Halloween in the Castro 2007 - Financial Bust & Stupid Campaign

I'm not sure to say if the "stay at home" campaign really was successful, but there is one thing that I can be clear about this:

• There were far fewer people, but there were still hundreds of people on the sidewalks.
• Now sure, it kept people off the street, but at least nobody not stabbed, shot, or went on live TV to say "Fox news is bullshit!"
  

In one way, it could be a success, but just at what financial cost?

Critics (including myself) say that this was a financial nightmare.

1. 600 police officers in the area alone, at an estimated $50/hr for six hours (6PM to midnight) = an estimated $180,000 in taxpayer money. $210,000 if it was seven hours.
   
2. Additional parking/meter maids to enforce parking policies: Definitely thousands of dollars.
3. City paid portable toilets: Thousands of dollars, and neighbors smelling blue chemical toilet scents.
4. Steel fencing on the sidewalks: Gotta pay the city workers to put those up.
5. Tow trucks: $250 towing fine
6. Closing down BART at 16th street & Mission station: Paying for transit employees to transport riders and ADA passengers by van from 24th st. & Mission.
7. Providing a bus bridge due to closure of Muni Metro stations: Plenty of dollars to pay for diesel gasoline.
8. Hiring Muni drivers to transport 600 cops: Bus driver salary + gasoline cost.
   
9. And of course, my favorite: Hiring David Perry & Associates to make a lame poster campaign and cheap youtube quality videos: $40,000.

Talking about party poopers, here's a list of people who had to ruin the event for everyone:

1. Mayor Gavin Newsom
2. Chief Heather Fong
3. The FBI (what the hell? Was Osama going to pee on the sidewalk?)
4. Supervisor Duffy (hmmm... hiding the fact to the press that porta toilets were coming? Fuck! They were going to find out anyway!)
   
5. David Perry & Associates
6. The SFPD's SWAT Team for putting sharpshooters on the roof (as stated by KTVU).
7. Restaurant and Bar Operators who shut down (if you have two dozen people waiting in line at an open bar, sure as hell, you should have opened-up!)
8. Muni (a.k.a. SFMTA)
   
9. BART
10. The SFPD for arresting a person for j-walking (damn, they usually just give a ticket)

The city is promising for the 2008 Castro Halloween party. Supervisor Duffy said on the news that since 2008's Halloween will be on a Friday, they will organize an appropriate Halloween party. THE ORGANIZING OF NEXT YEAR'S SHOULD START TODAY.

Ok... then why didn't you organize this year's? Since there was "9" shootings, you had since November 1, 2006 to organize something safe, sure seems that they pulled this one off in their butthole at the last minute.

LET'S SEE IF THEY WILL KEEP THIS PROMISE.

The Lamest No Halloween In the Castro Advertising Campaign EVER

I'm sorry, but giving $40,000 in taxpayer dollars for this lame looking logo is a waste of MY TAX MONEY I PAY TO THE CITY I LIVE IN.



So who did San Francisco hire to do this FUCKING LAME campaign? Well, David Perry & Associates. Go watch their lame quality videos on YouTube, where they used the KRON studios to make their cheap videos with F-grade celebrities that I don't know who the hell they are.

Do you see these PSA videos on other news stations (KTVU, KPIX, KGO, and KNTV)? Fuck no! That's because the video quality is lame, and nobody wants to present something that is sponsored by KRON (the worst TV station in town, full of people beating the shit out of each other, dumb reality programs, their poorly rated telenovelas, infomercials during the weekends, "D" movies at night, and a guy named Dr. Phil, who doesn't really have a PhD in his "appropriate" field).

I just love my own YouTube video, and IT WAS FREE TO MAKE!

The videos and poster campaign is so lame, that it ENCOURAGES people to go.

It makes you wonder, where really did the $40,000 go? I'm betting that it's in their pockets. To go cheap on the production of those color fliers, just produce the massive number of posters at some child factory in a foreign country (just like your clothes from the GAP).

So, will you go and resist Newsom and David Perry & Associates? I think so.

Remember folks, be safe, and if the riot cops want to fuck with you, remember to bring a camera to record the evidence.

Party in the Castro? It is still going to happen!

WATCH MY BRAND NEW ANTI-PSA VIDEO: YES TO CASTRO HALLOWEEN!


As many local Bay Area residents know, the Castro Halloween party is always a popular street event in the Castro district of San Francisco. But last year's developments, including a shooting and some stabbing have made the the government leaders of San Francisco turn their backs on this popular event.

I don't usually go to Halloween parties in the first place, because I enjoy staying home and giving out candy to the neighbor kids who always visit. But I support the Castro party for these particular reasons:

1. The City and County of San Francisco FAILED to follow through with an alternative event to be held somewhere on the Port of San Francisco or at AT&T Park. By being a sanctioned event, there can be an appropriate investment into assuring the safety of guests.
2. The campaign to force people to stay away from the Castro has gone cheap. Have you seen their PSAs lately? They just look like shit. See the three ads on Youtube here, here, and here. Also, who the fuck are these people? Never heard of them in my life. Also, I've learned that the ads were produced in the KRON studios... yeah, KRON, San Francisco's shittiest news station in town. The only thing good about KRON is getting my lotto numbers and staring at Darya Folsom in the morning before I switch back to "Morning's on 2." If KRON viewership is at a low, why would people watch these PSAs in the first place?
1. The city gave a lot of money to do ad campaigns to resist this event, but by looking at the quality of their child made posters and TV ads, you could have asked those media majors at a college to make much better quality material.
   
3. Do you really think the cops will be arresting and beating-up people? Looks like we are going back to the days when the SFPD dragged gays out of the bars of the Castro to seek revenge for burning their cop cars during a protest rally after Dan White got a slap on the wrist for assassinating Moscone and Milk?

I'm really going to bet that something bad is going to happen, and if the police really fucks this event up this year with arrests and riot gear, get ready for a big backlash. Remember SF Citizens, Mayor Newsom is up for election on November 6, 2007, just seven days after the Halloween party. You can vote for someone else to make him lose the race if his idea of shutting down the Castro fails.

IF YOU DO GO:
Bring a camera and/or a digital video recorder.
--Record cops in action if things start going wrong.
Go in large numbers.
Don't bring alcohol or weapons.
The big goal: Make it look like things are normal and that the event is going so well that everyone is happy.