Author: Alfredo Casuso

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org                                   

***PRESS RELEASE***  

CITY OFFICIALS DETAIL EFFORTS TO TARGET OPEN-AIR DRUG DEALING  

Prioritization of narcotics arrests and prosecutions in addition to work to expand services and treatment   

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, and Police Chief William Scott today provided an update on the City’s strategies to confront open-air drug dealing in San Francisco. In a briefing at Police Headquarters, the City’s top public safety officials provided details on strategies and data, as well as examples of partnerships to improve outcomes. Supervisor Matt Dorsey joined the briefing to detail work being done at the Board of Supervisors to support these efforts, as well as to expand access to treatment.    

At the briefing, Officials detailed new approaches they’ve undertaken in recent months to arrest and prosecute drug dealers. For example, in the last three months:  

• SFPD officers have made over 260 felony arrests for narcotics sales and seized over 28 kilograms of narcotics, including 18 kilograms of Fentanyl alone.  
• The District Attorney’s Office has increased felony narcotics charges filed by 95% over the same time period from the previous year.  

Officials also discussed efforts to intervene with those using drugs on the street to better compel them to seek treatment. Over the last year, 4,500 people have been connected to specialty services for substance use in San Francisco. To expand on this, the Department of Public Health (SFDPH) recently launched a new Overdose Prevention Plan with targeted goals that include increasing the number of people in services and on medication to treat addiction. The Board of Supervisors is also considering a wide range of solutions to expand services and treatment under Supervisor Dorsey’s SF Recovers.   

“The sale of drugs on our street is killing people and open-air drug markets are disrupting neighborhoods for our residents,” said Mayor Breed. “We need to be more aggressive with our arrests and prosecution for those dealing these drugs, while balancing that with an expansion of services and treatment for those struggling with addiction, so that people have an option to get the help they need. The flood of Fentanyl into our City is going to require all levels of government working together, including enforcement against those dealing drugs in our City.”  

Since taking office, District Attorney Jenkins has implemented new policies to hold drug dealers accountable and disrupt open-air drug markets including revoking over 30 lenient plea deals, prohibiting drug dealers arrested with more than five grams of drugs from being referred to the Community Justice Center, and adding school enhancements for drug dealers accused of selling deadly drugs near schools. Additionally, the District Attorney has sought pre-trial detention for serious drug dealers, with a focus to admonish suspected drug dealers to warn them in open court that if found to have sold a drug that results in a death, they may face murder charges. 

Between July 1 and September 25, the District Attorney’s Office was presented 214 cases with felony narcotics charges as the most serious charge. Of those cases:  

• 183 cases were filed, compared to 90 for the same time period last year, representing a 95% increase.   
• The filing rate which represents the number of cases filed over the number of cases presented for this time period is 86% compared to 69% for last year.  
• 157 individuals were arraigned this year during this time period as compared to 78 last year, representing a 101% increase.   
• The District Attorney has also filed nine motions to detain serious drug dealers and is advancing new legal theories and arguments to keep drug dealers off our streets. 

The District Attorney also announced a new policy to help those struggling with addiction get connected to services and treatment through the Community Justice Center by bundling misdemeanor public drug use citations and requiring any individual with five citations be referred to the Community Justice Center to be able to access treatment.  

“Since taking office, one of my primary focuses has been holding drug dealers accountable and disrupting open-air drug markets,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. “I have worked to rebuild our partnership with the San Francisco Police Department and to do everything in my power to address the drug dealing and overdose crisis on our streets with every legal means available to us. We are starting to get dangerous drug dealers off our streets while restoring public safety and accountability. We are also taking important steps to help those struggling with addiction get the services and treatment they need.”  

At the press conference, Chief Scott described the San Francisco Police Department’s(SFPD) role and responsibility in enforcing the law and disrupting open-air drug dealing and drug use. Enforcement operations are driven by a multitude of factors, including community input, data analysis, calls for service, uniformed presence, observed street conditions, and plainclothes operations. In the downtown and Tenderloin neighborhood, which is the most heavily impacted by the drug crisis, SFPD has supplemented uniformed patrol officers with members from its Narcotics Unit, Traffic Company, and civilian ambassadors.   

