps

Toni Zernik, D10 Resident

The Office for Community Planning is a non-governmental, non-public funded, community-based and independent organization of D10 residents and business owners providing land-use and project review, economic development planning, community, family and merchant advocacy. Recommendations are presented to D10 community organizations and stakeholders, The Mayor’s Office, The San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the San Francisco Planning Commission, Board of Permit Appeals, SFPlanning Department, DBI, Bayview CAC, OCII, Resilient Bayview, the Bayview Business Alliance Project and other community-based individuals, advocacy organizations and district merchants.                                                                                   established on 3rd Street  2000

Community Planning

www.bayview-hunterspoint.org bvhpwatch@mac.com

May we include your name on this letter ?

As outlined in The World Economic Forum report, delivered in London on January 15, 2020 – “Economic and political polarization will rise this year, as collaboration between world leaders, businesses and policy-makers is needed more than ever to stop severe threats to our climate, environment, public health and technology systems.” The report forecasts a year of increased …economic slowdown. For the first time in the survey’s 10-year outlook, the top five global risks in terms of likelihood were all environmental. It adds that unless stakeholders adapt to “today’s epochal power-shift” and geopolitical turbulence – while still preparing for the future – time will run out to address some of the most pressing economic, environmental and technological challenges. This signals where action by business and policy-makers is most needed and provide a short list:

The top 5 risks by likelihood over the next 10 years:

• Extreme weather events (e.g. floods, storms, etc.)

• Failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation

• Major natural disasters (e.g. earthquake, tsunami, volcanic  eruption, geomagnetic storms)

• Major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse

• Human-made environmental damage and disasters

These are the top 5 risks by severity of impact over the next 10 years:

• Failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation

• Weapons of mass destruction

• Major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse

• Extreme weather events (e.g. floods, storms, etc.)

• Water crises

How does any of this apply to Third Street, and what is missing from the outline? 

The obvious answer is an unanticipated pandemic, with the resulting economic impacts that now redefine our future here, locally, in our community of neighborhoods in Bayview-HuntersPoint.

It may be useful to begin thinking about our preconceived notions of what a ‘main street’ can look like and how our older models of ‘economic development’ and ‘empty storefront inventory activation’ can be re-imagined. Doing things the ‘same old way’ probably no longer applies, yet rather than reacting to such talk as pejorative, a more optimistic and forward thinking, pragmatic approach is presenting itself. These questions are not new ones, and they’ve been discussed in Bayview and in countless other urban areas for some time. In recent years, we’ve all heard the rumblings of the ‘death of retail’. 

In China and in parts of Southeast Asia during the 1980’s, the two-line telephone was rare or mostly non-existent in many rural areas, and an expensive utility in cities. Technological innovations, along with significant investment, prompted a ‘leapfrog’ approach, bypassing a build or rebuild of the older, wired infrastructure to a fully digital, wireless phone and wi-fi solution that has helped to power those countries into the robust economies of today. Of course, that was before Covid-19. Similarly, the Third Street business corridor could take a leap beyond an exclusively ‘traditional storefront’ and retail format and define itself differently for the decades ahead. 

This is not to suggest that we re-make the place into something that it is not, or to push businesses out. Not at all; we are instead facing a strong headwind and must prepare ourselves. We treasure our hardware store, our bakers, our pizza makers and galleries; our cafe’s, restaurants, corner stores and specialty shops; our seamstresses, realtors, Taquerias, winemakers and laundries. Our bars and banks are essential. So are the metal fabricators and dessert makers, the tire and battery shops; the BBQ places and the service organizations. We wish to see those and other businesses not only survive, but thrive. And for the new arrivals to be encouraged to stick it out. The unique qualities that are known to those of us who live and work in Bayview - families, hard working people who are often solo operators of small businesses, crafts-persons, artisans, professional and technical workers, innovators, seniors, newbies, and alternative thinkers and doers - define Bayview-HuntersPoint as more of a small town enclave within the City. We’re a best-kept secret and we like it this way. We embrace and celebrate our differences and enjoy keeping things a bit off-balance for the visitors.  

We don’t want Third Street to look like other corridors of stackable boxes above generic and homogenous ‘everyplace’ shops. But we need an increase in housing density in order to develop some critical mass of residents who can deliver the financial support for the retail that does exist and will continue as a requirement if we are to move forward locally. 

