CENTRAL CITY Tenderloin’S by the SAN FRANCISCO STUDY CENTER

no. 117 PUBLISHED CENTRAL CITY Tenderloin’s BY THE SAN FRANCISCO STUDY CENTER

dream toilet: NOVEMBER free, clean, 2011 compostable THE EXTRA CBD invests WINS MAJOR $20,000 in a HONOR SAN FRANCISCO green prototype Community news BY T OM C ARTER coverage is tops T ENDERLOIN S TAR N its campaign to provide free PAGE 2 public bathrooms and eliminate Ihuman waste on Tenderloin streets, the neighborhood CBD has boldly invested $20,000 in an Oakland company to design a prototype public toilet that, if it can really recycle waste, could end up serving the rest of the city — and beyond. RANKED The seed money would start Hyphae Design Laboratories on its CHOICE way to go where no one has successfully gone before in making a VOTING durable, compostable public loo. “We’ll need to attract more money,” Hyphae founder Brent Why S.F. has it, Bucknum told the Tenderloin Futures Collaborative Oct. 19. The how it works company’s contract with CBD shows it needs $94,000 for development. PAGE 3 Key to development of the TL toilet is public in - put to hear what “The big type of W.C. people want, Bucknum question is said. The first out- how to handle reach meetings will be Nov. 10 at P HOTO BY T OM C ARTER hazardous St. Anthony’s, 150 Betty Traynor distributes flyers at Boeddeker Park gate for the noontime jazz being played Golden Gate Ave. inside. With grants, she brought summer concerts back to the park. material from in the Poverella Room at 2 and street toilets.” 5:30 p.m. Dina Hilliard The CBD is TL CBD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR con cerned be cause the neighborhood The park’s best friend each month expe- OBITUARIES: riences “700 to 800 incidents” of human feces in the streets, side- LEROY group, with Traynor its spearhead and chair, walks and alleys, said Dina Hilliard, Betty Traynor though she prefers the title “facilitator.” the TL CBD executive director. LOOPER “In all my dealing with the public, she The leading dump site last year, stands alone,” says Jake Gilchrist, who was according to the CBD’s sidewalk is dedicated key in TPL’s campaign, but now works for cleaner, Clean City, was near a Supportive Rec and Park. “Quiet, humble, extremely methadone clinic at 433 Turk St., in effective.” a dark, cul-de-sac alley, Dodge housing pioneer Gilchrist started attending Friends of Street — behind Harrington’s bar at to Boeddeker Boeddeker meetings in June 2006 to evalu- Turk and Larkin streets. The site was dies at 86 ate the park as a TPL project and was tops with 123 “incidents.” BY T OM C ARTER impressed with Traynor’s devotion and fol- In the CBD’s initial effort to PAGE 6 low-through. address the issue earlier this year, it “All the changes at Boeddeker are a contracted with Rescue Mission at ETTY Traynor frowned at Boed- direct credit to her,” he adds. “She is unfail- deker Park’s faded clubhouse ingly consistent. And you know she’s ➤ CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 door Thursday, Oct. 13. Rec and always going to be there. In the community Park had locked the door and process, staffs come and go. But there are shut down the park, forgetting certain champions, like Betty. She’s doing Bthat the regular 3:30 p.m. Friends of all she can for the park. She’s one of my Boeddeker Park meeting, which she chairs, favorites.” was to meet inside. But no way now. Boeddeker has been a conundrum. In seconds, Traynor had taped a sign on Originally, it supplanted the Downtown the door directing people to the L.A. Cafe Bowling Alley in 1978 and was called and was making a beeline down Jones Central City Park. With a $3.2 million Street, headed for a suitable meeting table, makeover in 1985, it reopened as Boedde- a handful of Friends-of scurrying behind. The scenario showed the park’s unpre- ➤ CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 dictable access and Traynor’s determination to preserve and utilize the precious open ✩ space in the city’s poorest neighborhood. Traynor has been the park’s primary stew- TENDERLOIN STARS ard for eight years and a major reason Boeddeker is getting a $5 million makeover HERE are 30,000 of us in the starting next year. TTenderloin, each unique in The park’s impending change stems special ways. Tenderloin Stars from Trust for Public Land’s successful mul- captures the personality, humanity tiyear campaign to land state and founda- and, often, strangeness of our tion money. Boeddeker qualified as a TPL remarkably diverse populace. P HOTO BY T OM C ARTER project because it was in the central city, These are the people who make Rescue Mission’s free toilet, open to underused, has 3,000 kids living in the our neighborhood great. the public weekdays, has tripled its usage. neighborhood and has an active advisory ✩ ✩ ✩✩✩ GOOD NEWSfor... US Central City Extra has won the Community News coverage category for nondailies of the no. 108 Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists’ annual Excellence in Journalism contest. The Extra submitted five sto- FEBRUARY 2011 ries published between July 2010 and June 2011: “Home sweet SRO” (August), “Tenderloin’s only free shower” (September), “World Series parade” (Dec.-Jan.), “The Tenderloin closer” (February) and “Murder: Tenderloin’s reputation undeserved” (April). The award will be given at SPJ’s annual banquet Nov. 15 at Jillian’s Restaurant. ■ P HOTO: COURTESY SEACC Philip Nguyen, SEACC executive director, presides at the agency’s 36th anniversary celebration at ‘FINAL DIGNITY’ St. Mary’s Cathedral when he announced three new projects. SEACC at 36: Free clinic in the works

BY A NH L Ê ple’s lives, helped distribute 1.5 our community, Dr. Tam Bui.” million pounds of dry foods Dr. Bui, formerly a medical and groceries.” school dean in Saigon, now Ho INCE it opened in 1975, the On the economic front, Chi Minh City, Vietnam, has Southeast Asian Commu - SEACC has provided technical pledged to head up a team of Snity Center has served assistance to 2,000 Bay Area several doctors to operate a more than 150,000 people, pro- businesses, made microloans free outpatient clinic at SEACC, viding them services to meet — $5,000 to $50,000 — to 250 provide basic health treatment, P HOTO BY T OM C ARTER Rev. Glenda Hope reads scriptures on a Leavenworth Street sidewalk where a 20-year-old their social, health and eco- businesses, and created 550 medical consultancy and advi- father, who had grown up in the Tenderloin, had been shot to death Aug. 27 in North Beach. nomic needs. new, permanent jobs, all pro- sory information to those with- “SEACC has long been a grams the organization hopes out insurance, Nguyen said, The Tenderloin closer leading advocate for the to expand in 2012, Nguyen adding that SEACC will raise

