Quint St vacation hearing

Closing the street beneath the Quint St Caltrain bridge (known as "vacating" the street) is required so that they can begin the process of replacing the bridge with a permanent earthen berm.  To close a city street requires legislation passed by the Board of Supervisors.  The final hearing for the Quint Street vacation is tomorrow afternoon in the City Hall Legislative Chamber (Room 250) at 3.00 PM.

Here is the agenda: http://www.sfbos.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/bosagendas/agendas/2014/bag060314.pdf

The Quint Street bridge is item #31: https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=3109491&GUID=2A155048-60F9-4CFF-8B09-07A0F49549BB

31.140454 [Hearing - Street Vacation Order - Quint Street Railroad Crossing Improvement Project - Quint Street, McKinnon Avenue, and Newcomb Avenue]Hearing of persons interested in or objecting to the proposed Ordinance ordering the vacation of portions of Quint Street, McKinnon Avenue, and Newcomb Avenue as part of the Quint Street Railroad Crossing Improvement Project; quitclaiming the City’s interest in the vacation areas to the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board; reserving easement rights for the benefit of the City for its utilities; accepting a Department of Public Works Order concerning the street vacation; and authorizing official acts in connection with this Ordinance making environmental findings, and findings of consistency with the General Plan, and the eight priority policies of Planning Code, Section 101.1. (Clerk of the Board) 

If you are unable to attend in person you can send comments to Board.of.Supervisors@sfgov.org or drop a hard copy to:

Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board
Room 244, City Hall
1 Dr. Calton Goodlet Place
San Francisco CA 94102


The BoS clerk's office sent me the following information regarding the legislation:

DPW SUR Map No 2013-005 in File No. 140452 can be found on the 5/6/14 Board Packet (Page 7) available online here: https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=3066534&GUID=88F57710-BC8D-4731-AAE0-EEBB49C47471. 

Other attachments associated with File No. 140452 may also be found via our Legislative Research Center (LRC) here: https://sfgov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=1743061&GUID=C4986B5B-923B-4790-AEEC-FCB8CD733919&Options=ID|Text|&Search=140452

Participatory Budget Kickoff Meeting #2 tonight

A reminder that this is ONLY for District 3, 7, and 10 residents ($100K per district).

At the first D10 kickoff meeting this past weekend, ideas that floated to the top were: wrapping utility boxes in art; safety measures for seniors on MUNI; streetscape improvements; shuttle share program in Vis Valley.  Evidently, we're only able to use the web form at http://sfpb.net/ to submit one idea per home address. Despite this, since I had a couple of ideas, I submitted others to the email address provided on the website. The ideas I submitted were:

1. provide initial funding to new community gardens, such as that at the Palou Community Garden 
2. streetscape improvements to Industrial St, including adding new crosswalks at four intersections, bulbouts, pedestrian islands, bike lanes, and stop signs at Revere 
3. expand SFShines to provide grants for facade improvements at neighborhood corner stores, such as Mike's Market on Silver at Revere (Silver Terrace) and Five Mile Market on San Bruno Ave (Vis Valley). 

The next steps for District 10 are:

• Kickoff meeting #2 Wednesday, April 2, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.; California College of the Arts, 350 Kansas Street.  Same format as the one on Saturday in Visitacion Valley, where people will be split into groups and will brainstorm ideas
• Residents can submit their ideas via the website at http://sfpb.net/ until April 15. When an idea is submitted, the City's budget office will go over it and determine whether it is feasible or not within the framework of this program.
• ideas that are deemed feasible will be returned to residents at the vetting meeting on April 17 at the Southeast Community Facility, 1800 Oakdale Ave (6-7:30PM).
• ideas that make it through that meeting will be sent out to residents throughout District 10 to be voted upon. We'll be given a window of time to do it in and the projects that get the most votes (one vote per resident) will be funded.

If you want funds to be spent in your neighborhood, you have to vote. Be prepared to get your neighbors to vote, go door to door if you have to, and help get funds directed your way.

