San Francisco, CA

Marin advocate for disabled gets San Francisco post

Published

10 months ago

January 5, 2025

Marin advocate for disabled gets San Francisco post

Eli Gelardin, the longtime head of the Marin Center for Independent Living, has accepted an offer to lead the Mayor’s Office on Disability in San Francisco.

Gelardin, a longtime Marin disability rights advocate who led the center for 17 years, is set to start the new job on Jan. 6.

“It’s been an honor to work with a community that celebrates disabled joy and values lived experience,” Gelardin said. “Our collective efforts have always been about more than services — they’re about building a world where disabled lives are truly valued.”

Susan Malardino, the organization’s deputy director, will run it during the search for Gelardin’s replacement. The San Rafael organization offers social services and other resources to people with disabilities in Marin.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and City Administrator Carmen Chu announced Gelardin’s appointment on Dec. 18.

“We must continue to advocate for and protect our most vulnerable populations, and under Eli’s leadership the office will continue to work to ensure people with disabilities of all ages can live healthy, empowered lives in San Francisco,” Breed said.

Gelardin will oversee Americans with Disabilities Act implementation in city departments and programs. The position also provides guidance to the mayor’s office, the Board of Supervisors and other city departments on issues related to disabled people.

The Office on Disability staffs the Disability Council, which provides a public forum for policy.

“I look forward to working with him on our city’s efforts to make every service, program and space accessible to people with disabilities,” Chu said.

Gelardin has achondropolasia, a form of dwarfism. He was born in Boston and moved to Ross with his family when he was 7.

Gelardin graduated from Redwood High School in 1997 and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley in 2002.

He joined the Marin Center for Independent Living in 2003 and became executive director in 2008.

In August, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Gelardin to serve on the California State Rehabilitation Council. It advises the California Department of Rehabilitation on employment and independent living programs for people with disabilities.

Gelardin’s work as head of the Marin Center for Independent Living has been lauded.

Lee Uniacke, a member of the board, said, “Eli’s made sure that our community has a seat at the table in every state and regional coalition of consequence. He’s a natural leader who people enjoy working with.”

The center was founded by a group of volunteers in 1979 and established as a nonprofit organization in 1980. It is the leading disability rights organization in Marin and has an annual budget of about $2.1 million.

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San Francisco, CA

Ruling advances lawsuit against S.F. over arrests during 2023 Dolores Park hill bomb

Published

10 minutes ago

November 1, 2025

Press Room

Ruling advances lawsuit against S.F. over arrests during 2023 Dolores Park hill bomb

Skateboarders ride down Church Street at the annual hill bomb event at Dolores Park in San Francisco on Saturday, July 6, 2024.

Jason Henry/For the S.F. Chronicle

A federal court on Thursday granted class-action status to a lawsuit filed by teenagers who say they were unlawfully arrested during the chaotic 2023 hill bomb at Dolores Park, paving the way for more than 100 others to potentially join the case against the city and county.

The ruling allows approximately 113 people — including 81 minors — who were arrested on 17th Street on July 8, 2023, to join the lawsuit first filed by four teenagers in December 2023. The mass arrests concluded a night of general mayhem, marked by fireworks that sparked fires, vandalization of Muni vehicles and confiscation of several firearms around Dolores Park, according to police.

Within the chaos, innocent teenagers were swept up in detentions, the lawsuit argues. Rachel Lederman, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, called the mass arrest of children and youth an “outrageous round-up” where police arrested young adults without probable cause.

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“Then, the police held the children and youth outdoors and in vehicles for many hours as darkness fell and the night turned cold and windy,” she said in a statement. “SFPD did not provide them access to a bathroom for up to seven hours forcing desperate children to use a bucket in the street handed out by a neighbor.”

Jen Kwart, spokesperson for the city attorney, defended police, saying Friday that officers exercised appropriate crowd control to protect public safety. The city is looking forward to presenting its case in the coming months, she said.

The ruling was first reported by Mission Local.

Over at least the past decade, the informal competition has often sparked conflict with police. The hill bomb has gained notoriety in recent years after the event led to a death, a traumatic head injury and multiple skirmishes with the police. After 2023’s confrontations and arrests, the hill bomb was relatively calm in 2024 as police barricaded Dolores Street but skateboarders bombed down a different one.

This year, the event did not take place, and was instead replaced by a more formal, structured hill bomb at Twin Peaks, a largely peaceful affair.

