Bluoz

One of the very few recession proof businesses in San Francisco's Mid Market that's actually lasted longer than 30 years

Biking the South Fork of the American River Trail, hunting for meteorites in Coloma, and visiting Sutter's Mill and Placerville

With the slowly evolving quality of public transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, a big question I always have is 'how far can you go without a car', either on a day trip or short weekend camping or maybe a little more, with only a bicycle

It is possible now to get to Folsom or Placerville from San Francisco without a car in four hours. This has been described a few years ago in the Bay Guardian and now there's updates.

You can take Amtrak with a bicycle from Oakland or Richmond BART to Sacramento in under 2 hours on the Capitol Corridor for 37 dollars. From there you have two choices close by in downtown Sacramento. You can take the Folsom 507 train to Folsom which has bike racks on the train (unlike Muni) or there is a commuter bus from Sacramento to Placerville on weekdays, or you can transfer at Folsom and use the Iron Point Connector to travel all the way to Pollock Pines which is at 4000 feet up in the Sierras. All of this is on El Dorado Transit You can also bike along the American River from Sacramento to Folsom. There is a bike trail the whole way

But what I did was take the train to Folsom and biked all the way up to Folsom Lake via Salmon Falls road to the Salmon Falls Bridge. The newly opened South Fork American River Trail which is the heart of gold panning country along that river and where gold was discovered in 1849. This is also the same area where parts of the Sutter's Mill meteorite exploded and landed

The South Fork of the American River get's the 1989 Marin Pine Mountain steel frame San Francisco bike messenger trash bike treatment. The same trash bike that was stolen and recovered in South of Market



Continue reading "biking for meteorites in the gold country and..." »

the famous Pink Floyd flying pig gets a little too close to the crowd last night at AT&T park. This was also noticed by the San Jose Mercury news

the great Mid market revival is in the news again and it's followed by even more stunning and willful ignorance

This is the one subject in San Francisco where most the of comments point out this ignorance. You just can't fool people with this shockingly blatant ignorance.. The city of San Francisco has paid for and spent 30 years to make Mid Market a containment zone, with the help of non profits in last 20 years. It will remain a containment zone no matter how many Twitters move in because the city will continue to pay for and operate a containment zone in the area for the next 20 years. That's why we call it the corrupt twitterloin. To put it even more simply YOU are literally paying to revive Mid Market and paying to keep it a crime zone, at the very same time, by the very same politicians

To put it bluntly, Crackheads of the Day will still be here in Mid Market in 10 years, guaranteed. In fact, that is more guaranteed and likely to be here in 10 years than any of the dot coms

williamb7373

8:13 AM on May 11, 2012

Ed Lee, like most San Franciscans, has no idea how bad it is in this area; he's ignorant if not blind to the anarchy in mid-Market which now has begun to stretch West of Van Ness. And until he pulls a Michael Bloomberg and no longer allows people to live and die in full view on Market St, or any street in S.F. his term of Mayor will be a failure.

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bauii

8:21 AM on May 11, 2012

You are right on point. Within the last year the scene has pushed west. Unless the City acts now rather than continuing the entitlement of people to deal and use drugs openly, to get dead drunk and all the things that go along with it...this part of Market and the streets north and south will soon sink into what 6th and Market has been for years. Oh by the way don't bother contacting District 6 supervisor Kim, she is worthless.

silom6X

6:50 AM on May 11, 2012

"Total resurgence" in the mid-Market area will not be possible until you get rid of all the winos, bums, and homeless. So far the "city that knows how", doesn't.

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kimbo66
Kimbo66

8:15 AM on May 11, 2012

I worked in the area for 8 years, You are totally correct.
City hall just doesn't get it.

bosguy1

9:33 PM on May 10, 2012

I walk by the businesses mentioned on a daily basis because I live in the area. The businesses themselves are fine, but outside on the street is bad news. Across from the bike shop, at any given time of day, is about thirty thugs, wobbling around, grabbing their crotch, dealing drugs and intimidating people. Where the new theatre is going, well damn, you got gang banger heaven outside the coffee shop and "check cashing" store lingering outside, asking you if "want something", along with a plethora of drug addicts and homeless grabbing your arm for money, smoking crack and urinating. Oh, and lets not leave out the "meet and greet" gang bangers that hang out and block the Civic Center MUNI/BART exits and entrances.