“Our officers are working hard every day to stem the rising tide of illegal drug sales, open-air drug use, and overdose deaths in San Francisco. I recognize that disrupting the open-air drug use and sales in our City is a complex enforcement challenge. I believe we can get to a much better place when we work together, and that is why we are here today. It is partnerships with other City leaders and agencies that are vital to our success. Our goal is simple: identify the dealers based on observed activity, make arrests, build strong cases, and save lives,” said Police Chief Scott. “This is about helping those who are suffering from addiction. It is about reducing harm to our communities and saving our children from bearing witness the toll on human life the drug trade is taking. This is about the people feeling safe in their communities. This is about holding those responsible for this crisis accountable for their actions.”  

While enforcement operations vary, the goal remains the same: identify the dealers based on observed activity, make arrests, build strong cases, and save lives. So far in 2022 the SFPD has: 

• Made over 600 arrests for narcotics sales and possession for sales citywide. 
• And in the Tenderloin alone, seized over 68 kilograms of narcotics, 42 kilograms of which was Fentanyl.  

Supervisor Dorsey highlighted his work around San Francisco Recovers, a first step toward a comprehensive citywide strategy to reduce drug overdose deaths, incentivize recovery for those struggling with substance-use disorders, and end street-level drug dealing and open-air drug scenes.  

“Since January 2020, drug overdoses have claimed the lives of more than 1,700 San Franciscans, surpassing nearly twice over COVID-19’s lethality during the same time period,” said Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “San Franciscans are demanding solutions as big as our problems, and none of the problems facing our City right now are more visible, more destructive or more deadly than rampant street-level drug dealing, open-air drug scenes and overdoses. We need to implement real solutions to get people into treatment while holding drug dealers accountable for their crimes. I look forward to working with my colleagues at the Board, as well as the San Francisco Police Department and District Attorney’s office to make the progress San Franciscans deserve.”  

The scoping resolution calls more than two dozen city departments and commissions to report to the Board of Supervisors to identify existing and needed resources, current policies and practices, and barriers to progress. It will be heard at the Oct. 13 Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee meeting, in a process that will enable the Board to begin forging consensus on evidence-based solutions.   
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media contact:
DP&A, Inc. . David Perry (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com 

All Out SF Seeks to “Show Love” to San Francisco

City Business, Nonprofit, Government and Community Groups
Unite for Weeklong Celebration
October 16 – 23

www.alloutsf.com 

3 October 2022 – San Francisco, CA:  Today a unique partnership of small businesses, community groups and local government announced a week-long festival of events called All Out SF (www.alloutsf.com) that will celebrate all things San Francisco. The events, themed each day by an aspect of what makes the City great, are designed to inspire civic pride and support the City’s local and small business community impacted by the COVID induced economic downturn. 

“All Out for SF is a great way to bring residents together to celebrate all that San Francisco has to offer,” said Mayor Breed. “From our beautiful outdoor parks, to our incredible waterfront views, small business community, and our arts and culture, it’s important that we take time to appreciate our City while we work to make it better.”

“This is the perfect time to gather round and remind ourselves why we love our City,” says Manny Yekutiel, 32, founder of the Mission District community engagement space, Manny’s, and one of the lead organizers of All Out SF.  “After the darkness of the last few years I’m proud to have helped organize something that will bring levity and joy back to San Franciscans right when we need it.”

All Out SF is a dedicated week to celebrate San Francisco and get people involved in making it better. Citywide events will span the week ranging from beautification projects, civic conversations and advocacy, arts, culture, and community.

“All Out SF is a truly group endeavor with partner organizations across the City bonding together to make this week possible,” says Yekutiel.

All Out SF is a partnership between Refuse Refuse, Sunday Streets, Porchfest, the San Francisco Office of Small Business, Illuminate, Together SF, the San Francisco Entertainment Commission, San Francisco Public Works, and the San Francisco Office of Economic & Workforce Development, and countless small businesses and individual volunteers and activists.

According to Yekutiel, the partner organizations have curated a week of events around the City with the goal of celebrating San Francisco and giving people ways to make it better.  Each day is themed around celebrating a different aspect of San Francisco: streets, outdoors small business, arts, civics, music, beautification, and community.  Participants will be encouraged to participate in each day’s activities and take photos and tag #AllOutSF throughout the week.

“Illuminate is delighted to reinvigorate and build upon the rich tradition of live free concerts in Golden Gate Park,” said Ben Davis, founder of Illuminate.

“Keeping our city clean is up to us,” said Refuse Refuse Founder Vincent Yuen. “We aim to motivate fellow San Franciscans to take actions needed to clean our streets, beautify our neighborhoods, and encourage others to join our cause. We’re excited to be a part of All Out SF with the ultimate goal of keeping San Francisco free of refuse.”