Our main drag, on the T-Line, is not a particularly intimate street as currently configured. It’s fast moving, congested at times, can be noisy and littered. Each morning, prior to the pandemic, thousands of cars exited the 3rd Street offramp, Northbound from 101, and barreled down Third Street, windows up, with no interest in stopping on the way to Mission Bay or Downtown San Franicsco. A few three to five-ton trucks joined the parade through this primarily residential neighborhood, carrying materials, equipment, commodities and debris to areas beyond. Those aforementioned thousands, upon other thousands, made their way back down Third Street to points on the peninsula each evening. 

These discussions and plans for recovery are taking place in every home, by every business owner - some at the kitchen table each evening; by multiple Federal, State and City agency; in endless committees and on-line forums. We’re hurting, and the recovery will difficult and lengthy for all, excruciatingly difficult for many. There are no hard solutions presented here, but only a few suggestions on how we may layer in some alternative approaches to support the things that are working well, while recognizing that some change is going to come. Some of these recommendations are obviously on our burners, while others have not been discussed or debated at length. 

T-Line News - Editor   

Hunter’s Point Shipyard (HPS) is located along the San Francisco Bay in southeastern San Francisco, California.  Maritime activities at Hunters Point started in the nineteenth century when the first drydock was built in 1868. In 1903 a second drydock was built and operated by Bethlehem Steel Company. The United States Navy purchased Hunters Point in 1939 and took over full operations in 1941. Significant construction began in 1941 after American entry into World War II. At this time the Navy began excavation of the hills surrounding the ship yard, using the resulting spoils to expand the shoreline into the bay. Expanding the size of the ship yard through filling the bay with soil, waste and debris continued through the 1970’s.

Hunters Point Shipyard’s primary mission was the repair and maintenance of ships and submarines. However, another function of HPS was the loading of components of the atomic weapon “Little Boy” that was eventually used on Hiroshima. “Little Boy” was loaded on the USS Indianapolis on July 15th, 1945, and is reported to have contained half of the uranium-235 (U-235) available in the United States, valued at the time at $300 million ($4 trillion in 2018). The USS Indianapolis left HPS at 6:30 am on July 16th, 1945, but was not allowed to leave San Francisco’s harbor until 8:30am, after the first atomic weapon test “Trinity” (5:29 am) had been confirmed successful in the New Mexico desert.

After the 1946 atomic tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific (Operation Crossroads), contaminated target and support ships were brought to Hunters Point for decontamination and study. In response to the new need to understand radiological issues, the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory (NRDL) was established in 1948 at Hunters Point and operated until 1969. 

HPS was decommissioned in 1974. In 1976, the Navy leased the site to Triple A Machine Shop. Triple A Machine Shop was ultimately indicted and convicted for illegal disposal of hazardous substances at Hunters Point. In 1986, Triple A Machine Shop’s 10-year lease expired and was not renewed. From 1986 and 1990, the Navy once again used Hunters Point to repair several naval vessels. In 1991, HPS was placed on the Navy’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list and its mission as a Navy shipyard ended on April 1, 1994.

After the closure of the shipyard many of the facilities were leased to artists, small businesses, a railroad museum, and the San Francisco Police Department. The Navy informed tenants their leases would be terminated in 2005 because the storm and sanitary sewer systems required removal and investigation for radiological contamination.

The Environmental Restoration Program at HPS began in 1984 with the completion of an initial assessment that identified numerous contaminated areas.  This included the oil reclamation ponds; industrial landfill; bay fill area; battery and electroplating shop; tank farm; pickling and plate yard; scrap yard; an old transformer storage yard; submarine base area; and bay sediment area. HPS was listed on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989. In 1992 the Navy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the Regional Water Quality Control Board entered into a Federal Facilities Agreement . The agreement establishes a procedural framework and schedule for the remediation of Hunters Point Shipyard.

Buildings without foundations will inevitably come down.

Jamie Lyons is an  independent artist scholar whose art research spans image-making, site specific theatre, investigative journalism, writing, and other disciplines.  His work has focused, in part, on toxic landscapes and using site responsive theatre practices to reveal the history of a particular environment while exploring the means to imagine alternative futures.  Lyons is an avid surfer, filmmaker, writer , sailor and stage director. He earned an AB and PhD from Stanford University and has taught at Stanford, UCLA, USF, Yale and San Quentin Prison.

The T-LINE is pleased to recognize and celebrate BAYVIEW-BASED artist, 

 Ron Moultrie Saunders,  a photographic artist, landscape architect and recipient of numerous public art commissions.  Ron creates  photograms: photographs that are made without the use of a camera.  Ron is a also a co-founding member of the 3.9 Art Collective and art94124 in San Francisco.