“Here’s your routeprofile, starting from the SoMA near the bay going all the way to the breakers of Ocean Beach. See that big incline just before mile marker three? That’s the vaunted Hayes Street Hill. (And actually, the highest part of Hayes Street on this part of the course is near Pierce, not “at Fillmore and Steiner“ and not ”between Fillmore and Sutter.”)
Now, here’s your winner. It’s the 270-something foot high saddle on JFK Jr. Drive betwixt Prayer Book Cross and Stow Lake / Strawberry Hill, where ”Kennedy” is written:
“Race organizers and media have reported that the course records set by Sammy Kitwara in 2009 and Lineth Chepkurui in 2010 are also world records at the 12 km distance;[31] however, the International Association of Athletics Federations, the international governing body for the sport of athletics/track and field, does not recognize world records or world bests in either an indoor or outdoor 12 km.[32] The Association of Road Racing Statisticians, a non-regulatory group that collects road running data, does recognize world records in the outdoor 12 km provided that the race course meets certain criteria.[33][34] In order to rule-out the possibility of wind assistancein point-to-point courses, the ARRS stipulates that the course must have “not more than 30% of the race distance separation between that start and finish”, or 3.6 km for a 12 km race.[34] Given that the Bay to Breakers is run on a point-to-point course in which the start and finish of the event are approximately 10.5 linear kilometers apart, the ARRS recognizes two other marks as 12 km world records: Kenyan Simon Kigen‘s 33:46 in Portland, Oregon on May 19, 1985 and Chepkurui’s 38:10 at the 2010Lilac Bloomsday Run.[33][nb 2]
“The Bay to Breakers is known for the large number of unregistered runners, or “bandits”, who participate in the race. Ross Mirkarimi, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, reported that over half of the 60,000 participants in the 2010 Bay to Breakers were unregistered.[19]San Francisco MayorGavin Newsom was among the runners in 2010 who did not pay the registration fee to obtain a race number.[19][22]Registered participation was 24,430 in 2010,[23] 43,954 in 2011,[24] 23,072 for 2012,[25], and approximately 20,000 for 2013.[26]“
One car gets away in the nick of time, but three others aren’t so lucky:
Ted and Al’s had like ten yellow tow trucks ready to go late Saturday night, in the driving rain. (Note how Bank of America is protecting its windows – the IndyBay crowd got to them, smashy smashy, about a year or so back, unrelated to Bay to Breakers.)
Now, speaking of prêt-à-porters, this is the main body, this is the largest array for the Golden Gate Park Panhandle:
And here’s the second-biggest grouping, along Masonic:
And there are some on the other side of Fell, typically in groups of six on some of the blocks.
But that’s it.
Not sure where B2B is hiding their 1000+ portable toilets claimed for 2011, at this point, just hours before the Kenyans take off on their winning runs.
Oh well.
And there’s no sign of the fencing neither, except for what they have every year.
We’ll see.
The Great Fence of B2B100 is supposed to have upon it either images of Christ hand-selected by P. Anschutz or photos of people who ran the race before white NIMBYs moved into the Western Addition. (You’ll have to tell me about it…). Anyway, here’s the baby fencing they have on scene already along with, and isn’t this cute, a message from San Francisco Natives for a Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers. Apparently, the cops can’t arrest for an open container in San Francisco…
And doesn’t this just break your heart – this Vespa scooter has been forgotten on the slopes of the famed Hayes Street Hill, the second highest point on the “racecourse.” Will Auto-Return charge $700 for its return?
I’ll tell you, area NIMBYs got steamrolled on this one. It’s not that certain millionaire, property-owning ladies residing west of the Western Addition and south of North of NoPA are happy about this situation, but they didn’t get any traction due to massive community support, particularly from younger, non-millionaire mom-types, right?
And, I mean if you purchase your Great Estate next to a shuttered Mervyns with hundreds and hundreds of empty parking spaces, well, you gotta figure something’s going to replace it sooner or later.
Oh, you are a sucker. Well, then be my guest – pay $48 for a number. And actually, and you’ll enjoy this, sucker, it’s already too late to get a good deal on registration for 2013. Prices be higher now.
Most people who aren’t professional runners don’t pay and here’s a good reason not to pay:
How many bibs do you see? Every year they say they will eject all these people and every year they don’t actually do it.
Now the San Francisco Nike Womens Marathon is different. You see, they give out coveted awards and people just can’t help themselves. And then stuff like this happens; “NO BIB NO BIB NO BIB!”
