In 2012, while her investigation was ongoing, Hoeper's claim alleges that Herrera demoted her, closed the investigation and then fired her earlier that year. She claims that her demotion and firing were in retaliation for her own efforts to expose financial improprieties in the prosecutor's office – including her suspicions that someone was receiving kickbacks.

Herrera is out of town and cannot be reached for comment. In an email, his spokesman Matt Dorsey said the claim reflected “baseless allegations of misconduct by a disgruntled former employee.”

“Although we generally cannot discuss personnel matters, the circumstances of Ms. Hoeper's separation were thoroughly reviewed by outside counsel,” he continued, “and we are confident that the San Francisco District Attorney's Office will prevail over the case will be decided.”

Haase declined to comment and Rothschild did not respond to a request for comment.

Tree roots and sewer pipes

Hoeper's allegations involve several small plumbing companies whose activities have led to a flood of complaints from homeowners to police, city officials and even the FBI, according to documents and interviews. For years, salespeople from the companies went door-to-door in neighborhoods, claiming that the roots of city street trees were damaging homeowners' sewer lines and offering to replace them for free.

To get the job done, homeowners were asked to file legal claims with the state attorney general's office for up to $10,000. After the claims were settled, the homeowners were supposed to pay the money to the plumbing companies that replaced the sewer lines.

Some people who encountered the sellers suspected a scam.

Michael Zack and Odilon Vasconcelos, former operators of a hair salon on Guerrero Street, said in interviews that in 2011, a salesman for a plumbing company called Drainbusters Plumbing obtained their signatures under false pretenses, creating a $10,000 claim for one New hair salon submitted sewer line for her salon.

The claim was “ridiculous,” Zack said, because there was nothing wrong with the salon's plumbing and the nearest street tree was a sapling so far down the block that its roots couldn't possibly have reached the salon. Additionally, the men do not own the building and therefore cannot legally claim the repairs, he said. Still, prosecutors approved the lawsuit, court records show.

Zack was suspicious, emailed Mayor Ed Lee and other officials and eventually called Haase at the DA's claims office. Zack said the officer told him that the salesman's behavior was “unethical, but not illegal” and he asked Zack to turn over the $10,000 damages settlement that the city had paid him and Vasconcelos to the plumbing salesman .

A review of public records shows that from 2009 to 2011, San Francisco paid $8.9 million on about 1,100 claims in these cases.

At first, Zack and Vasconcelos were reluctant, but they ultimately paid the plumbing company the damage money after a small claims court judge ordered them to do so, records show.

In another case, the owner of a Mission District restaurant called police on a Drainbusters vendor in 2012 after he allegedly trespassed on a sewer cleanout, according to a police report. Apparently the seller wanted to convince the property owners that tree roots were damaging their sewers.

Riad Khano, owner of Drainbusters, said his company only performed necessary, city-approved repairs to sewer lines. The city saved significant costs by paying private sanitation companies to do the work, he claimed, calling Department of Public Works crews notoriously inefficient. The city has stopped paying for repairs to private sewer lines because of budget problems, he said.

A few people have complained about his vendors, Khano said, but the complaints are unfounded.

Claim the FBI tipped her off

In her lawsuit, Hoeper says the FBI alerted her to the alleged billing fraud in 2011 after agents received a series of complaints from homeowners. Hoeper hired two investigators to investigate.

She concluded that the city had no legal obligation to pay the claims. No city in California routinely pays for tree root damage to private sewer lines, she said in her lawsuit, and neither has San Francisco for most of its history. But beginning in 2002, prosecutors began approving these claims, sometimes within days of their filing.

She claimed that her investigation found case after case where sewer lines were replaced even though there was no sign of damage or the bills were clearly padded.

In 2012, six months after it began, Hoeper said she told Herrera about her investigation. Herrera asked her for a written report, she said. Shortly after reviewing the matter, he dismissed her as the main trial representative and transferred her to the public prosecutor's office, according to her statements. She said she was fired last January, the day Herrera was sworn in for his fourth term.

A review of public records shows that from 2009 to 2011, San Francisco paid $8.9 million on about 1,100 claims for damage to sewer property or tree care problems that the city described as sewer line damage, which included root damage to private sewer lines could belong. The average payout was about $8,000. Around 140 applications were rejected. In a few cases, the payments went to plumbing companies. Normally the payment went to the property owners.

Public records also show the city stopped paying for private sewer repairs shortly after Hoeper said she reported to Herrera.

City records show that on June 20, 2012, Edward Harrington, then general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, issued a memo stating that no “tree root intrusion” claims should be paid, it said unless he or the city's construction manager personally approved them in advance.

