Isn't it good that we Muni passengers have the chance to commend Muni operators who help us in a special way?  Today I made it the 1/2 mile to West Portal, something that was easy before I had a torn meniscus, and then I took the streetcar to Church and the #22 to Mission Bay for an appointment with Kaiser.  But going back I wasn't sure where to wait for the bus, so I approached the driver of the #22 bus, who opened the door and confirmed that his was the bus I needed, but the bus stop was across the street.  "Since the door's already open, you can get on," he said--saving me more walking and the certainty that I'd miss his bus if I cross the street walking.  

This was driver 6977 on bus 5732.  So I called 3-1-1 to let them know how he had helped me, and someone took the report, which he said would be read at a Muni meeting.

Dear tina_martin: Thank you for providing your feedback. This email serves as an acknowledgement and confirmation that the request you submitted is being tracked in our system as Muni Customer Service Case 1044196. Your feedback has been documented and will be forwarded to the appropriate party for review and follow up as applicable. Please note that due to staffing shortages, follow up response may be delayed. We appreciate your patience and understanding.  You can track your case here: Muni Feedback Case Status If you have any additional questions, please reply directly to this email or you may contact the 311 Customer Service Center at 311 or 415.701.2311.  We value your feedback and thank you for riding Muni. Sincerely, Muni Customer Service Team

 After making brief public comment on the elevator at Hallidie Plaza at the meeting of the Capital Planning Committee this past Monday, I took the #5 Fulton and the #28 Daly City bus to SFSU, where President Lynn Mahoney had agreed to "bargain" with student representatives from the 60-tent Pro-Palestinian encampment there on campus. 

It was as if she'd read and respected what David French wrote in an opinion piece April 28th in the NYTimes:

In my experience as a litigator, campus chaos is frequently the result of a specific campus culture. Administrators and faculty members will often abandon any pretense of institutional neutrality and either cooperate with their most intense activist students or impose double standards that grant favored constituencies extraordinary privileges. For many administrators, the very idea of neutrality is repugnant. It represents a form of complicity in injustice that they simply can’t and won’t stomach. So they nurture and support one side. They scorn the opposition, adopting a de facto posture that says, “To my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law.”

Here's what Nanette Asimov wrote up--exactly what I experienced.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/sf-state-gaza-protests-meeting-19441856.php

It wasn't empty rhetoric.  She soke of revising their investment policy so that they can add to their "socially responsible" investing (to avoid investments in regions engaged in war), creating a website making endowments much more transparent, and creating a proposal to present to trustees.  

 

Two days after the horrific crash at the West Portal Muni Stop--I guess the L Taraval going West to the Zoo--there was a vigil at that spot, and I really don't think there was a dry eye.  There were also sobs. Under each letter of SF GRIEVES, there was a photo of the man, woman, and child who were killed when a 78-year-old woman (my age) crashed through a Muni stop. The father was a 40-year-old Brazilian, Diego Cardoso d Oliveira, and the mother was Matilde Moncada Ramos Pinto.  Their toddler son was Joaquin.  Ramos Pinto de Oliveira.  At that time, we didn't  know that the fourth victim, the baby  Cauê was in intensive care.  He died later too.  The caregiver for the children, sobbing, placed a vase of white flowers on the memorial.

 

I hate to drive--I much prefer to take public transportation and walk.  But I couldn't very well ask my guests to take public transportation to the Portola District, especially when one of them has a physical problem that makes it difficult for her even to walk to a bus stop.  So on March 16th,  I was driving like the stereotype of the "little old lady," which I'm now qualified to be.  I drove to Maxine's in Noe Valley, and Maxine drove us from there to  Imperial Gardens and then back to her house, where I took my turn again.  Just as I was approaching the roundabout on Dewey near Clarendon, a police alert flashed on my iPhone,  saying to avoid the area from Claremont to Wawona.  I saw that someone had tweeted that a driver hit and killed two people.  I drove slower still.

 

Kevin Fisher-Paulson's columns are always engaging because of his wit, warmth, and wisdom.  Today's resonated with me in a special way, so even though I'd just started cleaning out my closet and need to clear the way for Gloria Concepcion and then Dana, I wrote him an e-letter.

Dear Kevin,

I just read your column "Climbing past fear of heights, with a little help from friends."  (They could have added "And Eleanor Roosevelt.")

I'm very impressed that you made all those steps.  I'm also relieved that you didn't wind up like Roof Cow.

I have vertigo when I'm in high places without an enclosure. But I can make it if someone takes my hand or if I have some physical contact with another person.  I was in the dome of  St. Peter's in Rome, and I my Camino partner went ahead of me.  The only way I could go on was to touch the backpack of the person walking in front of me.  Of course, he was alerted to the "fact" that I was trying to steal something, and I was--just a little help in making it on.  I was quickly cleared as a thief.  But I do think sometimes of the metaphor.  Connectedness matters!

There's a crosswalk on Bayshore leading to Bernal Heights, but the number of encampments made it hard to see.  A person there directed me and even took me to the beginning of it.  I told him I had a fear of heights, and he offered to walk across with me.  I took his arm, and he kept telling me  "You're almost there."  When we got to the other side, I gave him all the cookies I'd made for the friends I was joining in Bernal Height, and then I gave him a $20.  Some good deeds do go unpunished.

I'm still going through my books, step by step, book by book, listing the ones I'm giving away and thinking of you and your 1000 books goal.

Tina

 

I was happy to see this email message today, but why did it take an expose from the SF Chronicle to get this to happen?

Hi OWL PAC,

See from SDA housing organizer Anakh Sul Rama--the Great News--Still need to keep following up--I can give report-backs at PAC meetings.  Betty     PS: Good it was an election year also?  And Chron had that big article.

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Anakh Sul Rama <anakhsul@sdaction.org>

Sent: Monday, February 19, 2024 at 11:00:13 AM PST

Subject: Great News!!! SRO Elevator NOFA finally released!

Hi All! 

After years of organizing on SRO Elevators and against the delays, a Notice of Funds Availability for the $10 Million in elevator repairs was finally issued on Friday! Yay! Thanks to everyone who participated in surveys, elevator action at city hall, sending in letters and signing the petition! This is a huge win for the tenants that will get their elevators fixed! Thank you everyone for your advocacy! 

Here is an article from the Chronicle that ran on Friday further pushing the Mayor to release the funds! 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/sf-sros-homeless-elevators-tenderloin-lawsuit-18668254.php

in solidarity and community, 

Anakh Sul Rama

Housing Community Organizer

Senior & Disability Action

415.424.0957

Anakhsul@sdaction.org

 

Ruthe Gets an Oscar at Presidio Kebab

Maxine, Leah Garchik, and Allen Johnson chat

I meet Allen Johnson while wearing my filmy tie and earrings!

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/xcyg2l1wj5xisly5jbarc/h?rlkey=emqte6585n1d2kyh7u5wx6v6c&dl=0