Castro Art Walk for April
https://www.castroartwalk.com
President’s Update
Mark D McHale
2018 February
Have you ever walked down your street, strolled through the Castro, or taken a hike over to Tank Hill and caught yourself falling in love again with where you live? Simple sights like a spray of spring cherry blossoms, the coffee clutch gathered in front of Spikes Coffee every morning, or the sun coming up near the Mission High School tower- how wonderful a surprise. A smile comes over my face, recalling how lucky I am to live here, in this wonderful neighborhood we call home.
That’s why I’m excited to serve as president of the EVNA; it’s all about bringing people together and making a stronger community. The board members and committee heads are spinning up their own plans to bring our mission to life. I am so proud to tell you that we know have 6 fully staffed committees: Quality of Life, Social, Newsletter, Training and Education, Membership and Planning), and we’re floating the idea of a new one: Transit- this committee will engage with other stakeholders to engage and educate us on topics ranging from bike lanes, pedestrian safety, infrastructure updates, and more. If you are interested in transit planning, raise your hand and volunteer!
Since our last public meeting, we have about a dozen new members who’ve joined. We’ve also had 5 volunteers join a committee. We’re growing fast!
The board is working on some exciting projects that I can’t wait to share with you. The big event this spring is the Mayoral Debate scheduled for March 19th at the Castro Theater. We’re working with the sponsors to provide EVNA volunteers to help with ushering and crowd control- no better way to experience the event first hand- what an event to see all those candidates in one place: Alioto, Breed, Bravo, Greenberg, Kim, Leno, Weiss, and Zhou.
We’re also leading the conversation on vacancies in the Castro. In the spotlight is Veritas, the company that bought the buildings at 2099 and 2103 Market Street. You may have noticed many of the businesses have closed or moved over the last year, and we’re in contact with Veritas to keep the sidewalks out front clean and safe and get viable businesses in those spaces quickly.
Staying on the subject of politics, at our next public meeting, Rafael Mendelman, candidate for District 8 Supervisor, will present his positions on issues that affect our neighborhood. He’s got some interesting ideas to address serious homelessness and chronic addiction on our streets, the high rate of vacancies, and on other important issues. Come see him at our next public meeting on March 28th, at 7pm at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy.
Behind the scenes, the board is working on our own infrastructures and systems. We’re reviewing our governance documents, migrating our records to G-Suite for archiving and document sharing, and working on getting the website pages updated with the new leadership photos and bios. Never a wasted moment for this gang. So fortunate to work with such passionate people.
See you at the next EVNA meeting;
Wednesday, March 28th
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm (come early, stay late)
Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy Cafeteria
19th Street at Collingwood
Upper Market Street Safety Project Open House – 28 February
As part of the San Francisco MTA's ongoing community dialogue and phased implementation approach, the SFMTA and San Francisco Public Works are hosting a community open house on February 28, 2018 from 5-8pm at Sanchez Elementary School to gather feedback on the tentative circulation proposal as well as public realm/landscaping opportunities. Food and refreshments will be provided.
For more information, please visit sfmta.com/uppermarket or contact Casey Hildreth at casey.hildreth@sfmta.com
Meeting Tonight (24 Jan) – QOL Survey
Reminder! Our Neighborhood General Membership Meeting is Wednesday 24 january!
Wednesday 24th at 7pm in Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy cafeteria (19th at Collingwood) is our bi-monthly public meeting. We've got a packed agenda, so come early and stay late, we'll be introducing the new board for 2018-2020, we'll have an update from each now active committee (yay!), and we'll have a frank no-frills discussion on what's proposed for the Harvey Milk Plaza redesign efforts, with informational pitches from both the "Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza" and "Save Harvey Milk Plaza!" groups.
The EVNA QOL Committee would like to hear from you!
Please fill out a very short 3 minute survey, and let us know what you think the newly staffed and energized Quality Of Life Committee should focus on this year!
Please take the QOL Committee survey at https://surveyhero.com/c/5dbb6f18
Also of interest in our neighborhood:
Saturday 27 January, Holocaust Remembrance Day Tree Dedication at Pink Triangle Park. Dedication starts at noon, following the morning bi-weekly park work party which begins at 9:00 am. Expected speakers include Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, Reverend Annie Steinberg-Behrman, and City College Trustee, Rafael Mandelman.
Saturday 3 February, Pink Triangle Park benefit sponsored by Project Juice! Project Juice is donating their entire profits from the day in support of the memorial. This will be Project Juice's one year anniversary and the second time they've dedicated profits to the park. Project Juice will also be offering prizes and a rainbow parfait.
For a complete updated list of these events and more, please visit our website at https://evna.org/calendar
A big thank you to those of you who have joined us or renewed your memberships recently. Thanks to a growing interest in our neighborhood this past fall and early winter, our membership numbers have been consistently growing. Most of our members are now opting for automatic membership renewal, ensuring that your EVNA membership will not lapse, and also easing the work of our all-volunteer membership committee.
