SF DPH & BART Pigeon Proofing the Plaza But . . .

The health hazards at the BART 16th and Mission Street plaza of concern to our campaign is now in it's second month and we have additional mostly positive news to share today.

This note is from Richard Lee of the San Francisco Department of Public Health and was sent yesterday:

Our Environmental Health Technician, Jorge Montiel was out at the plaza yesterday. He discussed the issue of pigeon proofing with a BART representative. The representative stated that they will be improving pigeon proofing sometime this week. In addition, he talked with the Walgreen’s representative. They said they are power washing the plaza area daily. Mr. Montiel requested that they increase the frequency of the power washing.

Today, we heard from Jorge Montiel, also of DPH, and while most of his note is good news we are very dismayed he wants to remove the public seating at the plaza:

I called Paula Fraser at BART to verify the pigeon proofing was going as planned. She indicated 'Building is waiting for the lamp pigeon deterrents to come in. Hopefully this week; consequently, BART's crew is scheduled to install them as soon as the materials arrive.'

I also spoke to Walgreens manager Kevin and informed him of Walgreens's responsibility to clean and maintain clean the area adjacent to the BART plaza. Pigeon proofing is a responsibility that BART has, this is not something SF DPH will do for them; nevertheless, I will make sure the necessary repairs/ improvements are conducted in a timely manner.

Regarding 'Do Not Feed the Birds' signs, I will recommend they do it. I do not believe we can mandate they install such signs. I believe the problem with the pigeon feeding is not that people are actually feeding the pigeons but transients leaving food unattended. I also recommended BART to remove the permanent sitting area. I believe this area is not being used by commuter's but transients and others.

We replied to Jorge with a written wish to see the seating remain in place:

Thanks for all this information and the assessment of health issues at plaza. However, one issue of serious concern to us and is your belief that the public seating should be removed. Regardless of whether folks are waiting for a Muni bus or using BART or simply enjoying the sunshine and street scene, it is our wish to see the seat remain in place.

The plaza is a public space and the full breadth of the general public should be able to access the limited seating that is currently there. We don't think that removing the seating would do anything to reduce the pigeon poop, which is one of our top concerns. Please rethink your desire to push for removal of the seats.

The photo below shows where the pigeon-proofing is needed on the lighting fixtures.

We'll continue to advocate for a sanitary public space and that the public seating stay as it is now.

Remove pigeon poop, not people or public seating!

Milk Plaza Pigeon Poop Returns;
People With AIDS Face Health Risk

 (Newly refurbished news rack at Castro and Market Street this afternoon, shows newly dropped bird crap on top.)

Last week, I complained to the Department of Public Health and the Department of Public Works about health hazard posed by bird droppings on a large (and useless) news rack and sidewalk at an always-crowded section of Harvey Milk Plaza. Swift action ensued, with DPH inspecting and confirming the problem, posting signs discouraging feeding of pigeons, and DPW steam cleaning the news rack and plaza.

I want to prevent the birds from resting and defecating and pushed Richard Lee, environmental health expert at DPH, to lead the effort to place spike on the cables and lamp post where the birds rest. His reply:

In regards to the Dept. of Public Health, we would get involved in installing spikes or other pigeon proofing only if we deemed the pigeon droppings a public health nuisance and we were able to identify a responsible party to perform the pigeon proofing. At this point, we would like to observe the effectiveness of the newly mounted signs to see if it reduces the pigeon droppings before we take any enforcement action. Of course, the PUC and any other agency or business could install pigeon proofing on their own volition. 

Since I also complained to community liaison Jana Lord at Clear Channel, which owns and maintains the news rack cluttering up the plaza and which is main repository of the droppings. My suggestion was to paint over the encrusted droppings, and yesterday she sen this note:

I had the news rack re-furbished last week.  Have you seen it?

Today, I went to the plaza and saw that the cosmetic, yet welcomed, attempt last week to clean up the droppings have not solved the problem of birds resting and pooping from cables and the lamp post. Yes, the news rack is refurbished . . . and again befouled with pigeon poop.

The signs from DPH has been removed, but I didn't see any crumbs or seeds for the birds to eat. Actually, I've never seen anyone feed the pigeons at Milk Plaza. So, we're back to square one and a public health risk for people with AIDS and others still exists in the heart of the Castro. 

While DPH continues to observe the situation, and the health hazards from the disease-ridden poop remains on the top of the news rack and nearby sidewalk continue to pose a risk.

One thing I can't understand is how the poop hazard didn't cause anyone that I know of to complain about it until I made an issue of it last week. You would think Supervisor Scott Wiener, who's said he wants to revitalize the plaza, and all members of the Merchants of Upper Market/Castro, who likewise want to bring vibrancy to the plaza, would have addressed this matter already.

I am again asking all concerned parties - DPH, DPW, Clear Channel, the Castro Benefit District, Wiener and his staff, MUMC, SF Municipal Transportation Agency - to rid Harvey Milk Plaza of pigeon poop by immediately installing spikes where necessary to stop birds from resting on lamp posts.

Plaza Pigeon Poop Cleaned;
Birds Quickly Befoul News Rack

Recapping, as a person with AIDS I've launched an effort to end hazardous bird pooping on the empty and nuisance news racks at Market and Castro Streets. Details here.

A reader informed me that Supervisor Scott Wiener's aide for public spaces in District 8 is Andres Power, who does not live in the district, heck, doesn't live in the city, but instead resides in Oakland. Power most likely in the morning takes BART from the East Bay to Civic Center, strolls along Grove and Polk Streets to get to his job at City Hall, then reverses his route home and perhaps not daily passing through Harvey Milk Plaza or the district. This may explain why Wiener's office has surprisingly not made any discernible moves to eradicate the pigeon poop public health hazard in the public plaza.