“Small businesses do so much to improve our daily lives,” said Katy Tang, Director of the San Francisco Office of Small Business. “Let’s overwhelm this incredible community with our love, especially after these challenging years.”

The themes are:
Sunday, October 16: – Phoenix Day from Sunday Streets, with streets closed to cars and open to pedestrians only for block parties around the city.

Monday, October 17:  Outdoors with people encouraged to walk the San Francisco Crosstown trail together culminating with a picnic at Land’s End.

Tuesday, October 18: Small Business with six small business flash mobs around the City where people will group up and go from business to business to support the local economy.

Wednesday, October 19:  Civics with Members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors hosting coffee office hours in their districts to give their constituents an opportunity to meet them. 

Thursday, October 20: Art with people receiving a map of art galleries in their neighborhood and a set of nighttime art events including ArtSpan’s Art Launch and late night at the SFMOMA. 

Friday, October 21:  Music will see free concerts at the Bandshell in Golden Gate Park as well as buskers on the JFK Promenade.

Saturday, October 22:  Beautification will bring 12 trash pickup trucks together with the goal of picking up all of the trash in the City in one day. 

Sunday, October 23:  SF Ice Cream Sundays is a sweet ending to the week with sundae making kits available at neighborhood ice cream shops to encourage ice cream socials among neighbors. NOTE: advance registration required.

Media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com 

AsiaSF / Palm Springs Rebrands as The Sonoran Event Venue

www.asiasf.com

26 September 2022 – Palm Springs, CA: Almost immediately after a spectacular opening in January 2020, AsiaSF/Palm Springs (www.asiasf.com) — the SoCal branch of the storied San Francisco restaurant and cabaret featuring  performances by the world-famous transgender Ladies of AsiaSF – was forced to close in the onslaught of COVID, like tens of thousands of restaurants around the country. After several courageous attempts at a “reboot”, however, the model of dinner plus show proved untenable. Beginning this month, AsiaSF/Palm Springs has ceased operations as a day-to-day restaurant and club, and switched to a business model of special event hosting, providing a preeminent location known as The Sonoran Event Venue which includes spectacular indoor and outdoor options with pool and cabanas.  Complete food and beverage service will also be available for all events.

“This has been a very challenging and difficult transition for us, but we look forward to continuing the success we’ve achieved with our special event bookings,” said Larry Hashbarger, Founder and CEO of AsiaSF,  noting that occasional one-off  “pop up” versions of the AsiaSF experience may continue in the Palm Springs area. “We are so incredibly grateful to the thousands of people who have visited us over the last two years, and greatly appreciative of the support given us by our fellow business owners, the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, Visit Greater Palm Springs, the Desert Business Association and all of our promotional and marketing partners especially KGAY Radio and Gay Desert Guide. We are especially humbled by the support and encouragement of the Palm Springs City Government during our initial opening, and during our post-COVID attempts at relaunch, with special acknowledgement to Lisa Middleton.”

Operations at the original AsiaSF in San Francisco, now in its 25^th record breaking  year, are not impacted by the transition in Palm Springs. In addition, several previously booked special events at AsiaSF/Palm Springs, including next month’s Equality California event, will continue as previously contracted and booked.

In the coming weeks, further details on events, prices and availabilities at the Sonoran will be made available and posted online.

Media Contacts

David Perry / news@davidperry.com / (415) 676-7007

Alexandra Greenberg / agreenberg@falconpublicity.com

San Francisco’s Castro Theatre Screens Landmark Documentary
“Dani’s Twins” September 29
Event includes Accessibility Roundtable with Producer / Star Dani Izzie

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

View the Dani’s Twins trailer here: https://youtu.be/NPmnyndtNsM

“Beautiful, powerful and demonstrates how strength and belief in oneself can combat discrimination.”

– Judith Heumann, Disability Rights Activist

“A glimpse into a world of motherhood that most people think impossible.”

– Angela Rockwood, Producer “Push Girls”

“A beautiful exploration of the joys of interdependence.”

– Nina Tame, Disability Advocate

The Dani’s Twins documentary provides a rare, intimate look into the topics of disability, pregnancy and adaptive parenthood, viewed through the lens of one woman’s personal journey.  On Thursday, September 29 leading into Disability Awareness Month, San Francisco’s iconic Castro Theatre will host a screening of the film followed by a roundtable with its subject and producer Dani Izzie alongside Steve Dorst Director, Cinematographer, Angie Gentile Producer and Andy Arias Producer.  Doors for the event open at 6:00 pm with screening beginning at 7:00 pm.  Tickets for the event are on sale now for $25 at the Castro Theatre box office or online at www.castrotheatre.com.

