precita.org

Cesar Chavez Redesign moving forward

2010-02-07T22:40:00.001-08:00

Mission Local has a good piece on the Cesar Chavez Redesign:

The first phase, which is likely to start this summer, involves redoing the sewage system to reduce flooding.

Above ground, the second phase will involve planting more trees, using energy-efficient street lights and converting the three lanes of traffic in each direction to two lanes. With concerns over safety, a 14-foot tree-lined median and widened curbs will be paved to decrease the time needed for pedestrians to cross the intersection. Bicyclists will also be able to enjoy the additional street space through permanent bike lanes.

More at Mission Local. It's all part of the Mission Streetscape Plan.

Precita Park

2010-02-07T22:27:00.001-08:00

Beautiful day in Precita Park right after the rains, and after the park was mowed.

Bernal Heights Library Re-Opening celebration

2010-01-24T15:25:00.001-08:00

After a long renovation, the Bernal Heights branch library (500 Cortland at Andover) is reopening on Saturday, January 30 with a big party. Ceremonies begin at 1 p.m. The Friends of the SFPL are organizing refreshments, music, and giveaways, and you can check out books and other materials from 2 p.m. [More details]

Bernal History Project members will be in attendance to answer questions about the neighborhood, show pictures and maps, and gather research for our archives. (Have photos or stories to share? Come on by!)

70,000 gallons

2010-01-19T11:34:00.001-08:00

Last night's storm dumped 1.8 inches of rain on San Francisco. That's about the equivalent of 70,000 gallons of water landing just on Precita Park.

Sunday, we also received about an inch of rain in SF, which is about 47,000 gallons hitting Precita Park.

That's a lot of water!

So if the grass is mushy, now you know why.

(Each inch of rain falling on one square foot is 0.63 gallons.)

Precita Park Auto Burglar caught

2010-01-15T22:56:00.001-08:00

Captain’s Message:

Outstanding Auto Burglar Arrest! At 2:40 a.m., Thursday (14-Jan-10) morning, Officers Dudley and Almaguer responded to an Auto Burglary in progress in the Precita Park area on the 1300 block of Shotwell. Once obtaining the suspect’s description, they traveled into the Mission District and captured the suspect!

Here's the details:

Officers Almaguer and Dudley were sent to investigate a car break in progress. The officers arrived and were met by a reportee who told the officer’s that he witnessed a theft. The reportee gave the officers the description and direction of the suspect. The suspect was carrying a car stereo that he had removed from the car with wires still hanging from it.

The reportee went as far as to cautiously follow the suspect and continued to report to dispatch. The officers began to search for the suspect with the information provided by the witness. Two blocks away the officers located a possible suspect that was wearing the same clothing and carrying a car stereo with wires hanging. The officers decided to detain this suspect. The suspect was arrested! Because of the willingness of this courageous member of the community, this suspect is in custody and will no long be loose in our community.

These kinds of crimes only get solved with input from community members. If you see a crime in progress, CALL 911.

Aggressive off-leash dogs in Precita Park

2010-01-12T15:37:00.001-08:00

At the last Precita Valley Neighbors meeting, issues about aggressive off-leash dogs in Precita Park has come up. Officer John Denny will talk about this in our February 13th PVN Meeting.

Here's some excerpts from a discussion with Officer J. Denny:

First and foremost, anyone who encounters a dog that exhibits "menacing and/or aggressive behavior" (Article 1, Section 42 of the San Francisco Health Code) should immediately summon the police who should then respond and take control of the situation as well as document the incident with a police report. If the incident is in progress or if all parties are on scene then I would urge a 911 call. (The direct cell phone number to a SF 911 dispatcher is 553-8090)
What many people (and, alas, police officers) are unaware of is that a police report should be made ANY time a dog exhibits menacing and/or aggressive behavior. While a bite is obviously an example of menacing and/or aggressive behavior, such behavior ALSO includes lunging, snapping, charging and near-miss bites or bites that occur without leaving any marks.
For example, if a dog owner is walking his/her dog down a sidewalk and the dog is on its hind legs pulling at its leash while snapping and snarling (hopefully it is on a leash) while trying to get at people or other dogs, it only takes the snap of a chain or the drop of the leash and the dog is free and, as such, creates a danger to the public. I suggest calling the police via 911.
ALL reports of dog aggression should find their way to my desk where an investigation shall be initiated. Many times the result of the investigation require that a Vicious and Dangerous Dog Hearing be held to determine remedies that would prevent future incidents involving the dog in question. As I am the scheduling officer for the hearings and my supervisor is the hearing officer (Sgt. Herndon) the process usually runs smoothly (now I've jinxed it).
So , in short, and we will expand on this topic at our meeting, nobody should be in fear of being attacked or having their dog attacked by while in public. There is a mechanism in place that deals with specific dogs. But the mechanism is engaged only once we know about the aggressive dog and its actions (via police reports).

