Ammiano, Maxwell, and KP at Quesada Gardens

Local politicos and corporate public affairs executives took time from their busy days to visit the Quesada Gardens Initiative last Wednesday. Quesada Gardens residents shared lemonade made from backyard garden lemons, and showed the visitors a bit of the Quesada Gardens project.

It was Assemblyperson Tom Ammiano's first visit to Quesada where he found community-based prevention work florishing. "Kaiser Permanente gets it," he said of the healthcare organization's practical commitment to communities creating grassroots change and improving the wellness of the people who live in them.

The Quesada Gardens Initiative is a model of community-building, growing community and backyard gardens, public art projects and volunteer events to raise social capital as a primary strategy for positive, sustainable change.

District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell added that community-building should be considered "as fundamental to community development as roads." Maxwell is a frequent visitor to the Quesada Gardens which are within walking distance of her own home.

Kaiser Permanente Public Affairs Director Randy Wittorp agreed, saying public health leaders like Kaiser Permanente understand community strength as "structural health."

Elizabeth Ferber, also from Kaiser Permanente, organized the visit as a way to honor the Quesada Gardens Initiative and the work to reduce health disparities in communities like Bayview Hunters Point.

The Quesada Gardens Initiative received a $15,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente to support its work in the heart of the Bayview neighborhood.

Residents turning out to meet the visitors included, Corine and Linda Pettus, James Ross and his sons Isaiah and Apollos Ross, Tony Tarket, Joel McClure, Jeffrey Betcher, Jonathan Bonato, and Sudeep Rao.

Bayview resident writes about bitter-sweet move from Quesada

Martha, shown here on her wedding day in the 1950's, passed away several years ago in the house at 1751 Quesada where she had lived for most of her life. Mr. Woody Young, also mentioned in Deboran's story, contributed the photograph to the digital history archives when the house he shared with "Ms. Martha" was being cleared. The Harrison family lives in the house now.

Deboran Everist still has a house on the 1700 block of Quesada Avenue, and lived on the block many years...long before the Quesada Gardens Initiative was dreamed of. She contributes recollections from when she moved from her Quesada house that will interest all those familiar with the heart of the Bayview neighborhood.

The Move
by Deboran Everist

The mild, foggy morning has again given way to a warm cloudless day here in the Bay Area. I don’t believe the weather makes the day, but it sure can set the mood.

Sometimes the atmosphere of life seems to have a way of occupying time to a point whereby the weather is just an added nuisance or delight. I needed the momentous break from office work to student life to appreciate this world around me. However, I have just reached a state of terminal struggle with another paper for class, and while there still remains the formidable task of writing up the material, the reading is over and done, the notes are made and the clock tells me I still have time before the class cut-off date.

I decided to appreciate the day and the weather by heading for the beach. I have found walking on the beach a perfect transitional zone between one phase of life and another. The glorious solitude of the early morning with just the waves lapping on a long beach of sand and boulders, cliffs and coves was just what I needed to sort out my thoughts and hear myself think. The seagulls seem to drift in the air with their voices embellishing the easy-going sound of the waves with a note of high-pitched expectancy.

My mind drifted back eight years to the day we moved into the Victorian on Quesada Avenue. I remember the friends, laughter, trucks and carloads full of boxes, furniture and miscellaneous necessities that we felt we couldn’t do without. Even though the boxes were marked kitchen, upstairs bedroom and garage, they all seemed to end up in the living and dining rooms just inside the front door.

It seemed like each carload needing unloading brought another neighbor out of doors. Somehow, with armloads of paraphernalia, introductions and handshakes were made.

Banker Bob lived up the street in the Mediterranean style house. He generously handed us brochures on savings, checking and investment accounts along with advice on financial services in the area. Every morning at a quarter to eight and every evening at 5:15 Bob walks by in his distinguished blue suit and narrow blue tie with a smile, hello and the latest interest rates. But through the years he has gained a dividend of a middle age paunch causing him to wobble as he walks up and down the block.

Down the street lived Phil and Martha. Phil has passed on now. But, oh, how I remember the biscuits that he could make from scratch. Phil was the local baker and he would always bring us breads and cakes hot out of the oven. The day we moved in our Doberman casually walked down the street and took a loaf of bread out of his van. Phil thought it was his dog, Casey, until he heard me reprimand my 120-pound puppy, which was supposed to be a watchdog.