Projects that are funded will get a minimum of $5K and a maximum of $25K. If you have an idea, please submit it to http://sfpb.net/

If you want a second pair of eyes to read through your completed draft before you submit an idea, I'm happy to take a look and give you feedback (that you can use or not as you see fit).

Silver Avenue Roadwork

UPDATE: According to SFDPW, road work will begin at the Alemany end of Silver Ave and will progress eastward toward Palou.  While sewer mains will be replaced only in parts that are needed, the entire stretch will be repaved.  The road will be striped the same as it is now.

From SFDPW:

Silver Avenue sewer replacement, water main installation, and pavement renovation project (job order 2067J) 

SFDPW has hired Ranger Pipeline to replace both the water and sewer main along several blocks of Silver Avenue and to repave Silver Avenue between Alemany Blvd and Palou Ave.  Construction will begin in late January, 2014 with completion scheduled for May, 2015.   Not all blocks will be done at once, so it may take a while for them to get to yours.
Street parking will not be possible on the block during contruction work hours.

Vehicles parked on the street during the posted work hours will be towed at the vehicle owner's expense.

Once work has begun, please visit SFDPW for project updates.
Contact DPW at 415-437-7009 or Ranger Piplines at 415-822-3700 (800-876-3778 for 24-hr emergency).

Work hours will be 7AM until 6PM 

Now if only we could get them to do Industrial!

Fire in Silver Terrace

A large fire that started around 9PM continues to burn in the 1800 block of Oakdale Ave at Quint St in a row of houses. One of the houses has been for sale for some time, and was the site of a fire some years ago. No word as to the cause, but fire crews are still on-scene.

Silver Terrace Wellness Day Meeting

Last summer, many D10 residents participated in the first ever Silver Terrace Wellness Day at the Silver Terrace Playground.  Those of us who helped to organize it had a lot of fun doing it, getting to know our neighbors, and putting on an event that the whole community enjoyed, so we want to do it again.

If you are interested in helping, I'd like to invite you to a meeting on:

Thursday, March 8, 6:30-7:30PM at Portola Family Connections, 2565 San Bruno Ave.
RSVP: Chris Waddling, cawaddling@gmail.com

At this meeting, we will talk about last year’s event, gauge interest in Wellness Day 2012, and will ask for help in areas such as organization, language (Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese) and neighbor outreach.

Even if you don't have a lot of time, but you would still like to get involved, recommend someone you know who could help, or just want to meet your neighbors, we'd love to see you next Thursday.

If you are unable to attend next Thursday, but would still like to help or be informed of our progress, please let me know.

RSVP if you plan to attend Thursday.

SFCTA Meeting Notes: Oakdale Caltrain Station Update

Last week's SFCTA meeting covered the replacement of the structurally deficient Quint St Caltrain bridge; the Caltrain Oakdale Station status, and; the Quint St/Jerrold Ave Connector Road

Information is available at the SFCTA Website. Links to other important documents:

• Oakdale Station Design Feasibility Assessment Final Report

• Caltrain Quint Street Bridge Replacement Project Transportation Impact Analysis Study

Now you may think, but Quint and Jerrold are already connected...what's up with this connector road?  The proposal on the table is to CLOSE Quint and dogleg traffic from the western side of the Quint bridge over to Jerrold along the western side of the rail tracks.  This 26'-wide road would be narrow by modern road standards, and would only have one 5.5' wide sidewalk.  Check out Bacon St over the reservoir in the Portola - this roadway is 24'9", and gives you an idea of what we'd be dealing with.

