By Bruce Wolfe, HANC Vice-President

CleanPower SF (CPSF)) finally made it over the hurdle with Mayor Ed Lee's blessing and the SF Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) approving the not-to-exceed (NTE) electric rates. 

The Commission’s approval action establishes that CPSF rates will not exceed the standard power rates of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) which – until CPSF launches early next year – is the monopoly provider of energy to San Francisco customers. 

Recently, many San Franciscans, including Haight Ashbury voters, received an automated push-poll asking questions about the performance of President Obama, Mayor Ed Lee, Board of Supervisors and SFPUC. Usually, this would seem ordinary but on this occasion quite odd to many residents who reported the focus was specifically on utilities, rates and clean energy.

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The 38th annual Haight Ashbury Street Fair will take place this year on Sunday, June 14, from 11 am to 5:30 pm.  The first Haight Ashbury Street Fair was held in 1978 when neighborhood residents, merchants, and activists, with our Supervisor, Harvey Milk, planned the celebration to recognize the economic and residential rebirth of the neighborhood in the mid-1970s.

The street fair features arts and crafts, food booths, music stages at Masonic and at Stanyan, a family area (Children’s Alley) on Belvedere, and a forum for community groups, non-profits, and government agencies.  Visit HANC at our booth east of Belvedere, on the south side of Haight Street.

This year’s poster was designed by Park Station police officer Elizabeth (Lily) Prelinger, who was a graphic design major in college. 

The closing performers for the Stanyan Street Stage will be Barry “The Fish” Melton and Nick Gravenites.  Full schedules for both the Masonic and Stanyan stages and much more information about the street fair is available at www.haightashburystreetfair.org.

At its regular monthly meeting, the Board of HANC expressed an interest in trying to get the sponsor of Bay to Breakers to pay for cleanup of Haight Street the day after the annual event.  Anectodal stories from merchants in HAMA and other residents about the aftermath impacting Haight Street and the Haight Ashbury were shared; it is hoped that power washing the sidewalks (to clean up urine and vomit) could be included in the budget for the 2016 event.  We will contact the organizers with this suggestion for next year.

By Tes Welborn, HANC Board

     Presentation by Christin Evans and Bruce Wolfe.  

     First in a series of meetings

The “Sharing” Economy is a way to buy a customer base for stock market valuation and an IPO, whether the business model makes financial sense or not. Venture capitalists now dominate the financing of new businesses, and they want the new IPO to be sold ASAP and get their funding repaid, plus. Internet businesses such as Facebook and Google are exploitative. They sell our data to marketers, a monetization of our personal information.

These businesses contribute little to the community, and are purely exploitative of people and resources. At the extreme, they want to privatize everything in the city. These companies flaunt local law and taxes. With their untaxed income, they “pay to play,” and corrupt our political process.

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By Bruce Wolfe, HANC Vice President

Community Choice Aggregation (CCA): CleanPower SF (our program) has been moving along nicely. Recent stakeholder meeting revealed that the program is on time. The Rate Fairness Board has approved the not-to-exceed rates which are the same as the two other CCAs, Marin and Sonoma, which already beat PG&E rates. On April 28, a rally promoted by SF Clean Energy Advocates (HANC is a founding member) and Sierra Club was held at City Hall before the SF Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) where the rates and implementation plan will be discussed and potentially be approved. More info at http://goo.gl/g0EBfa

Public Realm-Haight: HANC has been closely participating and monitoring this multi-department project managed by SF Planning Dept and funded by MTA Transit Effectiveness Program (TEP) funds. HAMA President Christin Evans and HANC VP Bruce Wolfe have been bringing up the rear with some added accoutrements including pedestrian level sidewalk lighting, curbside electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and community WiFi. More info at http://goo.gl/EMjVZ4

Fei Tian Academy of the Arts CA: We welcome the new owners of the old Ingold Boys & Girls Club, who will be cutting the ribbon late this summer in time for the fall semester. So far, the youth led mosaic murals on the facade will stay. No word yet on the status of the pool. HANC has asked that the pool remain open to the public as it was in the past.

