Supervisor Stephen Sherrill helped the Park Services Manager, Allison McCarthy,
beautify SF’s Jefferson Square Park
The Eddy and Gough Streets side of Jefferson Square Park was damaged by vandalism last year.
One of the vandals, Ignacio Dzul AKA Nacho,39, still lives at the park (moving around between the Gough side and the Eddy side of the park) and keeps SFPD, Sheriff, and Park Ranger busy.
Ignacio Dzul is ripping out plants at Jefferson Square Park across the street
from the D.E.M. Headquarters. A Deputy Sheriff confronted him
It looks like the city hasn’t managed to annoy him into leaving just yet. He has turned his personal chaos into a permanent resident. Emily Stafford, who lives near the park, takes her dogs to the park twice a day, and often sees Ignacio ripping off a tree branches at the park, said, “He can’t help himself from destroying trees and plants at the park. The park just keeps feeding his sickness.”
Ignacio’s tent (left) on Gough between Turk and Eddy Streets
next to the park site, where the neighbors restored it after vandalism
The Community Comes Together To Restore Their Vandalized Park
The vandalism was a disheartening act for many of the community members who regularly use the park. However, they had the opportunity to demonstrate that their community’s spirit was stronger than any act of destruction.
With the collaboration between the SF Recreation & Park Department and the Tenderloin Merchant Association, Rene Colorado, who cares so much about the park, they had a community planting day on October 18th to restore their community’s green space.
The District 2 Supervisor, Stephen Sherrill, whose district includes Jefferson Square Park, came to the park, not to supervise but to help plant 65 plants and a tree from the Rec and Park, and to listen to his constituents, the Park Ranger, and the park services manager, Allison McCarthy, about the challenges in stopping Ignacio’s ongoing vandalism at their beloved park.
Supervisor Sherrill is listening to the park services manager, Allison McCarthy
and the Park Ranger Whitted about their challenges in preventing vandalism at the park
The Rec and Park is working on a stay-away order to keep Ignacio out of the park and prevent him from causing further damage to the park, according to McCarthy.
Will A Stay-Away Order Be Strong Enough To Pull Out The Root of The Problem At The Park?
I reached out to Amos E. (He asked not to mention his last name in the story), who used to live on Larch Street and has a restraining order against Ignacio after he threatened his life, for comment on the Rec and Park Department working on a stay-away order against Ignacio.
According to him, the restraining order he has on Ignacio is ineffective. Ignacio keeps visiting Larch Street and gets too close to him, and his [Ignacio’s] living at Jefferson Square Park, where he takes his dogs for a walk, making him and his family feel unsafe. So, he and his family moved out of the city last month. He says, “It’s so frustrating that the city fails to deal with Nacho [Ignacio]. He has been causing many problems in the neighborhood since Interim Chief of Police Paul Yep was the Captain of the Northern District Police Station.”
Community members know well that Ignacio hates dogs. When dogs bark at him, he goes berserk and makes threats to harm the dogs and their owners.
What’s Next For Jefferson Square Park?
Supervisor Sherrill assured them that he is still committed to continuing to protect and preserve the positive progress at the park and its perimeters after the large-scale drug market raid at the park on February 26th.He and the District 3 Supervisor, Danny Sauter, sponsored legislation that would “urge the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) to designate all 911 calls reporting drug use or suspected drug activity within 1,500 feet of parks, playgrounds, and schools as ‘Priority A’ calls requiring swift and immediate response.”
Supervisor Stephen Sherrill with Rene Colorado, the Director of the Tenderloin
Merchant Association, which organized the replanting event at Jefferson Square Park
“The beautification efforts of this park send a powerful message that this space is cared for and valued by all of us.”-Supervisor Stephen Sherrill. Park Ranger Whitted presented him with a Ranger coin that says, “Protect and Preserve” before he left the park, off to the SF District Attorney’s office, second annual “Keepin’ It Safe In The City” event at Civic Center Plaza (335 McAllister Street), which was happening on the same day and time frame as the Jefferson Square Park Community Replanting Event.
“It ain’t the world that is so bad, but what we are doing to it. It would be a wonderful world if only we gave it a chance,”- Louis Armstrong
