Transcripts For SFGTV Recreation And Park Commission 20240711

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Written comments may also be sent via the u. S. Postal service to San Francisco recreation and Park Commission 501 sanyon street, San Francisco, california 94117. Please note that this meeting is recorded and will be available on sfgovtv. Org. Item 2, president s report. Thank you very much. This is somewhat a bittersweet moment, but i would like to say a few words about our departing commissioner, tom harrison, and then welcome other comments from commissioners and staff. After 16 years of Exemplary Service to the recreation and Park Commission and department, we are saying gooed bye to tom harrison. I will be brief. But i will tell you that first and foremost, tom harrison is a good man. He has enormous character and he cares deeply after a lifetime of service to the department as an employee, he cares deeply about the parts. Additionally, tom was always willing, whenever asked, to step in and help with the commission at events public and otherwise and i fully extend my gratitude to him for willing that on short notice and always doing a fine job. In addition, tom initiated many important projecteds in the system by suggesting and implementing improvements. He will be missed and i conclude by saying i consider him a good friend and honourable soul. Ashley . You brought the voice of the park users to keep the parks open for all of us to enjoy i personally think you brought a lot of class to the commission and its a tall order for our president to maintain that class. [laughter] and you are a good friend and i hope to see you walking along Marina Boulevard soon and please be come back and continue to be a friended of our parks and the commission. Thank you. Thank you. I think youre on maoutz, ashley. Commissioner anderson . Hi, tom. I cant sea you, but i think youre there with ashley. I second what commissioner lowe says about your class and all things outwardly and inwardly. I always looked forward to seeing what you were wearing in the events that we attended and know that you are the prince of the pocket square this is a really nice appointment and also gave me such a great sense of security and continuity and even love. The love that you offer to San Francisco residents is evident in everything this you did and i also consider you a brother in arms because you and i both have union backgrounds and we understand how important it has been particularly for young people with the apprenticeship programmes. It is amazing to see the great pride in the graduates that we have celebrated every year. Ill be missing you at those evens and i just want to thank you for your long service and volunteerism and just being, you know, a fellow liker and lover of San Francisco and were neighbours so lets keep in touch. Ok . Ok. Thank you. Once i was appointed, the very first phone call i made was to tom harrison. I wanted to get the benefit of his 16 years of experience. We met at masconi playground the second week of september and we chatted for over an hour. We talked about everything from his youth, growing up in the richmond and going to Washington High School to the state of City Politics today after a few moments, he just showed that it was like you were talking to someone you knew your whole life. And i think everyone on this commission has had that experience with tom. So, tom, thank you for the time. You are a true gentleman. One of the great people of this city and im going to be using you as a resource for many years to come. Thank you, tom. I wantinged to express my gratitude for your many years of service for this community that we love so much. Thank you so much. Thank you. Commissioner mozzola. Tom, ive known you many years. I was lucky to get to work with you on this commission and i all you did for the commission and the city. In that capacity. But more importantly, you are a voice for the workers out there and always have been on this board and that is an important factor because those are the people on the ground doing all the work. And you handled that gracefully and took their took their their grievances or accoladess to the board and let us all know what they were feeling. You came from those ranks and worked out there for years in a bunch of different capacities including shaw steward and supervisor, but your your knowledge and commitment is second to none. So i praoernlts everything youve done for the Labour Movement and all the workers out in the maintenance yard at rec and park. So, thank you. Commissioner mcdonald. I was taught by an amazing woman some year ago about the word mens and you more than qualify, you embody. There are a few that i know that love perhaps even more than i the city of San Francisco. Side note, i forgive you for going to washington. Its ok. My wife went to washington, but hey. I guess you have to go somewhere. But in all seriousness, tom, thank you so much for being what what the chamber called leadership San Francisco and the point is to create what we Call Community trustees. Folks who hold the city dearly and are concerned and invested in its wellbeing for all citizens of our city. You have embodied that. Both in your time serving the city, in your time certainly here on the commission and so thank you. On behalf of all of us who call San Francisco home and love the city. Appreciate all that youve done. And certainly wish you all the best. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. President buell, would you like me to read [inaudible]. Yeah. Lets let mr. Ginsberg weigh in on all this. Ok. Sure. Thank you. So, tom, a little surprise. Im down the hall from you right now. One of the very few that stepped into my office the last six or seven months which has been remarkable in and of itself. But wanted to be here because youre here. Commissioners all do such wonderful things. I thought id share a little bit more actually for the public and for our new commissioners about your history. While 16 years a long time to be a commissioner and its not easy to work for, i think it was four different mayors. The 10year connection to this department goes well beyond that. If i have my math correct, this is your 56th year. With the recreation and Park Department in one role or another. And to highlight, you started your career in 1964 with the department, brief aside, i wasnt born until 66, tom. But i needed to say it. Youve stayed connected to this department longer than ive been alive. Thats pretty amazing. And whats also amazing is that your first job with the department was as an assistant gardener and well come back to that because that was a class that may have existed then and didnt for a long, long time. And, you know, in the final chapter of your career with this department, youve basically resuscitated that class and what i think is one of your greatest accomplishments and biggest legacies with the departments. After being assistant gardener for a few years, you actually then did your first tour of duty with local 261, if i am correct as a shop steward for about five years. And then you promoted from assistant gardener to gardener where you worked until 1984 and then you had the great job and great pleasure of being an insecticide Spray Operator from 84 to 88. During your time in the feel, in addition to whatever you did or didnt do to disruptive bugs and crediters, you were responsible for stewarding some of this departmentss most historical and contextually important assets. You were a big wreck. You worked at all five of our golf courses. You had a profound impact, this department has been around for the system has been around for 150 years and when you think about, you know, your tenure as both an employee and beyond, you walk among the greats in terms of history of this department. A. You finish your work in the field, you decided to return to the union where you were a business rep again and then you became assistant Business Manager where you worked up until 2002 and then in 2004, you became a commission kerr. I donten what kind of trouble you were causing in those years between 2002 and 2004, but im sure you were doing something. But 56 years. When i think about the last almost 12 that you and i have worked together and i think about some of the places and spaces where youve had your most impact as a commissioner, i return to your first role here as assistant gardener, which is your leadership in creating the first more Cultural Apprenticeship Programme in the state of california. That is a legacy, i many , my friend, that will be around for a long, long, long time and has done so much to add to the Workforce Development opportunity and to the con instruct of equity and construct of professional development and professional standards by creating this programme that offers new pathways and access to people interested in the field that dont have prior experience. It is really remarkable thing youve done. That is not all. One of the commissioners talked about how much you care about staff. I know commissioner mozzola commend about that. But that was the theme amongst all the comments. Your leadership where we were actually for a while recognizing gardeners and recognizing all park recreation and maintenance staff and has lead to doing something for our staff and celebrate their accomplishments and its, you know, a fun party. When we used to have those. And then i want to thank you for your leadership on some tough votes. You helped make sure you did your part for the legacy of Golden Gate Park by voting to support the reenvisioning of the recycling centre into Community Garden which still exists today. You took up you made a courageous vote to bring on a new more professional vendor at the boathouse and, you know, you stuck up for kids and supported the soccer field. Youve also been a champion of the open space fund of investing more in deferred maintenance in camp mather and in your attire, your professional dress, which is a place i feel i have not quite been able to live up to. But that is why we have denny. [laughter] i want to read a few things very quickly from some of my colleagues. Im not sure if theyre on the call or not. But im going to just read three quotes and if you are on this call and preparing to say it, my apologies, guys. We asked some staff have been around for a long time for some thoughts about you and so lisa ling who runs our Natural Resources division, she said its always been such a pleasure to have commissioner harrison on the commission because he has such an understanding