But B2B aint like that.
One difference this year will be a limit on the size of the bags you might carry.
[Oh, and BTW, those NOPNA NIMBIES were all crestfallen when they saw the reaction to Target's community meeting three years ago. Consider this Target a crushing defeat for the millionaire homeowners of the Western Addition NOPA.]
“Boy oh boy, at least a couple certified San Francisco NIMBYs had steam coming out of their ears after seeing the warm reception the Target Team got last night. Oh well.
“Not a single NIMBY hysteric. Just very understandable concerns and questions. Wow SF, sometimes your reasonability surprises me!”
Well, the NIMBYs will just have to bide their time. They’ll have to put their thinking caps on to combat the likes of lovely Target-fanatic Charlize Theron and her loyal pet, Bullseye. Too bad C.T. wasn’t in town, maybe she could have dropped by and warmed up the nabe (51 F. and windy windy) yesterday evening. Or Heidi Klum, whomever.
And oh, here’s a bit from a rich yuppie* who lives in the the Western Addition (but doesn’t know it). Apparently, he was too busy taking photos with his expensive camera with its expensive image stabilized lens (to later process on his expensive Apple computer) to address the crowd. Oh well.
But what’s this, “I Heart Target?” What kind of NIMBY meeting is this?
It’s not a NIMBY meeting at all, it’s a YIMBY affair, it’s like when can you move in, Target?
Mercy! Moving on…
Regional Development Manager John Dewes introduced himself to the crowd to kick things off. He said he was here in town “to talk and listen.”
Of course the 130 assembled San Franciscans (mas o menos, that was my nose count) had notes for Target’s straight-outta-Minneapolis Away Team, don’t you know. We had some ideas to express while noshing on straight-outta-the-SoMA-Costco biscotti and Brownie Bites.
But before all that, let’s look at some renderporn duTar-GHEY:
That was the Geary frontage, here’s the Masonic si-iiiide:
What an improvement:
And what’s this, wind turbines on top? Yes:
The whole shebang will be in the Heart of the City, near the Masonic Trader Joes:
Here’s the close-up:
And just look at all the bus stops:
And here’s the pitch, from straight-out-of-Central-Casting architect Thom Lasley.
Target could open by early 2012, if all things go well. Generally, they open stores during the months of April, July and September, so there you go. This store would have less than 100,000 square feet of selling space, so it will be considerably smaller than a typical suburban Target, which offers you about 135,000 sq.ft. to peruse. Still, a Target is a Target so the product mix wouldn’t be too far off from what you’d expect.
Now comes Question and Answer Time.
1. Howard Epstein, Chair of San Francisco Republican(!) Party, asked about the number of employees at the store. The Masonic outlet would have about 250 employees, as would the proposed Target store down at Metreon in SoMA. Nobody could hazard a guess as to how much these stores would add to the tax base.
2. The Target Team will look into trip generation, the amount of increased activity in the area. They are well aware that they won’t be getting “traditional suburban guests.” Their customers will be younger and be more likely to bike or walk to and fro.
3. District 2 resident and political candidate and mom Kat Anderson asked about the hiring of seniors and students, the availability of a delivery service and whether T would participate in a bike share program. This garnered the replies you’d expect from fashionable Target Communications Manager Sarah Bakken. (Currently, Target does not deliver from stores anywhere in America.)
4. A University Terrace resident said her neighbors supported the proposal. Her daughter inquired about the availability of mac and cheese.
5. A resident from just across the street “loves” T but worries over parking.
6. Another local pushed for the use of renewable energy and local contractors when building time begins.
7. A pushy woman voiced concern over gender and age discrimination when hiring-time starts. Still, she thinks T would be “wonderful for the neighborhood.”
8. A Ewing Terrace resident worried about delivery times and hoped that they wouldn’t come at night. John Dewes said that there would be three to four truck deliveries per week. Then he responded to a question about a development timeline. We’re still way at the beginning now, a conditional use permit and approval from the Planning Department are a ways down the road. However, since the proposal would be just an “interior remodel,” no CEQA-style environmental impact report should be required. Anyway, project approval could come by the end of 2010.
9. A woman fretted about the line of cars on Masonic due to the nearby Trader Joes and wondered if Target would consider the use of parking attendants to direct drivers. John Dewes “doesn’t see that kind of congestion” on the horizon for Target.
