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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Neighborhood Parks Council Forum

Candidates began with 1 minute opening remarks, but in this heat, I may not be able to get them all down. Questions and responses will also be on the NPC website.

In attendance:

Nyese Joshua
Kristine Enea
Malia Cohen
Eric Smith
Steve Moss
Geoffrea Morris
Chris Jackson
Tony Kelly
DeWitt Lacy
Lynette Sweet
Rodney Hampton, Jr
Teresa Duqué (left the forum early)

Ok... Raw notes below...

1. What will you do for Bayview residents who lack access to open space?

TD. Keep career criminals out
RH. No coherent answer
LS. Wants residents to have more input. Port blue greenway. Mentioned the Transbay cable project.
DL. New development has an open space plan. Need new funding sources. California endowment linking SF and Oakland together. Need more opportunities for people reentering community from prisons. He would have a dedicated grant writer for this.
TK. Substantial funding is already here but is being used for other things. Must be used for things like urban agriculture, for which no training is required. Build open space first. Clean up pollution increases value of land and entices people to build.
CJ. People in neighborhoods weren't asked what they want. Kristine Enea has a good approach (yes he said this). Hire local people to do remediation work in parks.
GM. Too often have to wait for new parks. What about old parks? Start a park group - has been talking about this with Kristine Enea (yes, she mentioned her, too), Marlene Tran, others.
SM. He helped close Hunters Point power plant. His non-profit got money from Transbay cable to clean up sites. We are sitting on toxic land that needs to be cleaned up. Need to go to Washington, DC to get money to do clean up, but no one seems to be doing that yet.
ES. Continue doing what he's doing such as the two Sunday streets along Third. He is a LEJ member. Teaching youth about environment. Involve community.
MC. It's time to pull off the gloves. Concerned about downtown interests funding certain candidates. Asked where has the Chamber of Commerce been in helping parks?
KE. Has done much already. She got her neighborhood park on the list to get restrooms. Much harder to do than it sounds. Need equity. Eco center. Has filmed a full length documentary bringing attn. to our parklands. Currently working on a $5M grant to get money to parks. City needs to purchase open space to keep it open.
NJ. If people are homeless, the need for parks is moot. She has been fighting the BAAQM District for poisoning children. City of San Bruno now dealing with the same air quality issues we do thanks to PG&E pipe explosion.

2. Do you support park renovations like that at Silver Terrace Playground?

CJ. No: need places to live and better schools before park renovations of any kind.
TK. The city is not broke, just has its priorities wrong. Need expand resources. Currently, fields are for citywide interests, not neighborhood or local interests. Looked to KE's ideas regarding bringing disk golf to India basin and not McLaren Park
DW. Local parks need to be for locals; bring back more space for kids
LS. D10 parks used to have real grass. Against the Silver Terrace park artificial turf - new renovations would have to be real grass
RH. Would encourage natural open space (grass). Park spaces bring people together and killed crime in his neighborhood. Materials used need to be natural.
TD. Open space important, but need to keep to the budget. Don't want to allow criminals in parks
NJ. Of course, but who will do the work? Project will enhance neighborhood, but need to hire locals to build.
KE. Support renovation. Important to talk about whom its for. McLaren Park: the city says there's no money to staff it, but they won't allow volunteers to do it. Need to have more creative thinking. Also need more irrigation that works
MC. KE is right. SE part of city is a priority. Need a bond measure for D10 parks. Pathways to careers. Local 261 organizes gardeners in McLaren Park.
ES. Supportive of Silver Terrace park, but need natural space.
SM. Has played at all parks in SE part of the city. Lots of parks, but no recreation in this part of town. No real park space for kids, but we have the space and resources
GM. need to have local hire legislation. Support Silver Terrace park renovation. Said, have you ever been playing a sport and stepped in a gopher hole?" Keep artificial turf for sports that need good surfaces.

