Are You a New or Expectant Parent Who Lives in Duboce Triangle?

Come meet other parents in the neighborhood!

Place: Duboce Park – at the top of the park (next to the playground)

Day and Time: Saturdays at 11 am, starting June 6

Come share your stories and listen to others. Children welcome (of course!)

There is no agenda, just a set place and time to connect.

Looking forward to meeting you!

- Organized by Jessica, mother of baby Benji

Just a reminder about tonight’s member meeting which will be held at Davies Medical center tonight at 7:00.

7:00 to 9:00 pm
CPMC Davies – North Tower Building
Level B Auditorium
Between 14th St. and Duboce Ave.

The agenda will include:

1. Meet your neighbor

2. Announcements

                -GLBT History walk proposal
                -Change in our meeting and newsletter schedule
                -Potential change in meeting venue

3. Update from the Office of Supervisor Bevan Dufty

4. Homeless Task Force Update

                -Brenda Meskin from the Homelessness Outreach Team will be our special guest

5. 2001 Market street Project Update

6. 1960 Market Street Project Update

The City is putting together an event for people who hate graffiti. Here’s the info they sent:

“Zero Graffiti for a Beautiful City”
ANTI-GRAFFITI SUPER HUDDLE

Thursday – April 23, 2009

REGISTER NOW at http://zerograffitisf.org

Hilton San Francisco Financial District Grand Ballroom
750 Kearny Street

2:45 p.m. Registration

3-5 p.m. Program

5-6 p.m. Social Hour.

You are invited to participate in the Second Anti-Graffiti Super Huddle.  At the Huddle, you will receive information about the City’s campaign to defeat graffiti vandalism and learn how to get involved.  The event will feature guest speakers, neighborhood resource tables, and a social hour where you will meet others who share your concerns and who want to take action.

The City has adopted a zero tolerance policy toward graffiti, and agencies like DPW, MUNI, Recreation and Parks and the School District, are working hard to keep public streets, parks, schools, buildings and buses free of graffiti tagging.  San Francisco property owners have been doing their part by quickly removing graffiti to keep it from spreading.  There are also hundreds of residents throughout the City who volunteer to remove graffiti in their neighborhoods.

All these efforts have paid off and there is a marked improvement in the way San Francisco looks today.  Sadly, graffiti removal costs the City more than $20,000,000 annually – funds that could be spent on badly needed services.  Graffiti vandalism will continue to be a drain on the City’s limited resources unless we do more to stop it.

Only by coming together as a community, will we be able to defeat graffiti in San Francisco.

Please join us at “Zero Graffiti for a Beautiful City” on April 23rd and help spread the word by inviting others who may be interested in attending.  You can register on-line at zerograffitisf.org or call 415-641-2600 to receive additional information about the Anti-Graffiti Super Huddle.

Office of the City Administrator/GSA

New Asia Restaurant, R&G Lounge, Portsmouth Square Garage,
Asian American Contractors Association, Building Owners and Managers
Association of San Francisco, Norcal Waste Systems, RAPIDRenu,
Shorenstein Realty Service.

From Friends of Duboce Park:

“Our next volunteer day is this Saturday, April 11, 10 a.m.-noon. We will meet at the Scott St. Labyrinth and will be supervised by a Rec & Park gardener. The plan is to spread wood chips and do some more planting, pruning, and weeding. All supplies, tools, and gloves are provided. 30 minutes or an hour of your time makes a big difference in the appearance of the park. We meet, rain or shine.”

Courtesy of the Friends of Duboce Park newsletter (subscribe!):

“The playground should be reopened by May 1, according to Keith Kawamura, Project Manager, Rec & Park. New concrete curbs next to the playground to redirect water around rather than into the playground have been installed. New pathway edging, base rock, and asphalt paving of the paths leading to the playground are in the process of being completed. Kawamura said, “we are very hopeful that we will reopen the playground prior to May 1, possibly by April 18,” the day that DogFest 2009 is being held in the park…”

McKinley Elementary School’s DogFest returns to Duboce Park on Saturday, April 18. DogFest 2009 is a fundraising event that benefits the children of McKinely Elementary School at the corner of 14th and Castro Streets and is both a dog show and a carnival that will include jumpy houses (see picture at left) and face painting. Last year 97 dogs competed in various light-hearted contests like Best Bark and Best Ears.