This idea is proposed because Caltrain only has $25M for the bridge replacement, and while it would cover the cost of a new bridge that is two-tracks wide, just like the new Jerrold Ave bridge, it's not enough for one that would accommodate a future Oakdale Ave Caltrain Station, a station that would run from about 420ft east of the Oakdale tunnel to about the middle of Quint St.   This proposed station would have up to four tracks - two for Caltrain, which would stop at the station, and two for High-Speed Rail, which would not.  To keep Quint open and put a new bridge here is projected to cost $35M.  Just for comparison, the Jerrold Bridge cost $13.6M to replace, and it is 1/3 the length of the Quint Bridge, so this number seems to be in the ballpark.   The Mayor and Supervisor Cohen (who's rep Megan Hamilton was present at the meeting) have tried to work with the TA to come up with the needed $10M to keep Quint open.  Apparently, they have not succeeded (yet?).

So, the idea is to replace the bridge with an embankment, removing the bridge entirely and closing off Quint with a continuation of the berm (the artificial 20' tall embankment that the tracks lay on between the Jerrold and Quint bridges), connecting it to the other side, and then placing the tracks on top of that to build the new station around it. This may in fact be the project that is closest to being initiated. In an email to D10Watch, Tilly Chang, SFCTA's deputy Director for Planning, says, "It is likely that the Quint closure will precede completion of the connector road, due to the safety imperative of replacing the structurally deficient [Quint St] bridge as soon as possible and the immediate availability of design and construction funding for the project (Caltrain has funding in hand). That said, our goal is to move the connector road design process along as quickly as possible so as to minimize the period of time that Quint is closed without the Connector road providing alternate circulation through the area."

The connector road from Quint to Jerrold would terminate on the west side of Jerrold, where there could conceivably be some tricky traffic maneuvers as the road connects with the planned Jerrold realignment.  Since this was the first time these concepts had been presented, it sounds like there's a lot of room for proposal modification, but not a lot of time. Chang said, "We are in the very early stages of planning, and our graphic for the Connector Road is highly conceptual.  It is likely that that designers can widen the turning radius for that movement; during design, DPW will apply truck turning templates in order to accommodate large semitrailer trucks."

Connector Road Potential Project Schedule:
Winter 2011: Planning & conceptual Design
Spring 2012: Preliminary Design and Cost estimate
Summer 2012: Environmental Review/Community Input
Fall 2012: Final Design
Winter 2013: Start Construction
Funding: Up to $5M from Caltrain; Prop K; other local funds

Quint St. Bridge Replacement Tentative Schedule of Construction:
July 2013 to December 2014 (pending design consensus, environmental review)

SFCTA Oakdale Station ridership study:
Completion Spring 2012
Projected by 2030: estimated 2500 riders/day: 20% arriving on foot/bike; 40% by bus/transit; 40% by car (although no parking is proposed for the 1000 additional vehicles).

Links to important documents:

Oakdale Station Design Feasibility Assessment Final Report

Caltrain Quint Street Bridge Replacement Project Transportation Impact Analysis Study


For links to ALL projects involving the SFCTA in the Bayview, click here.

Caltrain comes through and cleans up site in the Bayview...again

Two months ago, my friend Tony "The Green Goatee" joined me in getting onto Caltrain's case about a problem that I'd been calling them about for the past two years (at 1-800-660-4287).  The obvious safety problem was being exacerbated by a hole in Caltrain's fence at the Oakdale Overhead that gave access to anyone to the tracks below.  It was an obvious safety hazard, with the hole at sidewalk level big enough for a child or pet to easily slip through.  Homeless people used this hole to access the area below and use it as their own.  Their trash had built up to disgusting levels inside the fence on Caltrain's property, graffiti was awful and was making its way onto the historic tunnel opening, and bags of human waste were beginning to show up on the street level above the tracks. 

I'm happy to report that Caltrain came through this week, whether because of Tony's involvement in writing the right person, or because it had finally come up on their schedule of repairs to do something.  The hole is repaired, some of the trash is cleaned up, most of the graffiti is gone, but the smell of human waste remains.  Even with limited funds, and despite it taking two years of complaining, I still feel like Caltrain has become more responsive to our community's requests for maintenance on their property.  The trash-dumping site on Quint Ave below their tracks was cleaned up earlier this year after repeated complaints, and homeless encampments along Caltrain's tracks near the Produce Market were also cleaned up with a coordinated effort from SFPD.