“The memorials are a final dignity to Southeast Asian community said. the funds to cover the costs of Rev. Glenda Hope those who couldn’t have them,” Hope says. “They offer a place of comfort and the nationwide and a key player in New projects on the draw- the facility, support staff and beginning of healing for mourners.” gives residents Most memorials take place in SRO lob- transforming the Tender loin ing board include a free med- outreach. bies or community rooms, which vary from threadbare and musty to clean and cheery. into a more vibrant and livable ical clinic, a Southeast Asian The ideas for a Southeast a caring sendoff Sometimes only a couple of people show up and a few who do may not have even community for families,” Night Market and a Southeast Asian Night Market and a known the deceased. Memorials with 40 to BY T OM C ARTER 50 mourners are exceptional. A bouquet or Executive Director Philip Asian Village. Southeast Asian Village are two is always on a table in front sometimes Nguyen told an audience of Health care for new immi- only on SEACC’s “radar 120 at St. Mary’s Cathedral’s St. grants has been a SEACC focus screen,” now, Nguyen said. PARK BUFFS Boeddeker Park is getting $209,274 Francis Hall. since its inception. AIDS/HIV Both would be located in the for outdoor fitness equipment from Rec and Park, a The event celebrated the prevention, smoking cessation, Ten derloin’s Little Saigon, the Community Opportunity Fund distribution from the nonprofit’s 36 years, introduced First 5 California (a health pro- two-block corridor of Larkin city’s 2008 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks several new projects SEACC is gram for children under 5), and Street between Eddy and bond. The equipment — ranging from a vertical hoping to launch, and recog- cancer-awareness programs are O’Farrell streets. pulldown press to cross-country ski exerciser — nized program supporters and among those SEACC has spon- Among those attending the will be installed during the park’s $5 million reno- volunteers. sored. Oct. 12 event were Supervisors vation, expected to start in the spring. Betty “Look at our Immigrant Free Today’s health problems Jane Kim and Eric Mar, and Traynor, Friends of Boeddeker Park chair, gathered Food Distribution Service,” have been made worse by the guest speakers Charles Phan, letters of support from the Tenderloin police, TL Nguyen said. “Every Friday at 5 recession, “which has cut off owner of the Slanted Door CBD, Mercy Housing, S.F. Parks Trust and District 6 a.m., rain or shine, 20 to 30 vol- health insurance coverage for Restaurant, and John Nguyen Supervisor Jane Kim. She then helped write the unteers help unload food from many laid-off workers,” of Imperial Investment and grant proposal with Trust for Public Land staff who the San Francisco Food Bank’s Nguyen said. “They have Develop ment. Food was pro- had spearheaded the renovation project. Rec and truck, clean tons of fresh gro- nowhere to turn for even very vided by the Tenderloin’s Ha Park got 22 applications asking for $3.1 million in ceries, arrange them in order basic services such as screening Nam Ninh Restaurant and the this round of funding. Only $1.25 million was avail- and distribute them to 200 or flu shots. Fortunately, we’ve Golden City Inn in SoMa. ■ able; 10 projects were funded. ■ households. In the past nine received a generous commit- Marjorie Beggs years, these volunteers, happy ment to address some of these of Central City Extra to make a difference in peo- problems from a physician in contributed to this story.

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2 CENTRAL CITY EXTRA / NOVEMBER 2011 Ranked-choice adds a wild card to mayor’s race Complicated ‘instant runoff’ system faces 1st high-profile test

BY M ARK H EDIN Until that point, no one had a majority, campaigning.” Furthermore, he said, “be- as Tran had 3,330, Kelly, 3,576 and Cohen cause candidates don’t want to alienate vot- NCE you’ve decided which candi- 4,120 votes. But now there’s a door with ers, it discourages meaningful debate.” date to vote for, the most confusing Malia Cohen’s name on it on the second With runoff elections, he said, “at least Oaspect of the upcoming San floor of City Hall, even though she only had you wind up with two candidates that peo- Francisco mayoral election process is its 2,097 first-place votes, 53 less than Sweet, 5 ple can make a choice from, and everybody ranked-choice voting system. less than Kelly and 48 more than Tran, gets a chance to make a choice between the It’s designed to provide an “instant when counting started. two.” runoff” to spare the city the cost of a runoff Last year, some Alameda County cities At any rate, the voters spoke their mind election between the top two candidates in joined San Francisco as ranked-choice pio- in 2002, and the city’s right to “experiment,” the general election. This month’s mayoral neers in California. In Oakland, ranked- as Parinnello put it, has twice been upheld race promises to put this system, not quite a choice voting resulted in Jean Quan, one of in appeals court. So now it’s up to the vot- decade old, to its first high-profile test. nine Oakland mayoral candidates who last ers. “There’s a lot of misinformation out November got fewer first-place votes than Van Alstine of the Department of there,” said Denise Van Alstine of the city Don Perata, ultimately winning the election. Elections said that voters who decide that Department of Elections’ outreach division, In Quan’s case, she won only 29,266 only one candidate deserves their vote can who spent half an hour discussing the (24.47%) first-choice votes to Perata’s 40,342 mark that candidate in all three choices. But Nov. 8 election at the police captain’s (33.73%). But she had enough second- and it won’t help that candidate, because the October meeting in Tenderloin Station’s third-choice votes among the 25,813 voter’s second choice isn’t considered until community room. “Every time there’s a (21.58%) votes for Rebecca Kaplan – 18,864 the voter’s first choice has been eliminated. story in the paper I can see where it would to Perata’s 6,407 — to become mayor-elect be confusing.” after 10 rounds of vote redistribution ADVICE: USE ALL 3 CHOICES Enter The Extra. according to the ranked-choice instant “There’s no reason not to use all three of Some background: Steven Hill, of runoff system. your choices,” Hill said, because your vote Fairvote.org, known in 2002 as the Center Under the previous system, Perata and “stays with your first choice as long as that for Voting and Democracy, drafted that Quan, as the top two vote-getters, would first choice is still in the race.” year’s Proposition A, which voters approved have faced off in a December runoff elec- San Francisco’s and Oakland’s ranked- by a 55%-to-45% margin, making San tion. Kaplan’s supporters, if they showed up choice systems, Hill said, ask voters: “In Francisco the first U.S. city to try ranked- to vote, may well have put Quan over the case your first choice doesn’t win, tell us choice voting. He describes ranked-choice top. Hill argued that the results arrived at who your second choice would be.” voting as “really just a runoff system under the ranked-choice system seem to fol- Because the second or third choices don’t designed to do in one election what we low patterns established under the runoff come into play until a voter’s first choice used to do in two.” system. has been eliminated, Hill said, “Your Hill said ranked-choice voting was ini- Ranked-choice voting advocates argue lower choices can’t help defeat your first tially proposed in 1999 by then-Supervisor that runoff elections are expensive and voter choice.” Tom Ammiano, in response to criticism for turnout is low. They also claim that the elec- The election will be Nov. 8. Polls will be the expense the city incurred when he tion generally goes to monied interests who open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. By the time you forced incumbent Willie Brown into a runoff can afford advertising blitzes and are typi- read this, it will be too late to register to in the mayoral race that year. cally supported by conservatives who vote vote or request a vote-by-mail ballot. But John Arntz, Elections Department direc- in every election. you can vote early at City Hall from 8 a.m. tor since early 2002, said that because no to 5 p.m. on weekdays through Nov. 7 and voting equipment then available could BUILDING ALLIANCES from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the weekend of accommodate ranked-choice voting, the sys- Ranked-choice voting, the argument Nov. 5 and 6. ■ tem was not a factor when Gavin Newsom goes, favors candidates who can defeated Ammiano and Matt Gonzalez to build alliances within their com- become mayor the next year. munity, as Kaplan and Quan Ranked-choice voting also applies to did. this year’s races for sheriff and district attor- Lawyer Jim Parrinello, repre- ney — if no candidate wins an outright senting Ron Dudum, who was majority (50% plus at least one) of first- defeated by Ed Jew in his 2006 choice votes. bid to become supervisor in the Sunset’s Distict 4, unsuccessfully HERE’S HOW IT WORKS challenged ranked-choice voting The ballot has room for you to make before a federal appeals court three choices — a first, second and third. panel earlier this year. Each ballot includes space for voters to Parrinello argues that write in a candidate for any of the three ranked-choice disenfranchises choices. Anyone who gets more than 50% of many voters, because the so- first-choice votes wins, and that’s that. called majority that enables a If no candidate gets a majority of the candidate to claim the office is first-place votes, the candidate with the only a majority of the votes still fewest first-place votes is eliminated, and his being counted. In the case of or her votes are redistributed to the second- Cohen in District 10, her win- choice candidates named by those voters. In ning total of 4,321 was less than a crowded election where there’s no clear 25% of the votes originally cast, preference among voters, this process may and Quan won with 53,897 have to be repeated many times before a votes, less than half the original winner is determined. total. An example of how complicated it can As for the cost of runoffs, get occurred last year in the District 10 race Parrinello said that runoff elec- for supervisor. Twenty-one candidates split tions cost much less than the fewer than 18,000 votes, and Lynette Sweet, public financing of all the candi- who got the most first-place votes — 2,150 dates’ campaigns. The Depart- — had only 12.07% of the total, far from a ment of Elections estimates that majority. runoff elections cost from $2.5 Candidate Ellsworth “Ell” Jennison got million to $3 million, depending the fewest first-choice votes, 68, so those on how many races are up for votes were reallocated to the candidates grabs. This year, as of Oct. 31, Jennison’s supporters named as their second the city had disbursed choice. Six went to Tony Kelly, six to Nyese $4,389,306 to nine mayoral can- Joshua, three to Sweet, and so on. didates. This process was repeated 17 more Ranked-choice voting sup- times, with candidates being eliminated in porters had argued that the need reverse order to the number of votes they’d for coalition-building would accumulated. None attained a majority until, change the tenor of political dis- finally, the 3,330 votes belonging to Marlene course, but the way Parinnello Tran, now in third place with three candi- sees it, “when you’ve got a dates left standing, were re-examined. front-runner, it encourages the Malia Cohen was listed on 201 of them other candidates to negatively as a second choice; 303 listed Tony Kelly. campaign. That’s what hap- With those votes added, and the rest of pened in Oakland — anyone Tran’s discarded because they named only but Don (Perata) — and it previously eliminated candidates, Cohen appears to be happening in San wound up with 4,321 votes, 52.7% of votes Francisco, too. So I don’t really still in play, to Kelly’s 3,879. think it’s eliminated negative

