Two San Francisco residents filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the construction company and contractors involved in a gas line rupture that caused a three-alarm fire on Geary Boulevard earlier this month.

According to the lawsuit, plaintiffs Carina Kouyoumji and Nora Wixom are suing Mastec Services Company Inc.; Mastec Renewables Construction Company Inc.; Kilford Engineering Inc.; and Advanced Fiber Works Inc. Verizon Communications Inc. was also named as a defendant.

Both plaintiffs live in one of the five buildings that were severely damaged in the fire on February 6th. The fire ignited after workers installing fiber optic lines near Geary Boulevard and Parker Avenue encountered a PG&E gas line.

The lawsuit alleges the explosion was a direct result of defendants' “reckless and willful violation of California law to use an excavator to dig a trench near underground facilities.”

The California government code requires anyone excavating near an underground installation, such as a gas line, to use hand tools such as a shovel.

The defendants are also accused of negligence, harassment and trespassing.

The lawsuit further alleges that the fire destroyed the property of the two plaintiffs, leaving them homeless. In addition, the two suffered from mental anguish and were therefore forced to take time off from work.

“Ultimately, there are contractors who work near high-pressure gas pipelines in a high-density area like San Francisco. One would think that all precautions would be taken in accordance with state law, including not using heavy machinery near gas pipelines,” said Ara Jabagchourian, lawyer for the plaintiffs. “We’re lucky no one was hurt here.”

Immediately after the gas line burst, flames shot into the air for over two hours before emergency crews stopped the flow of gas.

Residents in the neighborhood were evacuated. According to police and fire departments, two buildings were left with significant structural damage and three others with significant water damage.

According to PG&E, before excavation began, contractors had called 811 to check for utility lines beneath the area. PG&E then sent crews to the area to do markings.

Days after the incident, the National Transportation Safety Board announced that it had begun an investigation into the cause with assistance from the FBI. The investigation should include interviews with the contractors and subcontractors involved.

Florida-based Mastec and New York-based Verizon were not immediately available for comment. Kilford Engineering could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, Jabagchourian said.

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Who is affected by “sanitation poverty” in the United States? Mostly city dwellers, according to a study – Circle of Blue

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South San Francisco, CA June 13, 2016 Submitted by the City of South San Francisco

Happy 100th birthday, Ray!
Photo: City of SSF

What is the secret to a long, happy life? Just ask Raymond Bagley of South San Francisco. Ray, as he is known to family and friends, celebrated his 100th birthday on Sunday, June 6th. It's not every day that you meet someone who has seen how life has changed in the last century. The town had a chance to chat with Ray, his son Bill and his neighbor Pam. These are his reflections on South San Francisco.

Ray was born in Minnesota in 1916 and grew up there. He worked with his parents and siblings on the family farm. Eventually, the warm weather and job prospects lured Ray to Southern California, where he joined the U.S. Navy. After his honorable discharge from the Navy in 1940, Ray made his way to San Francisco to begin developing the South San Francisco neighborhood we now know as Brentwood.

Ray was a master plumber, a trade he learned during his time in the Navy. He worked in almost every home, installing plumbing systems, pouring the foundations and even helping homeowners move into their new construction in Brentwood.

Ray used his plumbing skills for New Mission Plumbing and Heating on Hillside Boulevard and eventually worked for Atlas Heating and Ventilation on Cabot Road. “I’ve always been a good worker,” Ray says. After years of commuting from San Francisco to South San Francisco for work, a house in the neighborhood that he helped build caught his attention. The costs? A cool $10,000. He and his wife bought the house on Wildwood Drive in 1950 and raised their family there. Ray and his son Bill live there today.

What brought you to South San Francisco?
Park! Even back then, there were hardly any parking spaces in San Francisco. I was overjoyed to have my own garage where I could park my car.

What is one of your favorite memories of South San Francisco?
Growing up on a farm, I always enjoyed actively growing fruits and vegetables in my backyard and so on. But I cut back on some things after I received a letter from the water department a few years ago.

