NOPNA Block Party this weekend

SAT. SEPT. 30TH, 11AM TO 7PM BLOCK PARTY, LYON AT GROVE

The North of Panhandle Block Party, scheduled for Saturday September 30th,
promises to be the best ever, as it is freshly focused on community-building
and safety. We have created exciting new events to include communicating
with you on what you can do to keep the neighborhood safe and clean,
valuable prize drawings and lots of family activity.

All proceeds from this block party will benefit the NOPNA Safety Committee,
dedicated to keeping our neighborhood safe, clean and crime-free.

We are still looking for volunteers to help monitor activities, host a booth
of their wares or simply helping set up. If you'd like to help, please
contact kmrafter-at-usfca.edu or kathilskow-at-yahoo.com.

We hope you'll come support our efforts to build community. We believe there
has never been a more important time to unite as a community, especially in
light of recent events in our area.

North of Panhandle Block Party
Saturday, September 30, 2006
11 am to 7pm
Lyon Street between Hayes and Grove

Bring your family, friends (and chairs)

11 am: Magician/Juggling Act (a professional act, donated by Mollie Poe)

11 am - 3 pm:
Bounce House
Arts and Crafts
Face Painting (donated by Keri Sheehan of Prudential Realty)
Cupcake Decorating

12 Noon - 7 pm:
Full BBQ (Donated and Served by David Habash of Parkside Market)
Valuable Prize Drawings randomly drawn from your ticket stub from the BBQ

3 pm - 7 pm:
Live Music (Donated by David Habash of Parkside Market)

Sincerely,

The North of Panhandle Block Party Volunteers Kevin Rafter, NOPNA Board
Member Paolo Juvara, NOPNA Board Member Kathi Skow, Neighbor Michelle
Moghadassi, Neighbor Ryan Noland, Neighbor

Congratulations to Poleng Lounge

Poleng Lounge on Fulton Street just received a 3 star review from Michael Bauer in Sunday's Chronicle. Congratulations guys!

All told, Poleng Lounge, which takes over the space of the former Storyville and 1751 Social Club, is one of the freshest and most interesting restaurants to open in the Bay Area in some time.

Though he didn't mention it explicitly in the article, I'm sure Mr. Bauer was impressed that you're a NOPNA business member.

Latest Action on PD Foot Patrols

Yesterday the Board of Supervisors voted to convene more hearings on Supervisor Mirkarimi's foot patrol legislation. A full account of the proceedings is available in this article from today's SF Chronicle. What I found most interesting was a quote from Police Chief Heather Fong, who said "The commitment to staffing foot patrols is there. Our concern is resources. We look forward to working with you on how we maximize the beats we staff in the future."

This is an important sign that the leadership are finally starting to respond to the call for foot patrols coming from San Francisco's communities. People want to see their police force on the street and have more opportunities to get to know the officers who protect them. It is so much easier to start a conversation with an officer when they're walking on foot rather than try to flag down a patrol car as it passes by. SFPD leadership are finally speaking up and addressing this issue. Let's keep the pressure on.

Important Safety Initiatives: It's time for us to take action

Hello Neighbors,

As many of you know, living in a safe, clean and friendly community
is the cornerstone to NOPNA's mission. NOPNA held a Community
Meeting held Aug. 21st in response to the shooting at Grove and Baker
where our District 5 Supervisor presented his ideas for improving
safety in our area.

As part of our continuing efforts to improve safety, I have three
important requests of you.

1) Contact the board of supervisors and express your opinion on the
proposed SFPD Foot Patrol Legislation.
============================================
Please email or call our city officials to state your opinion NOW.
Critical legislation is up for vote on September 19.

Supervisor Mirkarimi has designed legislation that will mandate
police foot patrols in our district. The proposed new law calls for
a one-year pilot program in which the Northern and Park Stations each
staff at least two foot patrols per day. It would require that a
report on the progress and effectiveness of the patrols in six
months. It is believed that foot patrols are critical to reducing the
crisis of violence in San Francisco. It is coming before the Board
of Supervisors on Tuesday, September 19. Call 554-6783 for more
information or send an email to the city officials below stating your
opinion. If this legislation passes, it could be implemented in
other parts of the City. Here is a link that will give you a map of
the patrol area: www.geocities.com/mirkarimistaff/footpatrol.html

CONTACTS:
All members of the Board of Supervisors: Board.of.Supervisors@sfgov.org
Mayor Gavin Newsom: Gavin.Newsom@sfgov.org


2) Write the Chronicle and Examiner and state your opinion about
safety and rising homicide rates in SF.
============================================
It is critical that we express our opinions about safety in our city
NOW. We need to let our officials know, in every way possible, that
the homicides and the lack of convictions in the city is
unacceptable. Letters to the editors should be 200 words or less, and
be sent directly in an email message (no attachments). Shorter
letters have a better chance of being published.

CONTACTS:
Examiner letter to the editor: Letters@examiner.com
Chronicle letters to the editor: letters@sfchronicle.com

Bay Guardian - deborah@sfbg.com
Bay Area Reporter - BARpaper@aol.com
Haight Ashbury Beat - editor@haightashburybeat.com
San Francisco Sentinel - sanfranciscosentinel@yahoo.com
SF Weekly - letters@sfweekly.com
SF Bay Times - editor@sfbaytimes.com
SF Business Times - sanfrancisco@bizjournals.com
SF Bayview - editor@sfbayview.com

Additional Contact Information for individual Supervisors:
Mayor Gavin Newsom 554-6141, gavin.newsom@sfgov.org
Michela Alioto-Pier 554-7752, michela.alioto-pier@sfgov.org
Tom Ammiano 554-5144, tom.ammiano@sfgov.org
Chris Daly 554-7970, chris.daly@sfgov.org
Bevan Dufty 554-6968, bevan.dufty@sfgov.org
Sean Elsbernd 554-6516, sean.elsbernd@sfgov.org
Fiona Ma 554-7460, fiona.ma@sfgov.org
Sophie Maxwell 554-7670, sophie.maxwell@sfgov.org
Jake McGoldrick 554-7410, jake.mcgoldrick@sfgov.org
Aaron Peskin 554-7450, aaron.peskin@sfgov.org
Gerardo Sandoval 554-6975, gerardo.sandoval@sfgov.org


3) Attend our next general meeting, Sept. 21st where we will have
updates on the latest safety concerns for our neighborhood.
===========================================
Our next NOPNA general meeting is September 21st. We will continue
our discussion about community safety. Our supervisor will be in
attendance along with a host of other guests. Please plan to attend.

September 21st NOPNA General Meeting
7pm, Meet your neighbors.
7:30pm to 9pm General meeting
Café Neon, McAllister at Baker

Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you soon!
-Leela

Tough Talk on Crime

Four interesting op-ed piece in today's Chronicle from

Mayor Gavin Newsom

District Attorney Kamala Harris

Police Chief Heather Fong

Former prosecutor Jim Hammer

So now we know they're paying attention.