I give the businesses credit for moving there and try to be hopeful the area will "resurge". But, until I hear the Mayor speak about cracking down on the crime and drug dealing that goes on, I'm not so hopeful. Until that's all dealt with, these businesses don't stand a chance, period.
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al_sf
al_sf

11:15 PM on May 10, 2012

Your insight is right on.
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al_sf
al_sf

11:18 PM on May 10, 2012

Twitter is coming. Twitter is coming. Scratch my back. But guess what, Twitter still hasn't found a real way to make money (come on advertising? so is every other web 2.0 company out there). Ok Twitter is coming but the area still reminds me of Gotham city from the Batman movie. When it gets dark......we will see the "other" side of mid Market....the "darker" side. And 20 year old hipsters don't fight crime. Yes they fight bugs in code but not crime.
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buzzman
buzzman

11:33 PM on May 10, 2012

The City does not want to admit that its housing policies in SOMA and the TL are the reason mid-market continues to be an arm-pit, and will remain one.
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ddeburger
ddeburger

11:39 PM on May 10, 2012

Just wait until one of those twitter employees gets stabbed or mugged. Wait until they start complaining to management because of being hassled and feeling intimidated trying to get to and from work everyday. They would have to endure what you described right outside the civic center Bart/Muni and anywhere along that stretch trying to get lunch or whatever. Let's see how long this lasts and if Mayor Lee is going to clean it up. If not, wait for the announcement of Twitter leaving that area and possibly SF for good.


giantsmax
giantsmax

12:10 AM on May 11, 2012

If the mid market area can finally be revitalized that would be a huge positive for San Francisco. My only worry is where will all the drug dealers and other bad people go---they have to go somewhere--right?
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intransit
InTransit

6:32 AM on May 11, 2012

Correct. So there's the Lower Height? Church & Duboce even? South Van Ness around Goodwill is my bet though.
Plenty of sketchy and sliding places around to pick up the slack.
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likewhatever
likewhatever

6:44 AM on May 11, 2012

Don't worry 6th St won't be changing anytime soon. Too many SRO's.
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gluconeogenesis
gluconeogenesis

6:53 AM on May 11, 2012

Maybe the increase in demand by techies who want to live close to work will make the rental model more appealing to current SRO landlords.
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dns_2008
dns_2008

7:16 AM on May 11, 2012

16th and Mission... It's much seedier than it was 40 years ago....
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Name withheld

7:34 AM on May 11, 2012

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frankinsf
frankinsf

7:47 AM on May 11, 2012

San Jose.
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williamb7373
williamb7373

7:59 AM on May 11, 2012

They've already begun to migrate to West of Van Ness; specifically the 1500 block of Market, which has been decimated by a liquor store in the middle of the block that allows drug deals inside and outside it's storefront, and loitering; something that NO other businesses allow in the area. As a result, there is violence, and one can hardly get past them to the MUNI Metro at the end of the block, or to Zuni Cafe. Until San Francisco makes it illegal, like NYC, to live and die in full view on her streets NO amount of property retail rental will upgrade the area.
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ddeburger
ddeburger

8:23 AM on May 11, 2012

Let them go hang out in front of Mayor Lee's place, the homeless advocates homes, and the BOS homes. See how fast they clean up the problem!
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ddeburger

7:06 AM on May 11, 2012

The reality is that until this stretch gets cleaned up, these businesses don't have a chance in hell. At any given time, there are drug deals, bums, thugs, and the like hanging all up and down that stretch of street. How many people want to get off at Civic Center BART/Muni and be harrassed and intimidated on a day to day basis just trying to get to and from work?? All its going to take is a Twitter employee or another employee from one of those businesses getting stabbed or mugged before they pack up and move out. It is wonderful that they want to revitalize the area, but Mayor Lee needs to clean it up first before even thinking of revitalizing it. He's putting the cart before the horse.
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bikercop
bikercop

7:41 AM on May 11, 2012

I disagree. Many of the shady characters you mention will shun the light cast upon the area when businesses move into the mid-Market location. Let's let this work itself out. Why should the City spend money to clean up mid-Market when it will occur naturally?
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ddeburger
ddeburger

7:50 AM on May 11, 2012

Are you kidding?? Those new employees are going to be new targets for the thugs and bums. And YES, the city should spend the money cleaning it up. It is their responsibility for letting it get that bad in the first place. I mean, who is going to be at fault once those employees have had enough of this nonsense and those companies decide to pack up and leave?
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8:01 AM on May 11, 2012

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san_francisco
san_francisco

8:01 AM on May 11, 2012

twitter will be the neighborhoods new squeaky wheel and call the cops for every little problem. that is one of the cornerstones of the gentrification process.. duh...
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williamb7373
williamb7373

8:09 AM on May 11, 2012

ddeburger: you are absolutely right. The cops don't do anything about this problem until/unless someone makes a citizen's arrest (like I did last week after having been mugged near Zuni Cafe). Even then, the perps are back on the street the next day, unless one is maimed by them. San Francisco refuses to put out THE INN IS FULL sign, and until it does take responsibility for the anarchy on it's streets, Twitter employees will need to arm themselves when they come to work.
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ddeburger
ddeburger

8:20 AM on May 11, 2012

@williamb7373: Sorry that happened to you...it's terrible. For the cops not to do anything about it unless you file a citizens arrest is appalling! Whatever happened to serve and protect?
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'pick up your dog shit' scrawled on the sidewalk on Howard between 7th and 8th in South of market, San Francisco

On April 18, 2012, workers from non profits went before the board of supervisors to ask for pay raises. On May 1st, 2012, we remind people of the non profits who have trampled over workers rights

the whole story and the main page for this is here

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/04/17/18711462.php

Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit @ Randy Shaw's Tenderloin Housing Housing Clinic
by Craig
Tuesday Apr 17th, 2012 5:54 AM


Please give an update on Shop Steward's lawsuit at Tenderloin Housing Clinic.