One thing I will always remember is how neighborly and friendly everyone here is. Over the years, when you started a project or needed help, you would look around and see about five people standing right there helping.

What is a piece of history that you think most people in South San Francisco don't know about?

Everyone here has been friendly over the years. The people here are different than in other cities. I have a good neighbor across the street in Pam Gradney.

What do you think is South San Francisco’s “best kept secret”?
We used to have to take our things to the landfill ourselves; there was no garbage collection. I would take so much stuff with me! These days there are limits to what you can and can't take.

What’s your favorite thing to do in South San Francisco?
“My wife and I would walk to Tanforan and watch the horse races, we often enjoyed doing that.”

These days, Ray spends most of his time in his favorite spot in the house, looking out his living room window, watching a football game on TV, or watching Karyl Matsumoto and Mark Addiego on the PEG channel. On Saturday evening there is a family dinner at the Bagley house, with his son Bill preparing dinner. Spaghetti is often the meal of choice as it is Ray's favorite food. His grandson Robert, his favorite neighbor Pam, and other friends enjoy gathering for family dinners and barbecues and barbecues on warm days and holidays to spend time with Ray. And sometimes Bill puts on the organ and plays Ray's favorite songs.

What would you like other people to know about South San Francisco?

Stay here! Stay in South San Francisco!

“He is the epitome of his generation. Clear speaking, hard work and honesty are the foundations of his character. I’m proud to call him my neighbor,” Pam Gradney said of her neighbor Raymond “Ray” Bagley.
Thank you for helping to build and shape South San Francisco, Ray Bagley. We wish you a happy 100th birthday!

###

To learn more about our neighbor Ray Bagley, CLICK HERE

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SAN FRANCISCO — Residents fed up with crime, homelessness, drug use and sales, and mental health issues in San Francisco’s District 2, which includes the Marina and Cow Hollow, aired their concerns in a public safety Q&A town hall at Marina Middle School Tuesday .

Supervisor Catherine Stefani, Police Chief Bill Scott, Northern Station Captain Derrick Jackson and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins took questions from the audience. City representatives from Healthy Streets SF, Homeless and Supportive Housing, and the Department of Public Health were also among the panelists.

Marina resident Sam Chehrazi shared a video with KPIX 5 of an attempted break-in in broad daylight at his home in May.

Home surveillance video showed a man scraping his front door with a tool, before kicking the door multiple times as he yelled threats and obscenities. Chehrazi was on the other side of that door on the phone with 911. He barricaded the door with his body.

It’s the kind of daily crime that brought concerned residents to the meeting, which at times got heated.

Long-time residents told the panelists crime has never been worse in their neighborhood.

“I too don’t feel safe and my wife when she’s walking around, I also feel concerned,” said Chehrazi. “And we all kind of walk around with our finger on our pepper spray around here.”

Chehrazi was victimized just a month after he moved to San Francisco from the Peninsula. He said former district attorney Chesa Boudin committed to charging the case as vandalism, stopping short of attempted burglary.

Following the incident, Chehrazi started a neighborhood petition called Saving San Francisco, asking city officials – including the mayor, district attorney and SFPD – for stricter enforcement of laws. He said he’s gathered 100 signatures.

“The fact that we’re witnessing criminal activity on a daily basis in broad daylight and we’re calling the police, we’re writing to our supervisor, we’ve written to the district attorney, we’ve written to the police caption , and we’ve also written to the mayor and nobody’s responding, it really makes it feel more unsettled,” he said.

The police department said it now has a strong working partnership with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. SFPD encouraged residents to keep reporting concerns so the department can collect data and prioritize calls for service.

Scott acknowledged the department’s staffing crisis, saying it is at least 500 officers short. Jenkins promised accountability and pushed for a collective effort.

“As California residents, I think we have to look at the laws and see do we need to make changes,” she said. “Right now, misdemeanor laws don’t really hold any serious consequences at this point, and it’s because of things that have happened over the course of years to the laws.”

Jenkins told the audience she is making progress when it comes to cracking down open-air drug markets.

