A Digital Journal - San Francisco Public Works
In the Works
October 2024
ON A ROLL: With buckets of paint in colors spanning the rainbow, a spirited team of volunteers, some 70 strong, partnered with Public Works and the nonprofit Tenderloin Community Benefit District to remove tags from buildings and street fixtures in the first-ever Tenderloin Graffiti Wipeout – a one-day event that helped beautify the neighborhood, spark civic pride and showcase the good that can be achieved when people work together.
FEATURE STORIES
Graffiti Wipeout!
Scores of volunteers, armed with paint, rollers, brushes and a spirited determination, went to battle this month against the pervasive graffiti tags marring the Tenderloin. The war is not over, but building by building, lamppost by lamppost, they made positive advances.
Electricians Get a Charge Out of Lightning Rod Project
Strapped into harnesses and attached to safety lines, Public Works electricians installed new lightning rods on the sloped metal roof of the City’s 911 Call Center.
Stepping Up!
A mundane, utilitarian public staircase connecting a quiet cul-de-sac with a busy street in the Glen Park neighborhood metamorphosed into a community treasure packed with beauty and meaning.
Safe and Smooth Makeover for Busy Road in Heart of Civic Center
Public Works crews kicked paving efforts into high gear this month, revamping City Hall’s front porch by putting down a fresh layer of smooth asphalt on Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place and making the roadway safer for people who walk and bike.
#LoveOurCity
An energetic contingent of volunteers spent a recent Saturday morning with Public Works crews planting trees, removing graffiti and sprucing up landscaped areas to beautify the Sunset District.
A curbside puddle captures a volunteer removing graffiti from a Tenderloin building.
Graffiti Wipeout!
In a small alley at the edge of the Tenderloin, paint buckets, reflective vests and rollers sat beneath string lights and the bright October sun. Nearby, scores of volunteers began to arrive, huddling up for group photos and a pep talk ahead of the first-ever Tenderloin Graffiti Wipeout event.
Then, armed with brushes and filled with energy and resolve, they got to work, eradicating unwanted tags that blight buildings, light poles and garbage cans. The Oct. 4 workday, hosted by Public Works and the nonprofit Tenderloin Community Benefit District, exceeded expectations, with nearly double the anticipated volunteer workforce showing up and the effort yielding immediate results as one tag after another got wiped out.
“This event shows the good work that can get done when people join together to improve our neighborhoods,” said Public Works Deputy Director for Operations DiJaida Durden.
DiJaida Durden, who oversees the Public Works Operations Division, surveys the scene as volunteers gather for the workday.
Public Works provided paint, brushes, rollers, scrapers and other tools to remove graffiti, as well as safety vests and other gear for the volunteers. We also had paint-matching machines on hand to closely match the color of the buildings that had been tagged.
The Tenderloin Community Benefit District identified which blocks to target – Larkin, Hyde, Turk and O’Farrell streets – and did an outstanding job getting out the volunteer force, signing up 40 folks in advance only to see some 70 show up. Pro cleaning crews from both the community benefit district and Public Works also put their expertise to work removing tags.
Say, “No Graffiti!” This squad of volunteers from the Tenderloin takes a quick break before abating tags.
Mayor London Breed, donning a neon green Public Works safety vest and wielding a roller, also pitched in, using blue paint to paint out tags on light standards and green paint for utility boxes.
“I have to say that our teams did an amazing job,” said Kate Robinson, executive director of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. “Our graffiti wipeout was a huge success.”
Seeing red! A volunteer paints out graffiti on a Tenderloin wall.
But when it comes to graffiti, success is, unfortunately, fleeting. Tags continue to be a scourge. In the last fiscal year that ended June 30, we received 40,605 graffiti-related service complaints. The year before that number stood at 53,228.
The drop likely can be attributed, in part, to a pilot program we launched two years ago with the support of Breed and the Board of Supervisors to provide courtesy graffiti abatement on private property in neighborhood commercial corridors, if the property owners choose to opt in. More than 1,700 people have signed up and nearly 6,200 abatement operations have been conducted since the start of the program.
Eva Chang, from the Public Works Community Engagement Team, works alongside a volunteer to paint out graffiti.
Limited funding for the pilot, however, means the program cannot yet cover private properties everywhere. If a property is not in the designated commercial zones, or owners don’t opt in, they’re responsible for removing reported graffiti tags within 30 days or face fines.
The Tenderloin Graffiti Wipeout provided welcome relief to property owners and businesses outside the opt-in zones who had been hit with unwanted tags, with volunteers stepping up to remove them with the support of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District and Public Works.
With rollers and buckets of gray paint to match the exterior color of the building, a determined squad of graffiti busters vanquishes unsightly tags.