Precita Valley Neighbors meeting notes

2010-01-12T15:33:00.001-08:00

Notes from the Precita Valley Neighbors meeting on 9-Jan-10:

1. Sergeant Lynn O’Brien is our new SFPD group liaison. She will cover our February 13th Meeting.

2. There have been more aggressive dog incidents in Precita Park. Officer John Denny will talk about this in our February 13th Meeting.

3. Park Improvement Grant ideas for better Precita Park maintenance and use: discussion concerning a legal fenced dog run in Precita Park. The group discussed whether an enclosed dog run area may be safer to contain (illegal) off leash dogs than the current undivided space between (illegal) off leash dogs and people.

4. Precita Park area Caesar Chavez and Bernal Traffic Calming updates will be presented by DPW and MTA.

5. Neighbors are working with 500 Precita owner to encourage organic food store. Prior tenant’s liquor license is suspended and will not be renewed there.

6. Neighbors are working with an environmental consultant addressing antenna installation near Alabama/Mullen, which is very noisy and was put up without notification. (more info)

7. DPW has been notified about the Alabama stop sign obscured by large tree: request for tree pruning and moving sign closer to street curb.

8. PVN is in the process of working on permitting and maintaining plants inside the new pavers adjacent to Charlie’s Café.

Loud Tmobile Microcell at Mullen and Peralta

2010-01-11T21:42:00.001-08:00

Tmobile has installed a microcell on a PG&E utility poll at Mullen and Peralta. Most people notice it not so much because of the antenna at the top of the pole, but because of all the equipment that was mounted on the pole. And as the neighbors near it say, the noise from the cooling system for the electronics is really, really loud, and it's mounted on a pole less than 8 feet from the adjacent home's front door.

The neighbors also say that there was no advanced notice that this equipment would be installed, nor any information on who was installing it.

At least Tmobile did try to address appearance issues- the equipment is all painted the same color as the telephone pole and isn't a glaring grey box. But they should be required to make something that operates almost silently. We could understand if it was a very hot day that perhaps the fans might run more loudly; but after dark when it is 50 degrees out and the fans in it are blowing away loudly. And it's making this sound 24 hours a day.

From a design perspective, this is not called for.

Hopefully, Tmobile will deal with the issues of this installation.

Tmobile Microcell Noise Issues from Team Precita on Vimeo.

Precita Valley Neighbors Meeting

2010-01-07T12:30:00.001-08:00

Precita Valley Neighbors Meeting
Saturday, January 9th, 9:30am – 10:30am
Charlie’s Café Folsom/Precita

AGENDA:
1. Our new SFPD representative will discuss the uptick in crimes and how to watch for casing activities and prevent future crimes.

2. There have been more aggressive dog incidents in Precita Park. Discussion will include a SFPD officer familiar these interactions and how to prevent them in advance.

3. Park Improvement Grant ideas for better Precita Park maintenance and use.

4. Precita Park area Ceasar Chavez Traffic Calming updates.

At least our potholes aren't this bad (so far)

2010-01-05T12:51:00.001-08:00

Big pothole on 24th near Bryant. So big a delivery truck got stuck in it!

Not only is it deep, but it has undermined the street near it. 24th is currently closed. You can't tell so much from these pictures because we couldn't get close enough, but the hole is actually much bigger than the break in the pavement above it. It goes down about 3 feet, and the pavement is only a couple inches thick.

Car Breakins on Harrison on New Years Eve

2010-01-02T15:25:00.000-08:00

Officers Hurwitz and Daggett were on patrol at 07:45 pm when they heard two separate calls in the span of a half an hour in regards to cars being burglarized.
The officers suspected these calls were related, and responded to the area. They located a suspect who matched the description inside a car which did
not belong to him. The officers took the suspect into custody and he later admitted to entering three vehicles which did not belong to him with the intention of stealing items.

Great work Officers Hurwitz and Daggett catching the criminal!

No Peddlers

2009-12-31T17:15:00.001-08:00

Did you know it's actually against the law for a solicitor to knock on your door or ring your bell if you have a "No Peddlers" or "No Solicitors" sign in public view?

