Issue 301 ___Will you want to live in San Francisco - tomorrow ___January 2006


Recreation and Parks Audit: Who’s minding the store?


In the just completed 353-page audit of SF’s Recreation and Parks Department, no division or function is spared criticism. The document finds the department lacking minimal oversight or accountability; it suggests remedies but nothing will change unless the people demand it.
For example, established fee structure is routinely ignored or waived. In reviewing 50 random permits, unsupported fees were assigned 44% of the time. One promoter, Events West, was issued permits in 2004 for gated events in Sharon Meadow when their fees from the previous three years, amounting to at least $62,000, had not been paid.

The report is particularly critical of the golf program, citing the impact of the Harding Golf Complex restoration to strict PGA standards as an enormous drain on all Park and Rec functions. “The estimated $16 million for course restoration and construction of a new clubhouse to date has cost the city $23.6 million, a 47% cost overrun.” The recent PGA Tournament resulted in a loss of $142,000 to Rec and Park; the audit suggests that the contract for the four additional tournaments be renegotiated or cancelled altogether.

The decision to more than double greens fees for San Francisco residents at Harding Golf Course has resulted in a 19% reduction of resident use. Although there’s been no change in fees at Sharp and Lincoln Golf Courses, no change in fees, resident use of these two parks is down 38% and 50% respectively since 2000. The audit suggests that major upgrades are needed for Sharp and Lincoln but they are not financially feasible; perhaps it suggests that returning one course to general park use should be considered. Furthermore, upgrades to Harding were in large part paid for with a 25-year “loan” from Prop 12 bond funds intended for the “most heavily populated and most economically disadvantaged areas with in each Jurisdiction.”

In fiscal year 04-05, 155,512 rounds of golf were played on the cities courses by residents and 85,000 by non residents. If residents only played an average of twice a month, that would be 6,480 golfers in SF. The Rec and Park Department manages 700 acres of golf course, 92 acres of baseball fields, and 28 acres of soccer pitches. Capital planning which was studied heavily by Elizabeth Goldstein has been set aside after she was replaced as General Manager. The Capital Program has a projected shortfall of $552 million and no funding currently in place.


One Hundred Years Later - - -
Commemorating the 1906 Earthquake and Fire


Local historian, Greg Gaar, gave a riveting lecture illustrated by 140 historic photographs of the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire to kick off the 100th anniversary year of San Francisco's most memorable event. The impacts of the massive quake at 5:13 am on April 18, 1906 and the following three days of fires that destroyed most of San Francisco were graphically presented to a standing room only crowd at Park Branch Library on January 12.

In 1906, San Francisco had a population of 425,000. After the disaster, 2,700 were dead, 250,000 were homeless and 500 city blocks and 28,000 buildings were destroyed. The Richter Scale was not available in 1906, but seismologists estimated the rupture on the San Andreas Fault had a magnitude of 7.7 to 8.0--two jolts lasting a total of 45 seconds. The epicenter was Olema in sparsely populated Marin County. A "swath of destruction" did major damage from Santa Rosa to San Jose. In 1906 the Bay Area had a population of 650,000, compared to about eight million today. Probably tens of thousands of fatalities would occur if a similar quake struck today.
"There was a deep rumble, deep and terrible, and then I could actually see the earthquake coming up Washington Street. The whole street was undulating. It was as if the waves of the ocean were coming towards me and billowing as they came," said Police Sergeant (later Chief of Police) Jesse Cook from his beat in the Produce District near downtown. Most San Franciscans were sleeping when Mother Earth unleashed her fury.

Filled land on what had been Yerba Buena Cove, Mission Bay, or underground creeks sustained the worst damage and the greatest loss of life. Fifty general-alarm fires were started by the quake overturning boilers, wood and coal stoves and rupturing gas lines.

South of Market fires spread rapidly through wood rooming houses and residential hotels, burning Market Street in the afternoon. Other fires began in the Produce District and then spread to the Financial District and Chinatown. Later in the morning "The Ham and Eggs Fire" ignited in Hayes Valley, which eventually connected with the South of Market fire and consumed much of the Mission District.

The Fire Department was in a hopeless situation, since the temblor had ruptured most of the water mains and Fire Chief Dennis Sullivan had been mortally injured during the quake. Without water the only way to battle the conflagration was dynamiting buildings along wide streets to create firebreaks. Dynamiting along Market, California and Powell Streets failed to stop the inferno.

The way that Greg organized his slides, the course of the spreading fire could be seen as it spread. The clouds of smoke seemed like an element of nature, blocking the sky as would an approaching series of huge storm clouds, dwarfing every manmade thing. The crowd at the Page Street library were transported to the scene and time, audibly sighing and gasping as Greg’s slides followed one after another, laced by his knowledgeable commentary.
Troops from the Presidio and Ft. Mason, under General Frederick Funston, kept the residents under control at the point of a bayonet. Mayor Eugene Schmitz authorized the shooting of anyone engaged in any crimes; many San Franciscans were shot as suspected looters. Soldiers them-selves looted liquor from stores and railroad cars. The troops were responsible for starting two of the more destructive blazes.

