Hall Monitor

Garage wars Just as the San Francisco Planning Commission was about to flip-flop on plans to build a massive underground parking garage in Golden Gate Park – by approving the environmental report that it had unanimously rejected July 17, just a week earlier (see "Golden Gate Park Reversal," 8/6/03) – longtime park activist Kathy Roberts appealed to the social conscience of the panel's members.

"I want to thank you so much for your historic decision last week. It seems like a monumental event with all the power and money that is on the side of the garage," Roberts said. "But this is a public park. And once we put this garage in there, we're stuck with it."

Yet that didn't stop the commission from voting 6-1 to sign off on plans to rip up the Music Concourse and destroy a 100-year-old pedestrian tunnel beloved by many park-goers. The powers behind the garage, including Wells Fargo heir Warren Hellman, had made their move, and the pressure was on. M.H. de Young Memorial Museum director Harry Parker – who spearheaded efforts to pass 1998's successful Proposition J, calling for the construction of a garage – wants the structure to be completed in time for the museum's reopening in 2005. Parker and museum supporters believe the garage will help the institution increase attendance by making it easier for visitors to find parking, especially on Sundays when part of JFK Drive is closed to motorists (see "Hellman's Hole," 2/5/03).

Undeterred, the activists are continuing the fight, believing the future of Golden Gate Park should not be determined by wealthy interests associated with the museum. On Aug. 13, the Alliance for Golden Gate Park appealed the planning commission's decision to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

The document, the group says, is far from adequate for numerous reasons. Chief among them: it does not take into consideration the impacts of other projects planned in the concourse or traffic in nearby neighborhoods. Moreover, the campaign behind Prop. J promised voters the project would result in a "pedestrian oasis" and put out campaign signs featuring drawings of a car-free concourse. The idea was that eliminating car traffic on the surface of the concourse would make it easier for pedestrians and bicyclists to enjoy the scenic spot. But after the report was completed, plans to redirect cross-park traffic were dropped.

If the supervisors, who are scheduled to take up the matter Sept. 16, don't see fit to turn down the environmental report, the activists have other plans aimed at stopping construction of the garage. The alliance is currently raising money to fund a lawsuit against the city.

"Those of us who voted against the de Young's green-washed garage need to rally now," Alliance member Stephen Willis told us. "Golden Gate Park is for all of us, not just some of us." To get involved or donate to the lawsuit, call the Alliance for Golden Gate Park at (415) 621-3090. (Savannah Blackwell)

The Daly show-me Sup. Chris Daly introduced a resolution to the Board of Supervisors Aug. 20 urging City Controller Ed Harrington to review the financial impact of high Pacific Gas and Electric Co. electricity rates on the local economy, as reported in a Bay Guardian article last September (see "The $620 Million Shakedown," 9/4/02).

The article indicated that PG&E's 40 percent rate hike two years ago sucked $620 million from the San Francisco economy. The figures cited in our analysis were based on a methodology developed by an economist from Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, who last year studied the impact of a rate cut by the public Long Island Power Authority.

Daly and Sup. Matt Gonzalez had asked Harrington to analyze the full impact of high PG&E bills during a hearing last October, but Harrington's office said they never formally received the request. Daly aide Bill Barnes said Daly was now submitting a resolution to follow up his request nine months ago.

"I think it's going to pass," Barnes told us. "[Now], hopefully the controller will do it."

The measure requires a unanimous vote for immediate adoption, which was set for Aug. 26 after press time. Any one supervisor can delay approval by sending the resolution to committee for a hearing. (Matthew Hirsch)

Condo library The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan Aug. 19 to purchase a condominium unit in the proposed Glen Park Marketplace for use as the neighborhood's branch library. The vote cleared the way for the supes to finalize a public-private partnership with the marketplace developers Aug. 26 despite numerous neighborhood objections to the project (see "Let Them Eat Books," 8/20/03).