Editorial: 2 SF grants are crucial to Castro’s success

The Castro is finally starting to show signs of recovering from the COVID pandemic-era shutdowns and the accompanying economic turmoil. It’s been a long slog, from any perspective. The LGBTQ neighborhood is now activated with regular night markets; and an entertainment zone that was recently approved by the Board of Supervisors will benefit local bars and restaurants during specific events. These are in addition to the annual Castro Street Fair in the fall, and the expected increase in foot traffic in June for Pride Month festivities.

It would be a shame if all this progress is abandoned and cast aside. Yet, that is exactly what could happen if two crucial city grants that are awarded to the Castro Community Benefit District become victims of the city’s budget ax. The first one, which provides cleaning and other services for Jane Warner Plaza at Market, Castro, and 17th streets, would be especially hard to fund through other means. The second, for the CBD’s Castro Cares program, is in line with Mayor Daniel Lurie’s goals of maintaining public safety in San Francisco neighborhoods.

Lurie and his staff are in the midst of preparing his first budget proposal, due to the Board of Supervisors by June 1. Already, we know that the city has at least an $800 million deficit to address. As we reported, the San Francisco LGBT Community Center will see cuts of a few hundred thousand dollars. We know that additional cuts are coming to most city departments and that they will have an impact on people’s lives. But the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Lurie must retain these CBD grant funds in the city budget. If the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood is to become more vibrant, these two grants need to be fully funded in the coming fiscal year.

Let’s take a look at each.

Jane Warner Plaza
Jane Warner Plaza, at the entrance to the Castro, is a small public parklet that is carved out of a side street adjacent to a gas station and built around the terminus for the city's trolley line featuring historic streetcars from around the globe. The space, named in honor of the lesbian San Francisco Patrol Special Police officer and Bay Area Reporter columnist who died of cancer in 2010, has always been a challenging one to transform from a roadway to an outdoor neighborhood amenity. But with Harvey Milk Plaza across the street under construction for a new elevator (and after that, likely the plaza’s renovation itself due to passage of the Proposition B infrastructure grant last November), Jane Warner Plaza has been the de facto spot for neighborhood rallies. Just last Saturday, nearly 200 people showed up to demand the release of gay makeup artist Andry Jose Hernández Romero from a prison in El Salvador.

The CBD currently has a grant of $100,000 that funds 40 hours of cleaning per week for the plaza, as well as to manage the tables and chairs. Andrea Aiello, a lesbian who is executive director of the Castro CBD, said the 40 hours is spread over 12 hours a day, seven days a week. The CBD is funded through a fee on parcels in the district’s footprint. Aiello pointed out that because the plaza is not a parcel, under state law the CBD cannot clean it without the grant funding.

Years ago, when the plaza was established in 2009, then-mayor Gavin Newsom, who once donated tables and chairs, promised to keep the plaza clean. But of course, Newsom is now governor and things change. Nevertheless, Aiello said that without the grant funding, the plaza space would be “an absolute disaster.” We concur.

One of the great things about the plaza is that families often stop by. “When people bring their children into a public space, it is a real indication that they feel comfortable and safe,” Aiello noted.

Castro Cares
The CBD’s grant for Castro Cares is $415,000. It funds four full-time community ambassadors and is the district’s public safety service. Community ambassadors are highly visible and trained in de-escalation techniques, outreach, and connecting unhoused people to city services. The ambassadors wear bright yellow-green uniforms and have radios, acting as an extra set of eyes and ears in the district. Importantly, the ambassadors also divert low-level calls that otherwise would go to the San Francisco Police Department.

“Often, just by walking the district, they de-escalate situations,” said Aiello.

“They are connected with the city’s street teams,” Aiello added. In the mornings, for instance, the ambassadors will wake people up if they are sleeping in the entrances to businesses. Merchants have the dispatch number and can call if there is negative street behavior, Aiello said.

Significantly, Castro Cares is in line with Lurie’s own goals of making San Francisco cleaner, safer, and more welcoming.

“At a time when the mayor says he wants to revitalize downtown and make San Francisco safer, this is a perfect example of how this helps,” Aiello said. “This is another piece of the puzzle to work with police to further the mayor’s mission.”

Grants should be funded
The Castro CBD is looking at a total of $515,000 for the two grants. This is a small part of the city’s budget, which last year was $15.9 billion. The Castro CBD has reached out to gay Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman. It also sent a packet to Lurie with 103 letters signed by Castro businesses asking him to fully fund the two grants. A petition with 174 signatures of residents from across the city was also sent to the mayor to keep the grants fully funded.

As Lurie prepares his budget, and as the Board of Supervisors reviews it in the coming weeks, it’s imperative that the two grants for the Castro CBD be included. Jane Warner Plaza will quickly fall into disrepair if it’s not cleaned everyday, and the Castro Cares teams provide a vital service at a fraction of the cost of having SFPD respond to these low-level situations, which officers don’t want to do anyway. It would be a far more responsible course of action.

The Castro is a beacon to LGBTQ people from across the country – and other nations as well – for its bold message that everyone is welcome. With the LGBTQ community, especially trans people, under assault from the Trump administration, having a safe space to gather in Jane Warner Plaza, and having community ambassadors present to de-escalate situations, is in line with the LGBTQ community’s desire to have a thriving Castro district that benefits the entire city.

People enjoy a sunny day in Jane Warner Plaza, located at the entrance to the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood. Photo: Courtesy Castro CBD