Phil, Martha and I would always start our conversations with how to make biscuits from flour, baking powder, and water, leisurely drifting into the details of the latest veterinarian visit for our menagerie. Phil had two dogs and we had three. I added two cats to our household, and along with the neighbors, left food out for all the strays.

Further down the street lived “Pop” and his wife Helen. He always wore faded, shabby overalls on his six-foot plus frame and a ragged, red baseball cap on his balding head with “POP” embroidered across the brim. It seems like all the neighbors were raised by him. He would reprimand the young ones, give advice to their parents, and with a hardy handshake and a look of steel stare into your eyes with the scrutiny of a prosecuting attorney. Yet he would always leave baskets of cherry tomatoes on everyone’s front steps during the summer and would deny this fact. However, he was the only one with a front yard overgrown with tomato vines.

Next door to us lived Woody. He sported a personality that was one part charm, one part wise old sage and one part hellbender. That day we moved in, Woody was right there with a handshake and a grin. My husband had worked with him years before. While they reminisced, Woody set up his barbecue pit in the driveway, and the sound of beer cans popping permeated the activities. Woody had a way of saying “If you need anything I’m right next door.” Initially I was skeptical considering he enticed the men with beer while the women carried in boxes.

Nevertheless, as the sun left the sky a yellow orange the move was completed and the neighbors brought chicken, steaks, ribs, potatoes and ears of corn for the barbecue. I remember the clear blue night with a gentle breeze, which rustled the palm trees that run down the middle of our block. The eyes of our new neighbors coincidently twinkled like the constellations, which were visible that night.

Around midnight the welcoming committee dispersed and with our bellies full, muscles stretched tired, the mattresses on the floor in the living room, and the bedding somewhere in box number 143, we fell fast asleep in our new dwelling.

As I now watch the waves gently caress the sands, I think of all the changes since that day eight years ago. Besides Phil’s death, there was my husband, and “Pop” down the street, along with the dogs and cats and numerous friends. There have been divorces between the friends that moved us in that day including Woody and his wife, Annie. But through it all there has always been Woody’s voice saying “If you need anything I’m right next door.” Woody moved in with Martha, so he’s still on the block one house over. Woody has watched me paint, clean, and pack for my approaching move. And even though the weather can turn crazy with one day like summer, the next winter, the next rain, there is always another high-pressure system in the weather forecast to bring a balmy, cloudless day.

Do you have recollections about Bayview Hunters Point you would like to share? We'd love to hear from you.

Bayview library sculpture will not delay new building

The San Francisco Arts Commission Visual Arts Committee voted unanimously to recommend to the full commission that a site-specific sculpture in an exterior wall of the existing Bayview Branch Library be de-accessioned from the Civic Art Collection so that the San Francisco Public Library can move forward, on schedule, with demolition of the old building.

The sculpture can still be preserved if supporters step forward with the necessary resources before demolition begins. No one spoke at the commission meeting on behalf of the artwork.

Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood residents crowded the San Francisco Arts Commission conference room on Wednesday, October 21st to express unity about moving forward with the building of the new Bayview Branch Library which might have been stalled by a late stage proposal to redesign the library around a sculpture that is part of the existing building.

Testimony about the importance of the new library to Bayview residents with regard to violence prevention, education, historic preservation and new artwork developing for the future building brought tears to the eyes of some residents, and prompted one SF Arts Commissioner to say that the show of unity was “frankly moving” and unusual.

Brian Bannon, SFPL Chief of Branches, spoke on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library, making a strong case that the existing sculpture was out of sync with the new building design, and that forcing the library to preserve it would derail the construction schedule and budget for the new building. His presentation was supported by comments from SFPL City Librarian Luis Herrera and SFPL Commission President Jewelle Gomez.

Bayview residents presented the commissioners with a petition listing 237 hand-written and electronic signatures in support of de-accessioning the sculpture. An online survey showed that 95 percent of respondents were in favor of de-accessioning.

In preparation for the discussion at the Visual Arts Committee, the sculpture at the existing branch library was appraised at $100,000, and the cost of preserving and relocating was estimated to be between $100,000 and $150,000.

See the comments from the online survey.

See more about the Bayview Branch Library, including comments on the recent issue from Managing Librarian Linda Brooks-Burton.