I am a former employee at Tenderloin Housing and would greatly appreciate some information about Mr. Holmes's case against THC.
Add Your Comments
§Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit @ Randy Shaw's Tenderloin Housing H
by THC worker
Tuesday Apr 17th, 2012 7:26 AM
It has been about four years since Nathaniel was fired, I believe he was single out by management because we as union members we signed a petition about unfair labor practices here at THC and Mr. Holmes was the only one fired by Shaw because Nathaniel complained about racism and filed grievances at THC. SEIU1021 as usual did nothing to help. I would like some information also even though I know it takes years for employment lawsuits to be resolved. Good luck to Mr. Holmes!!
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§Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit @ Randy Shaw's Tenderloin Housing H
by Larry
Tuesday Apr 17th, 2012 7:37 AM
This case is presently pending in the Ninth Circuit court of Appeals.
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§Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit @ Randy Shaw's Tenderloin Housing H
by Shop Steward at THC
Tuesday Apr 17th, 2012 8:44 AM
Workers at THC owe Nate Holmes because we failed to even be concerned about him being wrongly terminated by Randy. We were intimidated by management's memo not to even speak to Nate and turned our backs on him in his time of distress. I hope that this court of appeals will protect his constitutional rights that have been violated. I know that Nate have a long list of witnesses to come to his defense and I wish him and his family well.
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§Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit @ Randy Shaw's Tenderloin Housing H
by Mission Hotel Clerk
Wednesday Apr 18th, 2012 7:31 AM
To get an update on Nate's case call 415- 355-8000 and give case # 11-16988.
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§Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit @ Randy Shaw's Tenderloin Housing H
by Rony
Thursday Apr 19th, 2012 5:48 AM
SEIU1021 should have never let this termination take place. Over 50 union members signed a petition about unfair employment practices of Randy Shaw and yet only one person, Nathaniel Holmes was terminated. BIG TIME DISCRIMINATION AT TENDERLOIN CLINIC !!
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§Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit @ Randy Shaw's Tenderloin Housing H
by Marlon
Thursday Apr 19th, 2012 8:44 AM
Thanks Craig for asking about this case. Let's face the facts - Nate Holmes was fired because he called out Randy Shaw's Jim Crow practices at Tenderloin Housing, filed grievances about racist practices by supervisors and complained about racism from co - workers and SEIU1021 union reps. Mr. Shaw wants to be known as a progressive or some sort of so called power broker. Nate pissed Shaw off and that is what the new racism is all about - denying that racism exists. I wish Mr. Holmes the best in pursuing his constitutional rights.
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§Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit @ Randy Shaw's Tenderloin Housing H
by Larry H.
Sunday Apr 29th, 2012 4:17 PM
Title Vl of the Civil Rights Rights Act (1964) states that " No person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

Below is the April 18, Board of Supervisors budget and finance committee hearing on non profit flat line budgets and workers pay raises. Not a single mention mention was made of Nate Holmes, not by Randy Shaw or the Tenderloin Housing Clinic current SEIU union rep, or anyone else during this entire 3 hour hearing



While the Board of Supervisors are technically barred from interfering with individual non profits, this continues to be the case with the add back process that the city attorney itself calls 'possible misconduct' on the Board of Supervisors and was described in the Civil Grand Jury report on Non Profits. There used to be a non profit oversight committee formed by the Board of Supervisors, but that was disbanded several years ago, so there is no one to turn to anymore other than the department heads or the Board of Supervisors, or the courts. So who oversees the nonprofits now? Nobody except the department heads like HSA director of contracts David Curto, who was also at this hearing and also heard from Nate Holmes in 2009 and then went before the Board of Supervisors and told them Tenderloin Housing Clinic had no problems. If the departments heads ignore it, who oversees the department heads?. Its the Board of Supervisors or the mayor

this is Human Services Agency director of non profit contracts David Curto in 2010 asking for 82 million and a 5 1/2 year contract for Tenderloin Housing Clinc before the exact same Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance committee, which then had as members John Avalos and Ross Mirkarimi. No mention of any union or labor disputes at Tenderloin Housing Clinic here either. Those supervisors could have said something to the department head at that time, but didn't. Now Mirkarimi is fighting to keep his own job




This is Nate Holmes and SEIU union rep Kate Walker before the Board of Supervisors Government and Oversight committee November 12, 2009



This hearing was because of the same civil grand jury report on non profits

If San Francisco's largest non profit can get away with this for four years running, with no questions asked, then why should the public have faith in any of this process?

by Rita O'Flynn

The Tenderloin Housing Clinic is a tax-exempt non-for-profit which is prohibited by the IRS from engaging in political activities. San Francisco gets around this by stating in its contracts that "No funds appropriated by the City and County of San Francisco FOR THIS AGREEMENT may be expended..." on political activities.

