I barely made it to the Taraval Police Station on time for the community meeting last night. Safety dictated that I take my time getting there; it was raining and I was on my bike. Dressed in my finest Conan the Barbarian t-shirt and soaked to the bone, I attracted many stares as I made my way through the crowd toward an empty seat.
After all the formalities and introductions, the forum discussed the issues troubling the residents. Guest speaker John Riley led a discussion about proper trash disposal and litter problems, Supervisor Tang tackled pedestrian fatalities and Captain Curtis Lum addressed the sharp increase in violent crime since the start of the new year.
“Just the other day a victim was shot in the back as he was running away on 26th Avenue,” said Lum.
After the meeting concluded, those in attendance casually walked to their cars while I darted towards my bike in a futile attempt to not get too wet as I made my way back to Park Merced.
On the bright side, at least my bike wasn’t stolen.
San Francisco in 15 weeks 