Since then, court records show prosecutors have successfully defeated several small claims lawsuits from homeowners seeking damages for tree root damage to their sewer lines. In court, the city's lawyers contend that the city was never responsible for the cost of such repairs.

Herrera, the city's top law official since 2001, has built an image as a champion of good government and consumer protection. Hoeper was one of Herrera's closest collaborators for years.

In 2003, when a legal newspaper named Hoeper one of the “Top 50 Women Trial Lawyers” in California, Herrera issued a press release praising Hoeper for her efforts to combat public corruption.

Hoeper's claim states that Rothschild, the head of the claims office, was outraged by her investigation into his unit.

According to her account, Rothschild confronted her and angrily declared, “I will not tolerate this.” In another encounter before her demotion, Hoeper claimed that Rothschild accused her of “picking up” his assistant and threatened a “hunger strike, if she continues with the investigation.”

In her lawsuit, Hoeper is demanding reinstatement and back pay and other damages.

This story was edited by Amy Pyle and copied by Christine Lee and Nikki Frick.

The post S.F. Lawyer Claims She Was Fired for Investigating Suspected Cost Rip-off appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

In 2012, while her probe was underway, Hoeper says in her claim that Herrera demoted her and shut down the investigation, and then fired her earlier this year. She contends that her demotion and firing were in retaliation for what she said were her efforts to expose financial improprieties — including her suspicion that someone was receiving kickbacks — in the city attorney’s office.

Herrera is out of town and unavailable for comment. In an email, his spokesman, Matt Dorsey, said the claim reflected “baseless allegations of wrongdoing from a disgruntled former employee.”

“While we generally cannot discuss personnel issues, the circumstances of Ms. Hoeper’s separation were thoroughly reviewed by outside counsel,” he continued, “and we’re confident that the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office will be vindicated when the case is adjudicated.”

Haase declined to comment, and Rothschild didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Tree Roots and Sewer Lines

Hoeper’s allegations concern several small plumbing companies whose activities have prompted a flurry of homeowners’ complaints to police, city officials and even the FBI, according to documents and interviews. For years, salesmen for the companies went door to door in residential districts, claiming the roots of city street trees were damaging homeowners’ sewer lines and offering to replace them for free.

To get the work done, homeowners were told to file legal claims for as much as $10,000 with the city attorney’s office. After the claims were paid, the homeowners were supposed to pay the money to the plumbing contractors, who replaced the sewer lines.

Some people who encountered the salesmen suspected a scam.

Michael Zack and Odilon Vasconcelos, former operators of a hair salon on Guerrero Street, said in interviews that in 2011, a salesman for a plumbing company called Drainbusters Plumbing had obtained their signatures under false pretenses and used them to file a $10,000 claim for a new sewer line for their salon.

The claim was “ridiculous,” Zack said, because nothing was wrong with the salon’s plumbing, and the nearest street tree was a sapling so far down the block that its roots couldn’t possibly have extended to the salon. Besides, the men didn’t own the building and thus legally couldn’t file a claim for the repair, he said. Nevertheless, the city attorney’s office approved the claim, court records show.

Suspicious, Zack emailed Mayor Ed Lee and other officials and ultimately called Haase in the city attorney’s claims bureau. Zack said the official told him that the salesman’s conduct was “unethical but not illegal” and told Zack to turn over to the plumbing salesman the $10,000 claim settlement the city had issued to him and Vasconcelos.

A review of public records shows that from 2009 to 2011, San Francisco paid $8.9 million on about 1,100 claims in these cases.

At first, Zack and Vasconcelos balked, but ultimately they paid the claim money to the plumbing company after being ordered to do so by a judge in small claims court, records show.

In another case, the owner of a Mission District restaurant called police on a Drainbusters salesman in 2012, after he allegedly pried open a sewer cleanout without permission, according to a police report. The salesman apparently was hoping to convince property owners that tree roots were damaging their sewers.

Riad Khano, owner of Drainbusters, said his company did only necessary, city-authorized sewer line repairs. The city saved significant money by paying private plumbing companies for the work, he claimed, calling Department of Public Works crews notoriously inefficient. The city stopped paying for repairs to private sewer lines because of budget problems, he said.

A few people had complained about his salesmen, Khano said, but the complaints were unfounded.

Claim That FBI Tipped Her Off

In her claim, Hoeper says the FBI tipped her to the suspected billing scam in 2011, after agents received a series of complaints from homeowners. Hoeper assigned two investigators to the probe.

She concluded that the city had no legal responsibility to pay any of the claims. No city in California routinely pays for tree root damage to private sewer lines, she said in her claim, and for most of its history, San Francisco didn’t either. But starting in 2002, the city attorney’s office began approving those claims, sometimes within days after they were submitted.

She contended that her probe found case after case in which sewer lines were being replaced, even though there was no evidence of damage or bills obviously were padded.

In 2012, six months after it began, Hoeper said she told Herrera of her investigation. Herrera asked her for a written report, she said. Soon after reviewing it, by her account, he removed her as chief trial deputy and transferred her to the district attorney’s office. She said she was fired last January, on the day Herrera was sworn in for his fourth term.

A review of public records shows that from 2009 to 2011, San Francisco paid $8.9 million on about 1,100 claims for what the city described as sewer property damage or tree maintenance issues, categories that could include root damage to private sewer lines. The average payout was about $8,000. About 140 claims were rejected. In a handful of cases, payments went to plumbing companies. Usually, payment went to property owners.

Public records also show the city stopped paying for private sewer repairs soon after Hoeper says she made her report to Herrera.

On June 20, 2012, city records show that Edward Harrington, then the general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, issued a memo saying no claims for “tree root intrusion” should be paid unless he or the city’s public works director personally approved them in advance.

Since then, court records show the city attorney’s office has successfully defended several small claims lawsuits brought by homeowners seeking compensation for tree root damage to their sewer lines. In court, the city’s lawyers contend that the city never has been responsible for paying for such repairs.

Herrera, the city’s top legal officer since 2001, has cultivated an image as a champion of good government and consumer protection. For years, Hoeper was one of Herrera’s closest aides.

In 2003, when a legal newspaper named Hoeper one of the “top 50 women litigators”in California, Herrera issued a news release praising Hoeper for her efforts to stamp out public corruption.

Hoeper’s claim says Rothschild, the claims bureau chief, was outraged by her investigation of his unit.

By her account, Rothschild confronted her, angrily declaring, “I will not stand for this.” In another encounter before she was demoted, Hoeper asserted that Rothschild accused her of “picking on” his assistant and threatened a “hunger strike if she persisted with the investigation.”

In her claim, Hoeper asks to be reinstated and awarded back pay and other damages.

This story was edited by Amy Pyle and copy edited by Christine Lee and Nikki Frick.

The post S.F. Lawyer Claims She Was Fired for Investigating Suspected Cost Rip-off appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Many of San Francisco’s 1,250 miles of water pipes need to be repaired or replaced, requiring years of digging as the city races to fix an aging system, documents and data from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission reveal.

To keep the water system running smoothly, the city has embarked on a plan to dig up and replace hundreds of miles of pipeline in the coming decades at an estimated cost of $1.2 billion — all of which will be covered by water ratepayers.

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To hit that goal, the SFPUC, which is overseeing the project, must more than double the length of water pipes it fixes annually, going from an average of 6 miles per year to 15.

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As construction ramps up, it will tear apart asphalt, clog traffic, shut down streets and redirect buses. Downtown, which has most of the city’s oldest water pipes, will be hit hardest, and the Sunset and Richmond districts will be heavily affected.

“Fifteen miles is 150 blocks, so that’s a lot of traffic disruption; it’s major,” said Katie Miller, manager of the water enterprise division at the SFPUC.

The city, though, has no choice but to upgrade the pipes.

Cesar Robles (right), San Francisco Water Department laborer and Martin Santos (left), Synergy laborer, work on a flat bed trucks carrying replacement pipelines as one is prepared to be placed into the ground during work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleMartin Santos, Synergy laborer, inserts locking wedges between two pipes while working on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleTwo replacement pipelines are connected during work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleArturo Morones, San Francisco Water Department laborer, climbs down below ground during work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleMartin Santos, Synergy laborer, handles a hasp as he works on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleWorkers guide a replacement pipeline as it is moved from a flat bed truck to be prepared to be placed into the ground during work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleAn excavator removes an old railway yoke during work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street between Masonic and Ashbury Streets on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleCesar Robles (l to r), San Francisco Water Department laborer and Martin Santos, Synergy laborer, work on a flat bed trucks carrying replacement pipelines as one is prepared to be placed into the ground during work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleCesar Robles (l to r), San Francisco Water Department laborer and Martin Santos, Synergy laborer, work on a flat bed trucks carrying replacement pipelines as one is prepared to be placed into the ground during work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleMartin Santos, Synergy laborer, and other workers guide a replacement pipeline as it is placed into the ground during work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleA worker grasps a weight used for measuring distance and alignment of the replacement water pipes as they work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleMike Broussard, Sa Francisco Water Department plumber, passes supplies from below ground as he and others works on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleWorkers guide a replacement pipeline as it is placed into the ground during work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

If the SFPUC maintained the 6-mile-per-year fix rate, more than half of the pipelines in the city would surpass their age recommendations by 2040. Leaks and breaks would become unmanageable, and scarce water would be wasted.

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“As everybody out West now understands, water is precious,” said Eric Goldstein, senior attorney in the National Resource Defense Council’s urban program. “The most efficient and least expensive way for us to ensure an adequate supply is to repair leaks and take steps to reduce waste.”

Starting in 1930, San Francisco went through a residential construction boom, with row houses topping the last remaining sand dunes in the Sunset and high-rises popping up downtown. In the 1940s alone, approximately 38,800 new units went up citywide, according to a recent report by Paragon Real Estate Group.

To connect the new homes to running water, hundreds of miles of pipes were laid. These World War II-era relics still make up a large chunk of the city’s water infrastructure.

Roughly 28 percent of San Francisco’s pipelines were built between 1930 and 1950, according to PUC data, and 44 percent of the nearly 500 water-main breaks over the past half decade were in pipes built during the time period.

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“It’s a higher than usual amount of breaks,” Miller said.

Part of that can be blamed on their age, but another factor is the caliber of the pipes. During the war, much of the nation’s iron was used for military equipment, leaving municipalities picking from the proverbial scrap heap.

“There was not a lot of quality assurance at the time, so there was a lot of impurities in the ore that are now resulting in breaks,” Miller said.

Replacing 15 miles of aging pipes annually will cost an estimated $48 million per fiscal year. If the pipes from the ’40s and ’50s begin breaking down earlier than expected, construction — and costs — will increase.

A weight used for measuring distance and alignment of the replacement water pipes hands above a replacement water pipe during work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

Water ratepayers would have to foot the bill.

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“If this turns out to be a more severe problem than we are predicting — if it is above and beyond that 15 miles — then we may need a special funding program,” said Tyrone Jue, the utility’s spokesperson. The funds would probably come from a bond or by raising water prices.

With so many streets torn up, some are seeing possible opportunities.

“It’s an opportunity to rethink things,” said Charisma Acey, assistant professor of city and regional planning at UC Berkeley. “To not just lay in the old infrastructure, but also think about how we put in new infrastructure.”

One idea is high-speed Internet.

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Martin Santos (l to r), Synergy laborer, and Arturo Morones, San Francisco Water Department laborer, secures a polyurethane wrap to prevent corrosion around a replacement pipeline during work on the pipeline replacement project along Haight Street at Ashbury Street on Thursday, October 1, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

Though the city is home to some of the world’s biggest tech companies, its Internet speeds lag. Thanks to the city’s Dig Once ordinance, though, authorities must at least consider installing fiber conduits for high-speed Internet during any pipe work that requires excavation.

With so many water pipes due to be replaced and repaired, there will be plenty of opportunities to speed up Web browsing.

“The PUC project will be a big part of the opportunity” to expand, said Miguel Gamiño, executive director of the Department of Technology. “It’s not just having more fiber, but where we put fiber, which allows us to have a very resilient, cost-effective network.”

That’s small consolation for some business owners in the Haight neighborhood.

For the past two months, tractors, sparks and pounding sounds have supplanted shoppers on stretches of Haight Street, as the city repairs local sewer and water lines.

The PUC expects the project to impact 12 city blocks and stretch into fall of next year.

“Construction has to be done. We understand that,” said Luke Martinez, manager of the novelty toy and clothing store Super 7. “But September is already a hard month for all of us, and I doubt anyone has made more money because of construction. … I wouldn’t want to shop on Haight Street right now.”

The post Count on ‘main’ disruption as S.F. races to repair previous water pipes appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The entitlement process for the planned redevelopment of two aging piers and a nearby parking lot at the San Francisco waterfront into housing and a floating swimming pool in the bay is expected to kick off with a public hearing next month, following nearly three years of behind-the-scenes efforts to advance the plan amid growing economic turmoil. 

In January, development partners Strada Investment Group and Trammell Crow Co. are slated to seek the Port Commission’s approval of a term sheet, or a nonbinding agreement that lays out the basic terms and conditions and provides the framework for a future disposition and development agreement for the project, according to a memo issued by the commission’s staff this week.

And while the execution of this first transaction document represents a milestone in terms of advancing the project — which calls for transforming Piers 30-32 and Seawall Lot 330 into a swimming pool in the bay surrounded by office and retail space and hundreds of new homes — its developers are still facing a roughly $125 million financing gap, per the port’s memo. 

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The gap is a result of swelling project costs: The cost of the project’s infrastructure work alone has increased by over $90 million over the past three years. 

When the developers last appeared in front of the commission in early 2021 and were granted exclusive rights to negotiate their project with the Port of San Francisco, which owns the properties, infrastructure and required “resilience improvements” were expected to cost $369 million. 