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Bayview musician plays Halloween

Bayview resident and Quesada Gardens' member, Jamie Brewster, will be busy Halloween, and invites the community to join him. Jamie will be hosting a gathering, at O'Neils Irish Pub on 3rd and King at 9pm, that will showcase his band, Thumper. Admission is free for this 21 and over show. Dress up for the costume contest.

Visit Thumpers website for more.

Library petition - Bayview residents share views

Photo shows artist's signature on the exterior brickwork sculpture at the old Bayview Branch Library on 3rd and Revere.

A number of respondents to the online petition regarding the new Bayview Branch Library and the brick sculpture that is part of the current building have shared comments. As of 5pm Tuesday, these are those comments, as written:

I think that in today"s world there must be a way to move the artist work to some new room within the new building and use it as a background wall. So what if it cause a few dollars more.

I have been going to the Bayview Branch Library since I was a kid. I remember when it was in a small storefront next to Fuller Pharmacy. I was glad when the Waden facility was built because my neighborhood deserved a better library. I want the same for my child now. I do deeply respect and appreciate art, but a single piece should not hold up this project. There are new artist in Bayview Hutners Point who deserve to be nurtured in a beautiful new facility. This is a much bigger issue than protecting the artistic expression of a single individual. Please do allow our new library to be held hostage to a well meaning but narrow artistic point of view. Our babies come before bricks.

I live 2 blocks from the library, and have been to nearly all of the planning meetings for the new branch. It is very important that the new library be built as soon as possible. It is an invaluable resource for our neighborhood, and the new art that has been commissioned is fantastic. I like the old sculpture, but it just doesn't work with the new library.

We need a new face 3rd street face is changing so we must change with the times. The kids deserve a new library San Bruno has one south of market has one why bayview can have one. If they want the sulpute take it out perserve it and when we rebuild put it back or put it in a glass display so the whole world can see but don't deprive the kids just because a slulpure or is that the real reason. let's be fare.

I believe there should be a place in the Shipyard for this piece. Our children need this new library.

I'm a resident who really would like to see our library recieve some well deserved renovations and if that means standing up for my children and I all 4 of them 2 in college who definately use the space when ever their home and 2 in high school we should be able to have a word in what happens in our community.NOT to mention that I look at the space daily and I don't know if that's true for someone who does'nt even live in our community. So it make me wonder who's interest and investment are we thinking of a community or the ego of an artist. Any positive change in our Bayview community should be welcomed by anyone who has the best interest of our children and families in mind.

I understand that the sculpture (and the library building itself) was created at a time of turmoil in the Bayview/Hunters Point, we are again in a period of turmoil and the renovation of the library space will be part of the renaissance of the BVHP. Preserviing the work, in a different location, will maintain the history while at the same time allowing new history to be made.

We attended planning & design meetings that were very well publicized- where was the artist/former architect then?

Please send a picture

It is part of this community history

Let's keep the progress on 3rd Street moving forward!!

If possible, the costs of relocating the sculpture should not be borne by the artist! There may be state laws regarding the destruction of artwork without the artist's consent that may be problematic and vexatious if ignored.

destroying the artwork is unacceptable. The SFPL/BLIP should have foreseen this issue. If the piece is to be moved it should be done using City/SFPL funds.

Our community needs and deserves a new library. We have worked hard to plan one, even after funding for our library was moved to the bottom of the list. Please don't delay this project further. The new design will be a catalyst for further renovation in our Town Center and will provide a beautiful and light-filled public space for our children.

I've worked in the Bayview community for 1 1/2 yrs and support the new library
I was a librarian at the Branch during some of these community meetings, and the meeting room was always crowded with residents. The project should stay on schedule and allow the new artwork and building to move on.

Listen to the Bayview Residents!!!

The community needs this new library now!

Bayview History Preservation Project - update

Linda Brooks-Burton
Managing Library, Bayview Branch Library
Bayview History Preservation Project Co-Founder

Bayview's Historical Footprints is an ongoing exhibit at the Bayview Branch Library which has been its home for over two years.

During three consecutive exhibit phases, the Bayview Branch Library and the Bayview History Preservation Project have showcased community history with an emphasis on people, places and events in the Bayview spanning six decades.

