Walnut Creek Recycles Signs as Dennis Herrera Honored and Rink Opens

Post-election sustainability in Contra Costa County, a quarter-century milestone in municipal public service, and a beloved downtown winter tradition are marking the start of the holiday season across the Bay Area. In Walnut Creek, residents can drop off corrugated plastic election yard signs and metal wire frames for free recycling at Walnut Creek City Hall at 1666 N. Main St. from November 4 through November 11. Because corrugated plastic campaign signs cannot be processed in standard municipal curbside recycling bins, RecycleSmart partnered with specialty recycler Ridwell to divert the materials from local landfills.

Across the bay, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager and former six-term City Attorney Dennis Herrera was honored as a 2026 San Franciscan of the Year ahead of his departure from city service in December after 25 years. As San Francisco's first Latino city attorney—serving 20 years across 6 terms starting before the 2004 City Hall same-sex marriage ceremonies—Herrera spent nearly 10 years litigating marriage equality alongside Chief Deputy Terry Stewart through the 2008 California Supreme Court ruling and the U.S. Supreme Court, and later filed the nation's first municipal lawsuit against the federal administration over sanctuary-city funding, protecting more than $1 billion for the city. Since taking the helm of the Public Utilities Commission in 2021, Herrera has overseen the near-completion (99.9% done) of a $6 billion, 20-year seismic rebuild of the Hetch Hetchy water system—capable of storing 8.5 years of water—while supplying 80% of San Francisco's electricity and upgrading 1970s Clean Water Act wastewater infrastructure.

In downtown San Francisco, the Safeway Holiday Ice Rink in Union Square officially opened Wednesday night for its 19th season, operating daily through January 18 with advance online ticket reservations and a weekend lottery offering free lessons for beginner skaters. Olympic gold medalist figure skater Brian Boitano joined rink spokesperson Julie Richter and Union Square Alliance Chief Executive Officer Marisa Rodriguez to celebrate the professional-grade ice surface, which will host weekly Wednesday Mid-week Merriment themed skating sessions at 8:30 p.m. following a banner downtown year highlighted by Super Bowl and World Cup visitors and the Golden State Valkyries' WNBA championship parade.