This Week in Noe Valley: Attacker Sought, Mandelman’s Mandate, Hi-Way Burger Coming Soon

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Mother attacked with baby at 28th St and Sanchez, endures a skull fracture [ABC7]
• Mother recovering, search for the suspect continues [CBS]
• Community plea: Have you seen this person? [flyer]
• Also on 28th St, city worker killed in accident [ABC 7]
• Podolls is closing by the end of the month [SF Chronicle]
• The Dubliner is one the best spots to watch the World Cup [Thrillist]
• Douglas café and market is open on the corner of Sanchez and 29th [DouglasonSanchez]
• Rafael Mandelman wants to tackle homelessness [SF Chronicle]
• Oped From Mandelman: Thank you, District 8 [Bay Area Reporter]
• Sheehy won’t pursue District 8 in the fall [@MLNow]
• Hamano sushi is dinner only now [NVSF]
• Hi-Way Burger in the old Caskhouse space is opening end of June [Hoodline]

[Photo: Noe charm via satusanne] 

This Week in Noe Valley: Le Cupboard Closes, Home Prices Soften and Other Noe Valley Mysteries

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Crab season is here – and Barron’s Meats has it! [@BaronsonChurch]
• Noe Valley home fails to fetch 2015-era price [Socketsite]
• Folio Books sales benefit Children’s Book Project after Thanksgiving [@ChildrensBookSF]
• Le Cupboard abruptly closes, new team supposedly on the way? [@CourtneySF]
• Uma Casa makes a best new restaurants of 2017 list [Thrillist]
• Martha & Bros makes the best coffee shop list [Thrillist]
• A profile of the eccentric Noe’s Nest founder [JWeekly]
• A rundown on the first D8 Supervisor debate (housing, housing, housing) [Bay Area Reporter]
• Noe Valley mysteries [@NoeValleySF]

[Photo: Salesforce tower from Laidley at Noe via thatswhathappensman]

This Week in Noe Valley: Firefly Turns 24, Best Dressed Real Housewives of Noe Valley, RIP SFist

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Happy Birthday Firefly – here’s to 24 more years [@FireflySF]
• Noe Valley kids photo contest [NVMPA]
• Halloween on 24th St [katelaip]
• RIP SFist [via @nickconfessore]
• Noe Valley NIMBYs are the worst [@dfings]
• Noe Valley Spooktacular had a best dressed real housewife category (whaa?!) [@LaraKate]
• Why isn’t Noe Valley upzoned for more apartments like the Mission? [SF Examiner]
• Sheehy and Mandelman answer questions ahead of the D8 supervisor election debate [SF Bay Times]

[Photo: Fall colors via marxmarvelous]

This Week in Noe Valley: Plant Thieves, Uma Casa Love and Fleet Week

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Plant thieves are rampant in SF [Hoodline]
• Some of the biggest shoppers on Valencia St? Noe Valleyeons [SFGate]
• Uma Casa brings Portuguese fine dining to Noe Valley [The Mercury News]
• Mayor Lee and Supervisor Sheehy tour Noe Valley to encourage local business [Hoodline]
• It’s beginning to look a lot like Halloween [cjung5 and the_pickled_hutch and daijaaana]
• Celebrating Fleet Week at the Farmer’s Market [nativebaking]

[Photo: Old Noe Valley via juliegeb]

This Week in Noe Valley: Church St Mystery Restaurant Revealed and Noe's Sky-High Housing Costs Splained

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Coming soon to the mysterious never-ending restaurant project at 1298 Church St [@NVSF]
• Pasta Gina limits hours as it looks for help [@emiliecole]
• Fun photo of the “famous” Jungle House [tttttommyyy]
• Rafe Mandelman says he’s run for District 8 Supevisor next year [SF Chronicle]
• D8 Supe Jeff Sheehy proposed legislation to ban SF police from removing passengers [SF Weekly]
• Clipper St the poster child for hazardous tree roots on a sidewalk [SF Examiner]
• April NVMPA newsletter [NVMPA]
• Scott Wiener: A building moratorium equals sky-high housing prices in Noe Valley [Beyond Chron]
• Average home price in Cow Hollow: $3.3 million; Noe Valley: $2.2 million [Curbed]

[Photo: Somewhere in Noe Valley via michelamusolino]

This Week In Noe Valley: Halloween Excess, Pasta Pomodoro Exits, And GO GIANTS!!