You can check your current membership status and membership expiration date online at https://evna.org/wp-admin. If your email address is unrecognized, that is a big hint that your membership has lapsed, and we would really like to have you back amongst our membership. Please rejoin us!
See you at the EVNA meeting;
Wednesday, January 24th
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm (come early, stay late)
Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy Cafeteria
19th Street at Collingwood
President’s Update
Mark D McHale
2018 January
Happy 2018 to everyone! Hoping your holidays were full of family, friends, and good cheer.
Already, it’s been an exciting start to the new year- the new board members elected in November were installed at our first Board of Directors meeting on January 9, 2017, joining those who are continuing in their 2 year terms. Our commitment is to serve well our members, to provide opportunities to meet and get to know each other while we work on improving our shared experience. You’ll get to meet all the Board Members at our next Public meeting coming up later this month.
I’m especially happy to announce that we have most of our committees staffed again! Our special meetings last summer (for Members in July, and New Members/Volunteers in August) have really amped up the interest level in EVNA’s work and we now have more than 25 new members and a dozen people who have volunteered to serve on the Planning, Quality of Life, Newsletter/Marketing, Membership and Social committees. I’ve asked each committee head for his/her top three goals. You’ll get an update on EVNA committees and what they’ll be focused on in the coming months at January’s meeting.
The Quality of Life committee (QOL) will be in the spotlight this meeting. Everyone knows the Castro has its challenges and what’s happening on our streets is of concern to many. The QOL’s mission is to make our streets and homes safer, and they’ll be polling members for answers on where to begin.
What the hell is going on at Harvey Milk Plaza? Many EVNA members and our neighbors have registered a wide range of responses to the Harvey Milk Plaza redesign project, from being totally in favor of some or all of the changes, all the way to those who are vehemently opposed to any. There’s even a state of panic with some people- feeling left out and in the dark. Most telling of all to me is that so many people don’t have accurate information. The information rollout has been spotty and confusing. I’ve asked representatives from the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza to give us the skinny on the design, where things stand, who’s paying for what, and how you can share your concerns as things move forward- you won’t want to miss this important presentation.
See you at the next EVNA meeting;
Wednesday, January 24th
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm (come early, stay late)
Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy Cafeteria
19th Street at Collingwood
Logo Contest
"The Sunny Heart of San Francisco" has been our motto as long as anyone can remember. And even with global warming and sea levels quickly rising, our motto should have a very long and valuable, meaningful, relevant life. The EVPA/EVNA logo, however, has evolved over time. Changes mostly subtle, adding color, sometimes adding words. None of our current leadership knows why any of the changes were made, although we can surmise.
It's time for our logo to get back to its Origin!
And the EVNA leadership wants to challenge our members to be creative, expressive and representative our our mission to reform our logo which can serve the EVNA in print, online and perhaps on a decal on your door for the foreseeable future.
Some attributes that may make for a good logo redesign:
- Observe our History
- Fit who we are
- Be Unique, Recognizable, Iconic
- Be able to adapt to print, online and other possible formats for uses on T-SHirts, Coffee Mugs, and Door Decals!
Here is the recent history of how our logo has evolved:
The Logo in Time - Logo History
This first readily available historic logo is from the September 2000 Eureka! Newsletter. The Logo was a black & white outline of San Francisco, with a sunburst and heart over the center, and vertical lines drawn through the ocean and bay. Wording over the logo is difficult to read, but appears to say "the sunny heart of San Francisco" which was also a long-time slogan of the association.
In September 2001, the newsletter sported a new B&W logo, aligning the wording horizontally and changing the sunburst to octal points of a compass. The vertical lines over the water were eliminated.
The first colored version of the logo appeared in the March-April 2008 Eureka! Land was colored green and the water a light blue.
September 2011, the logo was replaced with the one currently in use for the Eureka! newsletter. The compass points were replaced by an asymmetric Isotoxal octagramic blob with an aura, and colors were dulled. The website address was added in the March-April 2012 version.
For Stripe credit card processing setup in March of 2016, the logo was simplified and colors adjusted to better coordinate with the Stripe site, although Stripe colors can also be altered to match our branding colors. Wording was stripped for stripe, as were the bridges, colors brightened and the compass points restored. The heart and compass each were given a slight drop shadow.
Proposed 2018 Brand Contest
512 x 512 which can be adopted to all formats, in Color & B&W
Perhaps the B&W version --> needs a box? And the hearts should be larger??
Here's a variation of the 2018 entry:
November 15th Meeting Recap
Thanks to all who attended the final membership meeting of 2017. We had a full house with over 50 members in attendance, and the agenda made for an interesting session.
We always welcome new and returning members. You can sign up right here on our website, click on “Membership > Join/Renew” tab above. To make it easy, be sure to select the “recurring/auto-renew” billing feature.
