West of Twin Peaks
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West of Twin Peaks Volumn OBSERVER20 No. 1 • 821-9443 • www.tpobserver.com • [email protected] • February 2008 YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET Local Alert! Thieves Pose as Utility Workers WHAT YOU WANT Taraval Station’s Captain Chignell advises neighbors in this area to be By Denise LaPointe on the alert for robbers posing as utility workers. But if you try sometimes, you just may find, neighbors know what they need. “We have had a number of burglaries where multiple suspects The West of Twin Peaks Central Council has pose as Water Department employees, seeking access to a residence, kicked off 2008 with a bang. Our esteemed 70-year- requesting to ‘test the pipes.’ Once they gain access, they steal items old neighborhood organization, representing 18 inside the victims houses,” says Taraval Police Station’s Captain Paul homeowner groups and growing will have to keep Chignell. our wits about us as wily developers, massage parlor The latest group of suspects are three Hispanic males in black operators, medicinal marijuana clubs and politicians clothing who drive a black pickup truck. “Do not let people into your try to tell us what we need. residence unless you verify by phone that the employees are legiti- At our January meeting we celebrated a rare mate,” Captain Chignell urges. They prey primarily on seniors, so victory with Ingleside Terrace, as we stood with neighbors of seniors should call 911 if they observe suspicious them to deny extended hours to a massage parlor behavior. Cont. Police Blotter p. 12 in a residential neighborhood. We weren’t so lucky with the colossal, oversized Ardenwood project, which continues to slip and slide its way through the Lennar’s Political Campaign For June Land Use Vote corridors of power. Republic Urban Properties and By John Dunbar elsewhere. their ill-conceived plan for a high-rise tower at 18th The powerful Lennar Corporation is turning The first political problem for Lennar is the Avenue and Wawona continues to give me a head- to tested political methods to win voter approval in skeptical outlook San Franciscans have towards ache. June. At stake is the future of the $1.4 billion de- development. A large electoral block reflexively Most recently, we were all duped into signing velopment that could involve up to 10,000 housing opposes any land use change. For voters who think up for a community meeting with a strict deadline units, hundreds of thousands of square feet of com- it’s foolish to mess with perfection it’s difficult to for rsvps (five days before Christmas) only to receive mercial office space and the future of one of the last persuade them to support condominiums and mini- a “got ya” e-mail back that the developer and his undeveloped parts of San Francisco. The develop- malist commercial office space. public relations team would keep us posted when ment site is the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and The second issue is the ongoing controversy they would have a meeting. Neighbors who are oth- Candlestick Park. within members of the Bayview Hunters Point com- erwise a quiet, peaceful bunch have joined together, To date the Lennar Corporation has spent over munity over levels of asbestos dust that have been almost 600 of us to sign a petition of opposition to $600,000 for the measure. According to filings with put into the air because of Lennar’s construction this development, which threatens our neighbor- the Ethics Commission Lennar’s expenses include work at the old Naval Shipyard. This issue has been hood character. legal work, public opinion research, political consult- debated by both the Board of Supervisors and Board In the upcoming year a lot is happening as ing and public relation fees. Some of the top political of Education in 2007. Opponents claim that a public Parkmerced unveils its plans for 6,000 more units, talent in the City has been contracted for this work. school adjacent to the project site was exposed to Summerhill Homes adds another 200, Ardenwood Land use fights are bitter in San Francisco. asbestos dust and Lennar has yet to admit responsi- and San Francisco State adds 3,000 units on campus, Former Mayor Willie Brown’s stadium mall initia- bility – a bad sign for future endeavors as far as the and the Kragen Auto Parts site adds another 500 tive in 1997 proved a polarizing battle that Brown community is concerned. units. This doesn’t even include the shameful won narrowly but left lasting political damage. The These two issues explain why Lennar must development on Brotherhood Way – historically a Brown years were characterized by other develop- invest in top political talent. corridor for religious and educational institutions ment contests which contributed to the 2000 shakeup The