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Part 2: The water beneath our feet in Glen Park

November 15, 2023 by Bonnee Waldstein

Following up on our previous story about the July water main break affecting several homes on the unit block of Sussex Street, the Glen Park News was able to interview Joe Fong, a resident whose family has been displaced to Daly City since that time.

Fong is a lifelong San Franciscan, having grown up in the Mission District where his parents owned a shop. A veterinarian, he owns a small veterinary hospital in the Inner Sunset and has lived with his family in Glen Park since 2009. “We’re committed to being in San Francisco,” he says. “We’re going to try to live in Glen Park for the rest of our lives.”

Since the flooding Fong says rendered the family home unlivable – which the City denies – his devotion to Glen Park and San Francisco has been tested.

After the damage to the family home, Fong began the arduous process of getting the extensive repairs made and filing a claim with the City. He spoke to an adjuster with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) who neglected to inform him that the City had remediation contracts with six companies. If Fong had chosen one of them, the City would have paid the company directly.

The adjuster told Fong verbally that he’d made a mistake but nothing was put in writing. Fong also says the adjuster never went into the property; he only stayed outside. Instead, SFPUC hired a third-party adjuster who tallies up and estimates the damages.

It’s a struggle to recover from a disaster like this, even when things go (somewhat) according to plan. In this case, the lack of information given to the Fongs caused a cascade of difficulties. “The process is too much of a mystery, there’s no one telling you, ‘This is how you do it.'”

Once they got estimates and chose a remediation company themselves (rather than choosing one of the companies the City has contracts with) it was necessary to pay them within 60 days or have a lien placed on the house. As a result of this oversight by the adjuster, the Fongs paid out of pocket and credit cards, at least $60,000, to get the repairs done while their claim was being processed.

To add to the expense, as was previously noted, the Fongs moved out pending repairs and are paying rent in Daly City.

To get a settlement a claimant must itemize all the bills and present them line by line to amount to a grand total. It’s a difficult process when you lose half your belongings, Fong noted. And once the paperwork is in it is final form, with no additions allowed after that. Claims for personal property losses must be made with the City within six months.

Settlements aren’t paid in increments; they are only paid at the end of the process. Fong also found that, in a settlement, depreciation in the value of belongings is taken into account so the reimbursement wouldn’t cover replacement at current prices.

Then there are the losses due to one’s individual situation that are not part of a settlement. In Fong’s case, for example, he won’t be paid for the week he had to take off to pack up the family belongings and find a place to live. As a small businessman, he needed to make payroll “because I have to pay my people. And I lost the ability to help the patients that were supposed to see me. I had to cancel all those appointments because I couldn’t work.”

After the October 10th community water main meeting at which SFPUC spokesperson Brian Cauley said he would look into the lack of communication regarding the contracts with the remediation companies, Fong got a call from the adjuster a day later asking for all his paperwork in order to look up his settlement. “That was it. Nothing changed,” said Fong.

As of this writing, Fong still hasn’t submitted his paperwork out of fear of not putting in everything he’s supposed to, so he’s being very meticulous. There’s a six-month deadline for submitting. It can be in paper or electronic form. Due to the volume of data, photos, etc., Fong prefers to submit electronically. SFPUC will set up a mailbox but it only stays open for a week, after which one has to request that the box be reopened.

Another thing on Fong’s mind, since he wants to stay in his home in Glen Park, is soil integrity. There was a water main break in the same location six years ago which Fong says still hasn’t been explained. “We want to make sure that the family is safe, that the soil is safe. We’re on a hill, it’s all clay.”  As the homeowner, he would be responsible for paying for a soil evaluation to determine if there was damage to the foundation.

As the process drags on, Joe Fong is persevering. But he feels let down by the City. He feels more like a defendant than a plaintiff. “You are damaged and you have to fight to prove your loss.”

Filed Under: floods, SFPUC, Uncategorized

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Glen Park Association is at Glen Park Greenway.
4 days ago
Glen Park Association

Saturday’s Glen Park Greenway Work Party is Cancelled.

“I’m very sorry to say that
we have cancelled our Work Party for this Saturday July 12, along with all organized volunteer activity on the Greenway until further notice.
As you may have read in the news, our fiscal sponsor, San Francisco Parks Alliance (SFPA), has shut itself down. Just as SFPA has shut itself down, the Greenway, as an organized part of SFPA, has also been “shut down.” We are busy looking for a suitable alternative fiscal sponsor that is willing to replace SFPA. That search is going well but it is a slow process. We had hoped to find temporary ways to enable the Greenway project to function responsibly as a community activity without a fiscal sponsor. Sadly, despite our best efforts and the help of many others in Glen Park, we have failed. That is why we must cancel our Saturday Work Party and discontinue future work parties and other organized volunteer activity on the Greenway (like weeding and watering) until further notice. We recognize that the Greenway is public open space and that the organizers of the Greenway project have no control over the activities of you or of anyone else on the Greenway. However, if you do venture onto the Greenway to satisfy your urge for outdoor recreation, please be aware that your activity is not in any way organized or sanctioned by the organizers of the Glen Park Greenway project. I’m well aware of the efforts that many of the
Greenway’s supporters are making to get the Greenway organized with a new fiscal sponsor and I’m confident that this will be arranged within weeks or perhaps a few months.
However long it takes, I will contact you with news of our progress.
Many thanks for all that you do for the Greenway.”

Nicholas Dewar, volunteer Project Director

#glenparkgreenway #glenparksf #sanfrancisco @rafaelmandelmand8 @danielluriesf @crosstowntrail
#crosstowntrail #sfparksalliance #publicspace #nature
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Wonder what’s stopping just organizing it separate from that non-profit. It seems like the volunteers largely come from Glen Park.

Glen Park Association is at Laidley Street SFO.
1 week ago
Glen Park Association

It was a beautiful day for the annual #july4th celebration on Laidley street!

📷: Photos courtesy of Michael Waldstein

#glenparksf #sanfrancisco #laidley
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It was a beautiful day for the annual #july4th celebration on Laidley street! 

📷: Photos courtesy of Michael Waldstein 

#glenparksf #sanfrancisco #laidley
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