Weed is legal in Canada!

Well, that got your attention ;) But the reality is, weed(s) are also legal in California, and we have too many of them. So at today's volunteer workday we pulled a lot out - along with some tired looking plants that need to be replaced.

I totally failed to get great pictures of all the seven volunteers who worked so hard in the surprisingly hot sun, but here is a screen grab of the 6 311 tickets I opened as we have SO MUCh stuff to get rid of!

A desk and two trash cans had been dumped, there was an encampment on the pathway, and we made four vast piles of green waste.

Add to that, Carrie and Chris had a phenomenal workday on Wednesday too, and had cleaned out a vast pile of weeds themselves. We still have a way to go, but this is a great start on PRG to prepare for our big winter replanting effort.

When Matt and I got home, we propagated a ton of plants from cuttings for that effort, and we're looking forward to getting them in the ground really soon.

Great meeting: Save these numbers

Me, giving my speech!

Deepest thanks to all who attended the meeting on Friday at PG! We had a fabulous turnout of passionate and informed agency partners, and a lot of great questions from neighbors and volunteers.

Thank you to Randy Quezada of the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Larry Stringer of SF Public Works, Chris Balingit of Caltrans, SFPD Sgt Davin Cole,  Whit Bastian of the SF AIDS Foundation Needle Pick-up Crew, Claude Imbault of the San Francisco Parks Alliance, and Sophia Kittler, Senior Legislative Aide to District Supervisor Malia Cohen for all stepping up to speak about what their agencies are doing about these issues.

The team is going to discuss the best takeaways from the meeting so we can look into other ways to prevent damage to the gardens from homelessness.  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, below is the text of the handout I made, which Hilary passed out to everyone on the day. The key takeaway is don't be afraid to CALL 911 if you see illegal activities, before things get worse,  call 311 to get trash picked up and text the SF AIDS Foundation Needle Pick-up Crew if you see needles.

Help Us Keep This Garden Safe: Do Your Part
Damage to the gardens costs us many thousands of dollars each year, and encampments create an unsafe volunteering environment, as well as an unpleasant garden experience. We are volunteer run and cannot continue to bear this cost.


Please do your part to prevent the gardens being damaged: report illegal activities at Pennsylvania Garden and Pennsylvania Railroad Garden. Here’s how:


Illegal activities include:

• Damage to, of theft of, trees or plants
• Dumping, littering, graffiti
• Public urination/defecation. Dog feces
• Fires. Theft. Verbal or physical threats. Aggressive animals

Pennsylvania Garden:
Property is owned by Caltrans

• Report illegal activities/emergencies: Call CHP at 911
• Trash pickup: https://csr.dot.ca.gov/ or
• Caltrans Maintenance Dispatch: 650-358-4127

Pennsylvania Railroad Garden:
Property is owned by SF Public Works

• Report illegal activities: Call SFPD at 911
• Trash pick up etc.: Call 311 or use the 311 app.

Other useful numbers:
SFPD non-emergency: 415-553-0123
CHP non-emergency: 707-641-8300
SF Homeless Outreach Team: 415-355-7401
DPH/Crisis services - for acute mental health emergencies: 415-970-4000
SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing: 415-252-3232
SF AIDS Foundation Needle Pick-up Crew: 415-810-1337 - prefer text and pictures but calls welcome. 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week

See something? Do something!

App screen grab

Last night neighbors teamed up to tackle a couple of issues that seem to keep popping up at PRG, namely people parking on the decomposed granite area after actually moving some of the boulders, and the usual homeless encampments...

I got texts from Aditi and Gina separately, both commenting on the issues and wondering how to approach. We all fired off 311 requests using the handy-dandy app - you should totally get it - for the illegally parked car, and a note was left on the windshield.

My request was quickly marked "closed" on the app because the "officer could not validate" that it's illegal to park a car on top of a street park. Um, OK.  A call to 311 is in order.

App screen grab

Next Aditi and Gina met on site, and the police showed up again, and determined the encampment was empty. That means 311 can clean it out. We 311-ed the encampment, and my request was closed within minutes as a duplicate - frustrating, as I have been told the more people who 311, the better.

The police also said they cannot move people along because it's not illegal to be homeless. Thank goodness it's not illegal to be homeless. It is illegal to litter, smoke crack, destroy plants in street parks and set fires though. All of which the homeless encampments have been doing...

It's time to go to the Bayview station to get the no trespassing signs we need to allow enforcement. I just called to verify they have them so it's  a matter of getting there to pick some up. If anyone is nearby (I'm in Pacifica) please let me know!

As the illegally parked car was by now gone, Gina and her boyfriend then moved the boulders back into place (HOW?!) to prevent it happening again. Either Gina and co are superhuman (well, actually, Gina is pretty badass, so...) or we need bigger boulders. I do love boulder shopping (really) so that's an option to explore.