The Port says that price tag has grown to about $460 million, which does not include vertical development. It is now working with the project’s developers to create special tax districts in the project area as one means to pay for construction. 

A rendering of the planned redevelopment of Piers 30-32 in San Francisco. The project is moving forward despite a significant funding gap.

Strada/TCC

The port selected Strada and Trammell Crow in 2020 through a competitive bid process to redevelop Pier 30-32 and Seawall Lot 330 — the latter is currently home to a navigation center for homeless people. A stipulation of the project was that the teams must fund sea level rise and seismic work at the piers and seawall and restore a deep water berth, located at the project site, for maritime uses. 

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The project’s design has been heavily modified in recent years in order to achieve compliance with state regulations, which may also have caused the financing gap to widen. The original plan called for an 850-unit residential complex on Seawall Lot 330 and the demolition of Piers 30-32. The developers wanted to rebuild the piers as two smaller finger piers at roughly half the size, with about 375,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 square feet of retail space. 

The project’s residential portion is envisioned to help subsidize the costs of the other components. Taken together, the infrastructure and resiliency work plus vertical construction has been estimated to cost about $1.2 billion. But, pushback from neighbors of the proposed residential complex resulted in the developers shaving 137 units off of its design, which earlier this year was reconfigured as a single, 713-unit tower that would rise 230 feet.

But even that design is not yet certain: Questions remain regarding whether the developers will be able to use the state density bonus law, which allows certain developments to exceed local height and bulk limits in exchange for an increase in the percentage of affordable housing, to achieve the building’s planned height, which exceeds local height limits. 

According to the port’s memo, the development team has “also designed a building with a maximum height of 105 feet, which would decrease the number of units and potentially negatively impact the funding gap and project affordability.” 

San Francisco’s Pier 30, as seen in 2020 when it was used as a COVID-19 testing site.

Noah Berger/Special to The Chronicle

Moreover, questions by state regulators over whether the proposed office space was consistent with the public trust doctrine — which governs the use of California’s sovereign waterfront properties and requires that they benefit the public and encourage maritime use — forced a redesign of the original plan for the piers as well.

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The issue sparked new legislation proposed by Sen. Scott Wiener, SB273, which essentially determined that the balance of the trust benefits that would be generated by the project justify the authorization to provide some general office space on the piers to help pay for those benefits.

In other words, the office space is designed to fund sea level rise and seismic work at the piers.

The legislation was signed into law in October, but even before then, the team scratched the idea of rebuilding both piers as office structures and now intends to rebuild one as a smaller pier with a single bay swimming pool equipped with a kayak launch and storage. The project would still include 375,000 square feet of office space, as well as a 70,000-square-foot retail market. A standalone aquatic recreation facility would serve as a gateway between the Embarcadero and the swimming pool.

Strada did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday on its proposed term sheet for the project.

The term sheet is the next “performance benchmark” for the developers, and if the commission approves it next month, it would be followed by a “fiscal feasibility analysis,” the port said in its memo. The Board of Supervisors would be required to approve both documents, after which environmental review of the project may begin.

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Per the draft document, the project will be constructed in three phases and involve a ground lease between the port and developer, lasting 66 years for the piers and 99 years for Seawall Lot 330.The project’s performance schedule will also be laid out in the term sheet, but is currently still being negotiated.

On the financing front, the project will rely on a combination of public and private sources for the demolition and reconstruction of the piers and the required seawall improvements.

More specifically, the term sheet proposes forming both an Infrastructure Financing District around the project area to capture future tax increment and a Community Facilities District to levy special taxes on the buildings.

“Changes in market factors could substantially improve the financial feasibility of the Project, potentially fully eliminating this funding gap,” the port said in its memo, regarding the $125 million in needed financing. “If market factors do not improve, the Developer and Port staff will work to identify and secure sources to obtain at least this amount of funds to ensure the financial success of all phases of the Project.

“While the developer and staff have not identified the exact mix of funds to close the $125 million infrastructure feasibility gap at this time, the team feels confident it can secure these funds well ahead of the start of the Project,” the memo said.

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Other projects proposed along the waterfront in recent years, like Pacific Waterfront Partners’ redevelopment of nearby Piers 38-40 and the large-scale Pier 70 redevelopment project by Brookfield Properties, are also facing financial challenges due to high interest rates, significant demand for office and residential real estate in San Francisco, and rising construction costs.

Reach Laura Waxmann: laura.waxmann@sfchronicle.com

The post The plan for a large floating pool on S.F. piers is transferring ahead, regardless of large funding hole appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

San Francisco’s first Porsche dealership has opened in South of Market after an investment of more than $10 million, in another major economic bet on the area.

The showroom at 500 8th St. opened in June and on Thursday, owner Indigo Auto Group hosted an extravagant party with 350 invited guests and a concert featuring former members of the Eagles and Journey.

The 91,000-square-foot showroom and dealership has space for 150 cars and employs around 50 workers.

“There’s a big Porsche community out here. And I think this area has been underrepresented by not having a dealership here,” said Karla Curtsinger, the facility’s general manager. “It’s been a very warm welcome from the community.”

On Thursday, Porsche executives and customers sampled fresh oysters, garlic noodles and macarons with pictures of a Porsche Cayenne, alongside generous pours of cocktails, Buena Vista Irish Coffee and wine from Chateau Montelena in Calistoga.

A new Porsche dealership opened at 500 8th St. in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood.

Roland Li / The Chronicle

Don Felder, a former member of the Eagles, and former Journey member Steve Augeri, jammed alongside Nashville band Sixwire.

Curtsinger isn’t fazed by the nearby closures of Target, Cole Hardware and Samy’s Camera during the pandemic. (Samy’s has been replaced by Ace Plumbing & Rooter.) Porsche is catering to enthusiasts who aren’t just looking for commodity products, she said.

“A Porsche dealership is a destination,” she said. “You can do a lot of the transaction online, but the excitement of getting a new car, especially a new Porsche, is being able to see it, sit in and touch it, drive it.”

Across the street from Porsche is Airbnb’s headquarters, a testament to both the tech wealth in the area and a new normal where the company now allows workers to go fully remote.

Curtsinger sees the biggest challenge as raising awareness that the store has opened, and future events are planned, in line with the strategy of making retail more “experiential,” in the parlance of real estate brokers.

The modern space has offices, a merchandise store and space for a stage, using what she said was fifth generation Porsche design guidelines.

“We also wanted to keep it on theme with San Francisco. The city is very eclectic and very artistic, so that’s why we kept some of that … like the exposed concrete walls.”

A new Porsche dealership opened in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood has space for 150 cars.

Roland Li / The Chronicle

Indigo Auto Group, the biggest U.S. Porsche franchisee, also owns Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen dealerships in Marin County and a Ferrari dealership in Silicon Valley. 

Last week, Porsche reported third quarter revenue up 10% to 9.7 billion euros ($10.4 billion) compared to the prior year. Operating profit was up 5% to $1.65 billion euros ($1.77 billion) from the prior year, though profit margins were down 0.8 percentage points due to supply chain issues, inflation and higher sales expenses.

U.S. auto sales rose by 17% in the third quarter to 3.9 million new cars and trucks sold, according to data firm J.D. Power. But widespread United Auto Workers strikes, which have partially been resolved, could dampen supply.

“The automotive industry in general is adjusting to the market normalizing. And so you could call it a struggle, but that’s only if you’re not prepared for it,” Curtsinger said. “If you know that’s coming, you tend to prepare for it.”

Reach Roland Li: roland.li@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @rolandlisf

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San Francisco opened a safe parking site at Candlestick Point in January 2022, saying it would hold up to 155 recreational vehicles and provide residents there with badly needed services.  

Since then, though, the Bayview Vehicle Triage Center has fallen far short of those projections. Lack of electricity has hobbled the site, necessitating the use of polluting diesel generators and limiting the vehicles it can serve to 35.

At that level, the annual cost per vehicle spot is roughly $140,000 — “by far the most expensive homeless response intervention” in San Francisco, according to a budget analysis prepared for the Board of Supervisors.

Still, the supervisors’ Homelessness and Behavioral Health Select Committee on Friday unanimously recommended the city extend the shelter’s lease for another two years, at a cost of $312,000 a year — not including millions in operating costs.

The move means San Francisco will shell out at least another $12.2 million to fund the site and its operations, assuming the full board approves the committee’s recommendation.

“This is an expensive endeavor, but it will be more expensive — and we cannot afford the alternative — of leaving the unhoused and housed, quite frankly, to fend for themselves,” Supervisor Shamann Walton said. He voted yes along with committee members Hillary Ronen and Rafael Mandelman.

The saga of the program and the tensions it has ignited highlight the city’s ongoing struggle to house its poorest residents. Last year San Francisco estimated that 4,400 people were homeless and unsheltered, with about a quarter of them sleeping in RVs or other vehicles. 

In July, city officials counted 1,058 inhabited vehicles across San Francisco — nearly half located in District 10, which includes Bayview-Hunters Point and Candlestick Point. Many vehicle owners had parked along Hunters Point Expressway near the site of Candlestick Park, which once housed the Giants and 49ers, leading to concerns from residents.

“We had an extremely untenable situation in the Candlestick area,” said Walton, who represents District 10. “Dozens of vehicles occupied by individuals and families as well. No restroom facilities, no showers, no coordinated services, blockage of roadways. Trash and waste also added to the issue.”