We hope to conduct more of these graffiti wipeout events in the Tenderloin and, in partnership with other organizations, in other neighborhoods.
Public Works, which is responsible for removing graffiti on public property in the right of way, is on the job every day, removing tags from parking meters, light poles, retaining walls and traffic signs.
And while City crews, nonprofit partners and volunteers put in a lot of work to remove tags, there also are ongoing efforts by law enforcement to go after the culprits.
More than 70 people – Tenderloin residents, workers, Public Works and community organizations – join together to remove hundreds of tags during the one-day blitz.
On Oct. 17, the San Francisco Police Department announced the arrests this month of three suspects, ages 34, 37 and 49, described by authorities as prolific graffiti vandals who tagged businesses, homes and public property across San Francisco.
The battle against graffiti vandalism must be waged on multiple fronts to keep our neighborhoods looking good.
With the success of the Tenderloin graffiti wipeout, Public Works plans to expand the initiative to other neighborhoods.
PUBLIC WORKS
BY THE NUM83R5
2024 -YEAR TO DATE
9,993
POTHOLES
FILLED
5,471
TREES
PRUNED
451
CURB RAMPS
CONSTRUCTED
529
NUMBER OF BLOCKS RESURFACED
21,117
TONS OF DEBRIS COLLECTED
Public Works electrician Mike Campbell looks out over the roof of the 911 Call Center where he installed lightning rods.
Electricians Get a Charge Out of Lightning Rod Project
Work left its mark on Public Works electrician Mike Campbell the last few weeks.
Strapped into a harness and attached to a safety line, Campbell helped install new lightning rods on the sloped metal roof of the City’s 911 Call Center at Turk and Laguna streets – and, with much of the Bay Area straining under a historic October heat wave, got tan doing so.
“You always hear that saying about a cat on a hot tin roof – that's us,” Campbell said with a smile, the San Francisco skyline rising behind him.
The City's 911 Call Center at Turk and Laguna streets is home to a government nerve center that never sleeps.
The 911 Call Center is an around-the-clock operation where public safety dispatchers field an average of 3,200 calls a day and serve as the initial point of contact for fire, police, emergency medical and other first responders.
The new lightning protection system Public Works electricians installed is vitally important to help shield the call center from damage during inclement weather.
The previous system had deteriorated and provided limited coverage, said Alex Knox, an electrician supervisor for Public Works. The new system offers enhanced protection and ensures compliance with modern safety standards, safeguarding the critical building against potential lightning strikes more effectively.
The newly installed network of 60 rods, also called air terminals, is linked via about 1,200 feet of wire, or conductor, that runs along the edge of the roof. Together the system acts as a protective outer shell so the lightning doesn’t electrify the building, enter any of the existing electrical systems or fry any electronics, Knox said. It also serves to protect the people inside.
Alex Knox, an electrician supervisor for Public Works, points to a newly installed lightning protection system on the roof of the 911 Call Center.
“No matter where the lightning hits, it’s all kind of connected,” said Knox, standing on the roof on a recent October morning.
If a lightning bolt were to strike the roof, the system – a mix of copper and aluminum parts – is built to direct the current all the way to the electrical grounding system in the basement. As part of the installation work on the roof, Public Works electricians also added new LED lights to help illuminate Jefferson Square Park across the street from the 911 Call Center.
To be sure, the rooftop work – completed earlier this month – was not without its challenges, a literal balancing act at times.
During the morning hours, the roof could be wet, which meant Campbell and the crew had to be extra careful. And with the sun baking the metal roof as the days wore on, workers felt the heat.
For Campbell, that meant pick your poison.
He put on knee pads to protect himself from the scalding tin surface, but that meant compromising on grip. “Either burning or sliding, take your pick,” Campbell said.
In order to walk down the roof’s slanted half, Campbell would hook into a safety mechanism that unspooled a cable attached to his harness. Much like a seat belt seizes up when it’s pulled too quickly, the feature kept crews from accidentally descending down the slope too rapidly.
Public Works electrician Mike Campbell uses a special safety harness to walk down the 911 Call Center's slanted roof.
“It was scary going down there, even with a harness,” Campbell said.
The installation work – some 40 feet above ground – was a new experience for Public Works’ electricians.
“This is our first, my first one ever,” Campbell said. “We typically don’t do lightning systems, especially in the Bay Area.”
The facility’s layout, too, offered some tricky wrinkles.
At the center of the roof, a network of beams runs across a section carved out to house large fans that supply the facility’s server room with cooling air. A metal mesh covering spans the beams, which means Campbell and the crews had to use wooden planks to carefully maneuver across the beam structure during the installation.
