Reopening news More online News Briefs reports on big Muni changes. p. 2 Expanded real estate Leslie Drapkin reveals how shops and restaurants are interview, the Coastal springing back to life on Union Street. p. 6 Commuter, and more. Liz Farrell looks at school in the age of Covid. p. 10 marinatimes.com MARINATIMES.COM CELEBRATING OUR 36TH YEAR VOLUME 36 ISSUE 8 AUGUST 2020 R R Opinion The city family is a Machiavellian tragedy As the FBI picks off his protégés, will Willie Brown’s luck run out? BY SUSAN DYER REYNOLDS But never, ever do you abuse your power for personal gain. The reasons are twofold. One, it’s wrong. And two, you’re going to get caught. From left: Skippy Warren, bass; Henry “Cowboy” Noyd, drums; Jerome Richardson, and Pony Poindexter on — Willie Brown in his Feb. 1 San Francisco Chronicle stage at Bop City, 1950s. PHOTO: STEVE JACKSON JR. column “Willie’s World,” after the arrest of former protégé and DPW boss Mohammed Nuru San Francisco’s Fillmore jazz scene revisited S , C A- tor Naomi Kelly unceremoniously fired director of BY SHARON ANDERSON referred to as the Fillmore District. gave birth to the San Francisco jazz Animal Care and Control Rebecca Katz for “not After the earthquake and fire of scene of the 1940s and 1950s as Ibeing a team player,” I wrote a column called “It’s still ust west of San Francisco’s City 1906, the neighborhood changed described in Harlem of The West Willie Brown’s town: Personal politics run amuck at City Hall is a neighborhood that has forever. It became a financial and by Elizabeth Pepin Silva and Lewis Hall.” I interviewed numerous San Francisco employees Jhad many names over the years. retail center, a melting pot that Watts. The story is constructed as who had nothing bad to say about Katz, and nothing First, the Western Addition, and included Japanese, Pilipino, Hispan- a conversational history consisting good to say about Kelly, or about her husband, San then after large Victorian mansions ic, African American, Russian, and of anecdotes from people who were Francisco Public Utilities Commission general manager were constructed, the 20-square Jewish populations living together. there, giving it the intimacy of a Harlan Kelly Jr. blocks around Fillmore Street were This rich cultural environment later ANDERSON, continued on 8 REYNOLDS RAP, continued on 4 D 3 S M S ... F lized circles, even if there’s more true The future of families equality and respect to be achieved. That being the case, it’s rather seren- Why it should matter to all of us dipitous to see a pair of new movies that illustrate the struggle for female BY AARON PESKIN empowerment in two radically dif- ferent milieus, and — Minerva be ’ praised — they are both directed by amplifying the struggles of families and their chil- women. dren throughout the district and the city during Ithis endless Covid-19 pandemic. The shutdown has ‘RADIOACTIVE’ highlighted deep inequities in our society, especially For the most part, Radioactive is a in our education and childcare systems. We should scrupulously produced period bio-pic all be worried about how this pandemic is impacting about Marie Curie that reveals crucial our kids. moments in her life as a revolution- Back in April, my office organized a meeting ary anomaly — a female scientist, with all the San Francisco Unified School District specifically a physicist and chemist, (SFUSD) school social workers and family liaisons in the 19th century. The Polish-born working on the front lines with families in District Parisian-dwelling Madame Curie, Irène Curie (Indica Watson ) with her mother, Marie Curie (Rosamund 3 schools. The stories relayed of parents battling played as sturdy and determined by Pike), at a Parisian sidewalk cafe in isolation, the digital divide, food insecurity, inad- Radioactive. British actress Rosamund Pike (Gone PHOTO COURTESY OF AMAZON STUDIOS equate health care and a lack of culturally compe- Girl, Jack Reacher), was under con- tent communication from the school district was stant pressure, despite the love and heartbreaking. Last month, SFUSD confirmed Sisters in rock and research unwavering support of her husband that schools will begin the school year with dis- and fellow scientist Pierre Curie (Sam tance learning and, with the predictions of a fall Pioneers get their moment in the spotlight Riley). Then, Pierre met an untimely surge of Covid cases, we can assume that distance demise, shattering Marie Curie and learning will continue until at least the end of the BY MICHAEL SNYDER men. Now, decades after the femi- leaving their two daughters fatherless. calendar year. Given SFUSD’s flat-footed rollout of nist movement brought the battle for Belittled by colleagues as the only distance learning last semester and lack of prepara- , women’s rights into the mainstream, woman among them, Curie sol- tion for this semester, here are some requests I’m