Volume 26 • Number 9 November 2013 Why is the City Giving Water Main Fixed But Promises Unresolved AT&T a $4.2 Million By Keith Burbank esidents seem pleased with the Tax Break? road and sewer repairs after February’s water main break at Rth By John Farrell 15 Avenue and Wawona Street. But at aming Rights are a major least two families are upset about prop- source of income for Ball- erty claims the City won’t pay. Nparks and Stadiums. What are “Overall, it seems the City has done a these naming rights worth? In the case good job of fixing the damaged pipe and of the 49er’s new stadium in Santa Clara, the related infrastructure, but has done a Levi Strauss & Co recently entered into poor job of keeping the promises made a naming-rights agreement for a 20-year, $220 million to us about getting compensated (for) deal with a $11 million annual payment. the damages to our property,” said Tuyen Did you know naming rights are subject to property Truong, who with his family is leasing a th tax when they are located on government owned prop- home on 15 Avenue. erty? When I worked in the Assessor’s Office years ago, Another resident, who wished to Workers clean up in the early morning hours after the broken water mainspilled into 15th Avenue and Wawona remain anonymous, said the flood caused his sewer to collapse. “Since the flood, The Assessor’s Office should Long Lost Manzanita Brings Newfound Problems the bath, showers and toilets have been appraise AT&T’s nam- draining under our slab. I had an envi- By George Wooding ing rights at the Ball Park as of ronmental test completed on the ground Westside neighbors are concerned floor slab and it checked positive (for) transfer date in 2006 and issue a rare manzanita plant will have a pro- coliform bacteria.” escape assessments found impact on neighborhood habi- He and his family are now living in a back to 2006 result- tats and uses. rented house because their home is unin- In 2009, a 14-foot wide Arcto- habitable, he said. The City “couldn’t care ing in $4.2 million to staphylos franciscana (Franciscan less.” He obtained estimates to repair the the City and at least manzanita) — a plant thought to be home, but the City offered to pay only $525,000 annually.” extinct in the wild for the last 60 years — was discovered in the Presi- one half the cost. “My little girls lived in a dio during the 2009 Doyle Drive rebuild. It was deemed to be the last sewer for seven months.” He now pays a we were the first in the State of California to value nam- wild Franciscan manzanita and immediately labeled a genetically-unique mortgage and rent. ing rights for 3Com when they were at Candlestick Park plant that needed to be saved. Hollow all the way down along In response, the SFPUC issued a from 1995 to 2002. Flash forward to 2013. In just O’Shaughnessy Boulevard, and statement that said some homes had pre- The Giants Ballpark was completed in 2000, and four years, 424 plants genetically includes all of the open space existing problems. The commission is subsequently appraised at the cost approach in 2003. identical to the Franciscan manzanita known as Reservoir Lands at Glen helping residents restore homes to pre- Naming rights were never valued. In 2000, Pacific found in the Doyle Drive construc- Park, which has trails currently incident conditions. Bell paid $45 million for naming rights over 25 years, tion site have been propagated via accessible on Marietta Drive. In support of the City’s efforts, resi- which was subsequently transferred to AT&T in 2006. cuttings, according to Betty Young, The designation of 3.2 acres dent Avrum Shepard said he is “pretty If valued accordingly, AT&T should be paying the City director of nurseries for the Golden of private property directly below well satisfied” with the City’s response. at least $525,000 annually (based on a 1.1691% tax rate Gate National Parks Conservancy, Marietta Drive as critical habitat The mayor set up an office on West Portal on a $45 million assessed value). The Assessor’s Office who is coordinating the effort. has been controversial. The back- Avenue, and Supervisor Yee got involved can go back 4 years and even longer since AT&T’s nam- On September 5, 2012 the U.S. yards of 22 homes on Marietta right away. But, Shepard was not person- ing rights agreement is unrecorded. Therefore, AT&T Fish and Wildlife Service issued its Drive are now designated as ally affected by the flooding, he said. should receive tax bills for approximately $4.2 million, proposed designation of 11 areas Cont. p. 7 The City paid $1.5 million for the reflecting 8 years of benefits for