Petrelis Files

Plaza 16 Calls Cops on Activist; Vice Reporter Barred

The complete moral and political bankruptcy of Plaza 16 was on full display at their alleged "community meeting" on June 8, at the Redstone Building, where supposedly "everyone" was needed to effect change in the Mission.

Instead of developing a written plan to stop the Maximus Partners from building a luxury condo at BART's plaza at 16th and Mission Streets, the stated goal of Plaza 16, the steering committee comprised primarily of nonprofits and paid "organizers", the group has developed a loyalty oath/exclusionary policy and put it in writing.

At the June 8 meeting, where every effort was made to halt me from document the b.s. of this group, several leaders were upset I took photos of the loyalty oath. If you check out Plaza 16's social media, the loyalty oath is omitted.

It's quite telling of the group's leadership that one Chirag Bhakta, a paid community "organizer" with the Mission SRO Collaborative, SF Police Dept accountability activist and Plaza 16 steering committee member, on June 2 at the Board of Supervisor complained about the heavy presence of the cops.

Less than one week later, Bhakta called the SFPD to have me ejected from Plaza 16's June 8 meeting. Needless to say, left before the cops showed up.

On top of that, a reporter for Vice, George McIntire, [CORRECTION: He's a freelancer, not a staff writer for Vice], was barred from attending the meeting, as was Sonja Trauss of the SF Bay Area Renters' Federation. Guess Plaza 16 leaders didn't really mean it was a "community" meeting and "everyone" was needed.

Check out my video: