April 2006 Next Meeting April 25 Potrero Hill Neighborhood House 953 DeHaro Street (at Southern Heights)

6:45 pm 7:00 pm Social Business Meeting Introductions / Welcome to New Members Police Report Neighborhood Issues Executive Committee Election Treasurers Report Fight Mirant Power Plants discharge permit with Greg Karras, Communities for a Better Environment Break Earthquake Safety! with Lawrence Kornfield, Chief Building Inspector, and engineer David Bonowitz
At our April 25 meeting, Booster members will hear SFs Chief Building Inpector, Laurence Kornfield, about challenges and preparations for earthquake safety in the City and on the Hill. Karen Crommie of the Cole Valley Improvement Association wrote about his visit to the Coalition of San Francisco Neighborhoods a short while back:
Preparing for the Next Earthquake

7:25 pm

7:50 pm 8:00 pm

CSFN members heard a candid analysis of the challenges awaiting the city when the long-predicted Big One occurs. Laurence Kornfield, accompanied by structural engineer David Bonowitz, stressed the difference between damage and impact in disaster planning. They explained that a large SOMA warehouse can crumble, causing massive damage but have little impact on people. On the other hand, a single North Beach classroom full of children would have immense impact but might incur only slight building damage. Kornfield said that a natural disaster should be viewed in three stages: preparedness, emergency response and rebuilding of infrastructure. Of the three, emergency response is the most talked about and best funded, but greater priority should be given to the other two. He says, As important as the first 72 hours is, it is the preparation before the fact and long-term rebuilding of infrastructure afterward that should concern us most.

Presidents Message
The annual Booster Dinner, the most social Booster meeting of the year, is all set! Tuesday night, May 30 at 6pm, is the date and time, with dinner served at 6:30; and we are very excited to be sharing a great meal with our neighbors and friends at the California Culinary Academys new restaurant, at 350 Rhode Island Street. This is always a fun event, where we install the new years Executive Committee quickly and efficiently, and recognize some of the hardest working among us for what they do in our community. Its a great chance to bring a neighbor and show them what the Boosters are all about!
The Annual Booster Dinner: May 30, California Culinary Academy

Kornfield and Bonowitz said that the citys own standards provide a disincentive to preparedness, noting an absence of any requirement that old buildings meet seismic code. (The exception being unreinforced masonry buildings, which have standards required by special legislation.) Furthermore, the building code allows a destroyed building to be reconstructed just as it was, without seismic considerations.

For tickets, mail your check today to Potrero Boosters Annual Dinner, 1459 18th St. #133, San Francisco, CA 94107. Write the number of reservations requested on your check and include a note with dinner choice (vegetarian or carnivorous). This is a full catered threecourse dinner, with wine, prepared by the California Culinary Academy. Tickets are $40 per person in advance. Your ticket will be held at the door. In the past year, the Executive Committee of the Boosters has stepped up again to make the Boosters more visible in the neighborhood, and to make the neighborhood more visible in the City. The current members of the Boosters Executive Committee are all nominated for re-election in 2006: Tony Kelly, President Dick Millet, Vice President / Advocacy Piotr Pawlikowski, Vice President / Membership Kuzuri Jackson, Treasurer Audrey Cole, Corresponding Secretary Joe Boss, Recording Secretary Ellen Kernaghan, Sergeant at Arms Jean Neblett and Susan Eslick, Auditors
Executive Committee Election

They described a pressing need to brace the soft stories, such as the ground floor garages that collapsed in the Loma Prieta quake, and reface the old concrete buildings of six to ten stories typical of the Nob Hill area. Stabilizing a structure doesnt necessarily mean a major investment for the owner. Said Kornfield, The first $1000 spent on first-floor strengthening can give a building protection that far exceeds the cost. For more, come to Tuesdays Boosters meeting!
Fighting the Mirant Power Plants pollution permit

The Potrero Power Plant operated by Mirant Corp. is the largest stationary pollution source in San Francisco, and we at the Boosters have been fighting to close it for years. Among other hazards, the power plant has an outdated cooling system that uses 226 million gallons of the Bay each day, killing aquatic life and discharging toxic chemicals into Bay waters. The total Bay pollution
rivals that of the largest oil refinery in the Bay Area.

Well have a brief election as part of our business meeting on Tuesday, April 25.

Its time for this pollution to stop. Mirants discharge permit is up for hearing on Wednesday, May 10, at 9.00 am at the Regional Water Quality Control Board, 1515 Clay Street in Oakland (near Oaklands 12th Street BART station). At Tuesdays Boosters meeting, well hear from Greg Karras of Communities for a Better Environment, telling us how we can demand action to close the Potrero power plant and protect the Bay. Get involved!