the naming rights. in San Francisco as critical habi- installation of a new eight inch residential Why is San Francisco giving AT&T a $4.2 million tat for the endangered manzanita water distribution pipe, a new sewer main, tax break? AT&T’s naming rights are subject to prop- plant. That proposed designation additional catch basins, and a “completely erty tax but were never valued by the Assessor’s Office. includes part of Mt. Davidson. demolished and reconstructed” road, said The Assessor’s Office should appraise AT&T’s naming Critical habitats are places where Alison Kastama, regional communica- rights at the Ball Park as of transfer date in 2006 and issue endangered plants are either tions liaison, San Francisco Public Utili- escape assessments back to 2006 resulting in $4.2 mil- known to have existed in the past, ties Commission (SFPUC). lion to the City and at least $525,000 annually. Everyone Kastama said the the City installed or are places that provide what a th should pay their fair share. plant needs to survive. the new eight inch pipe along 15 Avenue By June 28, 2013 the Fish and from the 2600 block to West Portal Ave- John Farrell Broker/Realtor® – Farrell Real Estate, MBA, nue and along the 400 block of Wawona Former Assistant Assessor-Budget and Special Projects, Wildlife Service designated 318 acres in San Francisco as critical Street. The new pipe replaces an older six City and County of San Francisco, 5th Generation San inch pipe, Kastama said. Franciscan, Westside resident habitat for the plant. Critical Habitat vs. Eminent Domain To improve drainage in the area, the th One of the new critical area intersection of 15 Avenue and Wawona habitats for the manzanita plant Street has additional catch basins, now includes the area along Mari- totaling six, Kastama said. And the road Dialysis Victory Four Blind Props Cont. p. 6 P Monette-Shaw – 3 Quentin Kopp – 3 etta Drive facing O’Shaughnessy Westside Observer Interview Not a Drop to Drink RHINO Trouble A Chat With Captain Curtis Lum Steve Lawrence – 4 Will Durst – 4 Taraval Station Ranks Lowest in Crime in the City Will Ethics Cough? Hidden Gems – 6 By Keith Burbank Earthquake Shacks WSO: How did Taraval Station get to be the station with the Editorial – 4 lowest crime rate in San Francisco? (According to the latest Comstat Around the Town Report, the crime rate in the Taraval District was 18.21 crimes per Central Council 1,000 people for the month ending September 2013. The rate includes Keith Burbank – 7 Mitch Bull – 11 property crimes and violent crimes.) Lum: It’s a combination of things. mostly residential. There Whistleblowers. .6 Jack Kaye . 14 One, we have some pretty good offi- are some commercial cor- Money Matters . .8 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. 15 cers out here. And to be an officer ridors. But, it’s generally Senior Smarts . .8 Remember When . 16 at a slower station, you have to look residential. Our crime rate is Around the Town . 11 Open Late . 16 for crime. You don’t just walk out the based on the population, the Calendar. 12 Sudoku / Brain Füd . 16 door and see the guy smoking crack amount of crime per 1,000 captain. So, when I came here that’s Real Travel . 19 Kocivar / Education . 17 or committing a robbery right out- people. So because we have a lot of one thing that I noticed. So, I don’t At the Movies . 13 Winetime . 17 side your door. You have to hunt it people, your crime rate is low. If we know how it was before. Because I On Stage/Theater . 13 Real Estate Q & A. 17 down. You have to go to areas where were really dense, and had a very low only started tracking things when I you think crime is occurring. So, population, and had same number came here. that’s one thing, the officers are good. of crimes, your crime rate would be WSO: How long have you been Award-winning Journalism The other thing. Geographically, high. So that’s how it works. captain at Taraval Station? we are big. We’re the largest police WSO: Are you typically the dis- Lum: I’ve been here for about in the Neighborhood district in San Francisco. 10.8 square trict with the lowest crime rate? two years and eight months. westsideobserver.com miles. So that’s really big. We’re also Lum: This is my first station as a Cont. p. 5 Page 2 November 2013 LIGHTS DIM. SNOW FALLS. A uniquely San Francisco Nutcracker. DEC 11–29 Ask about our five Family Performances featuring: Gifts for the first 500 children Sweet treats for everyone at intermission, courtesy of Miette Photo opportunities with costumed characters* *Photos available for 30 minutes only, one hour prior to curtain.