On the ground, electricians used a rented, self-stabilizing, track-mounted boom lift to reach the edge of the roof from uneven terrain along the side of the building. To deal with the sloped, soft ground near parts of the facility, the machine used four automatic, self-leveling outriggers that kept it stable.
Public Works electricians used a self-stabilizing, track-mounted boom lift to reach the edge of the roof during the installation work.
Even working from the street side presented some challenges. Crews had to be mindful of people walking on the sidewalk, for instance.
“The most challenging part was keeping the public safe on the sidewalk and getting on that lift,” said Public Works electrician Andre Canales. “You got to be cautious because it pivots. You don’t want to hit like a light pole. You don’t want to hit a street sign. You definitely don’t want to hit a person.”
Fortunately, the installation work went off without a hitch, helping harden the indispensable facility, which underwent a Public Works-led renovation of its second floor last year.
Still, despite an impressive amount of cabling and rods that were installed to ensure the best protection possible, Mother Nature can be capricious.
“Lightning’s unpredictable,” Knox said, “so you try to do your best to kind of outsmart it, I guess.”
Public Works electricians installed a network of 60 rods that are linked via about 1,200 feet of wire.
Glen Park residents and visitors check out the newly tiled steps.
Stepping Up!
Step by step, a mundane, utilitarian public staircase connecting a quiet cul-de-sac with a busy street in the Glen Park neighborhood metamorphosed into a community treasure packed with beauty and meaning.
The Burnside Steps project is the latest mosaic-tiled stairway in San Francisco, showcasing not only the rich history of Glen Park but also the spirit of community pride and determination. It was brought to life by artists Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher whose laudable work on other tiled staircases in San Francisco is well known.
“Barcelona may have Gaudi, but we have Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher, San Francisco’s brilliant tile artists. At Burnside’s cul-de-sac, they have brightened a once forlorn area into a gobsmackingly gorgeous one,” said Renee Berger, the Glen Park resident who spearheaded the Burnside Steps project, from conception to construction, with a lot of work in between.
Tenacious and strategic, Renee Berger championed the neighborhood beautification project from start to finish.
Public Works owns the staircase that runs between Burnside Avenue and Bosworth Street and worked closely with the community to ensure the proposed project would meet safety and accessibility codes.
The department’s Cement Shop crews assisted in the site prep and helped with the finishing touches. Our engineering, disability access coordination and Director’s Office teams also were involved in the project delivery. But it was Berger’s doggedness and community organizing skills that made Burnside Steps a reality.
“While there were some challenges, we’re a department that wants to say yes to community-driven neighborhood improvements,” said Public Works Director Carla Short. “The partnerships show the beauty and the power that can result. All you have to do is look at these incredible Burnside Steps.”
The newly tiled steps, officially unveiled at a joy-filled celebration on Oct. 27, rise above a colorful mural completed two years ago that tells the story of Glen Park’s natural bounty of flora and fauna.
The mosaic stairs rise above and complement the 2-year-old mural to more fully tell the story of Glen Park.
The 69 mosaic-tiled steps continue the narrative, focusing on Islais Creek, a historic waterway that now largely runs underground through the Glen Park neighborhood but flows aboveground in Glen Canyon Park.
The mosaic-tiled stream runs along the stairway and is depicted in gradient blue hues. Fish, birds and wildflowers are featured throughout. The middle of the staircase bursts with yellows, oranges and reds, representing the sun reflecting in the stream.
The colors and design of the mosaic tiles evoke the neighborhood’s historic Islais Creek and the sun reflecting on it.
The sidewall of the stairway features iconic images from Glen Park’s history, including portraits of three Glen Park women, known as the “Gum Tree Girls,” who successfully led the 1960s revolt to stop plans to run a freeway through the heart of the neighborhood.
The decorative staircase also contains a series of so-called donor legacy tiles. Sponsors paid between $350 and $500 for these specially designed tiles with room for a short inscription. Proceeds from these tiles helped fund the project. The City’s Community Challenge Grants Program also kicked in $135,000. Other key partners in the community-driven project included Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and his staff, the San Francisco Parks Alliance and the Glen Park Association.
Donor legacy tiles embedded throughout the steps helped fund the project.
Public Works crews smooth fresh asphalt in front of City Hall as part of a quick-build safety project.
Safe and Smooth Makeover for Busy Road in Heart of Civic Center
With a sweltering heat wave bearing down on them and the Blue Angels roaring in the clear sky above, Public Works crews kicked paving efforts into high gear this month, revamping City Hall’s front porch by putting down a fresh layer of smooth asphalt on Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, between McAllister and Grove streets.