NOVEMBER 2011 / CENTRAL CITY EXTRA 3 CBD invests $20,000 to g

➤ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 of Sciences. And, in the neighborhood, it cre- could be moved by trailer. ated the Luggage Store gallery’s living wall, Independently, the two researched 140 Turk St. to open its bathroom weekdays Glide’s green roof and helped with the Portland’s toilets. Hilliard spoke to Water for the public. In May, despite a usage report Tenderloin National Forest. Department spokeswoman Anne Hill about the showing a $5-a-flush average cost over three Hyphae’s finished product, if it comes up loos. Hill told her a green toilet was “impossi- months, the CBD extended the pilot six with the development cash, could be ready ble.” months. sometime next year and would need a half Hill told The Extra that Portland had A mid-pilot report in October showed, sur- dozen city permits. Each toilet would sell for looked everywhere for a durable ecological prisingly, that the monitored usage had tripled. between $40,000 and $50,000, Bucknum said. toilet, but couldn’t find one and couldn’t invent Data showed an average 32 users daily, com- The waste would be picked up and trucked one. “That was our only roadblock, a durable, pared with 11 initially, with three times as away for treatment. A security and safety fea- compostable toilet.” many men as women. CBD President Clint ture puts a pushbutton “water station” on an A public toilet must be able to withstand Ladine said the jump was due to a story in The outside wall, instead of having an inside wash the blows of a baseball bat, she said, and for Extra, a small sign at the door and word of basin. that reason Portland toilets have heavy “peni- mouth. Ladine had worried about possible San Francisco’s 25 highly automated tentiary gray” commodes. “That’s our urban expensive plumbing problems, but he said JCDecaux public toilets cost around $300,000 toilet,” she says. “But they must be visible. If there was none. each, he said, and require costly maintenance not, they won’t be used and the old problems “The storefront (toilet) was the original because they are breakdown-prone. He visited come back.” idea,” Hilliard said of the $1,300-a month pilot. six one day and half were broken and shut, he Portland’s toilets, similar in shape to San “and we still might do that down the road — said. A fully automated model costs $6,000 to Francisco’s JC Decaux toilets, have impressive It has nearly tripled in use since we began. $20,000 a year for water and sewer. features. The ADA-compliant, stainless steel “We were looking at porto-potties when Hyphae’s concept would not use city water portables hook up to water and sewer and are Hyphae contacted us,” Hilliard said. “Now, the and sewers and would turn the loo’s human big enough to bring a bicycle inside. Their big question is how to handle hazardous mate- waste into fertilizer for inedible plants to pay solar-powered lighting brightens when the rial from street toilets.” for itself, a tall order. One of the best examples bathroom is used, then dims. Ventilation slats Human waste is toxic, but dog waste isn’t, of public toilets Bucknum studied is a new at the top, and angled slats all the way around she said. prototype, similar in shape to a JCDecaux toi- the bottom show how many feet are inside. A “The vast majority of the incidents from the let, developed in Portland, Ore. But that city button-operated washing station is outside. (district) report are human feces,” Gia Grant, fell short in its desire to create a compostable The toilets are open 24/7 and need no Clean City executive director, said in an email. waste system, and its four loos in operation are monitors. “But it is possible that a small percentage could hooked up to the city’s water and sewer sys- “The city closed down a bricks-and-mortar be dog feces. If it can’t be swept with a broom, tem. last spring because of problems it was having,” then it’s reported as an incident. The CBD has additionally committed to Hill said. “But I have heard no dissatisfaction Hyphae is a 4-year-old company that con- handling a future toilet’s maintenance costs with these. We’ve had no incidents. Do people sults, researches and designs ecosystems. With and providing a monitor. Hilliard agreed with leave things behind like bottles and syringes? an S.F. Arts Commission grant, it created the Bucknum that having three linked toilets Yes. But there have been no incidents and I’ve 2.2-acre✩ living roof on the California Academy would be “more bang for the buck.” They heard no dissatisfaction. Businesses and the TENDERLO Traynor is Boeddeker Par

