B2B at 100: Eight Neighborhood Groups Take Lead For Fun, Safe 100th Year Race

Representatives from eight neighborhoods along the Bay-to-Breakers route are setting the course for a successful and less contentious race and after-party in the centennial celebration next year. Presidents of the District 5 neighborhood associations developed strategies to counter this year's problems that range from outreach and promotion to a central command center and more extensive enforcement.

The group also wants to take a look at the economics of the race and the negotiations for the race permit. They have stepped-up their involvement in event planning after what many consider a disastrous after-party that trashed several neighborhoods. "There needs to be an action plan for either controlling or abating the after-party," Jarie Bolander, president of the North of the Panhandle Neighborhood Association (NOPNA), said. "It can no longer be left to neighborhoods to fend for themselves when so many problems overtake the event."

The associations call for a city-wide task force that includes all stakeholders including elected officials, city department heads and the chief of police, race managers and sponsors, race participants, and neighborhood representatives. The local representatives developed several proposals for the task force to consider:

• More involvement by SFPD District Captains, as well as the Chief of Police, with a central command center and an "on the ground" focus that directs resources to hot spots
• Prepare for the after-party as if it were a protest with visible paddy wagons along the course and with resources staged throughout the day not just until the end of the race
• Trained volunteers to "observe and report" illegal or dangerous activities to the police
• Possible sealing off of the race from side streets from Fillmore to Stanyan streets
• Promotion of the event to warn that infractions will result in fine
• Opening the permit negotiations now conducted between the Mayor's office and race manager AEG to more public review before the proposal is submitted to the city's hearing committee
• Opening the books on profit and loss of the Bay to Breakers
• Placement of port-o-potties off the course on neighborhood streets
• Reduction of the environmental impact with major reduction of trash along the course

The local leaders presented their recommendations to Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi last week and obtained his support of the process. "It's clear that Supervisor Mirkarimi shares our concerns and will help us in any way possible," Bolander wrote in a summary of the meeting. "We have seen that when Supervisor Mirkarimi is part of the process positive outcomes happen." Mirkarimi was closely involved with planning -- and setting limits on activities -- for the 2009 race, but pulled back from this year's event. Following the troubles with the out-of-control after-party this year, the supervisor's office said AEG had not consulted with them.

The neighborhood leaders are not alone in urging a re-thinking of B2B with involvement across the city. BIKE NOPA spoke with Supervisor Bevan Dufty about his district's experience with the Castro Halloween party that was discontinued after violence disrupted the event in 2006. District 5 leaders frequently cite what happened with Halloween in the Castro as a harbinger of what could befall Bay to Breakers. "It's so pleasurable the last two years (in the Castro at Halloween)," Dufty said. "There's not the huge drinking party, but you can walk on the sidewalks and streets and be with friends and have your party that way." Regarding the Bay to Breakers, Dufty commented, "I do believe this is a multi-district issue. I think the stakeholders need to make a comittment to make their voices heard and be part of the process."

The neighborhood groups believe they have initiated that process in an effort to protect neighbors from unsafe conditions, bring all stakeholders together, urge positive solutions to current event problems, hold responsible parties accountable, and make the 100th Bay to Breakers a phenomenally fun event for everyone.

The following organizations are participating in the B2B planning:

• Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association
• Divisadero Merchants Association
• Alamo Square Neighborhood Association
• Lower Haight Merchants and Neighborhood Association
• Haight Ashbury Improvement Association
• Buena Vista Neighborhood Association
• Cole Valley Improvement Association
• North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association

Jarie Bolander requests that anyone who wants to get involved with making the 100th Bay to Breakers "Fun for Everyone" to send an email to b2b@nopna.org

Check here for previous stories in BIKE NOPA's series B2B at 100.

B2B at 100: Six Westside Groups Charge City Allows Repeated Code Violations; Seek Meeting with Mayor and Stakeholders

No one has a problem with the footrace and its early spectators

B2B at 100: An ongoing series about neighborhood efforts to reclaim Bay to Breakers as a foot race and party that San Franciscans can support and celebrate for all the edgy, quirky, and fabulous things it has represented for most of its 99 year history.