SEC. 870. - PEDDLING WHERE SIGN "NO PEDDLERS" DISPLAYED PROHIBITED.

It shall be unlawful for any peddler, or any person pretending to be a peddler, for the purpose of selling or pretending to sell, goods, wares or merchandise, or any article, material or substance of whatsoever kind, to ring the bell or knock at the door of any residence or dwelling whereon a sign bearing the words "No Peddlers" or words of similar import, is painted or affixed so as to be exposed to public view, or to peddle or pretend to peddle goods, wares or merchandise, or any article, material or substance, of whatsoever kind, in any building, whereon, or wherein a sign bearing the words "No Peddlers," or words of similar import, is painted or affixed so as to be exposed to public view.

Parking Rule Changes

2009-11-30T20:33:00.001-08:00

Earlier this year, the Board of Supervisors made changes to the existing SF laws prohibiting parking of vehicles on the street for more than 72 hours. The new rule allows people to park cars for 7 days before they have to move them.

So before you get upset for not moving their car for several days, remember that the law has been changed and now vehicles only have to be moved weekly.

Bernal Heights Robbery

2009-11-30T20:29:00.001-08:00

From the Police Blotter:

There was a robbery in Bernal Heights on Wednesday the 25th around 5:45 p.m. A person was sitting in Martha Brothers coffee on Cortland when the suspect came in and forcible took the victims laptop. The heroic citizen chased after the suspect and retrieved his laptop. I am glad the victim was not injured during this incident. Please be aware that these incidents do occur in coffee shops. Safeguard your property!

Precita @ Folsom Aggravated Assault Arrest

2009-10-29T13:16:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, Oct 27th, 2:20 pm, Precita @ Folsom
Aggravated Assault Arrest

Officers Thompson and Altamirano were sent to investigate an aggravated assault case. There were several witnesses at the scene. The witnesses told the officers that they observed two men in a verbal argument and that one of the men struck the other several times with an object. The witnesses called the police and stayed in the area and or followed the suspect until the police arrived. All of the witnesses positively identified the suspect. This was important because the victim’s injuries did not allow him to do so. Thanks to the courageous acts of these socially responsible community members, a violent criminal has been taken off our streets. This illustrates how our Community and Police partnership can work at its best.

[Anyone have more details on this? Was it a neighbor who was involved or a park user or? We too thank the witnesses for reporting this and making sure the violent criminal was apprehended. - Editor]

History of the Precita Valley Lands

2009-10-26T01:08:00.001-07:00

Some interesting history of the Precita Valley Lands: Bernal Bernal Everywhere via Burrito Justice: "UC Berkeley has the 1857 map for the Bernal land claim settlement – the tract is enormous, click to see the entire thing."

Check out the link for some interesting history.

Oakes Children's Center incidents

2009-10-22T16:53:00.001-07:00

There have been more incidents recently at the Oakes Children's Center, the school for developmentally delayed and emotionally disturbed children on Treat,

Wednesday, October 21st at 8:46 am
1500 blk of Treat

Police report: Vandalism to Property: Officers Saari and Trujillo responded to a school, where a student who was involved in a verbal altercation with another student and became disruptive. The student picked up a chair and smashed a classroom window. The student was cited and released.

This is not the first Police response to Oakes, in fact some neighbors who live nearby say that there are police cars there several times a week. There was also a police car on Tuesday this week.

A few days ago, a neighbor was walking home and saw a student outside the facility on Treat "having a tantrum and throwing around garbage cans, hitting cars". Other neighbor said a student threw a brick and damaged their car (apparently they didn't report this to the police). There have been other occurrences of students outside the building, standing in the middle of Treat Ave, blocking cars and not moving.

We have heard other complaints from neighbors about the busses that bring the children to and from the campus which then have to make U-turns at the top of Treat, and double-park for extended periods of time on the street in front of the school.

This is in contrast to what the Oakes people told neighbors at the August 15th, 2008 community meeting before the school opened, when they said "buses will offload on Folsom or drive through [the parking lot]."

This is the 2nd year of operation for Oakes at perhaps it is time for another community meeting to address neighbors concerns?

We got this a little late...

2009-10-15T17:06:00.001-07:00

From the city of SF:

Thursday , October 15th - The Great California Shake Out Drill - (10/15 at 10:15 am) Asking people to register at the website and, at a minimum to practice drop, cover and hold on drills. We will also be sounding the city's outdoor public warning system at this time. (Media outreach will take place prior to notify all members of the public)

Obviously not enough media outreach, because it caught us by surprise this morning.