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Noe Valley gets wild after Giants World Series win [eefeefeef]
• S**t going down in Whole Foods during the World Series final [@zamosta]
• A Giant plan to improve Muni (and speed up the 48) [Burrito Justice]
• Halloween, Noe Valley style [gfillonramos]
• Where they stand: Candidates for Supervisor in District 8 [SF Gate]
• A writer's guide to SF cafes names Bernie's best in Noe Valley [7x7]
• Plumpjack, which has been looking for a restaurant spot in the area, is opening a bar in the Luna Park space on Valencia [SFist]
• Folio Books turns one [@FolioSF]
• Pasta Pomodoro is closed on 24th St – but hey, you can still visit one of their 18 other Bay Area locations [NVSF and @PastaPomodoro]
• Massimiliano Conti talks La Nebbia and La Ciccia [Inside Scoop SF]
• A review in pictures of Martin Maddox [Spotted SF]
• Short films about SF's ecological anomalies at the Roxie – Tues Nov 11 [Kyle Garrett]

[Photo: Orange sky for the Giants parade via js42]

This Week In Noe Valley: Lonely Planet Loves SF, It's Harvest Fest and More Shuttle Bus Fuss

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• San Francisco is #1 of Lonely Planet's top 10 travel destinations; only US city on the list [Lonely Planet]
• Noe Valley Tree Tour with Friends of the Urban Forest [FUF]
• Supervisor Avalos has discovered the Google Bus and isn't pleased [SFGate]
• The two boys killed by their nanny in NYC have a SF/Noe Valley connection [SFGate]
• Quasi-famous trustafarian designer house on the market [Curbed]
• This Saturday: Noe Valley Harvest Festival 2012 [NVSF]

Supervisor Scott Wiener's Newsletter

If you're not already getting Scott's newsletter you're missing out. The November/December version includes updates on recent legislation (public nudity, dog walkers, food trucks), transportation issues, neighborhood park improvements, volunteer opportunities, and an appreciation for Cafe XO. You can read it online, or email Scott to request a subscription.

News of the Strange: Public Nudity Legislation

Just in time for the return of Burners to SF, today Scott Wiener introduced this legislation:

SUPERVISOR WIENER TO INTRODUCE PUBLIC NUDITY LEGISLATION

Legislation would require nudists to cover public seating before sitting down and would require clothing to enter restaurants

At today's Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Scott Wiener will introduce legislation to ensure that public nudity comports with basic concepts of public health.  While there are many opinions about the appropriateness of people going nude in public, there is little disagreement that public nudity should be sanitary.  Supervisor Wiener's legislation will help accomplish that goal.

Supervisor Wiener represents, among other neighborhoods, the Castro, which has seen an increase in public nudity recently.

The legislation will address two issues.  First, it will require people who are nude in public to place an item -- for example, a towel -- underneath them when they sit down.  This will avoid situations, as currently occurs, where nudists sit down on public seating without placing anything between their body and the seat.  Second, the legislation will require nudists to don clothing before they enter a restaurant.

"San Francisco is a liberal and tolerant city, and we pride ourselves on that fact," said Supervisor Wiener.  "Yet, while we have a variety of views about public nudity, we can all agree that when you sit down naked, you should cover the seat, and that you should cover up when you go into a food establishment."

For more information, please contact Supervisor Wiener's office at (415) 554-6968 or scott.wiener@sfgov.org.

[Image: Demotivational Posters]

Scott Wiener: Why I Voted Yes On AT&T U-Verse

A typical AT&T U-verse box

The AT&T U-verse vote squeaked through the Board of Supes this week, and the long-delayed high-speed phone/Internet/TV project will soon be rolled out citywide. The first installations are reportedly headed for the Sunset and Richmond districts, but eventually 32 AT&T communications boxes are tentatively headed for Noe sidewalks as well.