Six neighborhood and merchant associations have had enough of the city-sanctioned havoc that accompanies the Bay to Breakers after-party. In a June 15th letter sent to Mayor Gavin Newsom, the groups describe "escalating illegal and dangerous conduct"that threatens their neighborhoods with "increasingly brazen acts of illegal activity, violence, San Francisco Municipal Code violations, and Health and Safety violations." They charge that the city continues to issue permits to the race organizers with full knowledge of the mayhem that has resulted the last several years.

In an introductory message to Newsom, Jarie Bolander, President of the North of the Panhandle Neighborhood Association (NOPNA), asked for leadership from the Mayor to end the "epidemic of defacing public and private property, harassing neighbors and using homes as urinals." He added that several other organizations have already reached out to the neighborhood collective, including AEG and Save the Bay to Breakers, to plan a safer celebration. Bolander concluded, "We all want to see the centennial Bay to Breakers celebrate our uniqueness and not our sleaziness."

Along with NOPNA, the other organizations seeking mayoral leadership and citywide involvement in the B2B solution represent the most influential neighborhood groups of the inner west side:

• Alamo Square Neighborhood Association
• Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association
• Lower Haight Merchants and Neighbors Association
• Haight Ashbury Improvement Association
• Divisadero Merchants Association

In the group's letter to the mayor -- with copies to Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and the full Board of Supervisors -- the neighborhood leaders assert their broad reach. "We represent tens of thousands of constituents, hundreds of small businesses, and many of the city's most prominent historic streets and homes, spanning over 100 city blocks."

The associations cite the relevant state and city codes that govern public nuisances, including public urination, that are flaunted every year after the footrace has concluded. By granting permits each year to the race organizers -- with full knowledge of the previous years' experience -- the city, in effect, is allowing the illegal behavior.

But the neighborhood groups make it clear their primary concerns are with the violence that holds residents hostage. They have no complaint with the "lively, boisterous, and uniquely San Francisco event." Their concern is with the "growing presence of drunk, angry, and disrespectful participants who think nothing of threatening elderly folks, urinating, defecating, and fighting in the streets." They also cite "countless reports" of residents being threatened and "mobs verbally attacking residents, children being screamed at, women afraid to venture outdoors, and individuals breaking into yards and side entrances." They conclude, "We will not allow 'business as usual' and wait for a resident or participants to get seriously injured." Their concerns reflect sentiments also expressed during last month's NOPNA meeting, reported here, as neighbors described the mayhem as "combustible" with "a spark to violence just waiting to happen."

The neighborhood associations wish to partner with the city, race organizers, sponsors and participants. They hope to get the race back to its roots and prevent the "intolerable behavior" that has become a dangerous part of its reputation. The groups seek a meeting with the mayor "within the next few weeks."

Note: Read the letter (pdf document) to the Mayor and Board of Supervisors. NOPNA's Bolander also attached to his email message to the mayor, a summary of a survey of North Panhandle residents with their reactions to this year's Bay to Breakers.

Check the other B2B at 100 articles here.

Progressive Neighborhood Associations: Essential to a More Livable City

Damage from vandalism: acid etching removed from Divisadero store windows

An expense to city taxpayers: repairing damage from vandalism

An effective collaboration restores storefronts

City districts often flourish with active, forward-thinking neighborhood associations, especially when the groups foster collaborations with government, non-profit, and private entities. NOPNA has a long history of securing improvements for the North Panhandle through strategic partnerships. Early efforts include working with the Emerald Fund, the developer of the Village at Petrini Place and Lucky's grocery store, to support safety measures in the neighborhood, teaming up with local schools and churches -- Pacific Primary, the Day School. and St. Cyprian's Episcopal -- to promote bicycling, tree planting, and kids events, and planning with FIX MASONIC to make our western border a safer corridor.

The most recent evidence of a great collaboration was apparent along the Divisadero Commercial Corridor last week when contractors moved from storefront to storefront removing acid etch graffiti and installing protective film on vandalized windows. NOPNA and the Divisadero Merchants Association worked with the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) to land a $39,000 grant for the project. NOPNA served as the fiscal agent for the grant.

Ellyn Parker, the OEWD rep who works non-stop and appears everywhere in the neighborhood, coordinated efforts to secure the $39,000 grant. She also worked with neighborhood merchants to identify which storefronts needed the repairs most and which vendors were most affordable. As a result of the the groups' efforts -- and, of course, the creating of the grants program by the Mayor's Office -- two dozen storefronts will continue to enhance the appearance and livability along the new Divisadero Corridor.