➤ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 to form a community advisory group at said. “She gave me my first watch. And an old Boeddeker. The park had one years ago but it man, blind Johnny, used to put his hand on my ker Park, named after Franciscan Father Alfred dissolved. head and say, ‘My, you’ve grown.’ Boeddeker who founded the nearby St. Traynor went to Tenant Associations “To me it was a fascinating part of the city.” Anthony’s Dining Room. Coalition, the Tenderloin Futures Collaborative Traynor leads meetings in her unflappable, But it became evident the design left some- and other neighborhood organizations “to get methodical style, looking seriously at each thing to be desired. The park’s fortress-like something going for the park.” speaker to hear them out, guiding ramblers fence and up-and-down levels hampered visi- back to the topic, and, at some point, learns bility. Its low-lying shrubbery and fenced, war- THE CONSTANT FACILITATOR whether a proposal has support. Betty Traynor ren-like sections were cover for dope dealing A newly formed Friends of Boeddeker Park “We’ve always gotten as many as possible (far left) was a and usage. The community was alarmed and met with her in the clubhouse in 2003. They agreeing before we recommend something – proud member of officers from the Tenderloin Police Station agreed to reach consensus for important deci- Ellis Street was like that,” she says. the Boeddeker Park across the street had an ongoing headache. sions and rotate the role as chair. The only Besides drug dealing and gambling at Friend who attended regularly, though, was domino games inside the park, messy derelicts cleanup crew that That is, when the park was open. Recent budget cuts now have closed the park on weekends Traynor, and she soon became facilitator. and boozers loitered at the Ellis Street gate to received a “Once I left the Council, I started other the north, some staggering down the park’s Community Hero and pared the weekday hours that it is open to adults to 15. Still, Rec and Park sometimes clos- groups, but Boeddeker was my favorite,” she wide, red brick sidewalk to the Eddy Street award in 2009 es the park with no notice. says. entrance across from the police station. People from the Crissy Traynor, 66, started with Boeddeker as a She left the Parks Council in 2004 because in the park felt threatened or annoyed. The Field Center. Parks Council staffer. She was assigned in 2003 of a death in her family. As the Council’s park Friends thought closing the gate permanently stewardship manager, she had would stop it. Police concurred and Rec and helped start Friends’ groups at Park locked that gate for good in 2004. It Lafayette Park and Bayview’s solved that problem. Palou Mini Park, among others. From the time Traynor began at the park, She learned that Friends groups residents of Presentation Senior Community — without leaders soon die. the building adjacent to the park in the north “I loved the park and the corner — were active. Some, like resident Dan people and there was a great Stein and Presentation’s executive director and need for it. I gave up all my his assistant, were regulars at Friends’ meet- other Friends groups. I thought if ings. Soon the Friends were staging monthly I left (Boeddeker), it might not park cleanups and flowerbed plantings. Rec survive. Other people who came and Park dispatched a gardener to distribute (to meetings) had their other tools and supervise. organizations and weren’t able “Sometimes Glide had people there, some to follow up. But I figured I schools — Gateway High School, I remember, could.” came until that program ran out,” says Traynor, Traynor goes back 60 years who has attended every session. with the Tenderloin and smiles The Preservation seniors have been the at the memories. Her mother’s steadiest group presence, up to 20 mostly best friend, Erma Bowers, lived Asian women in their 70s and 80s who work in the Hyland Hotel, an SRO until noon. Preservation generously offered with a nice lobby, now gone. As volunteers tea and coffee and sweets before, a little girl, she and her mother and a hot lunch after. often visited Bowers. “She had a “It was funny,” Traynor says over tea, tiny kitchen and a hot plate, but breaking a smile, her eyes brightening. “You’d we’d sometimes eat at Original thank them for coming — and they’d thank us, Joe’s across the street,” Traynor too! One, I remember, walked with a cane and P HOTO: COURTESY C RISSY F IELD C ENTER

4 CENTRAL CITY EXTRA / NOVEMBER 2011 get its green dream toilet

public are asking for more of them. They are happy with the results, and they’re being well- used. “People aren’t taking baseball bats to them. They don’t want them abused and they are col- 3 lectively taking care of them.” 2 Even so, Hilliard says the CBD likes “the idea of starting a prototype from scratch.” At the collaborative, David Lewis, one of 4 about a dozen people attending, suggested the CBD ask merchants to open their bathrooms to the public. 7 “We’ve been trying to do that for a year,” 10 said Hilliard. “We’ve approached St. Anthony, 8 but they’re not willing to do it.” 6 Merchants have liability concerns, Top 10 for No. 2 Tenderloin Capt. Joe Garrity pointed out. 1 People use a bathroom to shave and bathe, he The Tenderloin locations with the said, and merchants “don’t want certain people in there. What if someone ODs in there? Some 5 9 highest number of incidents of human are locked in. It’s a big issue.” He was certain, waste, according to Clean City’s 2010 too, the outdoor toilets would be damaged and compu terized incident reports: vandalized. Security, safety and privacy are key issues, 01. Dodge Street, 123 incidents Bucknum said. 02. Continental Alley Mail Company, 106 “With JC Decaux (toilets), no one knows 03. Shannon Street, 103 what’s going on inside,” he said. Then he suggested the ecological bathroom could have 04. 445 Leavenworth Street, 82 opaque walls so police could see how many 05. Breen Place, 80 people were inside. That drew an immediate 06. Willow Street, 73 response from park advocate Betty Traynor. 07. 340 Eddy Street, 70 “It’s not appropriate,” she said. “And I 08. 241 Jones Street, 66 wouldn’t use it.” Bucknum said placement of the toilets was 09. 55 Hyde Street, 63 as important as design and he hoped “the right 10. 366 Eddy Street, 58 people” would show up to weigh in at the outreach meetings. ■ ✩ ✩ OIN STARS ✩✩✩ rk’s most ardent advocate