Our own District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener voted in support of the U-verse roll out, and sent this note explaining why:

From: <Scott.Wiener@sfgov.org;
Date: Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 4:41 PM
Subject: My vote on the AT&T issue
To: Scott.Wiener@sfgov.org

I'm sending this email to a number of neighborhood association leaders and other involved folks in District 8, in order to explain my vote yesterday on the AT&T environmental appeal.  I would appreciate it if you would forward this email to your boards, memberships, and neighbors who have an interest in this issue.  The voters are entitled to an explanation of all of my votes (and I cast many each week), including votes as controversial as this one.  People can agree or disagree, but they deserve an explanation.

I will start by saying that I struggled mightily with this issue.  Like many of you, I do not like these boxes, or any of the utility boxes that are already on our streets.  Part of me very much wanted to vote against AT&T and for an EIR simply because I dislike the boxes.  But one of the commitments that I made to myself, and to the voters, was that I'm not just going to be a reactive elected official.  I committed that I was going to be the kind of elected official who tried to find solutions to hard issues.  I also committed to myself early on that I would not abuse CEQA by ordering EIRs where the law doesn't support it simply because I have policy issues with the underlying project. As described below, ordering an EIR here probably would have been illegal and certainly would have fed into our City and State's addiction to environmental review, with the effect that good projects (including public projects) are delayed, killed, or made much more expensive than they need to be.

The issue here was very hard -- pretty much everyone agrees that Comcast is in desperate need of competition while also agreeing that these boxes stink.  There were also incredibly strong views on both sides of this issue.  I received many emails from opponents, passionately and articulately describing the issues with the boxes, and from proponents, passionately and articulately describing why we need the service and competition.  This was a no-win vote for me in terms of popularity contests.  Either way I voted was going to make one group or the other upset with me.  But, for better or for worse, casting controversial votes is what we do at the Board.  If I wanted to be loved by everyone all the time, I wouldn't have run for office.

And, this issue pointed to a major problem we have in San Francisco.  We do a bad job managing our sidewalks.  Our departments don't coordinate well. We don't have a strong master plan.  We haven't fully implemented the Better Streets Plan.  That plan is how we should be managing our sidewalks and deciding what to put on them and where.  Not through CEQA, which is a blunt instrument that doesn't get you much other than delay and expense, but through actually having a plan for our sidewalks.  As described below, through a strong and well-planned permitting system, we can do that.

So, why did I, in the end, tip in favor of voting to reject the appeal?

1.  Not an appropriate CEQA issue:  This was not a vote on the merits of the project or on whether to issue permits and where.  This was an appeal under CEQA, of the Planning Department's determination that the project was exempt from a full-blown environmental impact report.  While the exemption was not 100% clear cut as a matter of law, it's pretty clear that the exemption was properly granted, since there is an exemption in CEQA for utility boxes.  Past Boards of Supervisors have used CEQA as a tool to achieve certain ends even when it doesn't really apply (i.e., killing projects they don't like).  I don't like to do that, and to its credit, the current Board has abandoned this practice to date.  CEQA abuse has been a problem in San Francisco and in California generally.  Instead of addressing projects on the merits, we try to save or kill them through CEQA.  That's not appropriate.

In my view, it's important not to apply CEQA inappropriately to accomplish another end.  I believe that's what would've occurred here had we sustained the appeal.  I never heard a truly credible legal argument that this project was required to undergo an EIR.  Indeed, ordering an EIR here -- something that has never happened before in San Francisco for placement of utility boxes on sidewalks -- would have set a terrible precedent.  After all, we have to apply CEQA fairly and equally.  Do we really want to require DPW to undergo an expensive and lengthy EIR (costing hundreds of thousands or millions of scarce DPW dollars) next time it decides to place 500 much-needed trash cans on our sidewalks?  Do we really want to require MTA to undergo an EIR when it decides to place new traffic control signals, and the resulting boxes, on our sidewalks?  That's the precedent we would have set.