Let's get to the various and terrific quick moves by folks at the Department of Public Health and Department of Public Works to rid the gateway of LGBT America of disease-riddled animal poop. First up is DPH director Barbara Garcia:

Hi Michael. I'm on vacation this week. I have [contacted] our representative from DPH environmental health and a DPW representative. Richard Lee of DPH could inspect and then work with DPW on this. Thanks.

From Darius Kayhan of DPW's street environmental bureau:

Monday: The news racks are Clear Channel’s responsibility. We will get this cleaned up. Tuesday: My team cleaned it all up last night. 

From DPH environmental inspector Nader Shatara to DPH's environmental health regulatory director Richard Lee:

I will enter this complaint into our database and pass by today to post signs and evaluate. I will follow up with recommendations.

This came from DPH director Mohammed Nuru:

Michael, It is a priority for DPW to keep all public plazas clean, beautiful and functional for our residents and visitors. As we do in all cases across the City, we devote resources where they are needed the most to respond to cleanup requests as they come in, and we work with the appropriate agencies and residents to keep the plazas clean. Thank you for your attention to this matter. DPW also works to educate the public that feeding pigeons can be harmful to neighborhoods and to the birds via this link: http://www.sfdpw.org/index.aspx?page=1329 .

The last DPH communication today is from Nader Shatara:

Pigeons were noted in the area on top of the street light pole above the news stands in question. Although pigeon spikes/wires would help deter the pigeons, an incentive for pigeons to stay in the area will always exist if people keep feeding them. According to a neighboring business operator, pigeon feeding exists on this corner on a regular basis. 'No Pigeon Feeding' signs were posted on the southwest corner and southeast corner of this intersection. Clear Channel will be contacted to do their part in keeping the area clean. Structural pigeon deterrents are affective to a certain point, but if pigeon feeding is the root of the problem, then the discontinuation of feeding pigeons will have better results. 

And if feeding is not THE root, but a contributing over all factor then we must have a more expansive view of several solutions working in combination smoothly.

I am grateful quite a few folks at two city agencies yesterday and today wasted no time in starting to address this problem. My response to DPH's Shatara is that a two-pronged approach is needed. Spikes on lampposts and Muni cables deterring birds from landing, and posters deterring humans from littering the plaza with bread crumbs.

Andrea Aiello, executive director of the Castro Benefit District, has been copied on all of the emails and I've suggested that the CBD work with DPH and DPW to jointly fund installing more bird spikes at Milk Plaza. 

On my inspection of Milk Plaza this afternoon, I snapped photos of the useless clutter known as the news rack with stubborn old poop stains not totally removed by DPW's cleaning, new droppings since last night's scrubbing, and the street lamp and pole caked in poop. The lamp and pole are in immediate need of spiking.

BART's 16th Plazas Must be Cleansed of Health Menace

For more than a year, there's been an attempt by the Maximus Partners Real Estate Corporation to gentrify the two public BART plazas at 16th and Mission Streets and the prime focus has been to displace the homeless and low income folks who hang out there. Maximus Parnters created a faux community organization, Clean Up the Plaza, that lacked genuine grassroots and local support.

The real goal of Maximus Partners is to clean the plazas of people they find undesirable to their development schemes. What I am addressing here is a radically different sort of cleansing, one that is about the dirty and unhealthy surfaces of the plazas that jeopardize the health of everyone who is a stakeholder and user of the area, especially the south BART entrance, near the Walgreen's store.

I ask the SF Weakly and others to not distort my goals with BART to in any way support the economic cleansing being pushed by Maximus Partners and Clean Up the Plaza. By the way, tomorrow, Saturday, June 14, from noon till 4 pm the Plaza 16 Coalition, an authentic community-based and grassroots-driven association, is holding festival at the plazas and good time is promised. Stop by if you're in the neighborhood.

The following has been sent to various BART leaders responsible for the plazas cleanliness along with politicians who represent the area:

TO: Linda Vasquez, BART Line Manager; Julie Yim, BART Operations Dept.; Tom Radulovich, BART Board Member; Sup. David Campos; Assemblyman Tom Ammiano; Sen. Mark Leno

Dear BART Leaders and Elected Officials, 

As a person living with AIDS and frequent user of both BART Plazas at 16th and Mission Streets, I am appalled at the filthy state of the plazas and risks posed to the health of all persons who use them due to the apparent lack of regular washing of the many surfaces in the plazas. 

 

The above photos are from the BART entrance in the southern plaza close to Walgreen's. As you can plainly see, the metal and cement sections close to the handrails of the escalator are splattered with pigeon droppings that pose dire health menaces to people living with HIV, infants and children, asthma suffers and individuals who are immune compromised. 

Several parts of the sculptures on the entrance walls lack spikes and the pigeons have made themselves places to nest and defecate.

 

These three images show the trash on the left of the escalator that been's accumulating for months, hardened pigeon feces on and beneath the security camera near the elevator and a wall sculpture littered with garbage stuck in the pigeon spikes. None of this filth developed overnight and believe it's a dereliction of your duties as a BART leader or elected official, to make sure the plazas and the entrances to the trains are regularly inspected and consistently cleansed.

 

The pigeon spikes on top of the light poles at the southern plaza are no longer in place, as across Mission Street, making the fixtures prime locations for roosting and pooping. At the northern plaza stretching from the public toilet kiosk past the Muni bus shelter and on to the Mission Street cross walk, the disease infested pigeon fecal matter is so rampant sections of the red-stripe no parking curb is almost white.  

This deplorable and unhygienic situation is nothing new for our plazas, and here are several suggestions I ask you to immediately implement: 

1. Identify who is responsible for maintaining clean plazas and regular steam washing of all surfaces, 

2. Begin consistent cleansing of all surfaces at the plazas in the overnight hours when the fewest number of persons are present, 

3. Remove all trash stuck in pigeon spikes and on the areas next to the stairs and escalators, 

4. Replace pigeon spikes on all appropriate areas and install new spikes on locations in my photos, 

5. Post signs in English and Spanish with instructions not to feed the pigeons as part of better public health for all persons, 

6. Near the station manager's booth or the information racks with BART flyers, erect a pole for updates about when the plazas and station are inspected for cleanliness and when the last steam washing took place.  