The city opened the Vehicle Triage Center, or VTC, in January 2022 at the boat launch parking lot of the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, following a pilot project at another site on San Jose Avenue, which had spots for 29 vehicles. For the pilot project, the city spent $1,793,003 — or $61,828 per spot. 

“There’s a lot that goes into making it a safe, dignified location,” said Emily Cohen, deputy director of the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

That included buying or renting shower and bathroom trailers and hand-washing stations, and providing potable water and plumbing. “Those costs are expensive,” Cohen said.

The Bayview VTC ran into immediate problems. While it was supposed to hold up to 155 vehicles, the city lacked adequate electricity. The city contracted with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to power the site, but nearly two years later, officials said it still doesn’t have power needed to run at capacity.

Both Walton and Supervisor Hillary Ronen blasted PG&E for its service at the site, criticizing the company as “evil” and “a big part of the problem.”

In a lengthy statement, a PG&E spokesperson pushed back, saying that the project was “not delayed in any way.”

The spokesperson said that initially, in July 2021, San Francisco applied for a temporary service connection at 500 Hunters Point Expressway for a COVID-19 testing facility. The project was delayed because the city didn’t get equipment delivered on time. Permits were issued to complete the work in January 2023, but a month later the city pulled its application for the project.

Months later, PG&E said, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission applied for a new service connection at the same address for a different use — a site serving people living in vehicles.

“The SFPUC’s application was missing key information and was not deemed complete until Aug. 15, 2023,” the PG&E spokesperson wrote. “PG&E is now estimating the cost of the requested interconnection for the SFPUC. Federal regulations governing interconnections between utilities allow 45 business days to complete estimates. PG&E is on track to provide its estimate within the regulatory timeline.”

Lacking power, the city turned to the diesel generators, sparking a federal lawsuit from residents who said they violate the Clean Air Act. The city subsequently began replacing the generators with solar-powered pole lights, but the site still does not have adequate electricity.

The city has spent at least $8.6 million on the program, according to estimates from the city homelessness department, and because of the lack of power has to deliver fresh meals to the site daily, which Cohen said “is very expensive.” 

The center has served 115 people since it opened, she said. According to a July city presentation, her agency has made 13 placements from vehicles at the site into permanent housing, with two more expected. It wasn’t clear how many people were housed in these placements.

Cohen defended the expenses, and residents of the shelter who attended Friday’s committee hearing said it provided security and services they wouldn’t find elsewhere.

“If I hadn’t found this place and been able to stay there, I would probably have 15 to 20 tickets for failing to move on time for the street cleaners,” said Charles Wesley Keener, a 63-year-old resident of the site.

Another resident, Mark Noti, said that but for the VTC, he would probably be living on the streets.

“It makes me feel safe that I have someplace to go, that my vehicle isn’t going to be towed — because it doesn’t run and they have people coming through there that are helping me to get it running,” he said.

“There’s good parts and bad parts in this thing,” he said. “I see more good in it than bad. So for me, it helps me because I’m safe here. And to move my vehicle — I couldn’t do it. They would tow it. And then what do I have? I don’t have anything.”

Some neighbors, though, have lost patience with the venture. Several called into the committee hearing, saying the center had failed to meet its basic objectives and was “fiscally irresponsible,” and criticizing the low number of referrals to permanent housing.

“At less than one placement per month, it would be more cost-effective to provide each VTC client with a monthly rental stipend,” wrote Marsha Maloof of the Bayview Hill Neighborhood Association in a letter to supervisors opposing continued operation of the site. “It is inconceivable that the City would continue to extend such a program with metrics of success at this level.”

Another caller noted that the average length of time residents stayed at the center was more than 200 days.

“It’s not triage,” he said. “This is basically warehousing folks, keeping them there for the long term.”

Reach St. John Barned-Smith: stjohn.smith@sfchronicle.com

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Over the next five years, San Francisco schools need about $1.4 billion worth of work to address malfunctioning boilers, electrical issues, plumbing problems, floor repairs and other facilities issues, a significant to-do list that doesn’t necessarily include replacing heating systems or toilets with more modern and efficient options.

While it’s a shocking amount of money needed for 107 sites, it’s the first time in years that district officials have a clear idea of the current condition of its buildings and grounds and what it will take to address needs of facilities through 2027.

The district assessed all sites in recent months, determining whether the various parts of the buildings were in excellent, good, fair, poor or deficient condition at each location.

The overall conclusion was reassuring: The schools are safe. There are no issues related to structural integrity or other life-safety systems critical to the well-being of students and staff, said Dawn Kamalanathan, district head of facilities.