Junk car on Caltrain property, 2002

Palou at Dunshee, 2002

Frustrated with the amount of time it often takes to get things like this repaired or cleaned up, a group of us at the Quesada Gardens Initiative have been working with Caltrain for the past two years to try to gain access to the part of their property at street level, closest to Palou Ave and Dunshee St, so that we could get in there and clean it up ourselves.  We have insurance, signed agreements, and have agreed to make upgrades to Caltrain's own fence between the upper lot to the tracks below.  The lot used to be a dumping site, with decaying cars and trash littering both sides of the fence.   Today, thanks to work we've already put into cleaning things up, dumping is down easily by 95%, and neighbors are getting a chance to meet and know one another instead of being afraid to go near the place.

Palou Garden Site

It's a testament to how things often work.  If you want to make something worse, just go ahead, rip a hole in a fence, and do whatever you like - you're unlikely to get caught, and it'll take years before anything happens to make it better again.  However, if you want to make something better, you have to figure out who the right people are to talk to, get everything in writing, get permission, and then follow a set of tight restrictions on what you can do, because heaven forbid you do something that would be unattractive.

We're looking forward to continued involvement with Caltrain at this site.  Quesada Gardens Initiative has created a first of its kind agreement with the agency to gain access to their property for community use.  Perhaps other groups out there can use our model and do the same!  In two weeks, QGI will be partnering with neighbors and other local groups for a first-time cleanup of the main part of the property that it's taken us years to legally gain access to.  We're very excited, and I'll obviously be posting more information about it here.  We'd love it if you could spend a few hours with us, October 15, 10AM-1PM, at the corner of Dunshee St and Palou Ave.

EVENT: Ledyard St. Block Party this weekend

Silver Terrace Block Party
Ledyard St., between Silver Ave and Mercury St.
Saturday, September 24th
3:00pm - 6:00pm

Residents will be BBQing, but everyone is responsible for their own food. The SF Fire Department has agreed to bring a truck by for about an hour for the kids to see. Bayview Police station said they will also have a car out there for us to see.

Selby Palou Mini Park VOLUNTEER DAY

Keeping Our Neighborhood Park Clean! Gardening • Weeding • Litter Removal

Wednesday, August 31, 2011 9:00 am-11:00 am Selby Palou Mini Park (@ Selby btw Palou and Quesada)

To register visit http://sfnpc.org/miniparkstewards
For more information please contact Neighborhood Parks Council at 415-621-3260

An interesting opportunity?

It never even occurred to me that the steep hill that separates the 1900 block of Quesada Ave from the 1700 block was anything but part of the Palou-Phelps mini-park.  However, it would appear from postings on Zillow and Trulia that there are actually five lots up there on the western side of the hill, just south of the last house on the odd side of the 1900 block - and four of them are for sale.  A developer would have to make some major infrastructure changes to the area in order to build something on them, including extending the street up the hill, so at first I wasn't really sure what the point of these 'lots' would be to a buyer.  What I supposed could happen is that the people who own 110 to 122 Bridgeview (just west of these lots) could extend their own back yards by buying them up, but since they've been on the market as long as they have, I don't see that happening anytime soon.  They are listed at $110K for the middle two lots, 1909 and 1911, $129K for the top lot (least accessible, but best views), 1901, and $149K for the most accessible lot at 1915 Quesada.

Interestingly, a quick search on the web brings up a document on the SF Rec & Park website dated last fall, entitled "Palou & Phelps Park Extension", that indicates that these lots are actually part of a possible plan to expand the park by 13500 square feet.   Hmm...