10 A Duboce Park resident polled the neighbors in his building – these are people he knows shop at Target owing to all the shopping bags he sees getting recycled. He said 19 out of 20 people he surveyed supported the Target store on Masonic. He feels sales tax revenue should go to San Francisco instead of Colma. He was surprised to see the crowd’s support of the project given that ”all you hear in the media” is that San Francisco is “anti-chain.”
11. A woman reminded us all that San Francisco is a “transit first city,” so she asked whether toilet paper come in something less than a 36 pack. The answer is that 12-packs would be available in light of special circumstances of San Francisco shoppers.
12. A younger fellow asked T to post hearing dates on a website so that pro-Target residents could “pack the hearings.” (Two known area NIMBYs reacted in disgust, kind of smirking at each other.)
13. Another person worried about the increase in traffic exiting on O’Farrell and also about the closeness of Trader Joes. Thom Lasley assured all that the food sold at the two stores would complement each other. TJ’s would continue to have higher end stuff while T would focus on “staples.”
You get the idea. It went on and on.
Now, let’s hear from the pols. Hardworking Richmond District Supervisor Eric Maret filia Jade took a bunch of notes but then had to leave for another appointment:
He’s seen here with property-owning KLA Geary L.L.C. representative Adam Miller, Target Communcations Manager Sarah Bakken, and Tar-chitect Thom Lasley:
Speaking of pols, aforementioned District 2 candidate Kat Anderson was a fireball of energy, typing up a mess of notes on her MacBook and graciously forwarding them to me:
Here’s just part of her shorthand:
“Target started in 1962 but grew out of Dayton Hudson (1946 policy instituted to give 5% back to the communities of our stores, which is $3 million per week). Within the Bay Area last year, community giving was almost $ 1 mill in SF and $3 mill in the Bay Area. (ie, last week: Arts and Wonder. Nonprofits going back to 1991 inc. SF Aids Foundation, Asian Art, de Young, Take Charge of Education, support to 85 schools in SF; even tho’ we don’t have a store in SF, we know that many of our guests live in SF.”
Kat typified the crowd, supporting the proposal but also expressing concern about specific issues.
Now, who else was there - how about Bill Barnes, aide to District 2 Supervisor Michela Alioto Pier, and Alex Tourk, Founder of Ground Floor Public Affairs?
The whole thing went on and on until after 8:00 PM.
(People, obviously Target’s going to do traffic studies, right? So why not give them a chance to do that, right? Obviously, there will be some sort of local-hiring program imposed by the City, the same way that was done with our Costco in the SoMA. I mean, that’s baked into the cake already, right? And people, Target won’t need to have Trader Joe’s-style parking attendants because Target will have ample parking, capiche? And if you Fix Masonic people want to take out a bunch of parking spaces on Masonic to put in proper bike lanes, well, be my guest and go for it. But it’s not Target’s job to take an expensive ride on your hobby horse, right? In the meantime, just pilot your bikes onto the needlessly-wide sidewalks of the hilly parts of Masonic, as I do, depending on conditions.)
So let’s see here, as Santa Barbara goes, so goes San Francisco? Probably not.
*Ah, a response from a The Square person, who draws attention to this “news story” link. Fair enough. Be sure to let them know if you think their bit is biased - they’re looking for feedback. And they want to know from me if I think they’re “disconnected” from the community. I don’t know, based on their editorial (linked to above), sure, they’re disconnected from the people that showed up to the meeting, anyway.
All right let’s see here, I tell you I don’t know what “parts of the Western Addition” means, actually, the whole shebang betwixt Larkin in the Tenderloin and Divisidero out west is the Western Addition, right? Check your real estate papers filed with the City and County – they’ll say “WESTERN ADDITION,” srsly.
All right, what else, apparently, I’m going to need to ”research thoroughly” any comments I make online about The Square. All right, I’ll have to show my work then, uh, Canon 7D “premium” camera ownership + Canon 24-105mm IS + Apple PC + elitist attitude + strong NIMBY tendencies + poorly argued editorial + lives in the Western Addition but doesn’t know it + strongly attached to real estate industry microneighborhood marketing names = rich yuppie, somewhat disconnected from the regular people of the Western A. Is that a personal attack? I don’t know. A lot of people the world over would love to trade places, I’m sure.
IMO, she be better off suing the person who advised her about stuff like this.
Now hey, how is that Red Room website/business doing? It’s not exactly setting the world on fire these days, now is it?
So will it be involved with the Ross Mirkarimi defamation lawsuit? I mean, the damages there could add up to millions, huh?