She said 400 narcotics cases have been submitted to her office and she filed 379 cases, more than double the amount filed by the office during the same time period last year.

Of those 379 cases, Jenkins filed motions to detain 16 drug dealers with the most egregious cases.

As for Chehrazi, his greatest concern is how the community is dealing with known individuals in the Marina, who don’t accept city services.

“So where does that put us having to walk down the street, and go to the grocery store, or go to the bank, or run errands and being integrated with people that need help,” he said. “They need stricter intervention, something more than just ‘do you need help?’ Those people say ‘no,’ and then the city walking away.”

Betty Yu

Betty Yu joined KPIX 5 in November 2013 as a general assignment reporter. She spent two years at WTVJ, the NBC-owned station in Miami, as a reporter before moving to San Francisco.

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San Francisco residents, property owners and businesses that were badly impacted from January’s series of winter storms may be eligible for financial relief, Mayor London Breed announced on Tuesday.

Since the beginning of the year, San Francisco has been hit by a series of storms that prompted flooding, mudslides and power outages.

“The severe weather we just experienced has impacted many of our small businesses and residents in heavily affected areas and these initial efforts will help as part of our City’s recovery,” said Breed. “While these flood relief programs will provide support in the storms’ aftermath, we are hard at work making improvements to our infrastructure as part of a $632 million investment to help reduce the risk of flooding in the future.”

Small Business Grants

Via the city’s Flood Disaster Relief Grant program, small businesses in the city’s “flood zone” — the regions most likely to experience severe flooding in a 100-year storm — are eligible for up to $5,000 in awards, and small businesses outside of the zone can receive up to $2,000.

The San Francisco Office of Small Business will lead the effort, prioritizing businesses in the flood zone that face the most severe damage.

Grants are available for registered San Francisco businesses with a physical location that have experienced physical damage from winter storms, retroactive up to Dec. 27, 2022. Damages due to wind or power outages are not eligible.

Permitted and licensed home-based businesses, like daycares, are also eligible.

Businesses must have 100 or fewer employees and less than $5 million in gross revenue.

“We know that the recent storms have added additional difficulties to small businesses that have already been trying to recover from pandemic impacts,” said Katy Tang, executive director of the Office of Small Business. “While we recognize that this grant program will not solve all challenges, the City is offering support along with other resources and services currently available to businesses.”

A detailed map of areas determined the most at risk of flooding can be found at https://sfplanninggis.org/floodmap/.

Applications are open on Friday and close on Feb. 10. More information on the application process can be found at https://sf.gov/get-help-if-your-business-was-damaged-flooding.

The San Francisco Arts Commission and Grants for the Arts also plans to create a collaborative storm relief fund for San Francisco artists and art organizations. More details will be shared on the agency’s website once details are finalized.

Property Damage Relief

For those facing property damage, the city recommends residents and businesses to contact their insurance company to assess damages and purchase flood insurance.

Businesses and homeowners can also apply for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Floodwater Management Grant Assistance Program, which can provide over $100,000 in flood mitigation improvements on properties.

Tax Relief Opportunities

San Francisco property owners may also be eligible for property tax relief if they suffered over $10,000 in flood damage. A disaster relief form must be submitted to the Assessor-Recorder by one year of the date of loss.

“We know that these recent storms are unlike anything our city has seen in decades and have caused significant hardship for many property owners. Given the impacts of this severe weather, the Office of the Assessor-Recorder wants all San Franciscans to be aware they may qualify for property tax relief and that our staff is available to help walk them through the process from start to end,” said Assessor-Recorder Joaquín Torres.

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Up to $15,000 is available for low-income residents to replace home air conditioning systems.

The crisis Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Replacement Program, through Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, is available to homeowners in need of replacing their HVAC systems.

Palm Beach County residents must be eligible below 60% of the state median income of $57,703 or 150% poverty level and show they are in a crisis situation. In the United States, poverty levels range from $18,310 for one person to $46,630 for a family of eight.

