Letters to the Editor

Editor:

Soon the Board of Supervisors will have the opportunity to address a safety and quality-of-life issue in this city, sidewalk parking, and do something about it. Sidewalks are this city's greatest source of open space - not only the major arteries for pedestrians but playgrounds for children.

The California Vehicle Code, Section 22500, states that parking "on any portion of the sidewalk, or with the body of the vehicle extending over any portion of the sidewalk" is illegal.

Sidewalk parking also violates the spirit of the city charter's Transit-First Policy, Section 16.102, which states "(Official) decisions regarding the use of limited public street and sidewalk space shall encourage the use of public rights-of-way by pedestrians, bicyclists and public transit, and shall strive to reduce traffic and improve public health and safety. ... Pedestrian areas shall be enhanced wherever possible to improve the safety and comfort of pedestrians and to encourage travel by foot."

However, the current $25 fine for this bad habit is a joke, especially when compared to other transit-related infractions.

The fine for blocking a driveway, for example, is at least $189; the fine for jaywalking is $77; the fine for a bicyclist violating a pedestrian right-of-way without injury is $104; and the fine for fare evasion on BART is $126.

The SF Parking and Traffic Commission has already recommended that supervisors raise the fine to $50. This is a good start at curbing sidewalk parking, but the SF Department of Parking and Traffic cannot adequately enforce the law.

However, it is not enough. Walk San Francisco, the pedestrian-advocacy organization, recommends that fines be raised immediately to $50 and to $100, the maximum permitted according to state law, over a two-year period. This will give people time to prepare for the increased fines by cleaning out their garages or finding other legal places to park their cars.

In addition, the recent 3-2 vote by members of the commission to recommend that the supervisors seek waivers for vertical sidewalk parking was an unwise move. A blind person with a white cane that taps beneath car bumpers without touching any car part will walk into cars repeatedly.

Susan Vaughan
Member, Walk San Francisco

Editor:

Well, I never realized that if one has an axe to grind, writing a letter to the editor of the Richmond Review is a tidy way to grind it and give any ridiculous charges I might make a public airing. Such is the case with Emily McKintyre's letter in the May issue that depicts Green Apple managers as a group who "scream at a quiet and destitute older man" as we toss him into the street and who "scoff" when "lecherous customers" harass our female staff members.

Worse of all is a charge that our new mural shows a biography section that doesn't even exist in the real store (alas it's true!). But she doesn't mention the worst of it ­ the mural also shows Dashiell Hammett reading "The Thin Man" (Mr. Hammett never was in the store) and a space alien perusing a cookbook entitled "To Serve Man" (there are no space aliens!).

Ms. McKintyre is welcome to come into the store and we can try to smooth over any misunderstandings. In the meantime, I think the Richmond Review should be a little more responsible about what sort of distortions it prints under the guise of "letters to the editor."

Kevin Ryan
Manager, Green Apple Books