The current disgusting conditions of the plazas require your prompt attention and action to remedy the health risks from the various forms of filth. 

A response from you is requested early next week. 

Best regards,

Michael Petrelis

Candidate for District 8 Supervisor

Mission Local: Petrelis' Pigeon Poop Cleanup & BART Campaign

A huge shout-out to reporter Joe Rivano Barros, who snapped the photo, for this fabulous story. He writes for the Mission Local news site and came on the tour of the plazas last week.

I find it quite ironic that BART's spokeswoman Alicia Trost says they couldn't send a rep because the walk-through was a campaign event. Um, BART managers have been staging plenty of their own campaign functions in order to get voters to approve their $3.5 billion bond measure.

Last weekend, at least one track at the MacArthur BART station was out of service so BART officials could show off their "Fleet of the Future" and plenty of reps were on hand to answer questions. So much for not engaging in political activities during election season.

That said, BART needs to step up regular maintenance services at this transit hub and the sooner the better. Excerpts from Barros' story:

"Michael Petrelis, the political gadfly and a candidate running to represent part of San Francisco on BART’s Board of Directors, is tired of pigeon crap. Its cleanup has in fact become a rallying cry for Petrelis’s campaign for the BART Board of Directors, in which he is running to represent District 9, which includes the seven BART stations from Montgomery Street to Balboa Park.

"But, he’s hardly waiting until Election Day. Last Thursday, he convened 11 representatives from five city agencies and walked them through the 16th Street BART Station — the Mission District’s dirtiest transit terminal — pointing to roosting pigeons, trashed corners, and urine-smelling pavement.

"The group — which included members of the Department of Public Works, Department of Public Health, the Municipal Transit Agency, Clear Channel, and the Police Department — listened to Petrelis and his solutions. They gave their own as well. A solar reflector, for instance, could use blinding light to prevent pigeons from roosting, said a police officer. [...]

"In the meantime, a representative from Public Works pledged to redouble efforts by clean-up crews to steam-clean the plaza. [...]

"'The pigeons are really a result of people who are congregating and making food available,' said Dr. Tomás Aragon, a health officer with the Department of Public Health. He called the preponderance of feces and trash a 'public health nuisance.' [...]
 
"'It’s an issue of poverty, it’s an issue of some of whom are homeless or marginally housed,' said Dr. Aragon. 'We’re going to have to figure out how we’re going to work with them, to reach out to them, to figure out a way so that they’re not feeding the birds.'

"Petrelis, a victim of pigeon poop, is adamant that his clean-up campaign is not intended to remove anyone from the plaza. The 57-year-old activist and blogger has been urging city agencies to take a keener interest in cleaning up the 16th Street BART Plaza since 2014, two years after he had an unfortunate incident there. That happened in June 2012, when Petrelis was using the downward escalator into the transit station when he put his hand on the rail and plopped it into a pile of pigeon droppings. [...]

"For Petrelis, the pigeon poop problem deserves a technical solution, one that won’t displace the regulars on the plaza but will selectively target the birds who feast on their leftovers. As a thrice-weekly user of the station, he wants the pigeon poop, dirty pavement, and trashed corners cleaned up. [...]

"Step one would be working with BART, a particular and longstanding problem, Petrelis said.

"The transit agency — along with Pacific Gas and Electric, which owns some of the wires where the pigeons perch — was not present at Petrelis’s walking tour. [...]

"Alicia Trost, a spokesperson from BART, said that there were no staff available to meet with Petrelis until mid-November. Furthermore, she said, it would be inappropriate to send staff to the walking tour since it “could be a campaign event.” Indeed, Petrelis pinned cloth reading “Vote Petrelis BART Board District 9” to his jacket and handed out business cards with the same slogan. [...]

"By the end of the hour-long tour, Darryl Dilworth from Public Works said he would look into additional funding for regular clean-up crews, funding he said Public Works was receiving from BART until a few months ago. The money, he said, allowed for daily steam-cleaning of the plaza. Petrelis, for his part, was hopeful and generally ecstatic that a citizen with a loud enough voice could assemble a half-dozen city agencies and demand they pay attention."

Fire Hazard at BART Plaza, Pigeon Poop Proliferates

It's been nine-days since I first contacted gay BART director Tom Radulovich, gay elected officials Mark Leno, Tom Ammiano and David Campos, and various BART officials about the health hazards at the 16th Street and Mission plazas.

Unfortunately, the gay elected leaders and their staffers have not responded to my requests to help clean up the various filth, and despite promises from BART district secretary that the agency was taking my complaint seriously, the hazards have not been cleaned up.

Today I've emailed the head of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Barbara Garcia, and the chief of the Fire Department, Joanne Hayes-White, requesting their assistance to get the plazas cleaned up. The text of my letter to them:

Dear Ms. Garcia and Ms. Hayes-White,

My concerns regarding the unsanitary conditions at the 16th Street BART plazas have been brought to the attention of the agency's leaders, however, no action has been taken in the nine-days since I first contacted BART about the health hazards at these public spaces used by thousands of people daily.

You can read my appeals to BART and gay elected officials to address this deplorable situation, along with viewing photo documentation gathered two week ago, here and here.

I was in the BART plaza close to the Walgreens over the weekend and can report that the disease-riddled pigeon poop next to the handrails by the steps and escalator is more prevalent. 

Last night, I noticed the poop is encrusted on top of the news racks near the Muni bus stop in front of Walgreens. When so much bird fecal matter is so close to where people put their hands while using the public plaza, the public health is jeopardized.

There is also a fire hazard presented by the food wrappers and newspapers that have accumulated on the cement shelf on the left of the down escalator. The fire department should inspect this area and witness not only the trash but also the cigar and cigarette butts mixed in with the papers.

In the interest of responsible public health and fire hazard prevention, I request that you take action today to address these concerns either by having your own staffers wash away the pigeon droppings and install pigeon spikes and remove the dried papers, or requesting that BART do so.

