Dear Mr. Newsom,                         As people come over the Bay Bridge they see the wonderful views and must think WOW, what a GREAT city.  Then they get off at 5th Street and Harrison and reality sets in. They see 1-3 people begging at this corner.  They see trash cans that have ravaged and their contents dumped by scavengers. Is this the first real impression we want to give visitors? Much has been done at this corner.  The street sweepers come every night and clean one side and then the other Read This Posty »

I noticed yesterday for the first time ever that at the base of the two lampposts that mark the corners of the fence in front of the old mint building on 5th St. at Mission St. there are swastika designs in the original metalwork. It seems likely to me that these were put in place before the swastika took on the meaning that we associate with it today, but I think it's really inappropriate to leave them there. There were (presumably) swastikas on all four sides of the base of each of the two street lamps. It appears as though Read This Posty »