Instead, the issues revolve around inefficient and aging infrastructure like basement boilers and classroom radiators that are either on or off, for example, making some classrooms either too cold and others too hot.

“They’re safe,” she said. “They might be uncomfortable.”

Based on the assessment, electrical, as well as heating and ventilation, received the lowest marks, with 72 sites in poor or deficient condition. Plumbing followed in third, with 43 sites in the same category.

At nearly two-dozen sites, the heating system is so old it would cost more to fix it than replace it with the same type of equipment. The data doesn’t identify what it would cost to ditch the boilers for more modern HVAC systems.

“This is really for us, the first conversation,” Kamalanathan said. “What you’re seeing here is not systems no longer functioning, but systems that are well past their designed for useful life.”

The $1.4 billion price tag doesn’t include basic maintenance like fixing a leaky roof or broken window.

The report, presented to the school board earlier this month, will pave the way for a facilities master plan, as well as a ballot measure next year or the following to raise money through a new facilities bond, officials said.

Jill Tucker and Nami Sumida are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com nami.sumida@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker @namisumida

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My old friend Amanda was having work done on her home in the Catskills. She called me one evening, almost in tears. There was lumber all over. She was microwaving dinner in the bathroom. But then came her epiphany: “Sometimes, Kevin, you need to make a big mess so you can straighten up your life.”

In 1926, Calvin Coolidge was the president of the United States. On Nov. 11, 1926, a highway known as Route 66 opened for business. Had Silent Cal gotten into the presidential limo that year and driven along the Main Street of America, he might have found himself in the Golden State. Had he gone farther north, he might have discovered that on the southern border of San Francisco, in a tract of land that would one day be known as the outer, outer, outer, outer Excelsior, some builders had been caught up in the bungalow frenzy.

The word “bungalow” comes from the word “bungaloue,” shelters quickly built in India, done in the style of the Bengali. When building vacation cottages on the English seacoast in 1869, a clever marketer appropriated the term “bungalow” to give them an exotic feel. It stuck.

The word came to mean a small home, generally single story with a sloping roof, and was the darling of the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century.

Yes, in 1926, the Bedlam Blue Bungalow was built. It wasn’t blue then. And the bedlam had not yet moved in. The dining room had gumwood cabinets, the chimney worked and somewhere along the line, they added a bedroom and the porch got closed in.

But for the most part, it sat quietly on a corner until almost the end of the 20th century, when it was invaded by Fisher-Paulsons. And our bedlam.

At first there were only two of us: my husband, Brian, and me. And the dogs: In 23 years Miss Grrrl, Diva, Wolfcub, Qp, Krypto, Buddyboy, Bandit and Queenie have all lived here. Somewhere during that dynasty, two human boys adopted the pack, Zane and Aidan.

Early in our tenancy around 1999, there was a fire. A roofer had let a spark get caught in the fly space. Do you know what they used for insulation in 1926? Newspaper. Maybe even The Chronicle. And those old periodicals flamed up, and firefighters came in and flooded our little home.

By that time the gumwood had more than 70 years to dry, and so every board in the room warped under those hoses. We fixed the windows, replaced the cabinets, and some very nice men sanded the floors. They had to rub down pretty far to get it even, but they did and the Fisher-Paulsons lived happily, well, if not ever after, at least temporarily.

Which brings us back to the dogs.

Truth of the matter is that all dogs urinate. Some more than others. Old Krypto, you couldn’t walk him past a vertical surface without him raising a leg.

And male dogs can be competitive. If Buddyboy urinated on my recliner, then Bandit had to urinate just a little bit higher. And poor Krypto. He had to stand on his tiptoes (tip-paws?) to urinate higher than that.

We didn’t notice all at once, but one day we saw that the two decades worth of hounds had eroded a moat around my La-Z-Boy. There was almost no oak left. They couldn’t repair it, only replace it.

So last week we moved our dining room table out, our Stickley chairs, our bookcases, our piano, and hired people to rip up the 96-year-old floor. Down to the studs.

For two weeks, we have no television. We have to go through the yard to get to the kitchen. Our sons’ rooms are on the other side of the construction, and they live as strangers, stumbling into the kitchen only for the 12 minutes it takes to eat ravioli and snarl, before going back to their rooms and electronic devices.

Dogs urinate physically, whereas teenage boys urinate psychically. They are all marking their territory. We are, to coin a phrase, bungaloathing each other.

But Aunt Amanda is right. We had to make this mess, to spend this time in separate parts of the house, so that we know how much we belong together. Two weeks from now, we can move the table back in, gather in the dining room, hold hands, say grace and be truly grateful that we live together in this old bungalow.

With all its bedlam.

Kevin Fisher-Paulson’s column appears Wednesdays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com

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