All Saints Day

And another Halloween -- officially -- has passed. Happy All Saints Day! KCBS & SF Gate have reported a "success"; fun night, safe crowds, bustling streets -- a good time had by all.

Once again, our thanks to the unsung heroes and heroines of the effort: the men and woman of the SFPD, the SF Fire Department, Adult & Juvenile Probation, Dept. of Public Health, Department of Parking and Traffic, BART, Muni, The Sheriff's Department, Public Works, Street Cleaning, The Mayor's Office (especially Martha Cohen) and Supervisor Bevan Dufty. Also, a special "salute" to Stephen Adams and his colleagues at MUMC (the Merchants of Upper Market & Castro) who have worked hand-in-hand with the City Family to ensure that everyone respects the 94114's home for Halloween.

As I write this, the crowds are thinning; the bars are doing a good business and the side streets where people live, relax and pay their rent, mortgages and property taxes are quiet -- appropriately so. Maybe after three years, we've begun to turn the corner on the "hell night" that used to be Halloween and are again making it a night of fun -- and respect -- for those who call Castro home: on October 31 and for the other 364 days a year.

more anon