Short Cuts
Run, Forest, Run!
Rumors have it that Commissioner of the Environment and Southeast Neighborhood Jobs Initiative Roundtable director Angelo King is looking to succeed Sophie Maxwell as District 10 supervisor. King’s candidacy is apparently being talked-up by local developers. Former State Senator Carole Migden, who is currently parked at the California Integrated Management Board, may also be eyeing the job, as is San Francisco Board of Education commissioner Hydra Mendoza, Just for You owner Arienne Landry, Thick Description’s Tony Kelly, San Francisco Public Utility Commission Deputy Director of Operations Mohammad Nehru, and Civil Service Commissioner Linda Richardson. Others who have already filed for the race include City-Wide Alcoholism Advisory Board member Cedric Akbar, educator James Calloway, Marie Franklin, the ubiquitous Espanola Jackson, La Vaughan Moore, and realtor Diane Wesley Smith. A lingering question is whether Maxwell, who is termed out next year, will depart her post early for a City job, allowing Mayor Gavin Newsom to appoint a temporary replacement, who’d then have a leg-up in the election.
Die, Power Plant, Die!
City leaders are upping the political pressure to close the Potrero Power Plant. Last month City Attorney, and our neighbor, Dennis Herrera filed a law suit against Mirant Corporation for not complying with a 1992 City ordinance that requires brick buildings to be retrofitted. According to Herrera, Mirant owns five un-occupied unreinforced brick structures which are framed by masonry, rather than the required wood or steel. The lawsuit’s intent, regardless of its merits, is to encourage Mirant to close its dirty, aging plant. A week later Herrera, Maxwell, Newsom, Supervisors David Chiu and Michela Alioto-Pier, and San Francisco Public Utility Commission General Manager Edward Harrington sent a letter to the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) demanding that the plant’s largest unit, three, be closed by the end of this year, and the remaining units, four, five, and six, be shuttered by the end of 2010. It ain’t over until it’s over though. It’ll take significant politicking to get Cal-ISO to agree to let the facility die. Do your part by acting on the closure advertisement that appears later in this issue…In the meantime, SFPUC wants to sell the four combustion turbines that, up until last year, were going to be used to replace the power plant. While the engines may fetch upwards of $10 million – much needed cash during hard budget times – some advocates wonder whether Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) which supports the City’s latest plan to kill the facility, will remain as compliant without the threat of City-owned generation in the wings…And, speaking of power, managers of the Trans Bay Cable, an underwater transmission line that lands in Dogpatch, and which may be the final nail in the Potrero Power Plant’s coffin, want to acquire the project from its financially troubled developer, Australian infrastructure firm Babcock & Brown Limited. NMH LP, is a newly formed entity comprised of individual investors who are employed by B&B affiliates. With a guaranteed rate of return based on project costs, who wouldn’t want to own a piece of the cable? Community ownership, anyone?
Parks and Parking
Two dozen Potrero Hill residents gathered last month to discuss how to improve McKinley Square. There was round agreement that the park – which receives roughly eight hours a week of care from City gardeners – should be re-seeded with grass, and that better irrigation and drainage systems are needed. Department of Parks and Recreation’s Steve Cismowski investigate the feasibility of having goats graze the western slope to eat foxtails, with a possible deployment of the hoofed weed eaters this year. If the herbivores are used to control foxtails, oak trees and other desired vegetation will need to be fenced for protection… If you like the new pedestrian plaza at 17th and Market streets, you’ll be happy to know that a similar one will be created soon at Eighth and 16th streets...New permit parking signs are up in Dogpatch. If you haven’t applied for your permit, get on it.
Fire!
Two apartment buildings, located at 509 Potrero Avenue, were damaged by a two-alarm fire last month. Although the blaze was contained within a single bedroom in a three-story residence, the adjacent building suffered exterior damage from the flames. One building resident complained of discomfort, and a couple of firefighters suffered minor injuries, but no hospital treatment was required…According to Bayview District Captain John Loftus, the murder rate in the area has dropped by three-quarters since last year: four since November, 2008, compared to 16 during the previous period. While burglaries are up, robberies are down. And all this even before bomb and motorcycle units move into the old Jamba Juice site, which is expected to happen next month.
Hill Resident Passes
Helen Canafax, 63-years-old, died last month after her hip was broken during a purse snatching. The 25th Street resident was a Houma, Louisiana, native and worked as a legal assistant at Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher. Canafax was dedicated to helping people, volunteering at St. Anthony Foundation and Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, and distributing money, blankets, and food to the homeless. She died of an embolism while recovering from the attack.
Divine Yoga
Divine Essence Yoga has opened up shop at the same Connecticut Street location as Dr. Allan A. Konce, an orthopedic surgeon and industrial/occupational specialist. Laura Hahn, a certified yoga instructor and Divine Essence’s co-founder, was formerly an employee of Konce. Along with Hatha Yoga, Yin Yoga and meditation, Divine Essence offers yoga for kids, pregnant women, and families.
Dynamic Pricing
On the heals of their multi-billion dollar smart meter roll-out – which is scheduled to be completed three years from now – PG&E is asking for another roughly $160 million to change the way it prices electricity starting as early as next year. Under the utility’s dynamic pricing proposal electricity rates would vary depending on demand, thereby better reflecting actual service costs. Many environmental groups applaud the idea as an effective way to discourage the use of dirty power plants. But the California Small Business Association is appalled that almost one out of every five small businesses in the state – 60,000 enterprises – could experience annual bill increases of more than 8 percent under the pricing scheme. The matter is before the California Public Utility Commission.
Reporters Make Good
View reporters Andrea de Brito and Kerry Fleisher are moving on to bigger – though, really, what’s better than the View? – things. Bless de Brito for choosing to attend the University of California, (UC) Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. It takes courage to invest time and money in a profession that’s allegedly dying, but is in fact more important than ever. Fleisher will also be attending graduate school at U.C. Berkeley, at the Department of City and Regional Planning. The View wishes the best to both its soon-to-be alums, and hopes they’ll return someday to contribute an article or two.