I’ll tell you, if somebody gave me $10,000 to invest in a website that furthered my own glory and then I didn’t make as much money as I thought I was going to, it sure would be nice to displace blame, huh?
All right, I’m off to apply to Stanford Law. I’ll crib from this, so I’m a lock to get accepted! (Or I’ll get a colledge degree before applying, either way.)
Uhhhh:
You know, IM, with all the energy you exert, you could apply yourself to taking and passing the California Bar Exam. I’m srsly, you could do it. And then you could make big bucks advocating. You know, the way Angela Alioto does it. Nobody thinks she’s the brightest candle on the menorah but she gets it done, consistently and thoroughly.
And she makes far, far, far more moolah than you can ever hope to realize from a defamation endeavor.
Now, what’s left. Or should I say, what’s right, what’s a right-wing Republican billionaire like Ron Conway doing trying to make San Francisco bidness-friendly?
Things, allegedly, were working out so well before, back when naive Ron Conway was spending money to elect and unelect Christina Olague AT THE SAME TIME. You’re not that politically astute, are you, Ron Conway?
I’m sure Andrea Shorter the spineless jellyfish and Ron Conway the Decline To State Republican can figure something out over the coming weeks, months, years or decades.
In the meantime, we’ll just have to make do with Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi.
And if you, the high-level worker at Equality, labored there during that controversial period, would you put it on your Linked In? I wouldn’t relish doing that neither.
Anyway, have at it:
“Harvard University Kennedy School of Government
Senior Executive Education 2009 – 2009
Activities and Societies: David Bohnett Fellow
Education Senior Executive Education at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government
Atlas Leadership Strategies is a political coaching and consulting firm specializing in client specific advanced political leadership skill development by providing discreet, highly confidential one-to-one support to:Chief Executive Political Coach and Consultant
Atlas Leadership Strategies January 2011 – Present (2 years)
- persons considering running for office – for the first time or following a defeat
- newly elected and appointed officials to help set their agenda for the first few months in office
- experienced elected and appointed officials considering running for another office or transitioning out of public office (retiring)
Chief Executive Political Coach and Consultant Andrea Shorter, brings 25 years as an accomplished public official, cutting edge public policy leader, political strategist, and civil and human rights advocate. She has developed a results oriented one-on-one political leadership coaching style sought by state and local government officials. She continues to provide public policy, messaging strategies, and crisis management consultation to candidates, non-profit and political organization leaders, and key elected officials including Mayors, District Attorneys, State Legislators, County Supervisors, School Board Commissioners, Trustees, and the California Attorney General.
In 2009, Andrea was awarded the prestigious David Bohnett Fellowship at the Harvard-Kennedy School’s Executive Education Program in State and Local Government”
1. Your name is Ivory Madison for real? Oh. Really? How theatrical.
2. I think you mean former friend, right?
3. [Sanctimonious line reading but otherwise within the bounds of reality.]
4. I think I’m going to call bullshit on this one. That’s just your opinion, IM.
5. So you “contacted the police on her behalf” but without her permission? And in a maladroit fashion to boot, one might add. Like using your personal iPhone to do so, “anonymously.” You’re not that sharp, are you, IM?
6. [Sanctimonious line reading but otherwise within the bounds of reality.]
7. All right, I’ll bite. How does suspending Ross Mirkarimi protect victims of DV?
8. Uh Madison, I don’t think you can declare victory before a process ends, right? And it turns out that Christina Olague’s vote didn’t matter nohow. You understand that, right?
9. You didn’t want to get involved? Are you fucking serious – who’s going to believe that, Huntress?
10. Voters need to know what Olague did? Don’t they know already? Mmmm…
11. Is Ross Mirkarimi a “convicted batterer” like in real life? What does the word “batterer” mean? What does the word “batter” mean? Oh, what’s that, you didn’t actually have a chance to learn that in colledge because you thought a high school diploma would suffice when applying to Stanford Law? That might have worked for Daredevil Matt Murdock in the comix but I don’t think that kind of thing works IRL.
12. Um, I think Ross Mirkarimi is your Sheriff because your neighbors voted for him, like overwhelmingly, right? Didn’t you host a fundraiser for him?
13. Does Christina Olague really think “it’s OK to abuse your wife?” Any support at all for this, you know, outside of this particular vendetta? Wow.
Hey Ivory. You talk about law school so much, why not just sign up for the state bar exam and study for it? You could pass if you applied yourself.