COMMUNITY RESOURCES CITY PLANNING

BLDG PERMIT APPLICATION #2006.02023655; 585 KANSAS/18th Sts: Proposed added unit without required parking space to existing single family house in a RH-3 and 40-X zone. Proposal will add a new rear deck and stairs. Project requires a parking VARIANCE. Contact: Kimberly Durandet, Planner, ph: 575-6816. ZONING VARIANCE APPLICATION 2006.0140V: 585 KANSAS/18th Sts: Propose to legalize and bring up to code an existing 2nd unit without providing the required additional parking space. Contact: Kimberly Durandet, Planner, ph: 575-6816. DISCRETIONARY REVIEW HEARING for 791 San Bruno Ave/20th Sts. Case Nos 2005.0543D, 2005.0971D and 2005.1145D: mandatory DR required for DEMOLITION of an existing one-story single family house to be replaced with a 3 story over garage single family house in an RH-2, 40X zone. Neighbor-initiated DR if Building Permit Application #2005. 04049074. All cases continued to Thursday, May 25th 06, Contact: Jon Purvis, Planner, ph: 558-6354. Third Street MUNI Light Rail: Train, light rail vehicles, testing begins April 24 thru June from 4th & King along 3rd street to Visitation Valley. Tests to occur 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday thru Friday, occasionally at night. Trains will travel slowly and should not disturb regular traffic. Service targeted to begin about the winter of 06. Information contact: ph: 701-4298 City Hall Web site: Mayor Gavin Newsom 1 Goodlett Place Rm 200 SF Ca 94102 www.sfgov.org ph: 554-6141 fax 554-6160 gavin.newsom@sfgov.org

Supervisor Sophie Maxwell / District 10 (which includes Potrero Hill): ph: 554-7670 fax 554-7674 Sophie.Maxwell@sfgov.org Bayview Police Station SFPD Web site: Capt. Albert Pardini Anonymous Tips Abandoned autos Encampments Potrero Terrace/Annex 201 Williams St, SF 94124 www.sfgov.org/police/ ph: 671-2300 fax 671-2345 SFPDBayviewStation@ci.sf.ca.us 822-8147 254-7185 (Officer Maurice Edwards) 254-7120 (Officer Sue Lavin) 509-1408 (Ofc. Kevin Sanders, Alex Rodatos) 987-6369 (Ofc. Tim Fowlie, George Ferraez)

MEMBERSHIP
Renew Your Boosters Membership! The Potrero Boosters now have annual membership, meaning that now is the time to pay your dues and renew your membership through 2006, if you havent done so already! Just fill out the form below and send it in . . .

Potrero Hill Neighborhood Directory

published by the Potrero Hill Association of Merchants and Businesses

Be Sure to Pick Up the Latest

Potrero Boosters Executive Committee Tony Kelly 341-8040 President president@potreroboosters.org First Vice President Dick Millet 861-0345 1stvp@potreroboosters.org Second Vice President Piotr Pawlikowski 328-1435 2ndvp@potreroboosters.org Recording Secretary Joe Boss 826-2515 recordingsecretary@potreroboosters.org Corresponding Sec. Audrey Cole 648-1926 correspondingsecretary@potreroboosters.org Treasurer Kuzuri Jackson 826-8080 treasurer@potreroboosters.org Sergeant-at-Arms Ellen Kernaghan 824-5065 Auditors Jean Neblett 550-2613 Susan Eslick 822-2301 Webmaster: webmaster@potreroboosters.org

Available at Merchants All Over the Hill

Please visit our new Web Site POTREROBOOSTERS.ORG

Potrero Hill. Our goals are to act as a forum for concerned Potrero residents and to participate in policy and development decisions that affect the quality of life here on the Hill. Meetings are the last Tuesday of the month (7:00 p.m. at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House) and are open to everyone, members and non-members. Dues: Individual $25, Household (couple) $30, Senior $20. (Make checks out to: Potrero Boosters.) Mail check to Potrero Boosters, 1459 18th St., #133, San Francisco, CA 94107, or sign up online (coming soon). Enclosed is $______ for ___ membership(s). New __ Renewal __ Prefer e-mail newsltr (Y/N)? ____

The Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association is devoted to issues of importance to the communities of

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The Potrero Community Voice Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association 1459 18th St. PMB 133 San Francisco, CA 94107

Does your mailing label say DEC 05? Renew your membership now!! Fill out the form above and send it in!

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