San Francisco, CA
Recall campaign against San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio officially launched
SAN FRANCISCO – Efforts to recall San Francisco District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio shifted into a new gear as organizers officially launched the campaign on Saturday.
At the United Irish Cultural Center in the Sunset District, dozens of community members gathered to sign the recall petition. Some people even volunteered to collect signatures from District 4 voters. Among them was Frances Misenas, a District 4 resident who actually voted in favor of Proposition K.
“I’m for a park, I actually love the idea of a park,” Misenas said. “But the process was not transparent, and it wasn’t clear, and it doesn’t represent our neighborhood’s concerns.”
Proposition K permanently closes a stretch of the Great Highway near Ocean Beach to transform it into a park. Residents of San Francisco’s west side, particularly from the Sunset District, expressed frustration and anger over the supervisor’s role in helping to pass the controversial measure.
“I have concerns about safety because there’s increased traffic in our neighborhoods. My neighbor just last week had a car run into his home,” Misenas said.
Critics, including Misenas, argue that Engardio failed to adequately engage with constituents before pushing Proposition K to a citywide vote. They contend that closing the two-mile stretch of the Great Highway has created significant traffic problems, diverting cars into residential streets and compromising the safety and convenience of local residents.
Nancy, a District 4 resident living near the Great Highway, expressed her frustrations, saying, “When (traffic) gets heavy there, I can’t get in and out of my garage and cars won’t stop.”
Marc Duffett, owner of Ocean Park Motel, echoed similar sentiments, calling the situation “very offensive, and I think a lot of people are very angry about having it shoved down our throats.”
Organizers of the recall effort argued that Engardio’s actions hurt public safety and claimed his failure to adequately consider the concerns of his constituents was a key reason for the recall. Richard Corriea, a recall organizer, said, “He’s made us less safe on the west side. He’s ignored his constituents.”
Proposition K passed by about five percentage points. The November results showed voters living near the Great Highway overwhelmingly rejected Proposition K, while those living farther away supported it.
In response, Supervisor Engardio has defended his support for Proposition K, stating that the coast “belongs to everyone” and that erosion along the southern part of the highway made the decision inevitable.
“The southern part has literally fallen into the ocean because of the severe coastal erosion,” Engardio said. “I respect that people are going to disagree about what to do with the Great Highway, but you can’t beat Mother Nature. She’s already decided that this road has lost its greatest utility.”
The supervisor also pointed to his broader contributions to the district, including improvements to education, public safety, and the popular night markets.
“Don’t think we should recall someone based on one policy issue,” Engardio added.
However, recall organizers remain steadfast, with Corriea arguing that the issue goes beyond a single issue: “He’d like to say it’s one thing. It’s betrayal and he’s made us less safe on the west side.”
As of now, recall organizers have until late May to gather 9,400 valid signatures. They report having already collected 1,000 signatures since launching their campaign just five days ago. Misenas, for her part, is ready to continue her efforts, emphasizing that the issue at hand is about safety.
“I’m just going to talk to my neighbors first, my neighbors on my block,” she said, highlighting the real-world consequences of the road closures.
If the recall effort proves successful and enough signatures are gathered, organizers said a special recall election would take place likely in October.
Santa Rosa prepares for next big earthquake
The Great 1906 earthquake devastated the Bay Area, destroying much of San Francisco and killing more than 3,000 people. The city marked the quakes 120th anniversary this weekend, but whats not as widely recognized is the damage to surrounding comunities like Santa Rosa.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. – While the Great 1906 Earthquake was a centerpiece of news around the world when its massive damage and fire destroyed much of San Francisco and took 3,000 lives, another far smaller, far less famous town, suffered massive damage almost forgotten by history.
Nearly forgotten
On this day 120 years ago, stunned people were digging for survivors two nights after the quake. Like a demon in the night, the Great 1906 Earthquake also came to Santa Rosa also bent on mass death and destruction.
Eric Stanley is the history curator and deputy director of the Museum of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa that supplied these pictures. “Santa Rosa, in particular, was devastated by the 1906 earthquake,” he said.
Survivors were shaken awake as whole buildings collapsed around them or on them. “A good portion, a really significant portion, of downtown Santa Rosa was completely destroyed,” said Stanley.
Many never woke up; crushed to death in their sleep. There were over a hundred people killed in the 1906 earthquake in Santa Rosa that only had 7,000 people in it at the time,” said the curator.
Active fault line
Sixty-three years later, in 1969, a time of budding, but far better science-based building codes, a double shaker nonetheless did significant damage and killed one person. “Even understanding all those things, you kind of at the earlier stage of that in the sixties,” said Stanley.
Today, four of Santa Rosa’s School buildings lie near or on the Rodgers Creek Earthquake Fault, capable of up to a 7.3 magnitude rupture. One is already closed with another due to close at the end of the school year for budgetary reasons.
That leaves two elementary schools, Hidden Valley, alongside the fault and Proctor, on the fault. The school board says both are seismically sound and safe to continue operating. “The two that are remaining open are both the ones that have the potential and the ability to grow because the entire site is not impacted by the fault line,” said Nick Caston, Santa Rosa City School Board president.
Staying prepared
In other words, things can and will eventually be moved around.
“What we’re gonna end up having to do is redesign the campus over the next several decades to have our fields and our parking in the front, which are totally acceptable to be over a fault line and actually move our academic builds and our student-serving buildings to the back,” said Caston.
Ultimately, the pictures and relics museums hold from natural disasters are given to those who come, a lesson and a warning. “Real people went through these experiences and we really do have to be aware of that and do our very best to prepare for those kinds of things,” said Stanley.
The 1933 Field Act requires earthquake-safe construction of schools, with evolving seismic codes as we learn more.
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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