Completed applications must show one or more of the following:

The HVAC system no longer cools

The HVAC unit is 10 years or older

High energy bills proof.

Life-threatening environment via a doctor’s statement

For more information and to apply, visit For help with the application, call the Palm Beach County Community Services Department Programs Call Center at 833-CSD-WILL.

Scripps Only Content 2022

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The suit argues the city is “punishing residents who have nowhere to go” in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The argument draws on the Ninth Circuit’s 2019 decision in the Martin v. Boise case, which found that people who are homeless can’t be penalized for sleeping on public property, if there is no alternative offered.

The suit also alleges violations of the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and the 14th Amendment’s due process requirement.

“They would come out at, like, four in the morning, five in the morning. Usually when you’re in the dead of sleep and it’s very, very cold,” said Toro Castaño, 51, one of the plaintiffs in the suit. He was living on the streets of the Castro for two years, until the fall of 2021. “It was very traumatic because it’s very cold outside and a lot of things they’re taking are warm clothes, warm jackets, blankets, things that you need just to survive.”

Castaño had his belongings taken from him by the city four times during the pandemic, according to the complaint, and settled a claim against the city for $9,000 after his property was destroyed. He now lives in a co-op in the city.

While Castaño was unhoused, he said he was asked to move nearly every day. “It makes you very sleep-deprived, makes it difficult to make decisions, to make appointments, to try to look for work or try to look for jobs — basically to function,” he said.

Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, said the goal of the lawsuit is to stop sweeps, which she said only perpetuate homelessness. “When the city takes folks’ IDs, their cellphones, the things that they need in order to really navigate a very complicated route off the streets, that ends up extending their homelessness,” she said, explaining that people can lose contact with social service providers and miss out on housing opportunities. “What we hear from folks again and again is they feel like they’re starting from scratch.”

She argues the city’s enforcement resources would be better spent on housing and treatment programs. “It’s in everyone’s interest to really, truly invest in the permanent solutions we need to solve homelessness,” she said.

The suit names the city and county of San Francisco; Major London Breed; Director of the Healthy Streets Operation Center Sam Dodge; and several city departments as defendants.

Jen Kwart, director of communications for the city attorney’s office, said in a statement, “The City is acutely focused on expanding our temporary shelter and permanent housing options to alleviate our homelessness crisis. Once we are served with the lawsuit, we will review the complain and respond in court.”

The city’s latest point-in-time count found a total of about 7,700 people living on the streets or in shelters, a 3.5% decrease since 2019. But, Latinx homelessness spiked 55% and Black people continue to be overrepresented among the unhoused, at 38% of the total homeless population compared to 6% of the general population.

Based on the new count, officials now estimate that as many as 20,000 people experience homelessness in a full year.

From 2015 to 2022, the city built just 2,067 units of very-low-income housing, just a third of its goal, while far exceeding its goal for market rate housing, according to the city’s 2020 housing inventory.

Emily Cohen, deputy director of communications for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, points out that since 2017, the city has nearly doubled the number of housing units dedicated to people leaving homelessness.

The lawyers for the plaintiffs have filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, asking the court to ban the city from conducting sweeps or otherwise enforcing ordinances that punish sleeping on public property while the suit proceeds.

Castaño said he hopes the suit leads to more affordable housing and better conditions for people experiencing homelessness. “I’m hoping that people on the street will be protected a little more, that the things won’t be taken that they used to survive and to stay warm,” he said. “And there’s a little more compassion.”

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Despite measures meant to protect renters during the pandemic, homelessness among Latino residents has spiked in San Francisco.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Homelessness among Latinos is up dramatically in San Francisco and elsewhere in California. That’s despite renter protections put in place during the pandemic. From member station KQED, Vanessa Rancano reports that this community is especially vulnerable to sky-high rents.

VANESSA RANCAÑO, BYLINE: Every Tuesday as the sun comes up, dozens of RV residents that call San Francisco’s Winston Drive home prepare for a weekly ritual, avoiding the street sweeper.

(SOUNDBITE OF STREET SWEEPER)

RANCAÑO: With the street cleaned, they rumble back to their designated spots.