isn’t easy being a pioneer, things appear to be genuinely chang- diered on. The fact that the Curies hearing from parents and teachers for all of us to and historically, it’s been even ing for the better. Old biases and proved the existence of what Marie think about and make happen: Rtougher for women to blaze new systemic male chauvinism seem to Curie named “radioactivity,” shar- SUPERVISOR, continued on 2 paths in fields long dominated by be falling by the wayside in civi- SNYDER, continued on 8 Supervisor ming to combat learning loss, SFUSD continued from cover leadership must work with teachers and the city to implement year-round learn- CONNECTIVITY ing so students of all learning levels can Announcements were made in March catch up. that SFUSD would be partnering with Comcast to provide personal WiFi hotspots CREATIVE REPURPOSING OF THE in high-need neighborhoods, as well as PUBLIC REALM Chromebooks. Months later, the maps While we’ve had success with shared of confirmed deployments are still not spaces programming to enable struggling public and many parents complained they small businesses to partially reopen, pub- were notified of their allotted Chrome- lic space must be reimagined with youth book pick-ups only the day before for and children in mind, especially with play- locations outside of their neighborhood. grounds and many daycares closed. At Principals have also complained that the public sites like Joe DiMaggio Playground district’s technology plan changes day to and Francisco Middle School, SFUSD and day and it’s impossible to communicate the city must work together to reimagine clear and consistent messages to parents. possibilities for outdoor recreation and This is unacceptable. The communities outdoor learning. I’m also pushing for our at Francisco and Marina Middle Schools libraries to reinstate a schedule for curb- and Gordon J. Lau, Edwin and Anita Lee, side checkout of books so that children Jean Parker, John Yehall Chin, Spring Val- have options to learn offline. ley, Redding, and Tenderloin Elementary Schools need tailored and consistent tech- LISTEN TO TEACHERS nology plans and a commitment that they If you didn’t already recognize that will continue through shelter in place, teachers are undervalued and underpaid, regardless of what decisions SFUSD makes Covid-19 should be a wake-up call on the later. The city has continually offered to critical role of schools in our community. help with resources because we must work On top of educating our children, schools together to keep our families and children provide meals, therapy, and social and connected during this intensely rough physical development for our children, patch. In this richest of cities, kids should food pantries for families, and are the not be competing for learning time with primary frontline for mandatory reporters other siblings and parents working from who protect our children. Many teachers home, let alone without access to technol- have expressed fear and anxiety about ogy at all. returning to school without the proper safety protocols and protections in place, NEEDS ASSESSMENTS AND CLEAR particularly with vulnerable family mem- COMMUNICATION bers at home. The United Educators of San When SFUSD announced town halls to Francisco teachers’ union will soon release elicit feedback from the community last its own recommendations, and SFUSD month, Chinese families and Latinx par- should work with them to implement its ents in my district were given a robocall recommendations. and a newsletter blast to let them know a week and a half before the meeting. They INVEST IN OUR SCHOOLS: VOTE IN were told they would need to utilize three NOVEMBER apps simultaneously to access the presen- There will be two measures on our tation from the school board president ballot that are critical to the success of and the superintendent: Zoom, YouTube, our schools. The Schools and Commu- and a new app, Thought Exchange, which nities First Act will reform California’s SFUSD was still working on a tutorial for Proposition 13 loophole that has allowed the day before the Chinese-language town corporations to forgo paying upward of hall. One of the single biggest concerns $12 billion a year to our underfunded that I’m hearing is the lack of culturally public schools. In addition, here in San We Buy and Sell competent outreach and consistent com- Francisco we will try again to pass a par- munication. As SFUSD tailors distance cel tax to pay our teachers a living wage. Rolex Watches learning by age group, they must also tai- Finally, four seats are open on the San lor learning by need, including language Francisco School Board and you will have Jewelry access, family constraints, and preexisting a chance to challenge candidates to be learning challenges — even if that means the strongest advocates they can for our Coins doing a one-on-one assessment with every kids.