Now, with the closure of the Bayview Branch Library imminent, we are in the process of finding a temporary home for some of the exhibit panels, and turning our focus to the 30-plus oral histories that have been conducted. On the drawing board are ideas for a theatre piece and partnerships with other groups doing similar history work.

The Bayview History Preservation Project is also assisting the architects of the new Bayview Branch Library building with the art panels that will adorn the exterior of the new building.

The Bayview History Project is a member of the Bayview Footprints Network, a network of formal and informal community groups who work together to tell a positive Bayview Hunters Point story.

PUC and far-reaching policy

The Public Utilities Commission held a meeting on, October 13th, at the Southeast Community Facility at 1800 Oakdale for all those concerned about Environmental Justice and the city's water infrastructure.

The PUC preceded the meeting with its first workshop on the Wastewater Master Plan to bring those new to the issues up-to-speed. The Wastewater Master Plan is the guiding vision for sewerage infrastructure development 30 years into the future.

Community advocates who have been working on the plan were concerned that the PUC would reduce that plan's status to an internal planning document. They felt that decision would discount years of PUC Citizens Advisory Committee work, and miss an opportunity for an institutionalized and comprehensive program.

The Commission discussed and adopted a PUC-wide Environmental Justice policy. "Environmental Justice" has been part of the PUC's Charter language since Prop E was adopted in 2002. However, the Commission had never adopted a formal or detailed policy.

New services for BVHP's low-income residents

SingleStop USA services are now available at City College's Southeast Campus from 1pm to 4:30pm Monday through Friday at 1800 Oakdale. Services include access to financial aid, on-site financial counseling, legal assistance and free tax preparation services.

SingleStop USA is a prevention-based national effort to address poverty by working to bridge the information gap separating low-income families from life-changing public benefits, tax credits and other essential services that remain untapped and inaccessible.

Phone appointments are available from 9am to 7pm Monday through Friday at 415.230.9604.

Learn more online.

Community members petition Arts Commission

A rendering of the new Bayview Branch Library.

Community members supporting the building of a new branch library in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood are circulating a petition. A paper version of the petition can be found at the current branch library on 3rd and Revere, and an online version of the petition is also available.

A new Bayview branch library has been designed to replace the current building on 3rd and Revere Streets. After over a year of community input into design development, and after a Bayview Hunters Point artist was selected to create interior and exterior art features for the new building, the library project may be put on hold.

The artist of the large brick sculpture, embedded in the exterior wall of the existing building, recently petitioned the library to preserve his work by making design changes to accommodate his sculpture in the new building. Library staff and advisors recommend that the sculpture not be inserted into the design of the new building because it would reduce space for library services, and as it was created for the older building, and is very different from new building and artwork concepts.

All involved support efforts to preserve and remove the older piece. However, the expense and the associated delay to the construction of the new Bayview branch library are at issue.

See more about this issue and express your opinion online.

Bayview's new library on hold?

Artist Jacques Overhoff's signature on the wall of the existing building.

Linda Brooks-Burton, Managing Librarian at the Bayview Branch Library, sends this update:

The Bayview branch is slated to be demolished and rebuilt beginning in January 2010. The new library will be a larger state of the art “green“ branch which the community is very excited about. During the closure we will have interim services at the YMCA on Lane Street.

We are now encountering an obstacle that might push the closure date further back or possibly halt the project altogether. The sculpture that is imbedded in the outer brick wall of the current building has come into question. Two of the original architects for the building and the artist have requested a hearing with the San Francisco Arts Commission to see if they can either have the sculpture worked into the design of the new building or stop the rebuild altogether.

For the past year, the library, the community and the architects assigned to the new building project have been working on a design for our new library, a design that is 95% completed. We have had community meetings over this past year, at which the artwork was never brought up as an issue.

It would be great to preserve this piece of art and possibly move it to an alternate space like the Hunters Point Shipyard. But, if one of the architects of the existing building cannot stop the construction of a new library, he wants that new structure built around the sculpture so that the sculpture would not have to be moved. This, of course, does not fit in with the new design that we have been working on.

The hearing is scheduled for 3pm on Wednesday, October 21st at the Arts Commission located at 25 Van Ness. The Bayview Branch is requesting community members show up at the hearing to voice concern over what seems to be a concerted effort by the artist and architects to impede the Bayview library’s rebuild process.

photo credit: Betcher