Community meets at new Bayview biz

Quesada Gardens Co-Founders Corine Pettus and Annette Smith. 
Photo: Craig Cannon

Without much advance notice, residents of Bayview and their friends turned out last night for a community event organized by Quesada Gardens Initiative at Boudreaux's Cafe in the heart of San Francisco's most rapidly-changing neighborhood.

 

Tunisia Boudreaux and Bob Baum welcomed over a hundred new friends and potential customers into their retail space on 3rd Street at Quesada Avenue.  Their hybrid business, which will include cafe and business services alongside sales of vintage clothing and collectibles, was set up as a preview of what customers can expect when Boudreaux's Cafe opens officially in a couple months.

 

D10 Supervisor Malia Cohen was in crowd along with representatives from many community-based organizations in the neighborhood.

 

New Bayview Station Police Captain, Lt. Robert O'Sullivan, was introduced and took a few questions.  He responded to questions about his stand on "Stop and Frisk" (a bad idea that won't be implemented in Bayview) and police use of tasers (better than guns but we all need to talk about it more before setting policy).

 

One resident asked about crisis intervention training as a preventative strategy. 

 

"In Bayview, we need to be social workers as much as enforcement officers," Lt. O'Sullivan said.  He explained that officers with crisis intervention training wear badges that bear the letters "CIT."

 

Music from local DJ's, spoken word, and vocal performances punctuated the evening.  Highlights included "Wade Into The Water," by Antique Naked Soul, and a young spoken word artist sharing an empowering letter to herself.

 

Quesada Gardens Initiative offered a tasting of jams and honey made in the neighborhood.  The organization is developing a product line that will become a Quesada Gardens General Store "pop-up" within Boudreaux's Cafe.

 

Food from the soulful local eatery, Let's Eat, provided food for the event.