JOSE LUIS DIAZ: (Speaking Spanish).

RANCAÑO: With the weekly move done, Jose Luis Diaz stands outside his RV waiting for his kids to finish getting ready for school. He says there’s an order to things here. It’s a community.

DIAZ: (Speaking Spanish).

RANCAÑO: He’s got the spot with the tree because he was the first one out here about a month into the pandemic. Diaz lost his job as a sous chef in March of 2020. Within a few weeks, he’d moved into the RV with his wife and kids. They’re now 17 and 12. Later, he says, other families from the apartment building where they were living in nearby Daly City came to check it out.

DIAZ: (Speaking Spanish).

RANCAÑO: Now they’re neighbors again out here. They’re among the growing ranks of Latinos living on San Francisco’s streets or in RVs, cars or city shelters. Homelessness among Latino residents in San Francisco is up 55% since the start of the pandemic, despite an overall drop in the city’s homeless population. In neighboring Alameda County, Latino homelessness rose to an astonishing 73%.

LAURA VALDEZ: So there’s just a lot of ways that our community is very vulnerable.

RANCAÑO: Laura Valdez is executive director of the Latino-focused Dolores Street Community Services. She says the kinds of service industry jobs available to many Latinos disappeared during the pandemic.

VALDEZ: So when every single person in the household is losing their job, it really created a very dire situation.

RANCAÑO: Add to it language and cultural barriers that prevented people from accessing services, a lack of shelters in the city’s primary Latino neighborhood and a lot of informal living situations.

VALDEZ: Many of our community members – they don’t have a lease, and they don’t know their rights.

RANCAÑO: When tenants don’t know their rights, don’t speak English or don’t have legal status, it gives landlords a lot of power. Valdez says that contributes to disproportionate formal and informal evictions among Latinos. Outside his RV, Jose Diaz surveys the neighborhood. “Yeah, there’s a lot of Latinos here,” he says.

DIAZ: (Speaking Spanish).

RANCAÑO: He says, “a lot of people here are immigrants. And some don’t have papers, so they can’t get unemployment.” He shrugged his shoulders and asked, “what else can people do?”

DIAZ: (Speaking Spanish).

RANCAÑO: It’s not just undocumented Latinos, though. Diaz has a visa that allows him to work legally, but he didn’t apply for assistance because he worried it could hurt his pending application for permanent residency.

DIAZ: (Speaking Spanish).

RANCAÑO: Latinos now make up 30% of homeless people in San Francisco, though they’re only 16% of the overall population, according to the city’s most recent count. In response, the city is funneling more resources to the historically Latino Mission neighborhood, says Emily Cohen, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

EMILY COHEN: We are increasing partnerships with Latinx-serving organizations to help ensure that we have culturally appropriate, culturally competent service providers.

RANCAÑO: Advocates welcome that. But to truly address the problem, they say, officials have to take on the root cause, the shortage of affordable housing and the high cost of living in San Francisco. Even before the pandemic, working with Diaz and his wife, he says after rent and bills, they’d be left with $150 at the end of the month.

DIAZ: (Speaking Spanish).

RANCAÑO: “Nobody can get by on that,” he says. Everyone who ended up out here on the street is just trying to survive.

DIAZ: (Speaking Spanish).

RANCAÑO: Diaz is now working as a truck driver. He plans to stay in the RV, save money and move away because he doesn’t see a future here.

For NPR News, I’m Vanessa Rancano in San Francisco.

Copyright © 2022 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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San Mateo, South San Francisco and San Carlos residents could soon be allowed to water landscaping only two days per week, the California Water Service announced Wednesday.

The water provider said customers in its Bayshore District, which serves roughly 200,000 people in San Mateo County, will enter “stage 2” of the agency’s tiered water conservation plan in light of worsening drought conditions.

Ken Jenkins, chief water resource sustainability officer, said the decision was made based on growing water use and dwindling snowpacks and reservoir levels as the region’s experienced consecutive dry months amid its rainy season. He said in January the district saw an 8.4% increase in water use over the same month in 2020, and February’s numbers are expected to yield similar results.