2.  EIR wouldn't have stopped the project, just delayed it:  Even had we ordered an EIR, that wouldn't have stopped the project.  AT&T simply could have undergone an EIR and then proceeded with the project or sued us for improperly ordering an EIR.  Had that all occurred, then the community benefits and processes described below would have been off the table.  I determined that given the likelihood that AT&T would have been able to proceed with the project at some point anyway, it was best to negotiate a good process now.
3.  AT&T reduced its target number of boxes by 1/3, from 726 to 495.


4.  Undergrounding not a viable option:  If undergrounding had been a viable option, I would've led the charge to force AT&T to do that, no matter the cost.  But, after months of being immersed in this issue, I have yet to see any credible evidence that it's viable.  Undergrounding the boxes would require construction of a large underground room, large enough for a technician to safely go down and to have climate control.  That, of course, would have led to hundreds of major excavation sites around the city.  In many locations, undergrounding would've been impossible because of interference with underground wires and sewers.  Moreover, because of the need for climate control, undergrounding would still have required a box above the underground vault -- i.e., a box on the sidewalk.  I never saw a credible counter to this, and neither I nor my colleagues, to my knowledge, actually believed that undergrounding was a viable alternative.

5.  Permit and neighborhood processes -- neighbors will have a say and won't get a box if they don't want one:  AT&T cannot place boxes on the sidewalk without obtaining a permit from DPW.  DPW has discretion to grant or deny that permit, and a grant of a permit can be appealed to a hearing officer and then to the Board of Appeals. AT&T has agreed that before it applies for a permit, it will notify all neighbors within 300 feet of the box by mail (that's almost one block in all directions), the neighborhood association if there is one, and my office.  AT&T will work with the neighbors to find an appropriate site for the box.  If there's significant opposition, on a block or in a neighborhood, AT&T will not place the box there.  Moreover, AT&T is giving me, effectively, veto power over all placement decisions.  If I tell AT&T not to place a box in a particular neighborhood or street, the box will not go in.  I will, of course, be basing my decisions in this regard on feedback from the neighborhoods and neighborhood associations.  In other words, you will have significant control over this process, and if a neighborhood or street doesn't want a box, it won't get a box.  Period.
We will all be particularly sensitive to the width of sidewalks in neighborhoods. Some streets have narrow sidewalks that are already difficult to navigate.  It's hard to imagine it ever being appropriate to place a box on a narrow sidewalk, and I will be very conscious of that (as will you, I'm sure).

6.  Attempt to place boxes off of sidewalk:  AT&T has committed to looking for locations off of the sidewalk.  Some neighborhoods have small alleys that may be appropriate, for example.  But all of these placement decisions will be made in conjunction with the impacted neighborhoods.

7.  AT&;T has to pay for using the public right-of-way:  Under state law, AT&T will have to pay the City 5% of the gross revenue generated by each box each year.  Permanently.  Comcast currently pays the City $89 million annually. Comcast's payment will likely go down as AT&T takes customers away, but there's projected to be a net increase in revenue since AT&T anticipates that a lot of its new customers will not be former Comcast customers.

8.  AT&T has agreed to submit to the City's surface mounted utility order, which it previously had disputed as illegal.  That order provides DPW with the power to order AT&T to make streetscaping and design changes to compensate for the placement of the box.  This can include bulbouts, screening, benches, street art, etc.  Neighborhoods are encouraged to come up with ideas in this regard.

9.  AT&T has agreed to fund staffing in the Planning Department to ensure that the placement of the boxes complies with the Better Streets Plan (http://www.sf-planning.org/ftp/BetterStreets/index.htm).  In other words, there will be a staffer in the Planning Department whose job will be to ensure that these boxes are not just dumped on the sidewalk.  This staffer will work with AT&T, with me, and with the neighborhoods to maximize the fitting in of the boxes with the streetscapes.  I'm already in the process of convening a meeting with DPW and Planning to ensure that they are coordinating and have a solid plan in place.  I've requested that they not issue any new permits to AT&T before they have this plan, and proper staffing, in place.
10.  AT&T has agreed to fund staffing in DPW to compensate the city for DPW's time in working with this issue, to coordinate DPW with Planning and with neighborhoods, and to ensure that AT&T is complying with its obligations, including graffiti removal.

