LETTERS

A BETTER JAPANTOWN

Re: "Saving Japantown," 3/1/06: I own a unit at the condominium building that sits at the previous site of the Japantown Bowl. I am a San Francisco native and have lived here for most of my life. I even bowled at Japantown Bowl as a child when I went to public school in San Francisco. After college I returned to the city where I attended graduate school. I now work in San Francisco and live with my wife in the new "market rate" condo building. My wife is a doctor who was brought up in the Bay Area and serves the local community in her practice. We felt lucky to find a home in the building which your article derides. In fact, most of the owners in that building are either young, hardworking professionals from the Bay Area who have decided to live in SF, or elderly retired individuals, many of whom are of Japanese heritage.

I think the backlash of the mom-and-pop cafés in the area against Starbucks was undeserved and ultimately detrimental to the neighborhood. The area's cafés would not directly compete with Starbucks. I have tried on numerous occasions to buy coffee in the morning at Japantown. There isn't a single cafe that sells espresso drinks or fresh coffee. I'm not a Starbucks lover at all, but I wouldn't mind having a convenient place to buy a cup of coffee or espresso in the morning in Japantown. Furthermore, the closest Starbucks above Geary is five blocks away (on Fillmore), not two. We need to encourage the operation of a street-level cafe in the area for those who need a break during the day. It doesn't have to be Starbucks, but I don't see many people lining up to do it.

Also, our building is full of diversity. We have every conceivable ethnicity, age, and background. Our building houses numerous elderly people, who get to live in a clean and safe building. The rest of us are professionals or local small business owners who looked to buy all around the city and couldn't afford to buy flats, so we decided to buy a condominium. It is just this kind of housing that will save and sustain this neighborhood, not kill it. We are the locals that patronize the Japantown shops, grocery stores, and restaurants every day.

But demagoguery will not save Japantown. Japantown has needed a resurgence for decades, and none of the efforts so far have been successful. If this potential sale is handled with foresight and respect for the Japanese culture, it might actually be the kick-start that Japantown has desperately needed.

Arman Javid

San Francisco

SF WEEKLY GETS TOMATOED

I was happy to read your coverage "SF Weekly Loses Warfield Signage," [2/22/06]. I live in Mid-Market and chucked a few tomatoes at the logo the day it went up. Can I get arrested for that? Recently I viewed photos of the Warfield as it was in the 1930s — a grand, beautiful theater from the exterior. Today we have corporations naming and plastering all over ("Hello, AT&T Park, can I help you?"), and let me just say, that has no style.

Brad K. Alder

San Francisco

SHOCKING!

Is the Guardian so "hard up" (pardon the pun) for "shock phallue" ... that it runs pictures of naked guys with erections ... to pander to your audience ("Berlin and Beyond," 2/15/06)?

What limits do you apply in the interests of "good taste"? Where is the line that you won't cross?

Why not run a review of that movie that features endless "blow jobs" with a couple of nice shots from the film?

John Barry

San Francisco

SFPUC ON PUBLIC POWER

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), San Francisco's municipal energy utility, reliably provides nearly 20 percent of the city's total electric load through clean Hetch Hetchy hydropower and municipal solar projects.

We strongly support Sup. Ross Mirkarimi's legislation that promotes municipal power for most new redevelopment projects in the city. Your March 1 editorial, "A New Public Power Move," however, missed the opportunity to note the multiple fronts on which the SFPUC is already moving aggressively to implement or seriously explore municipal power alternatives.

Under the direction of general manager Susan Leal, the SFPUC is currently undertaking feasibility studies to determine the most cost-effective paths to providing public power at Treasure Island and the Hunters Point Shipyard. A draft of the Treasure Island feasibility study should be complete next month.

The SFPUC is also working closely with City Attorney Dennis Herrera to protect ratepayer interests against an unprecedented attempt by Pacfic Gas and Electric Co. to unilaterally change the terms of a long-term contract to deliver Hetch Hetchy hydropower into the city. The SFPUC is now even studying the feasibility and costs of building our own electric transmission lines from Newark to San Francisco to further municipal energy independence from PG&E.

Finally, the SFPUC has tripled investment in municipal solar energy projects in the last two years to greatly expand our clean energy portfolio. We are also working closely with the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor's Office, and community stakeholders to implement and promote a responsible community-choice aggregation plan that can bring local control, cleaner energy, and lower, more stable electric rates for residents and businesses.

Laura Spanjian

SFPUC The Guardian welcomes letters commenting on our coverage or other topics of local interest. Letters should be brief (we reserve the right to edit them for length) and signed. Please include a daytime telephone number for verification. Corrections and clarifications: The Guardian tries to report news fairly and accurately. You are invited to complain to us when you think we have fallen short of that objective. Complaints should be directed to Pamela Pritchard, the assistant to the publisher. We'd prefer them in writing, but Pritchard can also be reached by phone at (415) 255-3100. If we have published a misstatement, we will endeavor to correct it quickly and in an appropriate place in the newspaper. If you remain dissatisfied, we invite you to contact the Minnesota News Council, an impartial organization that hears and considers complaints against news media. It can be reached at 12 South Sixth St., Suite 1122, Minneapolis, MN 55402; (612) 341-9357; fax (612) 341-9358.