Lower Haight Merchants' Assoc. Meeting: 9/19

Lower Haight Merchants' Association Meeting

Unofficial Minutes

September 19th

Next Meeting:

October 10th, 7pm

Idle Hand Tattoo - 575 Haight St.

(btwn. Steiner & Fillmore)

The Lower Haight Merchants' Association held their second meeting on September 19th at Idle Hand Tattoo. The meeting was well attended with nearly 20-merchants and additional community members in attendance. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and his aide Regina Dick-Endrizzi, along with a representative from SF SAFE, attended the meeting and spoke on a variety of topics and initiatives.

In a short amount of time, the Lower Haight Merchants' Assoc. has generated a tremendous amount of excitement among merchants throughout the Lower Haight community. Many merchants who attended the initial meeting were unable to attend the 9/19 meeting. Therefore, the word has spread among merchants that the Lower Haight Merchants' Assoc. is a necessity and critical element to the blossoming Lower Haight Community.

"Official" minutes will be distributed by the Lower Haight Merchants in the near future. The "official" minutes will be posted as soon as they are released. In the meantime, these "unofficial" minutes will detail the meetings activities and decisions.

Regular Meeting Date / Time / Location:

The Lower Haight Merchants' Association has decided to hold monthly meetings on the second Monday of every month at 7pm. The meetings will be held at Idle Hand Tattoo (575 Haight St. btwn. Steiner & Fillmore).

Tracking Calls Made To Police Cell Phones:

Merchants are encouraged to keep track and make notes of ALL phone calls made to Park & Northern District cell phones (numbers listed below). Merchants will be unable to receive CAD numbers through calls made to officers' cell phones. However, you can keep track of date, time and incident for each phone call. The Lower Haight Merchants' Assoc. will collect this information at the end of each month and review the data for unacceptable responses and any other possible concerns.

Northern District Cell (for concerns east of Steiner) :
Local Patrol: 415-307-1910

Park District Cell (for concerns west of Steiner) :

Local Patrol: 415-640-4822

Arrange Neighborhood Walk-Throughs

Nicole and Regina will work together to arrange a neighborhood walk-through with SFPD Chief Heather Fong. The walk-through will address lighting and other safety concerns. Both Cpt. Dillon (Northern District) and Cpt. Ehrlich (Park District) will participate in the walk-through and discuss the role of beat officers and other collaborative efforts between the Districts that will address safety.

Trash Cans

Lower Haight needs more trash cans on the sidewalks. Nicole and Oliver passed out maps that highlight current positions of trash cans. Supervisor Mirkarimi urged the Merchants' Assoc. to advocate for more trash cans to be placed throughout the neighborhood. The trash cans could be distributed on a "test" basis and could either be removed (if it is decided that they are not needed) after 3 or 6-months. Merchants should identify locations for new trash cans. Once the number of trash cans has been decided, Supervisor Mirkarimi will advocate to bring trash cans into the neighborhood.

TJ brought up the idea of having Scavenger bring in trash bins that can be locked by the owner. A locked trash bin allows the owner to unlock the bin just before disposal and would prohibit people from opening the bins in search of recyclables. Talk with TJ (Idle Hand) if interested in working with Scavenger to bring in locked trash bins.

400-Block

Supervisor Mirkarimi has agreed to talk with each merchant on the 400-block of Haight with the intention of bringing them on-board with the Merchants' Assoc. It has been discussed that merchants on the 400-block feel uncomfortable attending merchants' meetings due to threats made against the merchants.

SF SAFE

SF SAFE presented on the methods and process of establishing a Business Watch. SF SAFE helps residents, police, and community groups work together to create neighborhood and business watches. For more information, refer to the link above.

Lower Haight Clean-Up Day

Lower Haight Merchants' Association, in partnership with Supervisor Mirkarimi's Office, will organize and host the Lower Haight Clean-Up Day on either Oct. 8th or Oct. 22nd. Nicole and Regina will work with DPW to secure supplies. Merchants are encouraged to invite residents and other community members to participate in the clean-up. An effective method of increasing participation is having food at the event. Local eateries may want to consider donating food for a community lunch.

The Clean-Up Day will organize groups to clean-up graffiti, sweep and powerwash sidewalks and will include other beautification projects.

Block Captains

SF SAFE and Sup. Mirkarimi encouraged the Merchants Association to identify Block Captains and Co-Captains for each block represented by the Lower Haight Merchants' Association. In addition to Block Captains, the Merchants' Association will also identify roles and responsibilities for officers. Currently, some Block Captains have been identified. However, no officers have been identified. It may be most efficient to create "job" descriptions and responsibilities for officers and Block Captains before recruiting additional merchants for the positions. Merchants will most likely want to know what responsibilities come with their new duty.

Current Block Captains

200 Block Fillmore: Alex - Metro Cafe

400 Block Haight: Oliver -

500 Block Haight: TJ - Idle Hand

600 Block Haight: Nicole - Vapor Room

700 Block Haight: Chuck - Costumes on Haight