Good Morning, San Francisco

Scattered clouds and 54°F this morning, topping out at a brisk 57°F — layers, as always, are your friend. The city wants to put cameras on your neighborhood's illegal dumping hotspot, and honestly? We have thoughts.

Big Brother Meets Big Garbage: SF Public Works Wants Surveillance Cameras to Catch Illegal Dumpers

San Francisco has a dumping problem. Anyone who's walked through the Tenderloin, SoMa, or Bayview knows the drill — abandoned mattresses, construction debris, mystery bags of who-knows-what piling up on sidewalks and empty lots. It's ugly, it's a health hazard, and it's been going on for years. So SF Public Works is doing what city agencies do when they've run out of better ideas: they want cameras.

The department is pursuing surveillance technology to identify and publicly shame illegal dumpers, framing the effort as deterrence. The pitch is straightforward — catch people in the act, cite them, and maybe embarrass them enough that they think twice next time. On paper, it's the kind of accountability measure that should make fiscal conservatives cheer. Dumping costs the city millions in cleanup every year, and someone should pay for that besides taxpayers.

But here's where it gets complicated. San Francisco's 2019 surveillance technology ordinance requires Board of Supervisors approval before any city agency deploys new surveillance tools. That's a law this city passed precisely because it was worried about mission creep — cameras installed for one purpose quietly expanding to another. And Public Works hasn't exactly presented data showing that camera-based enforcement actually reduces dumping. Are we buying expensive equipment to solve a problem, or are we buying expensive equipment to look like we're solving a problem? Those are very different things.

The libertarian in me wants to say: enforce existing laws, fine the hell out of dumpers, and skip the surveillance state expansion. The pragmatist in me says: if a $500 camera prevents $50,000 in annual cleanup costs at a single hotspot, that's a math problem with a clear answer. The real question is whether Public Works will use this tool with discipline and transparency — and whether the Board will hold them to it. Given this city's track record of spending first and measuring never, skepticism is warranted. Show us the pilot data, show us the cost-benefit analysis, and then we'll talk.

The Rundown

City Hall & Politics

Late May is stacked with free block parties and a world premiere. The last week of May brings street closures, food vendors, and a first-run theatrical production somewhere in the city. The block parties are free but will annihilate parking — take BART if you're headed anywhere near Civic Center or the Mission. The premiere is the tighter ticket; buy before Thursday or risk the sellout.

Culture & Food

La Taqueria turns 50, and the line is still out the door. Miguel Jara opened at 2889 Mission Street in 1973, and the place hasn't changed its formula — tight menu, no rice in the burritos, carefully sourced meats. Is it the best burrito in the city or just the most famous? That's a debate you'll have to settle yourself, but fifty years of continuous operation in the same neighborhood is a business achievement that deserves respect regardless. Small business longevity like this doesn't happen by accident.

FoodieLand Night Market takes over the Cow Palace this weekend. Three nights of rotating food vendors, $15–20 general admission, Friday through Sunday. The vendor lineup changes nightly, so Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning tend to offer the widest selection. It's technically Daly City, but Balboa Park BART gets you close. Budget accordingly — the entrance fee is just the cover charge before you start eating.

Terry Riley turns 90, and the SF Main Library is celebrating with a free piano concert. The man wrote In C in 1964 and basically invented minimalism. A birthday concert at a public library is exactly the right venue — no velvet rope, no $75 tickets, just pianists working through his catalog at the Main Branch on Larkin. Civic Center BART, half a block away.

Outdoors & Recreation

Golden Gate Park is basically programming an entire weekend by itself. Sunday brings the roller disco near the Bandshell (skate rentals $5–10), the free Crucial Sundays reggae series in the Panhandle, and the Golden Gate Park Band's Armenian Culture Day concert at the Spreckels Temple of Music. The band has been municipally supported since 1882 — which might be the most cost-effective cultural investment the city has ever made. Bring a blanket; bench seating fills fast.

Free yoga continues on the Great Highway every Sunday. Car-free stretch, ocean backdrop, all levels, no registration. The catch is the wind — this is Ocean Beach, not a heated studio. Bring layers over your athleisure. N-Judah to Judah and La Playa gets you there.

Marshall Beach offers the best Golden Gate Bridge view you'll actually work for. Twenty-minute switchback hike from Batteries to Bluffs trailhead, rocky shoreline, clothing-optional in practice. Weekday mornings are your best bet for solitude. Wear real shoes.

Across the Bridge

The Muir Beach Volunteer Firefighters' BBQ hits year 52. This is a small-town fundraiser that happens to have a spectacular coastal setting — no sponsor stages, no $18 cocktails, just straightforward food keeping volunteer fire trucks running. The kind of community self-reliance we love to see.

Union Square is actually trying to be a public square again. Between the mahjong mixer, the Red Umbrellas artist showcase, and Sunday Fun Days programming, the plaza is hosting more free community events than it has in years. Powell Station BART puts you right there. It's encouraging to see public space activated without a massive city budget line item attached.

One More Thing

Somewhere in Sausalito, a houseboat painted like a Piet Mondrian canvas is floating on Richardson Bay — thick black lines, primary color blocks, the whole composition bobbing with the tide. It's exactly as ridiculous as it sounds, and it fits in perfectly. Only in the Bay Area does abstract expressionism have a dock slip.