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Two Muni trains were vandalized during the Dolores Hill Bomb in 2023.

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency 2023

Police were made aware of the 2023 hill bomb three weeks before the event took place, according to the lawsuit. The city sent additional officers to the area and erected barricades on the steepest part of the hill on Dolores Street. The crowd grew to approximately 200 people that night.

Police said that around 7 p.m., a 16-year-old man spat in a sergeant’s face. Police said the officer was assaulted while trying to detain the teenager and suffered lacerations to his face. Police said that during the arrest, the crowd began to throw ignited fireworks, smoke bombs, glass bottles, and metal cans at officers.

Two Muni light-rail vehicles were vandalized with graffiti, and the crowds refused to disperse and began removing barricades police had placed in the area, police said.

Around 8 p.m., after declaring the crowds an unlawful assembly, officers began making mass arrests. Plaintiffs argue they were trying to leave the area when police began corralling them for detention.

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One 15-year-old said in the lawsuit that she was trying to ride a scooter to a friend’s house and was still detained after telling officers she had nothing to do with the hill bomb.

The lawsuit alleges officers gave little information to parents who arrived to pick up their kids. Parents waited on the street for hours, and the last child was released from the Mission Police Station at 4:15 a.m., the lawsuit alleges.

The teens were cited and released for inciting a riot, remaining present at an unlawful assembly and conspiracy, police said.

Police said one minor was sent to the hospital to be treated for intoxication but “there was no other report of injury from the arrests.”

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“This dangerous and unlawful behavior put members of the public and our officers at risk of serious injury or worse,” then-police chief Bill Scott said in a statement at the time. “This behavior will not be tolerated in our city.”

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San Francisco, CA

Waymo pledges donation after beloved San Francisco corner store cat struck, killed

Published

19 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Press Room

Waymo pledges donation after beloved San Francisco corner store cat struck, killed

Editorial Note: The news report in the video player above was produced on Wednesday, Oct. 29, before KRON4 News received a statement from Waymo.

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Waymo said it plans to make a donation to a local animal rights organization after a beloved corner store cat in San Francisco’s Mission District was struck and killed by one of its driverless cars Monday night.

According to residents, “KitKat” was the neighborhood mascot who brightened customers’ and residents’ days as they passed by Randa’s Market on 16th Street.

“They would deliver KitKat in a box of KitKats and that’s the box that KitKat chose to sleep in and got his name. (It) caught on very well,” said neighbor Sarah Koohnz.

According to a 311 complaint, a Waymo hit the liquor store’s cat that was sitting on the sidewalk next to the transit lane. The complaint says, “the Waymo didn’t even try to stop and hit the cat at a fast speed. The cat has been picked up by neighbors and taken to the emergency vet with hopes of rescue. Unfortunately, KitKat did not survive.”

Photo: KRON4 News.

“The trust and the safety of the communities we serve is our highest priority,” said a Waymo spokesperson in a statement to KRON4 Thursday evening. “We reviewed this, and while our vehicle was stopped to pick up passengers, a nearby cat darted under our vehicle as it was pulling away. We send our deepest sympathies to the cat’s owner and the community who knew and loved him, and we will be making a donation to a local animal rights organization in his honor.”

Community members in San Francisco’s Mission District held a vigil Wednesday that was filled with flowers, candles, and pictures of the popular pet. Many are calling for more safety measures to be put in place. The owner was too distraught to talk on camera.

“I just find it disgusting that Waymo has an action in this,” added Koohnz. “I’ve known multiple people that have been hit by those vehicles, myself included, and I just find it disgusting that that’s the way KitKat went.”

“While I’ve been making space for people to keep bringing offerings, I’ve just gotten stories upon stories about how it was their cat,” said resident Margarita Lara, who works next door. “Two different kids of different ages said they grew up with this cat and they cried. One of them brought her big brother.”

Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said during an interview at a TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco that robotaxis are safer than human drivers.

When asked about potential fatalities by robots, she said she thinks society will accept it — and that the company worries not about whether it will happen, but when, and they plan for them.

This comes as Uber announces that the San Francisco Bay Area will be the first market for its specially built autonomous taxi, which is expected to launch in late 2026. But those grieving in the Mission would prefer robotaxis break operations.

“The coolest cat in the world,” added Lara. “One of a kind, the Mayor of 16th Street, and we’re never going to have another pet like this. Loved by all.”

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