The 40-minute documentary film captures the pregnancy and early parenting journey of Dani Izzie, one of the few quadriplegics in history to ever give birth to twins. Dani’s pregnancy is highly unusual and susceptible to an array of risks, from stroke to early labor. When Covid strikes, it raises the stakes for an already complicated pregnancy and, with the filmmakers physically distanced, puts the documentary at risk. Incredibly, Dani works with the team to capture her own story, despite her limited dexterity and the strains of pregnancy. Amid these ups and downs, Dani’s story depicts her unwavering determination against all odds to deliver healthy babies and be a great mother.

Having already screened as an official selection at such notable festivals as DC Shorts International Film Festival, Toronto International Women Film Festival and Mountainfilm Festival, Dani’s Twins comes to San Francisco’s Castro Theatre for a special screening and roundtable.  A roundtable discussion, featuring Jennison Asuncion (panel moderator and Head of Accessibility Engineering Evangelism, LinkedIn), Lawrence Carter Long (disability advocate and Director, DisCourse & Development), and Dani Izzie, among others, will offer a fresh look at how access and disability inclusion are evolving in a changing world.  The venue in partnership with Bay Area independent promoter Another Planet Entertainment, who has a long-standing history of working to preserve and improve historic buildings, is in motion to update the legendary entertainment house including plans for increased accessibility for the disability community.

“My aim is for this film to be part of the current cultural moment that is seeing disabled people take ownership of disability narratives,” says Dani Izzie. “When our experiences are authenticated through honest representation and the reappropriation of our own voices, we can catalyze change and foster inclusion.” 

Adds Izzie, “I am thrilled to partner with APE for the screening of our film at the legendary Castro, which will soon become a more inclusive space. The renovation plans are a deeply vital element for both patrons and artists in the disability community, and will expand the reach of this treasured theatre. As a disabled woman, artist, and producer, I feel grateful to screen Dani’s Twins and warmly welcome an often-underserved population in such an historical place.”

Dani Izzie, Producer and Protagonist,the subject of the film, is a new mom, wife, communications professional and disability influencer. When Dani became a quadriplegic as a young adult in 2009, she didn’t have any insight into the lives of upwards of 20% of the US population living with a disability. Dani’s recovery entailed more than just medical journey—it involved a profound reset of her own disability biases. As she adapted to her situation and as her understanding of disability evolved, she came to embrace her new identity. Today she’s a disability culture advocate, who is informed, confident and proactive. Her chair and lifestyle are an extension of who she is: A badass, smart, creative person. Dani is sharing her personal journey to help others with disabilities who are considering or experiencing parenthood. As her platform grows, it will inspire people to rethink their preconceptions and gain a new understanding of what ability means. Learn more about Dani Izzie at http://DaniIzzie.com and YouTube.com/daniizzie.

Dani’s Twins is the premiere release of PERPETUO FILMS, a studio that produces entertaining content for people who give a damn. Our active slate of programming includes Dani’s Twins; Patrol, the battle to preserve Nicaragua’s rainforest from illegal cattle ranching; and Eat Bitter, the first English-language documentary out of the Central African Republic, capturing the tensions between Chinese migrants and local workers during a civil war. In 2021, our films secured grants and partnered with the biggest global names in nonfiction storytelling: Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Ford Foundation, the Sundance Institute, Mountainfilm, the European Union, Re:wild, Netflix Ambulante, Durban FilmMart, and others. Perpetuo Films and aims to accelerate the web3 creator economy to amplify filmmaker autonomy, control, and ownership. 

Another Planet Entertainment is partnering with Bay Properties, Inc., owners of the Castro Theatre,  on an evolution and preservation of San Francisco’s world-renowned entertainment and LGBTQ community landmark. With a long-standing history of working to preserve and improve historic buildings such as the Fox Theater in Oakland, the Greek Theatre in Berkeley and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, Another Planet seeks to enhance the Castro Theatre by implementing substantial disability upgrades along with significant improvements to the sound, lighting, production, heating and ventilation and the theatre’s trademark marquee, among other facets of the building: all of this, always, with an eye to honoring its unique place in the life of the Castro and celebrating its communities and residents.

The Castro Theatre is located at 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114.  Follow www.APEConcerts.com/TheCastro  for more information.

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