Supervisor Scott Wiener, who serves the Castro via his District 8 seat, has been busy, as always, with a variety of issues that directly affect or have ripple effects into the Castro. His office sends us press releases and updates and we thought readers might want to know the skinny on what's poppin' on his agenda down at City Hall.

DOUBLE PARKING: Sup. Wiener takes on the Don Quixote issue of double parking in the Castro and the City today, Oct. 1st. As we posted previously Sup. Wiener --like countless Supes before him-- has windmill charged the task of change regarding this issue. This meeting will focus on enforcement of double parking (or lack thereof) and the impact double parking has on vehicular traffic flow, bicycling, MUNI, and pedestrian safety. SFMTA and SFPD will be on hand to report on City policy regarding double parking, detail how double parking impacts other modes of traffic, explain current enforcement policies, and report on citation statistics for double parking. If you have an opinion for/against or ideas on how to improve the current needs or the impending impasse we will likely face from the new Castro St. redesign, head down to City Hall for the Land Use & Economic Development Cmte. Rm. 263, 1:30 PM.

BIKE SHARE: As we posted, the Bay Area Bike Share (BABS) program is finally up and running between Civic Center and the Embarcadero, but as we noted earlier this month, the Castro and many other neighborhoods were left out of the bike rental equation. On Sept. 17th Sup. Wiener called for a meeting asking the SFMTA to detail plans on how they will expand the program of 350 bikes --soon to be 500-- to include even more. The Supe had already struck a resolution via the Board in the Spring instructing SFMTA to figure out how to build off the pilot BABS program. SFMTA will be asked to report on specific performance metrics for the pilot program like number of rides, rides per bike, and membership totals. MTA will also provide near-term expansion plans as well as next steps for a full build-out of the system, including cost, locations, and funding strategy. This meeting will take place at the Land Use and Economic Development Committee that Wiener heads in October.

OFF-LEASH DOG PARK RULES: The City has been contending with new off-leash guidelines pertaining to dogs on Federally controlled land like Golden Gate Park's Chrissy Field and Fort Funston. The Golden Gate Recreational Area's Dog Management Plan has been criticized by dog owners and walkers for its massive restrictions on space use. Losing that space pushes the dog owners and walkers into the already over crowded small City parks and dog runs like Collingwood Dog Run located next to the Eureka Valley Recreational Center in the Castro. The Supervisor is hoping to sway the powers that be by holding another hearing like the one he held in 2011 that was used as spring-board to adjust the National Park Services policies with what would actually best serve the City and its dog owners. “The goal of this hearing is to make sure the public understands how this proposal will affect San Franciscans' access to GGNRA properties,” said Supervisor Wiener via his press release, “We also need to understand what will happen to our city parks as dogs are pushed out of federal parks. I’m eager to discuss what changes have been incorporated in the revised plan based on public feedback and how we can work to encourage GGNRA’s goals of protecting natural habitat and also providing recreation for all park visitors, including people with dogs.” Sup. Wiener has been heavily involved in regulating the SF Dog Walker industry and is well-known in that community. Whether or not this hearing will have any effect over the GGNRA or not remains to be seen since the last one did little to alter the tenor of their proposals.