Clearly, after more than week of complaints from this member of the public, BART leaders need a push from you to make the public plaza free from health and fire hazards.

Please let me know by the close of business today what action you are taking to address these hazards to the public.

Regards,
Michael Petrelis

Muni Must Rid BART Plaza Bus Shelters of Pigeon Poop

My campaign to improve the public health at BART's two plazas at 16th and Mission Streets is now in its third week and takes a new turn.

As you know, last week at my urging the Department of Public Works began steam cleaning the filthy and disease-carrying pigeon poop off the sidewalks and other surfaces, and the Department of Public Health has begun an environmental review of the plazas.

Despite numerous emails to BART officials, and promises back that they would put in writing what actions they were taking to clean up the unsanitary conditions, I've received no substantive responses along the lines of what DPW and DPH have put in writing.

You may be wondering why I am so concerned with these plazas, when they are outside District 8 and what this all has to do with my Supervisorial campaign. Thousands of D8 residents daily use the plazas, which is one reason to make this a campaign issue, and also all Supervisors regardless of which district they represent are tasked with maintaining clean public transit hubs.

The following letter was sent today to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, requesting Muni do its part to restore the plazas to a better state:

Dear SF MTA Director Ed Reiskin and Board Chairman Tom Nolan,

It's come to my attention that your agency has been derelict in properly maintaining clean your public property in the BART plazas at 16th and Mission Streets. Let's look at the photographic documentation I gathered today.

This image shows the street and traffic signs streaked with pigeon fecal matter, the top of the red plastic caked with poop and two Muni users waiting for the 22 bus to arrive. In my estimation, this deplorable and hazardous health menace has existed for quite some time. I do not believe Muni has been diligently inspecting this bus shelter and all of its signage in the plazas.

Also in desperate need of cleaning are the backs of a traffic signal, sign and pole located a few feet away from the bus shelter, closer to Mission Street. The SF MTA's shelter and signs abut the north west BART plaza.

Across the street, the south east plaza's bus shelter also shows evidence that it's not been washed in some time and has bird poop on top and down the side, and needs a good cleaning.

I don't know which City agency is responsible for studying the feasibility of placing anti-pigeon spiked wires or strips of pepper-flecked repellent tape on the hard and soft overhead poles, wires, signs and cables, but I am requesting that you look into the spikes and tape as a preventive measure.

This letter is being copied to DPW and DPH in the hope that those agencies and yours can immediately come together and coordinate an effective plan for minimizing the various public health risks at the plaza, reducing the nesting and defecating of the pigeons and not allowing these public spaces to become bastions of filth.

Please let me know by the close of business on July 1 what actions you will direct the SF MTA to take this week to address my concerns.

Regards,
Michael Petrelis

Castro Courier: Dufty, Petrelis Run for BART Seat

Robust thanks to the terrific story about my DIY Democracy effort and the race for BART District 9 seat. Written by Heidi Smith, headlined "Dufty, Petrelis Run for BART Seat" and only focused on Bevan Dufty and myself as candidates with deep links to the Castro gayborhood, our opponent Gwyneth Borden's name was not mentioned at all.

Here's my favorite passage:

"Pigeon poop was the catalist for Petrelis' BART campaign. In 2012, he got the health department to clean up Harvey Milk Plaza [of poop and pigeon-abatement] . . .

"Due to his numerous complaints about the [16th Street] plaza, the bird droppings have been cleaned up and new pigeon spikes have been installed.

"'The problem with the current system is that it is a complaint driven maintenance plan. That needs to change,' Petrelis said.

"If elected, Petrelis proposes to reopen the public toilets at 16th Street and hire the homeless to staff them. He also wants to activate the plazas with pop-up bike repair, small vendor shops and meet-and-greet sessions with the District 9 director in attendance."

BART: Sanitize 24th St Entrance: Pigeon Poop = Disease!

This video captures the incredibly unhealthy situation at the eastern entrance to BART's 24th Street station in the Mission, which is part of the District 9 seat I am running for.

After inspecting the areas at the top of the entrance where BART riders put their hands, risking contagion with diseases in the layers of pigeon poop encrusted on surfaces, I'm calling on BART leaders to immediately deal with this public health menace.

Serious pigeon abatement is needed now at this location. It is not ok pigeons are nesting on both sides of the entrance and the spiked wires along the fence top on the edge of the BART plaza are so worn down the birds roost there.

I believe the BART D9 incumbent director, Tom Radulovich, must take responsibility for the conditions at the 24th Street station, which are quite deplorable.

If elected, I promise to routinely inspect this station and all of them in District 9 to make sure BART is properly maintaining best practices regarding sanitation. This post and video have been emailed to various BART officials. I'll keep you posted on their actions to address my concerns.

Do you agree BART must send a cleaning crew to power-wash the bird poop off the entrance?

Out Traveler Mag: Are SF's BART Plazas Health Hazards?

Needless to say, I am quite pleased the Out Traveler magazine's web site today picked up on my post from yesterday about my complaint to BART leaders and politicians about the filth at a local transit plaza, that I believe is a menace to public health.

Reading the article by Neal Broverman I thought of an additional concern and that is how this BART station is for many out of town visitors arriving from San Francisco International Airport their first sight of our city. Seems to me it's another reason, on top of my health concerns for locals, to demand action from City leaders and BART leaders who are usually so worried about what tourists think of our streets and public spaces.

This additional media attention, I hope, prods the authorities I've petitioned to immediately address the incredibly dirty environment in this area. Sure would also be good to get public accountability as to how they allowed the situation to become so deplorable and unhealthy.

Finally, I very much appreciate the Out Traveler, which is owned by The Advocate media empire and hosted on their well-trafficked site, mentioning my candidacy for the District 8 seat on the Board of Supervisors.

(Trash and pigeon poop piled up next to the handrails of the down escalator at the plaza near the Walgreen's store.)