wouldn’t sit down. She picked up a broom. “I think very highly of Betty and I am hon- She eventually started her own small, aca- Some brought grandchildren. It was often gen- ored to work with her on park issues,” Zamora demic research company in 1982 that pub- erations working together.” says. “She worked tirelessly to assure that lished reports for its subscribers on funding The Boeddeker group, recommended by Boeddeker (would be renovated). She contin- available for bio-medical science, arts and Rec and Park, won a Community Hero Award ues to work hard to assure that funding and humanities. May 2, 2009, from the Crissy Field Center in the support is in place and the renovation is suc- Presidio. “Rosemary and sage replace needles cessful.” VOLUNTEERS WHEREVER SHE GOES and syringes,” the center’s website said of their Hilliard says the park redesign “would not When she moved the business to the work. The seniors and Traynor had been on be happening” if not for Traynor, who she Redstone Building on 16th Street, she soon video in advance for the film presentation that describes as “completely unassuming and ded- became its tenant organizer, a cog in the day. icated.” She recalled an afternoon three years movement for its historic landmark status and Now, with the park closed weekends, and ago when she, Traynor, Zamora and Capt. coordinator of the neighborhood association. the makeover due to start next year and to last Gary Jimenez worked on the clubhouse. After 20 years, though, the Internet was taking 18 months, participation stopped several “She cleaned as if it were her own home, over, subscriptions to her reports were drying months ago. But Traynor vows to get “that spraying down and scrubbing surfaces, mop- up and she retired. working again.” ping and organizing,” Hilliard said. It hardly meant slowing down. In 2005, Traynor’s experience with city government, “At the end of the workday, she compiled besides her Boeddeker commitment, she nonprofits and private enterprise, coupled with a list of items that needed replacing and used joined the Women’s International League for her drive, has made her the face of Boeddeker Friends of Boeddeker Park funding to prompt- Peace and Freedom and became part of the Park. Over the years she’s successfully ly replace those items. If I recall, the list includ- planning for Kid Power Park on Hoff Street arranged for new playground equipment, an ed a carpet for the reading area, books and near 16th Street where she was community artist-designed bulletin board, music perform- sports equipment. garden coordinator until 2010. ances, and art and tai chi classes. She is well- “I don’t know if anyone ever noticed the Recent months have brought a confusing, connected, well-liked, plus she knows where cleaner clubhouse, or new items, but I know shifting park scene for Traynor. On one hand, the city and nonprofit grants are and how to those acts served our community in an impor- Boeddeker is at its lowest point of use. On the land them. She has gotten them from SF tant way.” other, the renovation eventually will bring a Beautiful, the city’s Challenge program, S.F. Traynor’s father was a Muni driver. The stunning open space improvement in the mid- Parks Trust, S.F. Arts Commission and the family lived in Daly City before moving to the dle of the Tenderloin. Unknown is whether Tenderloin CBD. Outer Mission under a rule — new then, but anemic city coffers can recover and restore For months, the park has been open week- discarded years ago — mandating city employ- park staffing. Rec and Park Director Phil days to adults only from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. But ees live in San Francisco. Whichever school Ginsburg has vowed to keep Boeddeker open. it has been opened many weekends because Betty attended, though, her mother was a con- But at what level? Traynor scored grants to cover costs. And stant volunteer. At school functions, even into “We’ll keep meeting while Boeddeker is when Boeddeker fell off the People in Plazas her Mercy High School days, Traynor’s moth- closed,” Traynor says. “We need to work on a list for noonday music concerts a couple of er’s baked-goods booth sold out first and plan for now and for the opening. Maybe we years ago, Traynor had the solution, turning as famously made the most money. need to research other parks, too, and see she often has, to the neighborhood benefit “I guess I learned from that — she got what they’re doing. I don’t want (Boeddeker) district for a grant to bring music back in the involved,” says Traynor, who lives in Jackson to die. And with a possible change of mayors, park. Square, an easy bus ride from the park. “It’s who knows?” hard for me to stop.” Traynor believes a combination of dedicat- PARK CLOSED WEEKENDS Traynor graduated from S.F. State in 1966 ed volunteers and staff can keep the park Former CBD Executive Director Elaine with a biology degree, then did grad work in open, and maybe a nonprofit organization can Zamora, as well as current director, Dina molecular biology at Cal. Grant-funded lab figure in. Hilliard, have been very responsive to Traynor research followed school. When the grants ran “We’ve got to be creative — unless a and Boeddeker. Zamora, now the CBD’s liai- out, she turned to editing medical reports, “It miracle happens with Rec and Park and they son to the Friends group, has known Traynor took me away from lab work,” she says, and can hire staff. People deserve to have six years. for good. Boeddeker.” ■ ✩