11.  AT&T has agreed that it will remove any graffiti on boxes within 3 days, and within 48 hours if possible.  If it fails to do so, it has agreed that DPW can remove the graffiti and bill AT&T.

12.  AT&T has agreed that of the hundreds of jobs created by this build, at least 1/3 will be locally hired.

I hope that this email has been useful in explaining my position.  Feel free to email or call me to discuss.  I'm also, as always, happy to meet with any neighborhood group to talk about this issue or the hundreds of other issues I'm dealing with here at City Hall and in the district.
Thank you.
--Scott
Scott Wiener
Member, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
District 8
(415) 554-6968

[Photo: SFGate]

What Noe Wants: Next Mayor of SF

With Gavin Newsom on his way to Sacramento, San Francisco Supervisors will select an interim Mayor in January and voters will get to weigh in for a full-term mayor in 2011. Who should run the City? Should the interim Mayor stick around after the election? So far the only serious candidate to announce is former D8 supervisor Bevan Dufty, but many names have been floated for the interim including Tom Ammiano and current Board President David Chiu.

Enter NextMayorSF.com, to "keep you informed on the process for selecting our next mayor and to give you a forum to express your thoughts on who the next mayor should be and the direction they should take the City." So far the site features a handful of videos of people you may recognize from the hood, and the shorts are filmed (mostly) in the park on 24th St across from Martha & Bros.

Hmm.... Bufty for Mayor. We've seen him in action this year... is that what we want?

NVV December 2010: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are highlights from the latest issue. Links are to items we've covered here on NVSF or outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories online until mid-month.

December 2010

Front Page: "This is the last edition you'll see until the first week of February 2011." And a pretty picture of fog.

Letters: Dismay over smoking in the parklet at Martha & Bros. (Ed.--illegal to smoke in SF parks since 2005 [pdf]); some poor soul can't figure out how to find a print copy of the Voice.

Features: Interview with Bevan Dufty on his eight years as District 8 Supervisor; City Guides has been offering Noe Valley tours since 2008 (with fun sketches of Victorian era "bric-a-brac" like sewer vent grates); Giants fans celebrated on 24th St; brief blurb on page 15 about 24 HoliDAYS on 24th St.

Cost of Living in Noe: 16 Single Family Homes sold in October, 11 of those over asking.

Short Takes: A few events in Glen Park, Scottish dancers at the Noe Valley Ministry, fun at the Randall Museum in Corona Heights, a workshop for public artists at the SF Arts Commission on Van Ness, a show at the Marsh Theater on Valencia, and Paxton Gate in the Mission turns 18. Also a bit about upcoming changes to Cesar Chavez.

Crime Beat: Turns out there were two bank robberies last month.

Store Trek: Design Quarter; Re:Construction Salon.

Traveling Voice: Not.

Rumors: Election results; Wiener sets priorities (like the Town Square and Real Foods); Town Square moves ahead (for more info the Voice suggests "googling 'Noe Valley Town Square'"); the Tech Search Party raised "just over $17,000" for Alvarado Elementary School; Delano's is closing its "Eureka Valley" location; Parklets hit 24th St; and this excellent tidbit about the Noe Valley Association:

The NVA, and the 10 members serving on its board of directors, has an annual budget of $230,000, funded by a parcel tax on each of the 179 property owners in the 24th Street/Castro Street shopping area. The board has been quite active this year improving Main Street. They steered the Pavement to Parks process that brought us the parklets. Seven new benches were installed on 24th Street. Few people realize the NVA spends $10,000 a month keeping 24th Street trash-free, maintaining the miniparks in the public parking lot and the Ministry parking lot, tending the many planters and flower baskets and trees, as well as regularly cleaning the Downtown Noe Valley sidewalks. The NVA sponsors, or co-sponsors - in addition to 24 HoliDAYS - the Harvest Festival, the Noe Courts Easter Egg Hunt, and the Summer Solstice.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

Supes Race: Mandelman Concedes, Wiener Victorious

The final tally won't be official until the end of November, but the race for District 8 Supervisor is over. From SFGate:

...The other conceded race goes to Scott Wiener in District Eight. The second-place finisher in that showdown, Rafael Mandelman, issued his statement to ''Dear Friends'' on Wednesday.