Give this a read, please:

An out candidate for city supervisor says the BART plaza at 16th and Mission streets is dangerously dirty. Longtime HIV and LGBT activist Michael Petrelis is running for San Francisco's Board of Supervisors and he has the city's notorious 16th and Mission BART plaza in his sights.  

The 16th/Mission Bay Area Rapid Transit station is known as dirty [...], but Petrelis says the state of the station's plaza is endangering public health, specifically for seniors, children, and those with HIV. 

Citing rampant pigeon feces and piles of garbage, Petrelis wrote a letter to city and transit officials demanding they take action and steam clean the area, add "pigeon spikes" to keep birds out, and remove the trash that covers the area. Writing in his blog, Petrelis goes out of his way to differentiate his calls for change from that of local businesses, who he says just want to rid the area of "undesirables." 

What do you think — does San Francisco, which just became an American finalist for the 2024 Olympic Games, need to take action or is this simply a part of urban life?

Milk Plaza Pigeon Abatement Update

(DPW's Steve Shih, left, and Luis Agurto of Pestec.)

The Department of Public Works, the Department of Public Health and Muni, along with the transit system's contractor for anti-pigeon work Pestec, are all responding to my renewed complaints regarding the return of pigeons and their foul poop at Harvey Milk Plaza.

I am pleased to report they are all communicating and coordinating with each other, and working diligently to prevent the birds from roosting at Milk Plaza's streetlight, pictured, at the Castro and Market crosswalk.

On Wednesday afternoon, I met up with DPW's Steve Shih and Pestec's Luis Agurto and we inspected the Market and Castro intersection, to see which spots need to have spikes installed.

I thought it was just the cables and streetlight at Milk Plaza requiring spikes, but Steve and Luis noticed other spots where the birds roost and poop. They pointed out the streetlight near the Muni shelter, pictured, on Castro in front of the Twin Peaks bar.

On 17th Street, between Jane Warner Plaza and the other side of the Twin Peaks bar, Steve and Luis pointed out another streetlight and more cables, pictured, where the pigeons currently gather, with their excrement landing on the sidewalk and plaza.

Reports will be written up about the inspection and recommended courses of action will be proposed to all the city agencies involved in this matter. I'll keep tabs on suggested solutions and hope that our Castro neighborhood will be much improved by the end of the year with spikes in place to deter the pigeons and eradicate the health menace posed by their poop.

Big thanks to Steve and Luis for coordinating their site visit with me and for moving on my complaints. Sames goes for all the folks at DPW, DPH and Muni working toward an acceptable abatement of the pigeon problems.

Productive Public Health Tour of 16th St Plaza, BART = MIA

Let's give a round of applause to the eleven folks who participated in my public health tour today of BART's 16th Street Plaza. It was a very productive 45-minutes.

We had three representatives from the Department of Public Health, one from Public Works, three from the police department, one from the SFMTA's signage division, two from Clear Channel and a supervisor of the Pit Stop program.

Also present was reporter Joe Rivano Barros from the Mission Local news site, who should a story up in the coming days.

Public Works is power-washing BART's property, because the agency is derelict in maintaining their plaza, creating a schedule of regular scrubbing of the yellow ADA bump mats at the corners and the layers of bird crap on the sidewalks and street pavement nearby among other sanitation tasks.

The health officials took lots of notes and photos, asked for suggestions promising a followup meeting to move good ideas forward.

Clear Channel is committed to frequently washing the bus shelters and of course would have less to do if the birds weren't defecating by the hundreds. Netting they placed on top of the bus shelters is not keeping the poop away and makes it harder for them to be washed.

The police brought up enforcement issues related to feeding birds and folks who pee or poop on the plaza. One officer suggested trying pigeon reflector device on or near the cables. That's how pigeon abatement is practiced at the new SFPD headquarters, they said.

The SFMTA rep said they're looking at installing pigeon spikes on their lamp posts, making for fewer spots for birds to land.

Please note that BART didn't participate and claimed, without any proof, that they are supposedly under-staffed.

This was the same excuse BART management used in September to avoid an inspection tour just for myself their customer service director Julie Yim. She today said she may, no firm commitment, schedule a tour in late November.

The failure of BART to send anyone and not make any commitment to joining this collaborative effort, which will continue, is sadly emblematic of BART's overall approach of disengagement regarding sanitation at this transit hub.

If BART managers decide to change and work with myself and the six agencies, we'd welcome their new approach. It is, after all, their plaza we are trying to make better for all users.

I feel a major step forward, building on months of my advocacy, was accomplished today that will lead to greater sanitation at the BART plazas. Big thanks to all the folks who joined the tour and are working toward better public health and public safety at 16th and Mission Streets!

In the photo from the tour, starting on the left is Darryl Dilworth of Public Works, Karen Cohn and Tomas Aragon of DPH and yours truly. Appearance of these public servants in the pic is not and does not imply an endorsement of my campaign for the BART board.

Thanks, BART, for Installing Pigeon Spikes at Radulovich Plaza!

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the maintenance crew for BART's pigeon abatement program has placed many yards of anti-avian spikes at Radulovich Plaza, in response to my urging the agency to take this public health enhancement step.

To better deliver accountability over how and why the BART Plaza at 16th and Mission Street has deteriorated to such a hazardous condition, I have dubbed it Radulovich Plaza for the BART director who's been responsible for twenty-years for the station.

Tom Radulovich has done all of us a huge disservice ignoring the extreme lack of decent sanitation and I'm proud of my advocacy getting the plaza to meet a higher public health standard.

I snapped these photos today. The Pit Stop agent said the spikes went up over the weekend making him happy. Thanks, BART, for taking actions at my request to improve the environment at this busy hub.

The image with the light purple background and black fence, bordering the western plaza, on the left shows pigeons roosting and their fecal matter visible. The right side is of the newly installed spiking on both ledges of the fence.

The Mission and 16th directional arrows and tiles atop the entrance to the western plaza now have a double-row of spikes.