Another quick search, this time of tax records, shows that these lots had taxes in the $10-$30/year range prior to 2011.  For whatever reason, this year, the properties appear to have been assessed at market rate, and taxes have jumped between 7000-14000%!! Is it a coincidence that right around the time that the properties' taxes jumped the Dept of Rec & Park came out with their extension proposal?

After my little experience with the SFPUC last month, I'm not sure I believe in "coincidences" when things like this happen.

Silver Terrace Wellness Day a Success!

Team Wellness Day

The sky was bright and the air was warm for the first ever Silver Terrace Wellness Day.  Over 300 neighbors from the Portola, Visitacion Valley, Bayview, Bernal Heights, and of course, Silver Terrace, came to enjoy themselves at a city playground today, where they were met by eager volunteers ready to help them get a little wellness into their lives.  A long list of health and medical organizations, local businesses, and volunteer agencies were on-hand to provide a wide variety of experiences within the confines of the playground.  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, was put on FREE of charge and through volunteer effort, from the food to the instructors to the permit for the park.  Everyone chipped in to create a truly magical day.

Armando Luna, Championship Fitness

Starting us off, Armando Luna of Championship Fitness, who usually gives of his time by teaching yoga at the Bayview Opera House, started the day off with a yoga class for a group of early birds.  Later in the day, Sports Basement showed up to offer a soccer clinic and Rec & Park sent some folks over to lead a Volleyball skills clinic. 

Jorge Cordoba and Sharad Jain

Jorge Cordoba of SFGH was a HUGE help in coordinating and setting up all the  health and medical information booths.  API Wellness offered Hepatitis B testing, NEMS and Clinic by the Bay offered blood pressure testing, getting over 60 people tested.  The San Francisco Suicide Prevention Center was on hand too, as was the 3rd St Youth Clinic.  Given that many in our community do not speak English well or at all, the California Healthcare Interpretive Association was on hand to talk to people about how they can get help obtaining services in their own language and to connect with the healthcare providers who were there to let them know of CHIA's services.

Recology serves up lunch

The Green Goatee, QGI

Andrea Cohan's VeggieTable

Food is a major part of wellness, and so this was another major draw for people coming to the event.  Tony "The Green Goatee" Tarket of the Quesada Gardens Initiative spent hours under the tree showing people how to garden and giving them a plant to take home.  Speaking of plants to take home, Andrea Cohan of the Veggie Table brought over 20-lbs of collard greens, strawberries, and other veggies for people to take.   Recology's Ron Walton and his crew did a bang up job of keeping the food flowing, serving up over 250 hot dogs and 100 veggie, beef, and turkey burgers.  The free veggies and lunch were both GONE by noon!!!  Next year, one per person, though!  Paige Boger was also on hand to sign people up for Eatwell Farms Organic Veggie and Egg delivery.

Chris Schlesinger, At Home CPR

Oscar and  Jr Paramedic, AMR

Off in the clubhouse, Chris Schlesinger offered two CPR classes for those who wanted a basic understanding of what to do in an emergency.  Paramedics Bill and Oscar from AMR Ambulance were on-hand just in case we had one, and to show off their ambulance to the kids.

Kids at Wellness Day

Michele Elefante, SF Karate

Speaking of the kids, Erica Rendón of Portola Family Connections spent the day over in the playground area with Julia and her troupe from Our Family Coalition face painting and playing with hula hoops.  Judging by the number of kids walking around with their faces painted, it looked like they had a blast.  Kids were also into the karate lessons offered by Michele Elefante of SF Karate, and it looked like they all had a fun time kicking it!! Dogs - the children of some of us - were also taken care of throughout the day by great folks at Fog City Dogs.

I'm really proud of the job we did yesterday.  Not to go without mention, Vickie Bell of Neighborhood Parks Council, who helped coordinate the entire day, Mariano Tabios, volunteer neighbor extraordinaire, and Robert Watkins and Marquiza of Rec & Parks. 

It looks like this could be an annual event, so anyone who's interested in helping, especially with  translation, outreach, or organization, please drop me a line!