latest chapter in the Hunters Point Shipyard – whose approval was stewarded through by our of the Board of Supervisors. development plan is another ballot measure that district supervisor. So while Mayor Gavin Newsom supports Len- could also be headed for the June ballot. Sponsored Community involvement helps ensure these nar’s bid, he has former Mayors Brown and Dianne by a City supervisor and neighborhood representa- developments won’t detract from our quality of life. Feinstein serve as the Chairs of the Lennar effort. tives, the measure if adopted would make 50% of the Other issues at the Council include the ever complex Lennar is one of the nation’s largest homebuild- units sold at the new project affordable to moderate Laguna Honda rebuild and elimination of skilled ers. Publicly traded, it has been financially devas- income households. nursing beds, traffic, public safety and the annoy- tated by the downturn in the housing market and Kofi Bonner from Lennar has described the ing water rate increase that property owners only mortgage lending crisis. According to published competing measure as a “poison pill.” If sponsors of were slapped with this summer. I urge all neighbors reports Lennar lost $1.9 billion in all of 2007, $1.25 the ballot initiative qualify the measure, this June’s to be vigilant and stay clued-up. The West of Twin billion in the fourth quarter alone. In 2007 its stock ballot blockbuster development fight will be even Peaks Central Council will do our best to keep them was downgraded to junk bond status. Turning a more fun to watch. honest and keep you informed. profit in San Francisco would help balance out losses Downsizing Laguna Honda: Who Gets the Boot? by Patrick Monette-Shaw INSIDE Resource Center of San Francisco. In last November’s Observer, John Farrell Among other provisions, the Chambers settle- Hank Basayne ................................................ 2 noted that radically reducing the number of skilled ment proposes that upon completion of the recon- nursing beds at Laguna Honda Hospital (LHH) struction project, the City agrees to restrict LHH to SF General Bond, George Wooding........... 2 would jeopardize proper care for our elderly and 780 beds — eliminating 420 planned beds — and Letters to the Editor ........................................ 2 physically disabled. His prediction is dangerously LHH will focus on 90-day short-stay and rehabili- Phyllis’ Findings ............................................. 3 close to rapid implementation. tation patients. The Chambers settlement doesn’t In the Laguna Honda 1999 election, 73.3% of specify LHH can continue its long-term care Don Lee Miller at the Movies ................... 4 San Franciscans approved bonds to rebuild 1,200 mission. Jack Kaye ....................................................... 6 beds at LHH for the elderly and disabled. LHH The Health Commission voted in closed Get Rich Quick, Myrna LIm............................ 7 supplies one-third of San Francisco’s skilled nursing session January 22 to accept the Chambers settle- beds. ment, knowing San Francisco faces a potential CALENDAR ...................................................... 8 Now, just six Plaintiffs in the Chambers vs. City shortage of 4,000 skilled nursing beds in the next Carol Kocivar on Education ...................... 10 and County of San Francisco lawsuit are about to 12 years and 10,000 Alzheimer’s patients over the Theatre with Annette Lust ........................ 11 overturn the will of 139,000 voters if San Francisco age of 85 by the year 2020. Apparently alarmed accepts the settlement agreement. There’s been a by public testimony linking future bond measures Police Blotter ................................................. 12 virtual media blackout regarding this lawsuit, and to failure to rebuild LHH as promised, Health Secrets of an Alte Kocker Romeo ...........15 there’s been no public forums sponsored by the City Commissioner’s took an unusual step, disclosing or LHH since the case was filed on October 12, 2006 that a Deputy City Attorney advised them, during End Jokes ....................................................... 15 by six LHH residents lead by Independent Living closed session, that some language in the Chambers Cont. p. 5 ing: passing along what I thought I knew to my ON THE PLUS SIDE kids, students and employees. And in recent years Letters to the Editor the emerging stage seems to be about Going Inside: (Re: Towers on Wawona) Your page 1 “artists Who Am I, Really? reflecting, remembering, planning, trying to discern rendering” of this project was terrbily misleading. by Hank Basayne a Grand Design. If the proposal is for 13-story towers, why are both augh if you like, but I remember Ross Perot. Of course, life doesn’t divide itself into such showing as 14-levels over the tops