At the eastern plaza's subway entrance, the cement tops near the handrails are now lined with taut wires preventing the birds from landing. All this metal will reduce the amount of pigeon crap in key areas of Radulovich Plaza.

Wiener & MUMC to People w/AIDS:
Drop Dead from Pigeon Poop



For all the hot air that's been wasted by Scott Wiener and MUMC in the 22-months since the rainbow flag at Harvey Milk Plaza was put on the Castro's agenda and their concerns for the entire plaza, you might think some of it would have been about the health menace of the pigeon poop in close proximity to people with AIDS.

In August, through photos and complaints to the Department of Public Health, the Department of Public Works and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, I waged a campaign to rid the plaza of roosting spots for disease-carrying pigeons. That history is here.

Wiener and his staffers, same as MUMC leaders, were alerted to my posts about the serious threat to the immune systems of people with HIV/AIDS and other health-compromised persons, yet he made no transparent moves to address this issue.

Now, two-months after the city applied anti-bird gel to the Muni and utility cables over the empty and useless news racks cluttering up the corner of Market and Castro at the lip of the subway entrance, the birds and their crap are back.

Just what the heck is it gonna take for Wiener and MUMC to address the disease-carrying pigeon poop, which is also a hell of lot more nasty to look at than any of the nudists in the gayborhood I might add and is the sight that first greets visitors as they exit the Muni station?

At the same time, let's not absolve AIDS Inc from their responsibility to address this poop problem. MUMC and AIDS Inc groups are sponsoring their second annual World AIDS Day effort to increase profits for merchants and pass along some dough to the six-figure executive directors running multimillion dollars organizations.

The effort is called "Paint the Castro Red" and what they really mean is "Paint the Castro Green" with AIDS dollars. How do AIDS Inc and MUMC want you to respond when remembering our dead and those living with AIDS today? By spending money shopping, drinking and eating.

How important is World AIDS Day to making money for MUMC businesses? It's so crucial that MUMC will fly a red ribbon banner just like on the days when they hoist the leather and bear pride flags because they want dollars from consumers.  Fine, whatever guys, just please get rid of the damn roosting spots for pigeons in the heart of the community.

Do any of these civic and nonprofit leaders ever walk past Castro and Market? How can they be blind to this health threat?

If that gross-out video I shot this afternoon doesn't spur Wiener, MUMC, AIDS Inc and the city, to action, nothing will.

BAR Op-Ed: BART's Mission St Plazas = Public Health Hazards

Please take a moment to read my opinion column that ran in the Bay Area Reporter on September 15th. Thanks, editor Cynthia Laird, for printing my campaign concerns and bringing attention to the current situation at these plazas. 

Early voting in San Francisco begins October 11th at City Hall and I'd be honored to receive your vote. Here's my column:

When my hand accidentally slid into the pigeon poop near the handrail of the down escalator one morning in the spring of 2014 at the 16th Street BART station, I wanted nothing more than a chance to wash up.

After paying my fare, I headed to the men's room only to be reminded it's been shuttered due to heightened security precautions since the 9/11 attacks.

This episode two years ago was the beginning of my campaign to challenge the incumbent BART director for this station, Tom Radulovich. I attempted communication with him, but he, unfortunately, never replied to my voicemails and emails.

A series of service requests to BART, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and the Departments of Public Works and Public Health produced a concerted number of scrubbings and improvements of the two plazas at this critical transit hub.

My advocacy led Out Traveler to run an article headlined, "Are S.F.'s Train Plazas Public Health Hazards?" Still, no public response came from Radulovich, a blot of disengagement on his record.

In July of this year, before he opted out of running for another four-year term, I became a candidate for the BART District 9 seat. Democracy is best served when all incumbents face challengers to prevent political complacency.

My campaign has directly engaged with the assorted public agencies tasked with a piece of the large maintenance picture for the 16th Street station.

Photographic and video evidence of the dirty problems have been submitted to the agencies and shared on my social media. Crews from DPW have been out power-washing, using a good deal of soap, recycled gray water, and disinfectant to clean most of the surfaces, street furniture, and Muni bus shelters.

The more permanent solution to the pigeon poop problem, especially near the stairs and escalators of the subway entrances, will require BART to fill in holes with concrete and install anti-avian metal spikes.

The entrances at the 24th and Mission station are equally in need of pigeon abatement and better sanitation.

Let me unequivocally declare that none of my proposals are designed to displace any users of the plazas. No one deserves a gross public transit hub.

I've petitioned San Francisco Health Director Barbara Garcia to declare a sanitary emergency at these BART plazas, to better develop regular patterns of keeping the hub as hygienic as possible. She's instructed DPH's environmental division to investigate.

Regardless of DPH's investigation and findings, there is an overwhelming need to assess the filth at the plazas and to ensure the next BART District 9 director is monitoring their environmental conditions.

Reopening the concourse level public toilets at 16th Street and all other closed restrooms would give everyone a place to pee and poop, and wash our hands. As with the Pit Stop program, hiring the homeless to staff the toilets would help them and curtail bad behavior.

I don't believe anyone can claim the status quo is acceptable. As a candidate, there are other matters of importance I want debated.

I'm pushing for greater transparency of BART management. The public needs to have easy online access to the salary and compensation packages of top managers and the calendar for General Manager Grace Crunican should be shared on BART's site.

Directors' meetings are extremely inconvenient for BART riders and stakeholders. All of them take place at the start of the workday, at 9 a.m. on Thursdays.

At the most recent BART board meeting, out of hundreds of thousands of riders, I was the sole person present. How can the directors and managers learn what is of concern to riders if they won't hold any meetings at night?

Let's activate the plazas with pop-up bike repair and small vendor shops and meet-and-greet sessions organized by the station and BART management with the District 9 director in attendance. Establish specific times for outreach work by local nonprofit agencies – from homeless groups to public transit and biking advocacy groups – and interactive musical and art programs.