The Controller's Office recently did a financial analysis of the THC in response to the embezzlement conviction of its former employee. The Controller's Office has somehow determined that no funds appropriated by the City and County of San Francisco are used to support BeyondChron, which is an LLC of the THC, published by the THC, and is edited by two full-time employees of the THC. Basically, Shaw's salary does not contain any provisions for his work on BeyondChron and Paul Hogarth's salary only contains a small provision to work on BeyondChron. The THC claims it used profits from its legal division and the Galvin Apartments to fund BeyondChron and the portion of Hogarth's salary for his BeyondChron activities.

The problem with this is that the legal services division is primarily funded by CCSF and there are contractual provisions regarding the use of profits from CCSF-funded programs (AKA: Program Income). These provisions are restrictive in terms of how program income can be used. Specifically, the contracts state, "...provisions of this agreement shall apply to expenditures of program income". The grants from MOH and the HSA for legal services have no provisions for the use of any profits to fund BeyondChron and the most recent version of the THC's audited financial report (FY 2010) the THC indicates that rental revenue, including that from the Galvin Apartments are used to pay for management and operating the property" without ever mentioning allocations for BeyondChron.

If you read Beyondchron today, you will see that Shaw spent a bit of time at the Planning Commission yesterday. It was his intention to speak in favor of CPMC's proposed facility on Van Ness but apparently he had to leave before he could do so because the meeting ran from 10 AM to 8 PM. While the contracts with the City require the THC to keep appropriate records to document compliance with the political activities restrictions, these don't seem to be disclosable under the public records act and the City Attorney assigned to SOTF has fought such disclosure on behalf of the Controller's Office in front of the SOTF. The public is forced to rely on the findings of the Controller's Office without knowing what these findings are actually based on. There is no clear, non-influenced, independent way of knowing how Shaw's activities yesterday (or at any other time) were actually funded.

The City's current contracts with non-for-profits leave the door wide open for conflict of interest and raise serious ethical issues regarding the elected Board of Supervisor approval of grants and budgets, including line item restoration, for non-for-profits that engage in political activities. Quite simply, the City should not provide any funding to any non-for-profit that engages in political activities regardless of the non-for-profit's source of funding for its political activities.


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The prohibition on political activities by non profits is documented in the THC grant agreement here. The IRS in 2007 issued this reminder to non profits not to engage in political activity and further IRS clarification on political activity for non profits (PDF). Numerous examples are cited on what is OK and what is not for a non profit, including running websites. The IRS also points out that even personal opinions are subject to the rules if they are published under the umbrella of the tax exempt organization. The IRS also doesn't make a distinction of a subsidiary like Beyondchron that the city of San Francisco has apparently been doing and considers it to be one and the same. It is the IRS that grants the non profit status in the first place, not the city

The Tenderloin Housing Clinic 2010 federal 990 tax form lists Beyondchron as a disregarded entity

A disregarded entity is a business entity that is separate from its owner but which chooses to be disregarded as separate from the business owner for federal tax purposes. The IRS says,

"If a “disregarded entity” is owned by an individual, it is treated as a sole proprietor. If the “disregarded entity” is owned any any other entity, it is treated as a branch or division of its owner."

A sole proprietorship is not a disregarded entity, because the business is not separate from the owner.

Liability Issues for a Disregarded Entity
A disregarded entity is considered the same entity as the owner for tax purposes, but not for liability purposes. For more information on this subject, read this article in which attorney Robert Warwick discusses disregarded entity tax and liability issues

Tenderloin Housing Clinic Review 3-23-12


Tenderloin Housing Clinic 2010 Audited Financials1

Big Brother and the Holding Company live at Earth Day San Francisco, April 22 2012

Sam Andrew, Dave Getz, Peter Albin, Stefanie Keyes, Tom Finch



They recently released a live album from the Carousel Ballroom 1968 recorded by Owsley Stanley. The Carousel was just 3 blocks from this Civic Center show at Van Ness and Market



full flickr set

Barry Melton band, live at Earth Day San Francisco, April 22, 2012



Barry Melton


Banana!..from the Youngbloods

Nice day to bike up Montara Mountain

full flickr set