Public Commons & Parking Removal:Parking is necessary for commerce, visitors, workers and commuters in our busy 'hood. The square block of Page/Shrader/Haight/Stanyan has been very active in 2014-2015. First, at Haight & Shrader, three car and five motorcycle parking spaces were removed for an all-day-everyday tour bus white zone. The motorcycle parking was moved to the first spot around the corner on Shrader which rarely gets used because there are another five across the street. Then, the second car space was converted into an all exclusive Getaround.com red zone that is exempt from nearly all parking laws including 24 hour parking limits and street cleaning. Another two spaces were removed from public use in front of Whole Foods. In April, Fei Tian School petitioned for 88 feet of passenger loading white zone in front of the building. HANC mediated Page St neighbors and Fei Tian to amicably agree on 44 feet (or four car spaces), morning and evening dropoff/pickup periods and inactive on weekends. All told, 11 parking spaces have been removed from public use and the commons. HANC is monitoring this very closely as Flywheel Coffee Roasters has petitioned for a two-space parklet next to the Getaround spots on Stanyan. 

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By Rupert Clayton, HANC Board

The Upper Haight Farmers’ Market has returned for the 2015 season, operating on Wednesday afternoons from 3pm to 7pm on the closed portion of Waller Street at Stanyan. Based on an informal survey earlier in the year, the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association is aiming to attract more vendors offering fresh produce and baked goods, and to limit the number of stalls with prepared foods. The other big demand of market-goers – a move to a weekend schedule – isn’t happening yet, but the market staff is happy to hear your ideas at the PCFMA booth.

The Waller and Stanyan site is also the subject of a plan by the San Francisco Skateboarding Association to develop a permanent skate park for western San Francisco. The SFSA is applying for a grant under the City’s Community Opportunity Fund program. The plan would formalize the western half of the site as a dedicated skate park with many new features for skaters. It would also add a stage, seating, and skate board obstacles to the eastern part of the site, with the aim of serving multiple uses such as hosting music for the Off the Grid food-truck evening and allowing the skate park to expand whenever events are not scheduled. The SFSA scheduled a community meeting for April 28 to share its plans, and we hope to have a brief presentation at the June 11 HANC members’ meeting.

By Rupert Clayton, HANC Board

HANC’s March meeting heard from two people whose organizations are working to bring comfort and cleanliness to homeless people in San Francisco, and potentially the Haight Ashbury.

Doniece Sandoval is the executive director of Lava Mae, which provides mobile showers in a converted former MUNI bus. The bus has two self-contained bathrooms, each with a shower, toilet, sink and hair dryer. Being able to take a shower helps people who are homeless retain some sense of dignity and self-worth, making it easier for them to engage with housing, health care and job training services. The service also brings broader benefits for sanitation and public health in the city.

At each location, the bus hooks up to a fire-hydrant, with disinfected grey water discharged into catch basins and the toilets emptied by a waste disposal company. With 15-minute sessions, each bus can serve 42 people during a six-hour shift. Lava Mae’s forward bathroom is accessible, thanks to the bus’s wheelchair lift, and they have found that 48% of customers have a disability. Buses are always staffed during service hours, and Lava Mae works closely with existing agencies and non-profits so that people have somewhere to wait before their shower and can find out about services they may need.

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Planning staff of the SFMTA announced last week that three lines serving the Haight-Ashbury will have their names changed later this month.  One will actually have its number changed, the other two will keep their numbers, but change their names.

The 71 will now be re-numbered the “7” the number used by the old “ 7 Haight,” discontinued in 2009.  The old line started  at Haight and Waller  and ran to the Transbay terminal. The old 7 followed part of the line originally started in 1916 with the “17 Haight” which ran all the way to Ocean Beach. The new “7  Haight-Noriega “ will follow that historic route of running from downtown  to Ocean Beach, using the entire length of Haight Street to do so.

The two additional changes will be of line names, not numbers:  The 6 will now be called the “Haight/Parnassus” and the 33 will now be called the “Ashbury/ 18th.” 

Two years ago, HANC led the fight to keep the 6 serving the Upper Haight (that is the “real” upper Haight above Waller Street and not the real estate speculator term now in use for the Haight-Ashbury).  In that fight HANC members urged that the line name be changed to advertise the fact that it served the Haight-Ashbury.  Score one for HANC