Finally, we all need to vote yes on Measure RR, the BART bond on the November ballot. This would provide $3.5 billion to replace and modernize BART's crumbling infrastructure.

I would be honored to have your vote in the fall. For more information about my BART platform and campaign, please visit http://www.Facebook.com/PetrelisFiles or http://www.Mpetrelis.Blogspot.com.

The author is a government transparency leader who regularly files public records requests with city officials and successfully lobbied the fire and health commissions to air their meetings on SFGov TV.

BAR & Wiener Ignore
Milk Plaza Improvements

(The spanking new pigeon-poop free rainbow banner, on the Milk Plaza street light now free of birds. Credit: Andrea Aiello, CBD.)

Earlier this week I told my buddy Tommi Avicolli Mecca that when the Bay Area Reporter came out today, there would be nothing in it about the recent visible and tangible cleaning and improvements this month at Harvey Milk Plaza. Let's recap.

Just over two-weeks back, I complained to Barbara Garcia who heads the Department of Public Health about the health menace to people with AIDS of the gross pigeon poop at HMP's always-crowed corner at Castro and Market Street. Garcia, who was on vacation at the time but still reading emails, directed her staff to investigate the menace and she contacted the pigeon control unit at the Department of Public Works.

Within days, I heard from Mohammed Nuru, DPW's chief, about his department steam cleaning HMP, while DPW plastered posters telling people not to feed the birds. The owner of the news rack befouled with poop, Clear Channel, through its community liaison at my request had the structure refurbished with a new shell because the previous one was too caked with poop that couldn't be scraped off.

On her own, the executive director of the Castro Benefit District Andrea Aiello coordinated with Muni and a subcontractor last Thursday to apply bird repellent gel on the cable wires and street light where the pigeons roosted. My complaint to Merchants of Upper Market Castro president Terry Bennett, about their filthy poop-smeared rainbow banner on the utility pole, produced its removal and replacement with beautiful new banner.

So, we have this activist launching an effort that engages DPH and DPW chiefs and staff, Clear Channel, the CBD and their work with Muni and a subcontractor, and MUMC. Three city agencies, two civic groups and a private advertising company all moved to make HMP more healthy, vibrant, clean and inviting. Something all parties involved should be proud of.

And not one word about any of the improvements were newsworthy for the BAR. I wish I knew why editor Cynthia Laird, and her reporting staff of Matthew Bajko, Seth Hemmelgarn and Chris Carson opted to ignore the betterment of HMP this month.

Here we had several stakeholders coordinating a number of positive changes to this historical public space, and in an almost unheard of short period of time, and it's not news to the BAR folks. At the same time, Scott Wiener on his Twitter feed and Facebook page has remained silent about these improvements in his district.

The BAR has a story today about problems with the benches at HMP and a meeting held on Monday to address several plaza related issues and the work of DPH, DPW, CBD, Muni, a subcontractor, MUMC and Clear Channel to make the plaza better was omitted.

12 Reasons to #VotePetrelis
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

A District 8 voter asked recently us why he should vote for Michael, now that he's received his vote-by-mail ballot and wants to send it back to the Department of Elections.

We reeled off several reasons he should use his first ranked-choice vote for us, starting with he's not pleased with the politics of the incumbent Supervisor.

Then we provided him with a few accomplishments we brought about this year that he should consider as cause to vote for us:

1. Persuaded the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to repaint white bike lane stripes protecting riders near the dangerous Market and Octavia Street intersection at the ramp to the highway. The repainting was done in August.

2. Succeeded in getting the Department of Public Works to steam clean hazardous pigeon poop from surfaces at the 16th Street BART Plaza, while also nudging the Department of Public Health, the SFMTA and BART to expand pigeon proofing and other measures to increase sanitary conditions at this transit hub. This multi-agency advocacy project transpired over June and July.

3. Obtained emails from the City Attorney Dennis Herrera's staff revealing that this office provided extensive public relations assistance, using taxpayer-funded infrastructure including organizing an author meet-and-greet inside the City Attorney's City Hall office, to assist promoting a book about Prop 8 that showcases Herrera in a favorable light. This act of civic transparency and accountability was in May.

4. Requested and received the names and demographics on all city residents killed by members of the San Francisco Police Department, in officer-involved-shootings. For the first time ever, we had a central list of all 168 such fatal shootings stretching back to 1939. The SFPD released this info in April.

5. Posted on the web in May, for the first time, a similar list of all BART police officer-involved fatal shootings.

6. After seven years of lobbying, in March convinced the DPH's director Barbara Garcia and the Health Commission to broadcast their bi-monthly meetings on SF Gov TV, bringing much-needed transparency to the DPH and its decision-making process.

7. Revealed that Protocol Chief Charlotte Shultz has a nonprofit group that receives $250,000 annually in taxpayer funds to host soirees and she's violated the sunshine law requiring the nonprofit's board to hold two public meetings each year. It took six months of public records requests to hold Shultz accountable and follow the city dollars that she uses for parties with her friends.

8. Showed that Mayor Ed Lee and his staff hadn't sent a condolence note to Alex Nieto's family and friends after he was fatally shot by an SFPD office, to express condolences over his death. This info came to light after a public records act request was made in September.

9. Obtained the list of all attendees at Mayor Ed Lee's invitation-only meeting with tech firms and executives, where current and future city policies related to the tech industry were discussed, providing sunshine over whom the Mayor meets with behind closed doors. The list was posted on the web in January.

10. Organized a picket and press conference in July at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's pharmacy in the Castro to protest their unscientific opposition to using Truvada as a method to prevent HIV transmission to negative individuals.

11. Asked for and received monthly calendars from nine of the eleven members of the Board of Supervisors, along with the calendars from the Clerk of Board, and in January shared them on the web while calling on the Supervisors to voluntarily post their monthly calendars on their-city funded web sites.

12. For the first time, making the full audio of Dan White's bone-chilling confession to murdering George Moscone and Harvey Milk available on the web, after requesting a copy of it from the city archive at the San Francisco Public Library back in April. There can never be too much multi-media LGBT history on the web.