The street resurfacing work – speedily completed by Public Works’ in-house crews in just over a week’s time – is part of a larger effort in partnership with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to provide a safer, more efficient streetscape in front of City Hall where bicyclists, commuter traffic and drivers dropping off or picking up passengers frequently converge.
While the old street design saw many drivers use the bike lane as a de facto loading zone – blocking people from biking – the makeover provides more designated space for pick up and drop off and a protected bike lane.
First, cement masons with Public Works’ Bureau of Urban Forestry provided localized gutter upgrades and repairs to the street's concrete base. Then, the department's Bureau of Building and Street Repair worked on the paving restoration, including grinding out the old asphalt layer.
With the help of heavy machinery, Public Works crews spearheaded a makeover in front of City Hall to provide a safer streetscape.
“All this work was done in-house by our Operations teams,” said Assistant Engineer Nilofar Dhapa, who helped oversee the project for Public Works.
Because of how visible and frequently used the block-long stretch of road is – from serving as a backdrop for wedding photos to providing access for City leaders to conduct business inside the local government hub – Public Works crews had to be especially expeditious.
“We were on a time crunch,” said Dhapa, adding that the aim was to “get in and get out as fast as we can.”
Jacob Nicol, the acting assistant superintendent of the Bureau of Building and Street Repair, said the job was challenging, but his crews were up to the task through careful planning and precise execution, allowing one lane to be kept open in each direction at all times.
“The traffic control was challenging on this project,” Nicol said. “We had to balance efficiency with safety and traffic flow.”
Braving a heat wave, Public Works crews put down a layer of asphalt on Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, between McAllister and Grove streets.
In the end, the crews finished their work even ahead of the accelerated two-week schedule.
As is often the case when paving busy City streets, careful coordination among different agencies was paramount.
“We try to aim for coordinated joint opportunities,” said Project Manager Edmund Lee, who helped supervise the effort alongside Dhapa. “This was one of those potential opportunities that we saw and thankfully we were able to get all the ducks lined up in a short period of time.”
With Public Works’ part of the project done, the SFMTA jumped in to put the final touches on the project, primarily to restripe the fresh pavement.
The work follows a similar quick-delivery paving project we recently completed on Fillmore Street in the Marina, and adds to Public Works’ overall Street Resurfacing Program, which aims to pave 500 or more blocks a year. Thanks to this effort, San Francisco’s overall roadway condition was rated as “good” and scored the best among large Bay Area cities in an annual assessment tracked by the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
“In these special projects, it’s always nice to be able to work with different agencies where everybody has the same goal,” Lee said. “We’re working hard to all make it happen.”
Colette McGahey and Alexandra Kwan remove stickers from a utility pole along Taraval Street.
#LoveOurCity
Jamie Rayman and her son, Soham Parikh-Rayman, eager to get more involved in their community, attended their first Neighborhood Beautification Day earlier this month in the Sunset District.
The mom-and-son duo jumped right in, using rakes and shovels to spread mulch and spruce up landscaping on the campus of the Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School, where we kicked off the Oct. 19 workday – a monthly greening and cleaning volunteer event hosted by Public Works that rotates through different neighborhoods across the City.
Jamie Rayman and her son Soham Parikh-Rayman spread mulch at Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School.
Allen Cai, who spent the morning taming ice plants along the Great Highway promenade, says his work comes from the heart: “I love San Francisco.”
“We hope to do more volunteer work in the City,” Rayman said, as she scooped woodchips from a wheelbarrow to place around the base of a tree.
Allen Cai, another volunteer who has lived in the Sunset for 35 years, got to work about a mile west. There, he helped cut back the fast-growing ice plants spilling into the Great Highway promenade.
“I like to volunteer to get out in the sun with the people in my neighborhood,” Cai said. “I love San Francisco.”
He, Rayman and Parikh-Rayman were part of a volunteer force of 80 that spent its Saturday morning planting trees, removing graffiti, sprucing up landscaped areas and working alongside Public Works employees to beautify the community.
Next month, on Saturday, Nov. 9, the Neighborhood Beautification Day team will be in the Mission, Portola, Bernal Heights and other District 9 neighborhoods. Kickoff is at 9 a.m., at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic Middle School, 300 Bacon St.
This is a family-friendly event and we welcome first-time volunteers as well as folks who have joined us before. We hope to see you there.
Check out these ghoulish pumpkins!
For our annual in-house Halloween pumpkin carving competition, a host of talented Public Works design and construction management teams entered their creative creations. The winner this year: The Bureau of Architecture's Fire, Police, Library, Justice Section with its self-driving pumpkin. Congratulations to all participants for their spooky submissions!