Silver Terrace Wellness Day - Saturday, July 23

The Southeast corner of San Francisco, home to some of the friendliest people in the city, is also home to some of the city’s most pressing health and wellness issues. Thankfully, there are a growing number of civic-minded neighbors and non-profit organizations that are trying to change that.

In response to the need for neighbors to get active and get outside, the Friends of Silver Terrace Playground, a new park and community group, is hosting its first Wellness Day on Saturday, July 23rd Wellness Day at Silver Terrace Playground, which serves the Bayview, Portola, and Bernal Heights neighborhoods as their local playground, and the city at large as one of it's primary club sports venues.

Working with the Neighborhood Parks Council and the San Francisco Department of Rec & Parks, the event aims to address wellness issues facing this part of the city through sport and exercise, food and nutrition, and health and safety. It will present neighbors with a variety of ways to get healthy, including: basketball, volleyball, badminton and soccer clinics; yoga; karate; tai chi; walking; and more.  There will also be kids craft activities provided by Portola Family Connections and Our Family Coalition.

There will be gardening demonstrations by Quesada Gardens Initiative, Urban Sprouts and Flowercraft, vegetables donated by the SF Produce Market, Veritable Vegetable, and Bi-Rite that will be given away by VeggieTable, plus local soil quality information. There will also be basic CPR instruction, health testing and information about primary care options for low-income San Franciscans, asthma, COPD, diabetes, HIV, suicide prevention, smoking cessation, plus other health, wellness, and safety information.  Many of the event's healthcare providers, including UCSF, SFGH, NEMS, and Clinic by the Bay, will be providing information in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese.  We will also have on-hand a representative from the California Healthcare Interpreting Association with translation services.

Area businesses have also graciously offered to chip in, with Recology providing healthy BBQ’d veggie burgers and vegetables, and AMR providing an ambulance for ‘junior paramedics’ to climb inside and to learn about our first responders.  We will also have a supervised dog play area, provided by Fog City Dogs, so that you can leave your dog in good hands while experiencing some of the events we have planned.  Sports Basement will also be sending their folks to help with our soccer clinic.

Sports Clinics:
10:30 - 1:00 Soccer (Sports Basement)
10:30 - 11:30 Volleyball (Rec & Park Dept)
12:30 - 1:30 Basketball (Rec & Park Dept)
1:00 - 2:00 Badminton

Activities:
10:00 - 11:00 Yoga
10:30 Basic CPR
11:00 Tai Chi
11:30 Kids' Karate
12:30 Basic CPR

All Day:
Free Veggie give-away (while supplies last)
Free lunch
Gardening demos
Junior Paramedics


View Larger Map

Silver Terrace Playground, located at the corner of Silver Ave and Bayshore Blvd and renovated in 2006 through the City Fields Foundation, was once an unsafe and unwelcoming place. The renovation has seen usage of the playground increase by over 5000 hours annually, and has created a safer place for everyone to enjoy.

Silver Terrace Playground Wellness Day Saturday, July 23, 2011 10AM – 2PM Silver Ave at Bayshore Blvd, just off Hwy-101

Wellness Day is being organized by the Friends of Silver Terrace Playground, Portola Family Connections, Parks94124, and the Neighborhood Parks Council, and is being put on entirely through volunteer effort and donations. To help, or for more information, contact: Chris Waddling at cawaddling@gmail.com or Victoria Bell at vbell@sfnpc.org or 415-621-3260. On the web at http://sfnpc.org/wellnessday/

Driveby shooting at Palou & Phelps

Police have cordoned off the area and it was still closed to through traffic as of 9:30.

Officers on the scene said that shots were fired from one car to another as they drove northward on Palou, injuring one. The victim's white Toyota Sienna minivan came to a stop a block away, at Palou and Quint.

A bus bridge appears to have been implemented for the 24 line through the area.

Precitia Eyes Silver Terrace dumping site for new mural

Please check out the new mural being painted under the freeway on Revere at Selby. Precitia Eyes, an organization that has been painting murals and teaching others how to do it in the Mission for thirty years, is doing the volunteer-led work.

http://www.precitaeyes.org/

They'll be back tomorrow, Sunday, June 12 at 11AM, and again next Saturday, June 18, also at 11AM. Please come out and help with the painting, or at least stop by to thank them for their beautification efforts.

Caltrain comes through and cleans up site in the Bayview

A few months ago, after a few calls to Caltrain about the situation under their tracks at the Quint St overpass, I called SFPD to ask that they work with Caltrain and DPW to help clean up the homeless encampments.

Back in February, I posted this video:

Since then, Caltrain has been working hard internally to get things fixed at the site.  I just received this in my mailbox today from Caltrain:

Here are some pictures of the cleanup at Quint Street overpass. Our crews completed this May 25th. There was no one from the city so we cleaned up the whole surrounding area. Crusader fence started to put up fences around Caltrain property the following day and are back there today. Over the weekend, someone dumped here again and also more homeless have moved under the north side of the bridge. Hopefully the fence work will be completed by mid-next week.

Thanks for the update, and thanks particularly for the clean-up efforts!  Let's hope that this is the start of a fruitful collaboration between Caltrain and the community in helping to ensure that all tax-paying San Franciscans have access to clean, safe neighborhoods.

School Closes In San Francisco’s Bayview Neighborhood

From KCBS,

On Friday, the Willie L. Brown Jr. College Preparatory Academy is closing its doors in the Bayview district of San Francisco. Once called 21st Century Academy, the school was part of an ambitious effort to address school performance. That didn’t work, but as the final bell rings, hope remains that a successful middle school can be built here.

Reaction from the students was mixed. Some students said they would miss the school because of the caring teachers while others said they were glad to see the school closing because it was so ‘horrible and raggedy.’

The facilities at Willie Brown Academy look worn – from the old green and white tile floors to small bathroom stalls for elementary children, which were used by kids in middle school.

Some students said they wanted to work harder like Malaysia Rodriguez, who has a better than B average.

“I learned a lot, but I wanted a challenge,” she said. “I think all the work is too easy.”

But others like Angelie Edwards struggled.

“I started being absent ever since my dad passed away because I’ve been having family problems,” she said.

Assistant Superintendent of the Bayview Zone, Dr. Patricia Gray, said scholastically there is lots of room for improvement.

“The school is closing because it is underperforming in the bottom five percent of schools in the entire state of California,” she said.

In part, Gray blames a revolving door of teachers for the school’s low performance.

“We know that it takes more because of all that’s going on out in the environment,” she said. “So we want to make sure we get the best and brightest and keep the best and brightest teachers. That’s very important.”

The district wants to tear this school down and build a state of the art middle school. A bond issue will be on the November ballot, and if it passes, a new middle school would open on this site in August of 2014.

Silver Terrace Wellness Day: June 4th

The Southeast corner of San Francisco, home to some of the friendliest people in the city, is also home to some of the city’s most pressing health and wellness issues. Thankfully, there are a growing number of civic-minded neighbors and non-profit organizations that are trying to change that.

In response to the need for neighbors to get active and get outside, the Friends of Silver Terrace Playground, a new park and community group, is hosting its first Wellness Day on Saturday, June 4th Wellness Day at Silver Terrace Playground, which serves the Bayview, Portola, and Bernal Heights neighborhoods as their local playground, and the city at large as one of it's primary club sports venues.

Working with the Neighborhood Parks Council, Parks 94124 and Portola Family Connections, the event aims to address wellness issues facing this part of the city through sport and exercise, food and nutrition, and health and safety. It will present neighbors with a variety of ways to get healthy, including: basketball, volleyball, badminton, and soccer clinics, yoga, line dancing, walking, and more.