The district entered stage 1 of the six stage Water Shortage Contingency Plan in August last year. Stage 1 bans runoff from irrigation, requires shut-off nozzles on hoses when washing vehicles and bans hosing down driveways or sidewalks except for “health and safety purposes.” Stage 2 builds on that, introducing lawn watering schedules. It also requires restaurants to serve water only by request.

Lawn or other landscaping watering will be allowed on staggered days of the week depending on street addresses. Those with odd numbers may water on Tuesday and Saturday, even numbers on Wednesday and Sunday.

Stage 3 would implement water budgets, setting limits for monthly use. Jenkins said there are currently no plans for such measures but that “conditions can change quickly.”

“Based on our ongoing assessment of supply and demand we would make that decision if the situation warranted it,” he said. “As we have from the beginning of the drunk we will continue to monitor … and make any decisions in the future based on those local conditions.”

Stage 2 aims for a maximum of 20% reductions in total water use — in line with the Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call last year for the state to reduce consumption by 15%. Stage 3 would aim for a 20% to 30% reduction.

Roughly 87% of the state, including San Mateo County, is within a “severe drought” classification, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System. That’s better than October of last year when a similar portion of the state was in an “extreme drought.” Now less than 13% of the state falls within the category.

Severe drought classification entails a longer fire season, stress on trees and plants and inadequate grazing land. Two months ago, 67% of the state was within the category.

Hetch Hetchy, the reservoir that supplies much of the Bay Area with water, is also above normal capacity for this time of year, at 81% compared with a 71% average, according to the California Department of Water Resources. But despite a strong start to the rainy season, limited precipitation in recent months has caused snowpacks, relied on to feed the reservoir, to dwindle, down to 59% of average for this time of year. For the northern part of the state in particular the outlook is worse, with snowpacks at just 52% of average.

Additionally, experts have warned soils could still be parched from prior consecutive dry years, causing runoff from melting snow to be absorbed prematurely. Higher than normal temperatures could also cause increased evaporation.

The district was last in stage 2 in 2015 and 2016, though Jenkins said the tiers have since been adjusted and stage 2 at the time more closely resemble current stage 3 restrictions.

The California Public Utilities Commission will need to approve the California Water Service’s request to move to Stage 2 before the additional restrictions can be enacted. If approved, the restrictions would go into place April 15.

Enforcement includes the possibility of fines up to $100, or flow restrictors to limit water use in the case of repeated fines or “egregious” violations, Jenkins said. He said enforcement measures would rely largely on reports but that “proactive” enforcement could be carried out if reduction targets were not met.

“Our preference is to work with our customers versus penalizing them,” he said. “In most cases, customers are very receptive to making the changes that are needed once they understand why they’re needed.”

The utility will hold a public meeting April 6 to provide information on the new measures, including on conservation programs and tools available. Go to www.calwater.com/stage2 to attend the meeting or for more information.

corey@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200, ext. 105

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Golf cart handyman accused of groping, exposing himself to Mesa 55+ community

Residents of the Leisure World community in Mesa claim John Grefe exposed himself to them, hugged and groped them and made inappropriate comments.

MESA, Ariz. – A handyman who police say exposed himself to at least five people within a mesa community has been arrested.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office says it received several reports of inappropriate sexual contact and indecent exposure on April 11 at the Leisure World community, located near Power Road and Southern Avenue.

“The calls for service centered around similar incidents where the subject identified as John ‘Jack’ Grefe had exposed himself or inappropriately hugged/touched victims servicing their golf carts at their residence,” MCSO said in a news release.

Grefe, a resident of Leisure World, was known within the community to fix golf carts.

Investigators say they interviewed five known victims who all said Grefe had groped them, exposed himself, or made unwanted inappropriate sexual comments to them.

On Oct. 12, Grefe what arrested and booked into jail after a warrant was issued. Grefe is accused of eight counts of sexual abuse and two counts of indecent exposure.

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