Heroic battles to contain the advancing flames by forming firebreaks succeeded on Guerrero Street which saved Eureka Valley (the Castro); Van Ness, which preserved the Western Addition and Pacific Heights; and 20th Street which saved half of the Mission District. The Lower and Upper Haight were saved when the Fire Department prevented the Hayes Valley fire from advancing to the west.

On Friday, April 20th, the wind shifted and the firestorm swept east over Russian Hill, through North Beach and over Telegraph Hill. The fire moved so quickly that thousands of people were trapped by the advancing flames. In one of history's largest land/sea evacuations, the USS Chicago and a flotilla of smaller boats rescued 20,000 from the shoreline below Telegraph Hill.
When the fires were finally extinguished on April 21, refugees took over the parks and squares. The Haight, which escaped the fire, became the distribution point for supplying food and other necessities to the homeless living in tents in Golden Gate Park. Fillmore Street became San Francisco's main commercial street.

Anyone who had a camera with film took photos of the event. Greg Gaar has been collecting historic photo-graphs of the Earthquake and Fire for many years.
Unbelievably, within three years, San Francisco was completely rebuilt and in 1915 the Panama Pacific International Exposition would take place in the future Marina District to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal and the rebirth of the Queen City of the West.

Significant City Trees to get Landmark Legislation

Supervisor Jake McGoldrick's Landmark/Significant Tree Legislation passed the second reading before the full Board of Supervisors Tuesday, January 17. If signed by the Mayor, this legislation will give city officials wider powers to protect large trees in San Francisco, including those on private property.

The legislation, sponsored by Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, would allow the Board, the city's Planning Commission, the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board, the Urban Forestry Council and the head of any city department to nominate trees for "landmark" protective status.
Once nominated as a landmark, the Urban Forestry Council recommend at a public hearing whether to accept or reject the nomination. However, the final decision would be up to the Board of Supervisors.

A tree that is nominated would be evaluated based on its size, age, species, whether it provides habitat, its historical importance to a particular neighborhood and how prominent a feature it is in City's landscape.

San Francisco has one of the lowest percentages of tree cover of any large American city, supporters of the bill say. Opponents believe that the legislation will unfairly make residents responsible for the cost of maintaining large and aging trees on their property.

After landmark status is granted for a tree, it could not be removed without a public hearing and approval from the Department of Public Works. Cutting down a landmark tree without permission
could bring a fine as high as $1,000 and a requirement to pay for replacement of the tree.
Carolyn Blair, director of the San Francisco Tree Council, was delighted that the Supervisors supported McGoldrick's legislation. "It is extremely difficult for individuals to protect their trees, especially when they're up against large developers," Blair said. "To replant and regrow a tree after a significant tree is cut down, it would take more than 30 years to regain the benefits that the public is now receiving."

The legislation is important to change attitudes about the city's neighborhood trees, which are often taken for granted. "Trees are habitat for birds and are part of the quality of life of people in an urban area," Peskin said. “People should think twice before they say it's a hassle, it's blocking myview, let's cut it down."


Supervisors to consider Port Commission reform

Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced a charter amendment in December that would establish minimum qualifications for port commissioners, limit them to two terms and increase the commission from five to seven seats.

If the amendment is adopted by the Board of Supervisors and approved by voters in June, the current members of the commission would be removed from office on Aug. 1, 2006 and the mayor would appoint seven new commissioners
.
After recent high-profile battles over development on the waterfront, Peskin wants to shake up the commission guiding the Port of San Francisco to make it more responsive to the public. These changes to the Port Commission’s structure would go to voters in June 2006.

TREASURE ISLAND development:
Newest proposal pleases Environmentalists


After years of urging that Treasure Island (TI) be developed for no more than 7, 000 residents with a large park that is mainly wetland restoration and habitat creation, environmental activists were elated last month to learn that developers will create a new town center next to a relocated Ferry terminal with a cluster of “smart growth” housing nearby AND a huge new wetland to the northwest of the island. The trade-off would be two or three high-rise residential towers to be a visual counterpoint to the towers of the City. See next month’s SFT newsletter for the details of this story . .



San Francisco Tomorrow (SFT), founded in 1970, is a city-wide urban environmental organization. SFT is dedicated to promoting environmental quality, neighborhood livability and good government in San Francisco. SFT concentrates on environmental issues from sewers to skylines. If you’re not a member of SFT or you think that your membership isn’t up to date, visit our website: sanfranciscotomorrow.org

Responding to the just released Recreation and Parks

Audit, General Manager Yomi Agunbiade states,

“The department would like to make the payments from the Golf Fund to the Open Space Fund on as expeditious a schedule as possible. However, any increase in the payment schedule depends on the financial health of the Golf Fund, which is currently somewhat tenuous.” Story page one