NOVEMBER 2011 / CENTRAL CITY EXTRA 5 OBITUARIES

LEROY LOOPER fix a broken window, it was simply parole, they could be placed in a pro- lived there.” Pioneer of supportive housing boarded up. gram at the Cadillac to prepare them Paul said that Mr. Looper taught From City Hall to San Quentin, Kathy Looper and Brad Paul, then for re-entry into society, a key compo- him many surprisingly simple secrets representatives of the community staff of the North of Market Planning nent that Mr. Looper had found miss- to succeeding where so many have cross-section that he’d served gath- Coalition, believe that speculators — ing in his earliest attempts at rehab- failed. One key, Paul said, was the ered at the Cadillac Hotel in early including Don Fisher of the Gap, who bing drug users in New York. For the simple act of pushing a broom. October to honor Leroy Branch also had had a stake in the Cadillac — first month they were at the Cadillac, “People think criminals are crazy,” Looper, whose vision had transformed had bought the hotel in anticipation of Paul said, they couldn’t leave their he said Mr. Looper explained to him. the site from a slated-for-demolition rising real estate values. Zoning ordi- third-floor quarters. In the second “They’re not. They’re businesspeople. relic into a beacon of hope. nances of the time — later revised month, they could leave with a chap- When people are new to town they Mr. Looper, a former addict and after Mr. Looper and Paul, among oth- erone, and so on. Once they had com- look around for where the city is convict who dedicated himself to ers, made it an issue — allowed for pleted job training, found employment telling them it’s OK to operate. Vacant helping others, died Sept. 11, three much bigger buildings and in theory, and reconnected with their families, storefronts, graffiti and trash” do just days after passing out in his chair at the hotel could eventually be demol- Kathy Looper said, they could be that, he said. McCormick and Kuleto’s restaurant, ished and replaced with much bigger paroled. “When he first took over the just after he’d made a speech. He — thus pricier — properties, as had The program ran successfully, Cadillac, he got a big push broom. was 86. occurred in what is now the Yerba Paul said, until its funding was cut The dealers moved down the street.” Former Mayors Dianne Feinstein Buena area South of the Slot. But the early in the Reagan years. “People They’d return in a few hours, so Mr. and Art Agnos sent huge floral Cadillac was going to seed, and the who graduated from the ex-offender Looper then began hosing down the displays. Mayor Lee, program stayed on,” Paul sidewalk. That would keep them away Tenderloin police Capt. said. Meanwhile, seniors, for a few more hours. Before long, Joe Garrity, Supervisors too, were living in the Paul said, merchants up and down the Bevan Dufty and Malia building as it was gradual- block were following suit and things Cohen, Assemblyman Tom ly renovated, including started improving. Ammiano, state Demo- the restoration of its origi- “He understood that was more cratic Party Chair John nal façade, with labor important than having one more Burton, a bunch of musi- from the ex-offender, police cruiser.” cians who’d performed at VISTA and CETA jobs pro- As if the Cadillac Hotel wasn’t the “Concerts at the grams, according to Kathy enough, the Loopers also in the late Cadillac” series, men Mr. Looper, Paul and EXIT ’70s took on the Chateau Laura, a Looper had helped transi- Theatre’s Richard Livings- mental health facility housed in an tion from prison, friends ton, then Reality House aging mansion on the corner of and family filled the hotel administrator. Guerrero and Liberty streets in the lobby to overflowing as “If you live in an Mission. In a 1987 profile in the New they reminisced about Mr. apartment in the Tender- Yorker magazine, writer Bill Barich Looper’s remarkable life loin, you’re pretty much chronicled how the Loopers — Mr. story. alone,” said Paul, who Looper and Kathy had a son and Mr. Looper rose from lived in the Cadillac for 3½ daughter, and he had two sons from a a child of the underworld years. “Of all the places previous marriage — lived in the to become a leader in I’ve lived in my life — and Chateau, which they renamed Agape efforts to lift others from there were many — it was after their daughter, while caring for such circumstances, using where I felt most welcome their schizophrenic clients. his hard-earned street and safest. You felt like Kathy Looper says that, as they smarts to educate better- there was always some- aged, the Loopers were less able to credentialed social work- body that had your back.” personally perform the many chores ers in how that world EXIT Theatre staged associated with running Chateau actually works. its first production, “Lives Agape. So they turned its operation “Leroy had a charmed and Loves of the Gibbs over to the city, which promptly life,” said Kathy Looper, Sisters,” in the lobby of tripled the staffing levels, she said. his wife of 39 years. He the hotel in late 1983, When a client broke the no-smoking was “a man who changed Livingston said, an exam- rules and a fire broke out, it ulti- destiny in a lot of ways, ple of how Mr. Looper mately spelled the end of Chateau not only his own but oth- encouraged community Agape. ers’ as well.” development. Mr. Looper’s autobiography, Mr. Looper’s 1976 pur- “He increased commu- which can be found online, tells of his chase and subsequent P HOTO: COURTESY L OOPER F AMILY nity services by giving formative years during the Great Leroy Branch Looper conversion of Eddy Street’s them cheap rent in the Depression, when he lived in run-down Cadillac Hotel Cadillac,” Paul said. “He Washington, D.C., and learned first- into a supportive housing facility may anticipated real estate boom had not was all about using the building to hand the ways of bootleggers, num- prove to be his most significant and arrived on Eddy Street. build back the lives of the people who bers runners, pimps, prostitutes and lasting accomplishment, though there As Paul tells it, Foggy asked Mr. lived there and rebuilding the neigh- the people who cared for them, too — were many more. Looper how much money he had to borhood.” most specifically, his beloved Aunt In New York in the early 1960s, he buy the building, and was told, “None! Mr. Looper put a Sizzler restaurant Carrie. founded Reality House, a drug detox You’re bleeding money. I’m not going in a Cadillac storefront and the Police “More than anything, I wanted to and rehabilitation facility free to to pay you for it, I’m just going to take Athletic League took over what had be a credit to my race,” Mr. Looper addicts. Kathy Looper said that until over your mortgage.” been Newman’s Gym there, Paul said, wrote. Reality House, drug programs were Kathy Looper recalls that the mort- “like something out of a 1930 Jimmy Mr. Looper was in reform school available only to whites. Mr. Looper gage, in fact, was $325,000, but that Cagney movie.” When a new manager for petty theft when he was 8, went to left New York and opened Reality the price came to $525,000 as Foggy sought to commercialize the space jail and prison for drug possession and House West in San Francisco’s paid all the bills for the first two years and limit its accessibility, Mr. Looper sales in his 20s, and eventually Fillmore District in 1968. after the Loopers took control. “He showed him the door. Nowadays, the weaned himself from heroin in his “There was no other program like really went out of his way to be of space, which had previously also been 30s, while living in New York City. In Reality House, there were no commu- help to us,” she said, “He’s a hero in a restaurant and ballroom, is occupied doing so, he discovered that for many nity-run drug treatment centers,” said this story.” by the Head Start day care center. leaving heroin, himself included, alco- Kathy Looper, who was an S.F. State “The timing was perfect,” says the Kathy Looper blamed the Sizzler’s hol proves to be a new challenge. He student seeking school credits while Tenderloin Housing Clinic’s Randy ultimate failure on changes in the returned to New York’s Riker’s Island the campus was closed during the stu- Shaw, who calls Mr. Looper his men- neighborhood after the 1989 earth- prison in a new capacity, as a coun- dent strike when she met her future tor. “1977 was also the year of the quake, but in its day it provided selor to inmates. husband at Reality House West. International Hotel, the demolitions of dozens of jobs and “a great meal for a Mr. Looper’s activities and accom- Mr. Looper recalled some of his SROs South of Market … the Cadillac great price,” she said. plishments were perhaps too many to struggles to get Reality House rolling became an important model” for the Rev. Glenda Hope had a comput- be entirely recounted, but among oth- in a fascinating autobiography he concept of supportive housing. er training center there and the ers, he co-founded the Concerned wrote in the late ’70s that described, “Supportive housing didn’t be - Vietnamese Youth Development Business Persons, the Tenderloin for instance, a shootout with a neigh- come a term until the mid- to late- Center got its start at the Cadillac, too. AIDS Network, YouthBuild S.F. and boring group of Black Panthers. ’80s,” Paul said. “Residential hotels A donated 1884 Steinway grand piano YouthBuild U.S.A., the Tenderloin “Leroy was an incredibly persistent were associated with flop houses or sits in the lobby today and attracts Crime Abatement Committee, San man, and if something didn’t work he slums.” musicians for regular no-cost concerts. Francisco Alive’s Tenderloin Cleanup tried something else,” Kathy Looper For a few years, Mr. Looper had a “Leroy was one of the first to Committee and the Tenderloin said, and described a “handshake contract with the Bureau of Prisons for organize activities,” Paul said. “This is Community Fund. Paul also cited Mr. deal” struck in 1976 with Cadillac “keeping the foxes with the hens,” the model for supportive housing. A Looper’s role in the Corporation for owner John Foggy after Mr. Looper Kathy Looper says. “Who would think lot of it is old residential hotels fixed Supportive Housing, the Tenants had told Foggy he wanted Reality of putting prisoners in with senior cit- up ... the Senator, the Iroquois, how Association in the Cadillac, work with House to become self-sufficient. izens?” But, at the Cadillac, she said, they’re laid out and staffed. Glide and St. Anthony’s and NOMPC. Foggy operated the Cadillac Hotel at “It worked. They took care of each “He was an amazing guy,” Paul Besides his wife, Kathy, and chil- the time, but the hotel was deteriorat- other, ’cause they’re both wounded.” said. “One of the most unforgettable dren Camlo, Esan, Malik and Agape, ing. Only about 40 of its more than “Technically, it was a federal people I ever met. He had so much Mr. Looper leaves eight grandchil- 150 rooms were being rented. If a prison,” Paul explained. The deal was, knowledge and passion and cared dren. ■ room needed any repair, even just to as convicts got to within 90 days of so much about the people who — MARK HEDIN