''I cannot express just how incredibly grateful I am to all of you who have been part of my campaign for supervisor,'' Mandelman wrote. ''Unfortunately, after two years of dialing for dollars, knocking on doors, chasing after endorsements and harassing the bejeezus out of every registered voter we could track down in the district, we are firmly in second place. ... Scott Wiener will be the next supervisor for District Eight (and a very capable and excellent supervisor he will surely be), but I am so glad and grateful for the opportunity to represent you and your values in this campaign.''

Like Kim, Wiener also made use of the exclamation mark in a mass e-mail, stating: ''Victory!''

In the latest results, Wiener had 42.75 percent of the first-choice votes Thursday to Mandelman's 35.27 percent. But again, when voters' second- and third-choice votes were run in a preliminary count, Wiener surpassed the crucial 50 percent mark.

[SFGate: Kim, Wiener declare victory]

NVV Oct. 2010: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are highlights from the latest issue. Links are to items we've covered here on NVSF or outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories online until mid-month.

October 2010

This month's Voice is mostly a lightweight collection of what you'd expect: A half-page photo of trick-or-treaters from last year's Halloween on 24th St, a thinly-veiled press release from Alain Pinel Realtors (no mention of the Sue Bowie sellout), and notes on the second Town Square meeting.

But the real (only?) reason to pick up this month's issue is on pages 11-12. The District 8 supes candidates answer some questions about where they stand on key issues this election. Worth a look before you vote.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

Supes Race: District 8 Candidate Forum

Last chance to hear from all four candidates to replace Bevan Dufty as District 8 Supervisor here in Noe Valley is tomorrow night at the monthly Upper Noe Neighbor's meeting at the Upper Noe Rec Center. Bill Hemenger, Rafael Mandelman, Rebecca Prozan and Scott Wiener will answer questions submitted to UNN President Vicki Rosen.

When: Thursday, Sept. 16, 7:30 pm
Where: Upper Noe Recreation Center (Day & Sanchez)

Can't make it? There will be another meeting on October 6th over the hill at the Randall Museum.

Update: The Bay Area Reporter has a good summary of candidate positions as well as upcoming forums and debates.

Supes Race: Bill Hemenger Opening Campaign Office In Noe Valley

From the press release:

Bill Hemenger, Democratic candidate for District 8 Supervisor, will open a second campaign office in the heart of Noe Valley, at 4128 24th Street, between Castro and Diamond. This location will serve as an outreach center and information hub for the residents of Noe Valley, Diamond Heights, and Glen Park. Bill is the only candidate in the District 8 race with two campaign offices.

Bill’s new Noe Valley office will complement the campaign’s official headquarters at 2324 Market Street, between Noe and Castro, serving Duboce Triangle, Upper Market, and the Castro. Bill saw the need to reach out to the residents of Noe Valley and beyond, who often feel overlooked in supervisor elections. The opening of the second office is in response to the flood of requests for information from voters in the more residential neighborhoods of District 8.

[Official Site: Bill Hemenger for District 8]

Supes Race: DCCC Shenanigans Unchanged With Progressives In Power

BeyondChron was at last night's meeting of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) and notes that politics are unchanged since Progressives took power:

The Committee then moved to the District 8 race to succeed Bevan Dufty. As the only progressive candidate running, Rafael Mandelman had the edge. On the first round of voting, he grabbed 18 votes – one more than necessary. David Chiu, who I had heard from a few sources was a “wild card,” voted for Mandelman. But the real surprise was State Senator Leland Yee – who has endorsed Rebecca Prozan, but was the 18th vote.

