By David Wills, Editor

I say Chronicle writer Nevius is out of line. As hairdresser Mike says, “He’s finding nothing better to do than harass those innocent gleaners out tenaciously trolling for their cans, bottles and pans to recycle.” He is trying to close down our historic co-operative recycling-depot, that is used by locally indigenous low-income people. He wants to sanitize our jolly nabe into some tidy suburbia. My kids grew up here, and they’re fine! Say No to Nevious!

In the past 30 years, for those who were in the here and know, the period of 1982 to 1993’s was much less safe in our nabe than it is now, what with the occasional random violence going on. Like when that evil Maggs the Skinhead bit this guy’s nose, in 1984, right behind me he was too. Then Maggs went and stole the Hells Angel’s machine-guns and died in a battle with the FBI up North, Humbolt way. Deserved to go.

Then the dotcom boomers raised rents and busted leases and attempted to mess with rent control. At the same time, we had commuting workers coming in, in shifts selling bags. All day. Three shifts. Not to say things are perfect now. You still hear whistles at night. The answer then, back in the eighties, was the same as now – better police work. The cops are paid to be our friends, with guns. We don’t need no tacky amateur squads of private patrols marching in goose-step up and down the strip, but god help us, there they were – a private goon squad, dressed in green, back then in ‘87, I kid you not.

The SF culturally aware (almost) cop-culture we have now, especially when compared with the cowboy-cop culture of the seventies, is better than it could be. So let us further encourage our peace officers to make the peace, with smiles and well wishes, to do their job wisely and help protect our freedoms with understanding.