Help clean the children's playground with Supervisor Campos

2009-09-30T15:16:00.001-07:00

Demece Garepis sends us this:

Supervisor David Campos/Precita Valley Neighbors

CALL TO ACTION ALL PRECITA PARK NEIGHBORS!

Saturday, October 3rd, 9:00am – Noon

at Childrens’ Playground in Precita Park

AGENDA:

1. Supervisor Campos will help us clean up the Childrens’ Playground and Precita Park: a) Sign Installation in the Childrens’ Playground b) Clean up of rubber tiles in Childrens’ Playground c) Painting benches and picnic tables d) Trash removal in Precita Park e) Painting Benches in Precita Park f) Butterfly Garden and park flowers maintenance

2. Supervisor Campos will be presented our letters to liquor stores owners and SFPD demanding a modification on local liquor licenses to stop selling alcohol after midnight.

3. Show Supervisor Campos Precita traffic calming is not working despite our best efforts, especially along the Precita Park perimeter and our solutions.

REFRESHMENTS: water and pastries will be provided for all volunteers

Commercial Burglary near Bryant and Precita

2009-09-21T13:59:00.001-07:00

Commercial Burglary: Friday, September 18th, 2009 6:61am 2900 block of Bryant St

Officer Saari and Officer Giannini responded to an alarm of a business. Once on scene, officers discovered the business had been burglarized. Entry was made by force from the suspects to the lock and door. Unknown suspects had fled the scene prior to officers' arrival. Loss is a computer, valued at about $200.00 and a cash register drawer. No suspect information available at this time. Case #090966848.

Vandal arrested

2009-09-08T18:09:00.001-07:00

Saturday, September 5th at 2:59 pm
400 block of Precita

Vandalism and Parole warrant Arrest

Officer Alvarenga and Gritsch responded to a man vandalizing cars. They immediately found the suspect, who seemed to be under the influence of some mind altering substance. The officers were fast acting and were able to detain and get an ambulance to assess the suspect. Their investigation also showed that the suspect was wanted on a parole warrant. Needless to say one less criminal in the Ingleside. Report number 090916495

Robbery on Precita (suspect know to victim)

2009-09-08T18:07:00.001-07:00

Monday, September 7th, 12:00 pm 200 block of Precita Burglary

Officer Ferronato and Antonian responded to a residential burglary. When they arrived they spoke to the victim and the witness that lives in the house. The witness relayed to the officers that he was at home in his room when he heard the back door open. When he went to investigate he found a young lady that is familiar with the owner of the house. She was carrying a laptop that did not belong to her. The officers were able to locate the suspect and she is now a guest with the SF Sherriff! Report number 090918231

(This seems more of a "crime of passion" rather than a robbery. -Editor)

iPod Snatching on 100 block of Precita

2009-09-08T18:04:00.001-07:00

Saturday, September 5th at 2:28 pm
100 block of Precita Theft from Person

DPT Parking Control Officer Montoya was doing his rounds when he heard a woman yelling for help. Montoya jumped into action and chased the would be suspect down.
Montoya got on the radio and asked for Ingleside officers to respond. Officer Pedersen got to the scene and took over the investigation.

Officer Pedersen was able to find out through his keen sense of investigation, that the suspect Montoya had chased and stopped was in fact an opportunist thief that stole an IPod from a woman. The suspect was given
a court date. Both DPT PCO Montoya and officer Pedersen did a great job.

Report number 090914336

Another car break-in on Treat

2009-09-01T19:39:00.001-07:00

This is the third vehicle break-in or robbery we've heard about in the last few weeks:

August 31st, 09:51 pm 1500 block Treat
Theft from Vehicle

Officer Sugitan and Officer Barajas responded to a report of an auto-boost. The suspect was gone when the police arrived. The witness told the officers that he came out of his house to find the suspect exiting a vehicle that had been broken into. The suspect fled the scene and the witness called the police. Case number 090897259.

Please be vigilant about strangers loitering around on your street. You do not need to confront them, but if you are visible, such as watering your plants in the front yard, it will deter them.

Burglary on Precita

2009-09-01T19:33:00.001-07:00

Monday, August 31, 2009 12:55 pm
500 block Precita (Between Alabama and Florida)

Burglary Officer Chan responded to a report of a burglary. The victim said that video game consoles and a digital camera had been stolen from a locked room. The suspect had broken a window on the door to gain entry. Case number 090895021.