There will be gardening demonstrations by Quesada Gardens Initiative, Urban Sprouts and Flowercraft, vegetables donated by the SF Produce Market and Bi-Rite that will be given away by VeggieTable, plus local soil quality information. There will also be basic CPR instruction, health testing and information about asthma, COPD, diabetes, and HIV, plus other health, wellness, and safety information.

Area businesses have also graciously offered to chip in, with Recology providing healthy BBQ’d veggie burgers and vegetables, and AMR providing an ambulance for ‘junior paramedics’ to climb inside and to learn about our first responders.  We will also have a supervised dog play area, provided by Fog City Dogs, so that you can leave your dog in good hands while experiencing some of the events we have planned.

Sports Clinics:
10:30 - 1:00 Soccer (Sports Basement)
10:30 - 11:30 Volleyball (Samoan Community Development Center)
12:30 - 1:30 Basketball (Rec & Park Dept)
1:00 - 2:00 Badminton

Activities:
10:00 - 11:00 Yoga
10:30 & 12:30 Basic CPR
11:30 Hula
12:30 Line dancing

All Day:
Free Veggie give-away
Free lunch
Gardening demos
Ambulance rides

Silver Terrace Playground, located at the corner of Silver Ave and Bayshore Blvd and renovated in 2006 through the City Fields Foundation, was once an unsafe and unwelcoming place. The renovation has seen usage of the playground increase by over 5000 hours annually, and has created a safer place for everyone to enjoy.

Silver Terrace Playground Wellness Day Saturday, June 4, 2011 10AM – 2PM Silver Ave at Bayshore Blvd, just off Hwy-101

Wellness Day is being organized by the Friends of Silver Terrace Playground, Portola Family Connections, Parks94124, and the Neighborhood Parks Council, and is being put on entirely through volunteer effort and donations. To help, or for more information, contact: Chris Waddling at cawaddling@gmail.com or Victoria Bell at vbell@sfnpc.org or 415-621-3260. On the web at http://sfnpc.org/wellnessday/

Saturday, Silver Terrace Community Carnival

This Saturday, plan to attend the Community Carnival, put on by the Neighborhood Vision Project, at Thurgood Marhsall High School, 45 Conkling St.

Community Carnival

Come to the Community Carnival
At Thurgood Marshall Academic High School (TMAHS)
45 Conkling St., San Francisco, CA 94124
Date: SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2011

Time: 11AM – 4PM
PRIZES! FOOD! GAMES! RAFFLES!

Come one, come all! Everyone is invited! Suitable for all ages!

Take MUNI lines: Bus 44: Get off @ Silver Ave. & Santa Fe Ave. Bus 8 AX & 9: Get off @ San Bruno Ave. & Felton St.

Parking is limited around the school



TMAHS, Neighborhood Vision Project, Community Youth Center of San Francisco, & Healing Circle for the Soul Support Group are hosting a nonviolence & drugs awareness carnival. There will be jumpers, fire spinning, live entertainment, a rock-climbing wall, arts & crafts, tables from organizations, face-painting, & more! Top raffle awards include a Nintendo Wii & an Xbox with Kinect!

Endorsed by: Supervisor Scott Wiener (D 8), Supervisor Malia Cohen (D 10), Geekosystems, Peace Development Fund--Mother Jones Fund, San Francisco Private Benefactors, Northwest Community Response Network, Visitation Valley Community Center, Thurgood Marshall Way Foundation, Mission High NVP Youth Leadership Council, Northern California Peace Alliance, San Francisco Freedom School, Healing Circle for the Soul Support Group

FOR QUESTIONS & MORE INFO: Neighborhood Vision Project – 1204 Mason Street Suite #1, San Francisco, CA 94108 – (415) 613-7247 http://www.neighborhoodvisionproject.org
ASUC Sponsored ADA Accessible

The Community Carnival

Bring the kids for a fun day in Silver Terrace!

Saturday, May 21 from 11-4, Thurgood Marshall high school, 45 Conkling St.

Presented by the Neighborhood Vision Project