Trick or Treat?
Apparently San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, seen here trying on his new Halloween costume, didn't get the memo from his own office that the City of San Francisco had canceled all public Halloween celebrations in the city including the traditional Halloween in the Castro party.  As announced Wednesday by San Francisco City officials there will be "no official Halloween celebration anywhere in San Francisco in October" (including at the downtown AT&T parking lot - which was rumored as a possible alternative party spot to the Castro) due to violence at previous Halloweens in the Castro - notably last year when a shooting incident left nine people injured.  Therefore the normally celebratory Mayor Newsom, who just over the past few days  named August "Barry Bonds Month" and named  Wednesday "Virgin America Day" (as in the Richard Branson airline), could easily have named October "SF Halloween-Hater Month"

While I do not wish to see anyone hurt anywhere at anytime, I think that this move by the city of SF is BULLSHIT and it reminds me of when you are a kid in school and some clown in the class would do something wrong and instead of punishing the perpetrator the teacher would, unfairly, punish the entire class. And just like in those school days, when the teacher's actions merely frustrated and aggravated the law-abiding majority , so too will this action by the city officials of SF merely frustrate the average Bay Area resident who wants to enjoy a San Francisco tradition - Halloween in the Castro.  It is not unlike the move several years ago by the leaders of the city  across the Bay who voted to shut down Oakland's famed traditional Festival at the Lake (Lake Merritt) due to many young black males  "cruising" in their cars and incidents of violence in the surrounding neighborhoods (not even at the Lake).  And did the Oakland police action curb violence in the East Bay city? Not at all! 


So how come the San Francisco City Officials didn't just plan to beef up security in the Castro on Halloween and spend a lil extra money on the SFPD? They couild have easily.   But  if, let's say. it was not a Halloween event but  if it were a sports event they would have done exactly that.    Imagine, for example. if there was violence at a Giants game (and there often is) do you think that they would shut down AT&T Park and risked Barry Bonds  been shut out of the ballpark to make his historic play the other night?  No way!

My belief is that people need to party and let off steam and if you continually close down events and/or venues then all you do is help bundle up frustration in individuals. You do not squash violence but in fact help incite more violence by not treating citizens compassionately and respectfully - and all based on the misbehavior of a few fools.  And my guess is that come this Halloween in San Francisco all you will have is a bunch of frustrated non-violent people needing to  party + the few already violent ones - all with nothing to do. A recipe for some agro if ever there was one.

 

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