City Says No Treats for Castro on Halloween: Local officials and citizens spar over wisdom of city’s attempt to cancel Halloween festivities

On Sept. 18, Citizens for Halloween held a press conference in front of City Hall. In the photo above, group co-founder Alix Rosenthal speaks as members of the group hold signs.

By Greg Schwartz

Halloween 2007 is less than a month away and the City has only just begun to reveal the plan for its upcoming attempt to cancel the legendary All Hallows Eve festivities that have been an annual tradition in the Castro for decades.

The city’s attempt to quash the street party that has been estimated to have drawn as many as 100,000 people comes in response to increasing concerns about violence that culminated with nine people being shot in the Castro at last year’s city-planned Halloween event.

Nathan Ballard, director of communications for SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, told the Fog City Journal in September that “violence in the Castro was out of hand” last year and “Halloween is canceled” as a result. This means no city-sponsored port-a-potties and no street closures for starters.

“It’s not possible or even acceptable to say there’s going to be no Halloween in San Francisco,” says Ted Strawser, founder of SF Party and a member of Citizens for Halloween, a new organization which describes its mission as to “recognize and promote the community and economic development benefits of safe and fun Halloween events in San Francisco.

“There is no info on what happened [last year] and this is one of the problems with the city,” says Strawser, whose group also laments the fact that the Halloween task force Newsom vowed to put together after last year’s shootings never materialized. “We’re disappointed in the city for what appears to be a back room, closed door approach.”

San Franciscans Wonder About City’s Plans
The City initially planned on holding a huge Halloween bash on the waterfront in place of the traditional Castro party but canceled these plans in August. Some say the promoters backed out, while others say the neighborhoods did not want the event.

The city launched a PR campaign in the summer that asked local businesses to close early on what is the biggest economic night of the year for many of them. The recently unveiled “Home for Halloween” plan also implores the public to stay away from the Castro on Halloween night. But how many potential revelers will hear of, much less heed such a call is a major question mark, particularly considering that many of the complaints in recent years have been directed at out-of-town teenagers.

“I actually don’t think they have a plan,” said Alix Rosenthal, a Citizens for Halloween cofounder. Rosenthal, who ran against Supervisor Bevan Dufty in last year’s election for District Eight supervisor, cited friends within city government who had told her they’d seen nothing regarding a Halloween plan. “If true, it could be a catastrophe.”

Rosenthal says “public safety is the number one concern” in the neighborhood and that the main questions on the mind of most citizens is what the police are going to do and how many of them will be in the Castro on Halloween.

“It’s really ill-conceived,” says Rosenthal. “They [the police] are basically saying trust us, but they should have taken care of the Castro last year and they didn’t, so we don’t trust them.”

City’s Plan Emerging
District Eight Supervisor Bevan Dufty has been the point man for Newsom on the Halloween plan and Dufty’s office has been issuing weekly updates listing closings of neighborhood businesses. As of October 1, 17 establishments had complied. Richard Pearson, owner of the Metro bar near the intersection of Market and Church streets, is not one of the merchants who will close.

“I don’t see that I’m being defiant in any way,” says Pearson of not closing. “I think I’m away from it [the center of the Castro]. With proper security and staff, I don’t anticipate any problems.”

Pearson believes the Castro Halloween tradition should continue and says the city is failing in its civic duty to the community by attempting to quash the event.

“This is a major economic impact. I don’t care if Newsom and Dufty come in here one time, they aren’t bringing in any money… It’s their fault, they dropped the ball.”

Logistics regarding police enforcement remained a question mark at press time. However, an e-mail update from Dufty’s office on Oct. 1 announced that the city’s logistical plan will be presented to the public at the Eureka Valley Promotion Association’s monthly meeting on Oct. 18 at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center at 100 Collingwood St.

In the e-mail, Dufty stated that the plan contains “a comprehensive public safety response on Halloween night that involves a zero-tolerance approach for those who disregard the City’s message and commit any infraction of the law in the Castro.”

Dufty also said that “public safety officials and department staff, led by the SFPD and the Mayor’s Office, have been meeting weekly to plan the logistical response that will occur on Halloween night” and that “the SFPD will commit more officers than were in the Castro last year.”

Home for Halloween
David Perry is in charge of the city’s “Home for Halloween” PR campaign and has been a Castro resident for 20 years.

“I know the party has gotten too big to handle,” says Perry, who is confident that the city’s logistical plan has been well thought out and will work. “There is a plan in place that is extremely detailed.”

Perry says the site for the PR plan, www.homeforhalloween.com, has a list of other events around the Bay Area and a video contest for people to give their reasons on why they are staying home. He also says that posters and flyers will be distributed throughout the Bay Area to warn people of the cancellation.

Perry feels that Mayor Newsom “has taken a courageous stand” by saying that his highest priority as mayor is public safety, even though the decision to cancel the Castro Halloween event may not be a popular one.

Regarding the so far nebulous police plan, Perry says “issues of police staffing are never revealed…but there will be more [police on duty] than last year, so this is not a year for people to come to our neighborhood and make trouble or they will be getting a ride in a paddy wagon.”

“Folks are saying out-of-town teens are causing the problems – but the bars are where people would be safe [so closing them makes no sense],” says Strawser. “Removing the port-a-potties is not the way to keep the Castro from getting urinated on.”

Strawser says two Castro businesses, Ritual Coffee Roasters and another anonymous one, have dedicated money to provide a portable toilet in front of any residence or business that requests it.

For more info, visit homeforhalloween.com or halloweeninthecastro.com.

Copyright 2007-2008 Castro Courier