Just a few reasons why District 8 voters should make Petrelis their number one choice on their ballots in the remaining three weeks before Election Day.

Here's a photo of Petrelis with his friend and endorser Veronika Fimbres.

'Faggots' Hit at Milk Plaza
by Drugged Homeless Woman in June

Over at the page for the Bay Area Reporter's story about a recent meeting convened to weigh options for reclaiming Harvey Milk Plaza, from the hostile homeless folks who frequently sleep out and hangout there, a number of comments have been left from gay men who luckily have never been hassled or assaulted in that public space.

Let's go over some of the one-sided comments

From Andy Blue: I have never once in 15 years felt the least bit threatened, intimidated, endangered, or even bothered by anyone hanging out there. Not once.

Jim Youll says: I have never been threatened, intimidated, or even slightly concerned walking through there. And I'm short, lightweight, and not particularly threatening to anyone. I feel less safe walking through the plaza when it's empty of people... much less safe.

Good for them in that they've not been hassled, but they would be wise to acknowledge others have not been so lucky. For my partner Mike and I, we have been intimidated and Mike was assaulted in the plaza in the daytime. In early June, we were on way to the Castro Theatre to catch the Sunday matinee showing of the restored print of Jean Renoir's classic anti-war film "Grand Illusion".

We came down from the Collingwood side of the plaza holding hands, and as we approached the first purple bench on the left just passed the base of the rainbow flag, the four guys on the bench strung out on either drink or downs called us "faggots". On the right sprawled out on the sidewalk against the railing was an equally high woman, and she forcefully assaulted Mike's feet and calves with her hands and feet.

We told them to stop what the eff they were doing and these homeless folks, all about age thirty with signs asking for spare change and backpacks, just laughed and called us "faggots" again as we headed toward Market Street. I'm mentioning this episode to remind the defenders of the homeless who are hostile and do intimidate other people that Mike and I want to stroll through Harvey Milk Plaza, and not be called faggots or assaulted.

There is a lot of destructive behavior from some of the homeless people hanging out in or passing through HMP and the general vicinity, behavior directed at other people or at public property such as the kiosk toilet last week. As any reader of this blog knows, I also believe there is much outrageous abuse of public space in the form of who controls the public rainbow flag, and the behavior of the hostile homeless and the Merchants of Upper Castro Market must be on the agenda about how to improve this plaza.

My successful small campaign to rid this public space of the health hazard of the disease-riddled pigeon poop, and prevent birds from leaving their excrement, continues with my latest complaint filed last week with the Department of Public Health.

I believe the condo owners at 2425 Market Street, whose entrance is smack dab in the middle of plaza, have for years been in violation of public health law in that they have allowed pigeons to roost on their cement facade that abuts the back of the Diesel store, and the droppings landing on the public sidewalk. That the nub of my DPH complaint.

A DPH employee informed me last week that they have inspected the location and notices for correction have gone out to the condo owners and the management at Diesel, and that correction in DPH-speak mean clean up the encrusted pigeon poop within the next two weeks.

(Pigeons creating a health menace on the hand railing of HMP. Five feet above the railing is the cement facade of the condos, where more birds roost and poop.)

It amazes me we have all permitted the intolerable health risks of having so much damn bird feces, full of potential harm to people with AIDS, befouling the plaza's public spaces, the news rack tops, the highly visible rainbow banner on a utility pole, the railing near where the condo complex meets the Diesel shop and the complex's facade.

And with two complaints, simple steps to reclaim Harvey Milk Plaza back from the birds and their stinky, disgusting poop have been taken by city agencies and Castro Inc to make the plaza more hospitable for more people.

To make this historic public space as fabulous and as welcoming as it needs to be for a diverse number of populations, we must tell destructive homeless folks to stop trashing toilets and assaults when they occur, place the rainbow flag under the control of genuine community-and-city based group of stakeholders and ensure Tippi Hedren can visit Harvey Milk Plaza and not get shat upon.

Putting BART Pigeon Poop on SFMTA Agenda & SFGOVTV

There were two meetings at City Hall yesterday that deserved my attention.

The first was the SFMTA board of directors meeting. I addressed the pigeon poop problem at BART's 16th Street station in the Mission and pushed for regular washings of Muni's bus shelters.

After using public comment time at the SFMTA, I checked out the Board of Supervisors meeting. Didn't stay for public comment but said hello to several friends in the audience.

This video contains some of my advocacy on Tuesday, to get all responsible public agencies that govern some part of BART's Mission stations to address the unsanitary conditions at these plazas.

 

Muni Applying Anti-Bird Gel
at Milk Plaza, Thurs at 9:30 AM

I've been informed by the Castro Benefit District's executive director Andrea Aiello that she's been in touch with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency about the pooping pigeon problems at Harvey Milk Plaza.

She told me about a bird-repellent gel that is effective at keeping birds away from lamp posts and cable wires, such as the ones at the public plaza at Castro and Market Streets. It's supposed to be as good as wire bird spikes and may do the trick to prevent the pigeons from landing on utility poles, and befouling the plaza named for icon Harvey Milk.

On Thursday, starting at 9:30 AM, a crew from Muni will be at Milk Plaza applying a thick coat of the bird-repellent goop on all the pigeons' landing spot. Should be an excellent opportunity to snap a few photos and witness a giant step forward in removing the healthy hazard of the poop.

As a person with AIDS who wants to see Milk Plaza be as fabulous as possible, which includes community control of the rainbow flag, I want to thank Aiello for spearheading the effort to solve the problem of pigeon's pooping at the plaza.

Maybe the Muni crew in their lift can also remove the disgusting rainbow flag banner, smeared with bird excrement, under lamp. C'mon, this is the plaza named for our hero Harvey and the gayteway to the LGBT Castro. Can our civic leaders finally make the plaza something Harvey and the rest can be proud of?