Immediately after this vote, DCCC member Scott Wiener congratulated Mandelman for getting the Party’s endorsement – and said he would not be seeking the “second place” vote for the District 8 nod. “I’m running for first-place,” he said, “and I intend to win.” With Wiener out of the picture, Prozan easily secured the “second choice” endorsement.

It became clear that a deal had been struck, with one moderate politico telling me that Rebecca Prozan had “back-stabbed Scott.” Another way of putting it is Mandelman had to secure the endorsement, and Prozan delivered Leland Yee. And while it’s true that Mandelman only needed 17 votes to prevail, perhaps David Chiu didn’t want to be the 17th vote. Regardless, now progressives are going to feel beholden to Leland Yee.

As SFGate puts it: "Mandelman...walked away from the vote a happy man, noting that candidates who have the backing of the Democratic Party more often than not win their races."

[BeyondChron: Cronyism Makes a Comeback at SF Democratic Party ]
[SFGate: Who got the endorsement of SF Demo Party?]

Supes Race: District 8 Candidate Debate, Round 2

The Noe Valley Democratic Club is sponsoring a second debate in the 2010 District 8 Supervisor race. Bill Hemenger, Rafael Mandelman, Rebecca Prozan, and Scott Wiener will all be there. You can submit questions same-day, or in advance to moderator Jary Larsen.

What: District 8 Candidate Debate
When: Wednesday, July 21st, 7:30PM
Where: St Philips Church 725 Diamond St

Supes Race: Rebecca Prozan Sets Up Shop In Noe Valley

From the Bay Area Reporter:

So far the sole District 8 supervisor candidate opting to open a campaign headquarters outside the Castro is Rebecca Prozan . She recently secured the storefront at 1195 Church Street, home to a former bead store, at the busy intersection of Church and 24th Street...

[BAR: D8 candidates open campaign headquarters]

NVV July/August 2010: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are notable highlights from the latest issue. Links are to items we've covered here on NVSF or outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories until the middle of the month.

July/August 2010

Front Page: Summer issue - Voice writers, editors and photographers are asked to "put away their communication devices and find a way to play" until September; Elizabeth Crane ("farmer's market queen") shares jamming recipes; Noe Valley photog Leo Holub died at 93 years old in April.

Feature: Traveling Voice, a retrospective.

Letters: Last month's mockingbird (and apparently the only one in the neighborhood) is now serenading the easily riled Jersey St. residents; Noe St resident enlists Bevan Dufty to reverse a street sweeping ticket); Joel Panzer tries to sound more rational about keeping Noe St open than he did at the June 30th meeting; A "thanks" for the Noe Valley Garden Tour, and another for Rebecca Prozan's campaign kick-off on June 12th.

Cost of Living in Noe: 9 homes sold in May, high price for a SFH was $3.3M (skewing the mean).

Store Trek: Joseph Andrade Floral (3961 24th St) is intent on providing "affordable elegance;" Sway (3979 24th St) is woman's clothing that is "not to cool for school."

Rumors: The Voice was unable to attend/report on the June 30th Community Meeting; Easily riled Jersey St residents now host the official bike route through downtown Noe Valley (complete with Sharrows); Cooks Boulevard? Still empty; Castro Nails? Now on outer Church. GNC/Aveda? "A number of inquiries." Twin Peaks Realty? The estate is looking for a tenant to make improvements (but the space does include parking); French Tulip lives; Garage Store under new management as Garage Store Merchandise Lounge and moving more upscale; Star Magic sticking around after all under the guise of Cosmic Wizard after a notice of "trademark infringement" from some fancy New York lawyer; Loft 1513, Heliotrope and Curator Boutique have made outer Church a "certified shopping destination;" A list of SF Weekly's Best Of including Elizabeth Street Brewery.

And finally... buried among countless realtor ads is another circa 1985 photo advertising Sue Bowie's Noe Valley expertise - still listed as a Prudential agent.

[The Noe Valley Voice]