The San Francisco Citizen

It was on this morning at the OFFICIAL 2008 NorCal Region SMART RALLY & Lombard St. Photoshoot in San Francisco. The whole thing was just like critical mass, but for cars instead of bikes.

How many Smart Cars can fit into one block of Lombard Street in scenic Russian Hill? This many, or about a hundred-something as long as you park them six inches apart and side-by-side, as if they are loading onto Noah’s Ark. Kiltbear ably captured the mise-en-scene.

Click to expand:

Photo taken by drdrtsai - check out the entire set on Flickr.

The Obamamobile was there - could this have been an opportunity for Obama to campaign? No matter, look for Smarts all over the Bay Area today.

Proposed Agenda:
-7:00 to 8am staging area (address released to registered smarties)
-8:30 line up at Lombard street
-10:30-11:30am start scenic cruise Fort Point
-12:00am meet and greet (East parking lot of Spinnikers in Sausalito)
-12:01-2:30pm lunch and/or continued meet and greet
-3pm *Optional drive down highway 1

“Please please please don’t give me a ticket.”

This is the scene today in the Haight - a wounded Mercedes Benz just a stone’s throw away from Janis Joplin’s old place up Lyon Street. On the windscreen is a plaintive note from the owner: “Please please please don’t give me a ticket.” As you can see, vandal(s) demolished five of the seven windows.

A timid car owner might have done a little cleanup and taken off, but a brave soul will rely on the good hearts of San Francisco parking control officers.

Success!!! The representative from DPT had mercy and DID NOT issue a hefty ticket for the crime of blocking street cleaners. Doesn’t that just brighten your day?

Yesterday’s Haight Ashbury Street Fair in San Francisco came with sunny skies and lots of attendees.

The alcohol ban of recent years has changed the character of this event somewhat. These days, the boozy Union Street Festival might have an edge in the number of inebriated. No matter, a good time was had by all in the Haight.

So, dig the colors of David Yu and look at a bunch of photos from SFWeekly. 

A mass of humanity:

 Could this man with marijuana garland be famous artist Harry Shearer trying out a new character?  

Hookahs! Get your hookahs! Hookahs.com was in the house:

A dancing baby grooving on Haight Street:

Cindy Sheehan had more than a few acolytes gathering signatures for Cindy’s windmill-tilting House campaign against Nancy Pelosi:

See you next year!

Be careful when attending the alcohol-free (really?) Haight Ashbury Street Fair today, as parole agents are on the scene. That’s not too crunchy.

Cheese it, the cops!

Here’s the backstory about police foot patrols in San Francisco. It’s a touchy issue so things have been a bit hard on the captains who need to implement the program. And here’s the recent 208-page report from Public Safety Strategies Group. It documents “both the positive and negative outcomes of foot patrol implementation.” Now you’re up to speed.

Comes news today from San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Cecilia M. Vega - S.F. Supervisors Blast Police Web Letter:

San Francisco supervisors and police commissioners blasted Police Chief Heather Fong Wednesday for what they said was the premature posting of a letter on her department’s Web site that refuted the findings of a study criticizing the top brass’ implementation of a police foot-patrol program.

You’ll find a copy of the three-page letter here. Oops, maybe not, but that’s where the .pdf used to be, before it went down the memory hole. 

You can see a truncated HTML version here.

Or, click on to see the whole letter after the jump. Please remember that although Heather Fong took issue with data the consultants used to draw their conclusions, “on Wednesday she said she no longer had reservations about the methodology used and that she agreed with many of the findings in the report.” 

Fair enough. O.K., read on.

Foot patrols, like this but without the cars. Western Addition.

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