6 CENTRAL CITY EXTRA / NOVEMBER 2011 OBITUARIES

LONNIE BOWLEN Financial District. He gave the robbers Reversal of fortune all his money but they beat him badly Lonnie Bowlen liked good food anyway. He was out of work for a cou- and good clothes and, with his job as ple of months. His employer refused to a legal documents printer in the hire him back. Mr. Bowlen tried and Financial District, he could afford tried — he didn’t want charity, just his them. job, he said. But it was no go. At age 16, when Mr. Bowlen left Then Mr. Bowlen couldn’t make his Baytown, Texas, home for San his rent. He became despondent and Francisco, the city of his dreams, he walked away from it all, leaving every- was determined to make good. His thing behind, his daughter said. He OTEL O’Farrell Street apartment was the evi- was on the street and homeless. One H dence — it had a fine stereo, tons of day he took a bad fall, fracturing his CDs, a handsome dining room set, hip and shoulder. By then, he hadn’t been in touch with his daughter for candle holders, two chocolate ORONADO Siamese cats, an abstract painting, four years. C and, near the windows, hanging crys- A social worker visited Mr. tals waiting for the right light to daz- Bowlen in St. Francis hospital. The zle. Topping it off, Mr. Bowlen had a worker found Shalena on Facebook COURTESY favorite visitor, the love of his life, his and wrote to her what had happened. : daughter Shalena from his seven-year The daughter contacted her grand- HOTOS marriage. mother, Ann Thoms, Mr. Bowlen’s P Mr. Bowlen’s job fueled his mid- mother-in-law who divides her time dle-class lifestyle. He loved working, between Novato and Tucson. Thoms Lonnie Bowlen and daughter Shalena, left, and didn’t miss a day in 20 years nor was said that after her daughter’s divorce Bowlen (inset) after his fall. he ever late, his daughter said before Mr. Bowlen didn’t see Shalena for sev- his Sept. 15 memorial at the Coronado eral years until she and her mother suffered from gastro-intestinal prob- was a very good person.” Stringer Hotel where he had lived 14 months. were living in Rohnert Park. Then lems, staff said. He was 54. said. “He was strong in many ways. Shalena, with her mother, Pamela Shalena reunited with her father in At the memorial, his SRO friends He knew all kinds of people and got Stringer, had driven down for the serv- San Francisco and the visits began. among the 14 mourners said what a along with everyone. He didn’t like it ice from Oregon, where they both “She was the happiest part of his nice guy he was, always smiled and when people got treated wrong. But live. She said as a teenager visits to life,” Thoms said. said hello. One man said to Shalena, then, as the older Lonnie, he got quiet. her father were fun-filled with trips to After Mr. Bowlen’s fall, Thoms was “He really loved you.” Carmel Dula, I don’t know where that turning point Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 and Macy’s the only family member to visit him in property manager, said, “He was truly came.” on Union Square. He bought her gifts the hospital. She said he asked her, a model tenant.” Shalena Bowlen, now 27 and an and treated her to visits to beauty par- “Do you think I’ll ever get to work Three color photos of Mr. Bowlen elementary school teaching assistant lors. “He didn’t wait for birthdays,” she again?” in his apartment from a dozen years in McMinnville, Ore., said afterward said. “He was just thoughtful and gen- After Mr. Bowlen recovered, the ago were framed on a table with a she hadn’t had the means to visit her erous, regardless of what he had or worker got him into the Coronado, half-dozen candles. One shows him father and had not seen him in five didn’t have.” July 26, 2010. The hotel provides smiling under his bushy black mus- years, but she had fond memories of She was wearing two handsome housing and support services to 65 tache, sitting next to his happy her San Francisco visits. rings he had given her, unpolished formerly homeless people referred teenage daughter. “He had three windows in his dark stones in silver settings, perhaps, through the Human Services Agency. Mr. Bowlen had problems as a apartment and hanging pieces of she suggested, reflecting a style from On Sept. 8, 2011, Clarence Johnson, child and as an adult, his mother-in- stained glass and crystals,” she said. his one-quarter Cherokee lineage. a case worker, found Mr. Bowlen dead law and ex-wife said at the memorial, “At a certain time of day, the room About three years ago, Mr. Bowlen on the floor of his hotel room. Cause of but they wanted them kept private. was filled with rainbows.” ■ was mugged after work in the death wasn’t known, but Mr. Bowlen “He had a very difficult life but he — TOM CARTER

City and County of San Francisco November 2011 VOTE November 8, 2011 Municipal Election Department of Elections 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 48 San Francisco, CA 94102 Want to make Phone: (415) 554-4375 Fax: (415) 554-7344 TTY: (415) 554-4386 Website: www.sfelections.org For questions about voter registration and vote-by-mail voting, (415) 554-4411 For election results on Election Night, (415) 554-4375 or this website a difference? For information about polling places and ADA issues, (415) 554-4551 BE PREPARED In a major disaster, it might be several days before vital services are restored. Use the information on the 72 Hours website to be prepared. www.72hours.org Join us! Dept. of the Environment Imagine you’re warm and cozy this winter, and your energy bill doesn't break the bank. SFEnvironment is now offering up to $11,000 for home energy upgrades. If your home is drafty The North of Market/Tenderloin Community Benefit and your energy bills are too high, contact one of our participating contractors to get a home assessment and fi nd out how you can get up to $11,000 to cover the cost of your upgrade. Visit www.sfenvironment.org/sfhip to fi nd a participating contractor. District works to make the Tenderloin a cleaner and Port of San Francisco safer neighborhood for all. As-needed Real Estate Economics and Planning Services RFQ: The Port is seeking to qualify a pool of as-needed consulting teams with expertise in the following fi ve core areas: real estate Get involved with us: economics, site and master planning, urban design and architecture, historic preservation, and transportation planning. Successful respondents must have experience working with ports, municipalities, or similar government agencies in specialized fi elds, and be familiar • Join our Board Meetings (all meetings are open with San Francisco’s waterfront and its regulatory environment, including local, regional, and state regulations affecting waterfront development. Please visit http://www.sfport.com/index. to the public), aspx?page=18, http://sfgsa.org/index.aspx?page=359, or contact Linda Battaglia at Linda. [email protected]. WIC Can Help You • Join our Board of Directors (property owners, The San Francisco Department of Public Health Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) business owners, and residents), or Supplemental Nutrition Program offers benefi ts to low income pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, postpartum mothers and women with recent pregnancy terminations; infants and children under the age of 5 years. Benefi ts include nutrition, breastfeeding education and support, • Join our Committees (Public Rights supplemental foods and referral services. WIC staff speaks English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Cambodian. For of Way, District Identity & more information, please call (415) 575-5788. WIC is an equal opportunity provider. Streetscape Improvement, or San Francisco Airport Commission Community Advisory Board) The Airport Commission has commenced the RFP process for the Retail Development Program, Phase II Lease, for retail locations at San Francisco International Airport. The Informational Conference is 10:00 a.m., November 16, 2011, at SFO, International Terminal, Aviation Museum. Written comments and recommendations will be accepted until 12:00 p.m., 11/30/2011. For more information contact Please see http://www.fl ysfo.com/web/page/about/b2b/conces/ for additional information or call Mr. Tomasi Toki at (650) 821-4500. Dina Hilliard 415-292-4812 or San Francisco Arts Commission [email protected] On Tuesday, November 8 the public is encouraged to head down to U.N. Plaza where they can enjoy delicious bites courtesy of Off the Grid and shake a tail feather to live Haitian drumming and dance with the Afoutayi Dance Company. The free performances and dance lesson will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. Audience participation is strongly encouraged! For more information All meeting and committee visit: sfartscommission.org/artery information is available on The City and County of San Francisco encourage public outreach. Articles are translated into several languages to provide better public access. The newspaper makes every effort to translate our website: nom-tlcbd.org the articles of general interest correctly. No liability is assumed by the City and County of San Francisco or the newspapers for errors and omissions. CNS#2196689