3. What is the best use of clubhouses and how would you create jobs?

MC. Partner laborers with unemployed locals in caring for parks. Clubhouses are for everyone to enjoy.
KE. Keep them public and for local use. Clubhouses are public entities, not for private use - uses should be locals only. Sports fields for locals. Make sure that their uses make sense. Need more programs like Brown Bombers in our parks
NJ. Stop firing people who work for parks. Parks used to be full of people. Would fight to bring back quality parks. Doesn't want new parks. Parks have been stripped.
TD. Clubhouses should be for the people of D10
RH. Create jobs that train people to run parks. Clubhouses should be safe havens taht foster family interactions
LS. Has seen what clubhouses means to community - jobs and public safety. Parks are resources for next gen. More after school programs in parks. Jobs - local hire in parks is easy.
DL. After school programs. Large population reentering neighborhood from prison. Expand back on track program. Excess money could be used to hire people to teach or coach Brown Bombers and sports teams
TK. Clubhouses need to be public and accessible. Bring back centers that have been closed. City has 26000 employees, bit can't lose more people at parks and rec
CJ. Keep public and staffed, especially over the weekend. Could be access points for farmers markets, etc. Bring people to parks through the clubhouses. Local people hired to work in parks.
GM. HP Family rents Gilman park. Not opposed to non profits renting out clubhouses. All for non profits renting out to support. Local residents.
SM. Local 261. Parks used to be controlled by director who knew what community wants. New professional model but should shift to community model to have local control.
ES. GG park tennis club closed bc staff laid off. Non profit made up of members cleaned up bc park and rec wasnt there. Communities need to be able to get into clubhouses when city wont.

4. What is your vision for McLaren park: disk golf, off leash dog, etc

LS. Revamp the amphitheater. Disk golf might be something worthwhile looking at if revenues down. Could teach people to golf in McLaren Park.
RH. Large enough for all. Golf: work with community to integrate teach people to golf (we're talking about DISK GOLF people, not regular golf at Gleneagles!!)
TD. Lots of people use the park already. Would make changes to disk golf proposal.
NJ. More involvement needed with local community. Eliminate need for environmental impact reports to keep housing out of parks.
KE. McLaren disk golf wouldn't have been so troublesome if locals had been consulted. Need to get nets on basketball hoops, etc. Need to offer other locations for disk golf. Promote SF Urban Riders. Look at natural contours and let that determine use
MC. Wants McLaren to be a park where people from all over the world come to visit. Not in favor of disk golf. Off-leash area for dogs is a necessity. Clubhouse needs to be rebuilt. Attract some tourist dollars to park.
ES. Loves this park and loves disk golf. Doesn't necessarily want it in McLaren, however. No space for golfers at McLaren park. If locals wanted it, would be different.
SM. Fierce love of McLaren park. Needs master plan with community input and money. Need thoughtful approach to make asset better the way he community wants.
GM. Need community support. Doesn't know what disk golf is. Disconnect between neighborhoods. Needs more lighting in the park, as it's not safe. OK with off-leash dog areas
CJ. Must include disconnected neighborhoods in planning for park, especially Sunnydale. Make the park for locals who live here now, not for future residents
TK. Make the park bigger. Make it a destination for passive recreation. Likes off leash dog space.
DL. Disk golf shouldn't dominate space but can combine bird watching and habitat. Separate space for dogs. Charge people from outside zip to use park

5. Esprit Park drinking fountain? Yes/No? Everyone said "yes".

GM. Where is Esprit Park?

6. How do you ensure HP Development is as green as possible and links to the Blue Greenway and new parks


TD. Need a panel to oversee Lennar
RH. Community oversight of Lennar, accountability
LS. Is a former Sf Redevelopment Committee member. Need political will to oversee Lennar. Blue Greenway has three sections. Middle part needs monitoring to make sure linkage happens.
DL. Do it contractually. Much negotiating ahead. Need someone who understands contract law.
TK. Plan and build open space first. Creativity around financing.
CJ. Local hiring makes this green. Bring neighborhood services to keep people out of their cars. Parks have plans for artificial turf - need to make it natural.
GM. Restore citizen advisory board. People need to be able to discuss this. Ensure total cleanup.
SM. Residents don't trust Lennar. His nonprofit built trust by giving things away and wanting nothing back. Lennar needs to build trust with community in this way.
ES. Former member of the restoration committee. Don't trust either Navy or Lennar. Make them accountable. Get rid of tons of waste
MC. Need civic engagement. Maintain political will to keep connection btwn Greenway. More accountability.
KE. Knows more than anyone in the room about this project. It's the Navy's responsibility. Must restore Redevelopment Advisory Board (RAB). Knows how to deal with Navy because she's done it. There exists a gap between the shipyard and the port, so need to build a pathway first.
NJ. City is complicit with Lennar in poisoning children. Fence the shipyard and don't let anyone in ever again. No way they'll get it clean enough for people to be able to use it.

7. How do you get people motivated to help in the parks?

TK. People already are. Hire for enthusiasm more than for skill.
DL. People are motivated. Engage the community. Knock on doors. Just like campaigning. Get kids involved
LS. We all have the "What's in it for me" syndrome. People are only going to want to be a volunteer if parks are open for people.
RH. Identify key people to take care of their own
NJ. Grieving community in recovery. Must consider things going on that have left out human cost.
KE. Make it easy and empower people. Show results. Bring opportunities to people - don't expect them to come to you
MC. Agree w/ two points from KE. Make it easy. Streamline pocket parks. Taking things away from people motivates them. Once engaged, that's how they're empowered
ES. Community members motivated but up against a brick wall of parks and rec. Needs to change.
SM. Potrero View did article about this but got no response from parks and rec. Lying throughout from the city needs to be changed to get people engaged. Some ideas can get too big to be implemented.
GM. Utilize the Jobs Now program. Use social services to bring people in. Streamline process to bring groups together
CJ. Park staff talk at meetings but don't listen to residents. We need to feel like our advice will be adhered to. Increase outreach.

