Supervisor Scott Wiener has had quite enough of the 'unsavory' characters who congregate around the Castro Safeway with their cart-loads of bottles and cans, headed to the recycling center. He's been aware of neighbors' complaints for years regarding that Safeway, and he proposes that the City lobby the State to mandate that all bottle redemption centers begin offering food vouchers in place of cash for recyclables. We're envisioning a citywide revolt by elderly Chinese ladies who carry around those red, blue, and white heavy-duty plastic satchels.

"We want to have recycling centers that give lower-income people what they need,” Wiener says. It sounds like they want to have recycling centers that don't draw "unsavory" poor people. And is that really the only reason the hippies, et al like to camp out around Safeway?

Ed Dunn, executive director of San Francisco Community Recyclers, finds all this offensive, and notes the apparent quality-of-life campaign being waged on the other nearest recycling center in the Haight, which he also runs. "They’re the centers abutting the wealthiest parts of town,” Dunn said. “Why don’t they offer them a gas card too?”

We'd like to remind Wiener that Care Not Cash hasn't really reduced the number of homeless/indigent who flock here.