First on the agenda; Megan Hamilton with a heartfelt acknowledgement and thank you to Justin delVersano, Ed Scruggs and Jack Keating for bringing Pink Triangle Park into existence, and their many years of care and service. Diane Nutting was also thanked for her support and fund raising efforts.
Darcy Brown, Executive Director of SF Beautiful, a non-profit whose mission is to champion local projects which beautify our civic spaces, enhance neighborhood character and promote public art. Darcy spoke of the many accomplishments of SF Beautiful, such as limitations on bill boards in the city, promoting art and artists on public transportation and spearheading the efforts to save our beloved cable car system.
For the main event, EVNA hosted a panel discussion including SFPD’s Lt. Chris Canning and Charles Bisessto representing the District Attorney’s Office. A panel discussion was moderated to discuss the low charge rates (50%) of felony arrests in SF.
Next, members voted for candidates seeking election to the 2018 EVNA Board of Directors. Many thanks for the outgoing Board Member James Kelm. The election results were tallied, and we welcome the newly elected to the Board:
President: Mark D McHale
Secretary: Leila Decker
Treasurer: Steve Clark-Hall
Board Members at Large:
Rob Cox
Crispin Hollings
Alex Lemberg
Saad Hasan
Rob Anderson
Our new officers and board members will join the current roster of board members:
Mary Edna Harrell
Scott Johnson
Loic Olichon
Be sure to mark your calendars for our next meeting on Wednesday, January 24th at 7:00pm at the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy gym on 19th at Collinwood Streets (come a few minutes early and meet your neighbors as we set up). We’ll introduce the new board members, and the agenda will include discussion on the pros and cons of the proposed redevelopment of Harvey Milk Plaza/Castro Muni Station. It should be very informative and exciting evening!
Have a safe holiday season so we can see you at the beginning of 2018!
Next Meeting Wednesday, November 15th
Note: This is ONE WEEK EARLY because of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Our next GENERAL MEMBERSHIP meeting is next WEDNESDAY, November 15th at 7:00pm at Harvey Milk Academy (this is a date change due to Thanksgiving Holiday)
We've got another full fun meeting planned. On our meeting agenda:
- Pink Triangle Park Award
- SF Beautiful
- Panel Discussion: San Francisco Police Department and District Attorney's Office discuss San Francisco's justice system
- Elections: Vote for our 2018 EVNA officers and board members
Note, you must be a member in good standing to vote for the association officers and board members. For members who registered online, you can verify your membership is current by logging onto our site from our home page here at https://evna.org.
EVNA – Follow up: September 27th General Membership Meeting
Hi EVNA Members,
Thanks to everyone who made it to last week's EVNA general meeting at Harvey Milk Academy. We had 43 neighbors in attendance! Welcome to all those attending who newly joined, and thanks to current members for renewing!
Special thanks to our guest presenters: Assemblyman David Chiu with a legislative update, Tre Alan from SF Neighborhood Empowerment, and Susan Detwiler discussing highlights of the Eureka Valley Historical Context Review, and an honorable mention to Rafael Mandelman making a cameo appearance.
Bringing our membership drive together: We extended an invitation to members who are interested in taking on a greater role within the EVNA. We are getting a lot of renewed interest in volunteering, and the door is always open to people who are solution focused with skills, time and energy to share!
Linked here is a worksheet lays out the available positions for election, and the various committees needing volunteers. Thanks to those who turned in your volunteer sheet - I'll be following up shortly with next steps! If you missed the opportunity to volunteer on a committee or run for a board position, the linked worksheet is the handout with all the details. Please print it out and email it back to me mark.mchale@evna.org with your preferences.
If you are interested in a Board Officer or Member position- please plan on attending the next BOARD meeting. Feel free to bring a short bio and "what I can bring to EVNA and this position" statements.
Our next BOARD meeting is October 10th at 6:30 at the Chase Bank Community Room (15th/Sanchez/Market Streets).
Board Officer and Member elections will be held at the next GENERAL MEMBERSHIP meeting.
Our next GENERAL MEMBERSHIP meeting is November 15th at 7:30pm at Harvey Milk Academy (this is a date change due to Thanksgiving Holiday)
As always, if you have questions, feel free to email/text/call me at the numbers below.
Mark D. McHale
Eureka at 19th Streets
September Membership Notes
David Chiu gave an update of what is going on in Sacramento. Particular housing and transportation, testing of rape kits tested, data collection to quantify bullying & workplace discrimination, and took questions from the audience.
EVNA Member Susan Detwiler presented the neighborhood historic context statement
Megan Hamilton from Supervisor Jeff Sheehy's office introduced herself and invited members to stay communicating with her office.
Meeting adjourned at 20:10, the next membership meeting will be the third Wednesday of November, one week early due to the Thanksgiving Holiday.