Whew!

3 comments:

  1. So the backdoor stuff is starting to show thru. The (ahem) less credible candidates are starting to merge/purge. Witness the back scratching of Enea/Jackson/Morris/Cohen. Now there's a sight of political un-correctedness. Enea supports nothing new or liberal or any tax whatsover, Jackson is an ultra-progressive who only shops at unionized stores like Safeway but wants mom and pop shops on every corner, and Morris who implored us a Vilma's to vote for her because she's a "worker bee." Note to Morris - Supervisor is an elected leadership role. If we wanted a worker bee we'd hire one. And what does Cohen mean when she says "taking things away from people motivates them"? Sounds like she's running on fumes. Anyway, it's getting close to the big day and soon we'll be able to pull down the tent and close the show.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Anon, thanks for your comment. Just wanted to let folks know that I've indeed had behind the scenes conversations with other candidates but none with Malia, Chris or Geoffrea. Geoffrea did talk to one of my volunteers about improving neighborhood support for parks, and I look forward to working with her on that after the election. It was a good idea and I support it openly.

    One reason my ideas might not seem original anymore is because so many of them have been endorsed by other candidates over the past year: pursuing a $5M grant to bring urban ag to Hunters Point, finding a home in Dogpatch for the most successful youth-jobs program in D10, creating a historic district in the Bayview Town Center, prioritizing development of water transit, Pier 70 and the Blue-Greenway as the first step in attracting tourism and tourist spending to D10, shifting $60M+ in Redevelopment spending toward economic development, making the Shipyard small builder program even more fine-grained, and tightening Redevelopment's 50% local hire rules. In fact, I was in the room when the local hire policy was written several years ago, and I was the one who flushed out and corrected its weaknesses as well as called for a review of its effect after one year. So, the new trendy idea in the campaign is something I've been working on for years already.

    Video of most of the forums are online - check them out. I think you'll see that this entire race has been framed by ideas that I've been the first to introduce. I say this not to defend my own record but to emphasize that other candidates "agree with Kristine" in every single forum because my ideas are the people's ideas. They come from nearly six years of listening to and working with the community. They are all fundable, and they will all work.

    To clarify re: taxes - I was asked at one forum which of the local tax increases I support, and my answer was none of them at this time. Increasing local taxes in a down economy will only drive businesses to Brisbane and South San Francisco. I have opinions about revising state and federal tax laws but don't think they're relevant to the local Supervisor's race.

    As for whether I'm liberal, I just have to laugh. I support gay marriage and the arts. I'm a singer, writer and filmmaker. I wrote two books on the importance of taking time off from work and I'm producing a documentary about San Francisco's greenest building: the Heron's Head Park EcoCenter. I grew up in Los Altos but chose to make my home in Hunters Point. I've been to Burning Man twice. I had my campaign kickoff at Velma's nightclub. This was back in March, by the way. Go ask Velma how many other politicians want to copy that idea now. I'm glad I played a role in getting her the recognition she deserves for bringing such a positive vibe to the Southeast Sector.

    I've been at the forefront of positive change in D10 since long before the campaign started, and I'm pleased that so many other candidates have chosen to follow my lead. All I would say to undecided voters is - why not go directly to the source? My track record shows that I'm the leader with the ideas that will work. I trust the voters to do the right thing and elect a compassionate, experienced, original thinker.

    Let the good times roll,
    Kristine

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  3. Nobody doubts Kristine is a fine person. Unfortunately this is an election and that means there's a certain amount of politics involved. Politics includes fund raising, endorsements, walking the district, volunteers, and printed literature. I'm a D10 resident and I've been campaigning a few afternoons and some weekends for the past few months. I've never seen an Enea volunteer, an Enea flier, or ever spoken with a voter who had ever heard of her, at least not in the precincts I've walked. No window signs, nothing. In a way she reminds me of the Atari Lynx from the 1990's. You could link 16 of them together and play hand-held games on a color screen. It was light-years ahead of its time. NIntendo came out with the black and white Game Boy and buried the Lynx, and Atari too, for that matter. Not because the product was better. It wasn't even close. Advertising. Pure and simple. As I said, Kristine is a fine person but not a politician.

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