NOVEMBER 2011 / CENTRAL CITY EXTRA 7 COMMUNITY CALENDAR SPECIAL EVENT COMMUNITY: REGULAR SCHEDULE Central Market Community Benefit District, board meets 2nd Tuesday of the month, Hotel Whitcomb, 1231 Market St., 3 p.m. Holiday Party, Dec. 6, 6-9 p.m., Swig Bar, 561 Geary St. Awards HOUSING Information: 882-3088, http://central-market.org. ceremony, refreshments, door prizes and special guests spon- Supportive Housing Network, 3rd Thursday of the month, 3-5 p.m., Friends of Boeddeker Park, 2nd Thursday of the month, 3:30 p.m., sored by Alliance for a Better District 6, Central City Democrats Dorothy Day Community, 54 McAllister. Call: 421-2926 x304. Boeddeker Rec Center, 240 Eddy St. Plan park events, activities and North of Market Business Association. More info: 820-1560. Tenant Associations Coalition of San Francisco, 1st Wednesday of and improvements. Contact Betty Traynor, 931-1126. ARTS EVENTS the month, noon, 201 Turk St., Community Room. Contact Michael Gene Friend Recreation Center Advisory Board, 3rd Thursday of Nulty, 339-8327. Resident unity, leadership training. the month, 5 p.m. Works to protect SoMa resources for all residents. Latin Night at U.N. Plaza, Nov. 3, 5-6:30 p.m., Live Latin salsa Gene Friend Rec Center, 270 Sixth St. Info: Tim Figueras, 554-9532. music with Teddy Strong’s T-Mambo Band, salsa lessons, and HEALTH AND MENTAL HEALTH North of Market/Tenderloin Community Benefit District. Full board Cuban-style dance instructors Ryan Mead and Sidney Weaverling CBHS Consumer Council, 3rd Monday of the month, 5-7 p.m., 1380 meets 3rd Monday at noon. Call 292-4812 for location or check of Rueda Con Ritmo. Reception at 6:30 p.m. Mirtille, 87 Howard St., room 537, 255-3695. Consumer advisers from self-help nom-tlcbd.org. McAllister St., with free wine, beer and appetizers. Info: groups and mental health consumer advocates. Public welcome. DanceonMarket.com. Health & Wellness Action Advocates, 1st Tuesday of the SoMa Community Stabilization Fund Advisory Committee, 3rd month, 5-7 p.m., Mental Health Association, 870 Market St., Suite Thursday of the month, 5:30 p.m., 1 South Van Ness, 2nd floor. Hospitality House’s 8th Annual Art for the House auction and Info: Claudine del Rosario 749-2519. sale, Nov. 18, 6-10 p.m., 839 Larkin. One-of-a-kind pieces from 928. 421-2926 x306. South of Market Project Area Committee Housing Subcommittee, Shooting Gallery artists, artists in the Community Arts Program Healthcare Action Team, 2nd Wednesday of the month, 1010 1st Wednesday of the month, bimonthly 6 p.m., 1035 Folsom St. and others. Free, open to the public, with complimentary wine, Mission St., Bayanihan Community Center, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Health, Safety and Human Services Committee 1st Wednesday after beer, soft drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Info: Daniel Hlad, 749-2184 Focus on increasing supportive home services, expanded eligibility the 1st Monday bimonthly, 1035 Folsom, 6 p.m. 487-2166 or or [email protected] for home care, improved discharge planning. Light lunch. Call James Chionsini, 703-0188 x304. www.sompac.com. Mental Health Board, 2nd Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8:30 Tenderloin Futures Collaborative, 3rd Wednesday of the month, p.m., City Hall, room 278. CBHS advisory committee, open to the 11 a.m.-noon, Tenderloin Police Community Room, 301 Eddy. public. Call: 255-3474. Presentations on issues of interest to neighborhood residents, nonprofits and businesses. Information: 928-6209. National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-S.F., 3rd Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Family Service Agency, 1010 Gough St., Tenderloin Neighborhood Association, 2nd Friday of the month, 5th Fl. Call: 905-6264. Family member group, open to the public. 842 Geary St., 5 p.m. Nonprofit focuses on health and wellness activities to promote neighborly interactions. Info: SAFETY [email protected]. Neighborhood Emergency Response Team Training (NERT). SENIORS AND DISABLED Central city residents can take the S.F. Fire Department’s free disaster preparedness and response training at neighborhood Mayor’s Disability Council, 3rd Friday of the month, 1-3 p.m., locations. www.sfgov.org/sffdnert, or Lt. Arteseros, 970-2022. City Hall, room 400. Call: 554-6789. Open to the public. SoMa Police Community Relations Forum, Senior Action Network, general meeting, 2nd Thursday of the 4th Monday of the month, 6-7:30 p.m. Location varies. To receive month, 9 a.m.-noon, Universal Unitarian Church, 1187 Franklin St. ICKEY

H monthly email info: 538-8100 x202. Monthly programs, 965 Mission St. #700: Senior Housing Action Committee, 3rd Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. Call for health program and Tenderloin Police Station Community Meeting, last Tuesday of Senior University: 546-1333 and www.sfsan.org.

ATRICK the month, 6 p.m., police station Community Room, 301 Eddy St. P Call Susa Black, 345-7300. Neighborhood safety. DISTRICT 6 SUPERVISOR NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENT Jane Kim Chair of Rules Committee, member of Budget & Finance HOTO BY

P Alliance for a Better District 6, 1st Wednesday of the month, Com mittee and Transportation Authority. 6 p.m., 230 Eddy St. Contact Michael Nulty, 820-1560 or Sidney Weaverling and Ryan Mead, dance Legislative Aides: Matthias Mormino and Viva Mogi. [email protected], a districtwide improvement instructors from Rueda Con Ritmo, perform Nov. 3 association. [email protected], 554-7970 at Latin Night at U.N. Plaza.

8 CENTRAL CITY EXTRA / NOVEMBER 2011