The proceeds from DogFest 2009 will fill in the gaps for student enrichment programs such as art, music, and science where state and district funds continue to fall short, especially in these economic times. Registration for the Dog Show continues online or you can register in the park during the event. For more information, please e-mail dogfest@mckinleyschool.org or call Katy Wilcoxen at 710-7387.

Friends of Duboce Park

If you’re concerned about affordable housing, and other issues about how our city will grow and be able to absorb the full diversity of San Francisco, be sure to weigh in on the 2009 Housing Element.

You can check out the progress on the plan thus far, take a survey, give direct feedback, and generally ponder the complexities of how the housing stock of our city impacts everything else. (And no, that photo isn’t from our part of the city. It’s a virtual homage to a sunny day at the end of a rainy week.)

Check out some images from the current proposal for 1960 Market Street:

In the spirit of transparency, here is the agenda from this month’s DTNA Land Use Committee:

Agenda

1. Announcements and Agenda changes

Guest Presentation/discussion

1. Sarah Dennis (Planning Dept)—Housing Element process
 

Internal Activities/Issues

1. DTNA’s Development Review Process – presentation/review

2. Collaborating with “sister” orgs in Upper Market/MO Area

3. Update on Committee membership recruitment for 2009
 

Development Projects

1. 2200 Market St project (aka Thai House) — update

2. 1960 Market St project (76 Station site) – situation briefing

3. 2001 Market St project (aka S & C Ford) – situation briefing

4. 2299 Market St project (x 16^th/Noe) – situation briefing

5. AT & T Utility Boxes – update

6. Mail call items/ new projects

23 Dolores Street

– 

Policy Issues & Special Projects

1. Planning Dept’s DR reform – situation briefing

2. Market/Octavia CAC – update

3. Large-scale Formula Retail on Market St corridor – discussion
 

Next Land Use Committee meeting Monday May 4th 7:30pm

Information straight from the horse’s mouth about the MTA’s hearings on potential fare increases and service cuts. Note the additional public meetings next week:

At its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, April 7 at 2 p.m. in Room 400 at City Hall, the SFMTA Board of Directors will hold a public hearing on proposals to balance the budget. Details of the proposals are available online at www.sfmta.com/sfmtabudget and include:

• Fare and Fee Increases

Proposed increases to Muni fares and parking fees, fines and rates and a proposed extension of parking meter hours.

• Service Modifications and Reductions

Three possible comprehensive options of service cuts, reductions and modifications have been proposed.  If approved these cuts, reductions and modifications would most likely be implemented in September.  Specific details of each of these three options can be viewed at www.sfmta.com/sfmtabudget. Please note that the service cuts, reductions and modifications developed in response to the SFMTA’s unprecedented budget deficit do not represent the implementation of the Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP).  However, the proposed reductions and modifications have been informed by the data collected and the extensive public input received during the TEP planning phase.

• Taxi Medallions

A proposal that 100 taxi Medallions be auctioned on a pilot basis.

Declaration of Fiscal Emergency

• E-mail: sfmtabudget@sfmta.com
• Telephone: 311 or TTY 415.701.2323
• Facsimile: 415.701.4502
• U.S. Mail: SFMTA Board of Directors, One South Van Ness Avenue, 7th Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94103

NOTE: All written comments on the declaration of a fiscal emergency on the Board’s April 7 agenda must be received at the SFMTA by Friday, April 10.

Following the SFMTA Board of Directors submittal of an Amended Operating Budget to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors on May 1, the Board of Supervisors has 30 days to allow it to take effect or to reject the entirety of the Amended Budget with seven or more votes.

Castro/Upper Market Community Clean Team

District 8

It’s Earth Day! Come out and Help Beautify Your Neighborhood!

Join your neighbors and other volunteers to beautify your community.

Earth Day

Saturday, April 18, 2009

9 am to 12 noon

Meet at Harvey Milk Plaza

Come Prepared To PAINT and Fill Tree Wells

- Upper Market, Castro, 17th St., 18th St. and Church Streets.

To volunteer go to www.castrocbd.org and click on Community Clean Team

Day.