of the inner workings of the departments. Hes been a stalwart supporter of the local men and women of 261 and fully respects how challenging their jobs r. I also appreciate how humbling and approachable he is. I was eight months pregnant when i presented the departments Resource Management plan to the commission. I remember commissioner harrison looking sympathetickly at me at the podium. Over the last 14 years, when our paths would cross, he never asked me an opportunity to ask me about his son and i never missed an tounls ask him about his stylish eye wear. From roeshts watkins. I was here when tom was a gardener. He was our union representive at the time. He was assigned to the crocker complex and on his first day there he had to work with one of those gardeners that no one wants to work with. He got to know about some of the gardeners that the union had to represent and gave him a new perspective on the unions role. Hoe has always been knowledgeable and able to answer the questions. He is a classy guy and ill miss him. And then lastly from steve. His tenure on the commission has been unparalleled. His intimate knowledge of critical maintenance practices required to sustain the projects and policies approved by the commission guided his decisions, saving the city countless tax dollars. His thoughtful probing and perspective helped ensure projects Meeting Commission approval were conscientious,able and most of all sustainable. His calm, no nonsense approach has been appreciated by literally thousands of r. P. D. Employees over the years. He start as advisor, counselor and sometimes con confidant during the challenging days. His legacy with r. P. D. And the commission will live on in the commitments and dedication employees today share for the realization of San Franciscos park system stream. Thank you for your service, dedication and friendship. And we didnt have time to read a thousand comments but i think that there are a thousand people in this organization that would say the same things about you, tom. Again, 56 years of service and an organization that is only 150 years old. You walk among giants in the creation of this park system and ill stop and then join you and ashley by concluding with the theme that mark and commissioner buell and commissioner mcdonald started which said you are a kind and decent guy and commissioner mcdonald took it one step further. Thank you, commissioner. And said you are a mench. You are one of biggest menches there is. Well miss you on the commission. But your legacy and contributions, the seeds you planted will be around for a long, long, long, long time. Do you want me to say the nice stuff at the end . Say a lot of nice stuff at tend because phil did cover whats in the resolution and give who the resolution is from and concluding remarks. Before i do, ill say thank you to commissioner harrison for welcoming me into a role that had been filled by the same person for 23 years. With open arms and also who, after i had a child recently, called me to see how i was doing. And that was really appreciated. Ok. So, toward the end of the resolution, which is from the commission and ill be bringing it to him. He is about 20 feet away from me in just a moment. Whereas with the additional time he will now have, the commission wishes him relaxing and joyful times with his children heather and matthew, along with their spouses car low and ruby his four grandchildren, julia, evan, charlie and maya and he will be deeply missed his by former commissioners and colleagues to whom he has remained a faithful Public Servant and cherished friend. Now be it resolved that the members of the recreation and Park Commission on behalf of the employees and citizens on the city of San Francisco do hereby greatfully recognize commissioner tom harrisons contributions to the city and do express to him great appreciation for his decades of dedication and hard work as a city employee, Union Representative and commissioner for the Road Commission riation and Park Commission. And president buell, additionally, ill be wacking over over and bringing you a proclamation from mayor breed which declares november 19, 2020 as tom harrison day in San Francisco. Whew good job. I got a day. [applause] im going to stand behind him. From the department, we have a few gifts as well. Of course, we talk about your role in shaping the park system. Today we call commissioner harrison the commissioner harrison department. This is for you. [applause] great. And then in honour of your tenure on the capital committee, and the good work you did that has enabled us to pass [inaudible], a tshirt all right. And then finally because this is so much about your legacy, this is christopher pollacks book published on the 150th anniversary of [inaudible] park and all the places that you stewarded. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. I will give you an elbow bump and then go back to my cave. And the Commission Resolution and the won from mayor breed. Thank you. President buell, ill be brief as you were. I prepared a few paints here. Good morning commissioner and general manager ginsberg. I want to thank you for this honour. For me there is only one word to express how i feel gratitude. Grats tuesdayed to mayor newsom for appointing me twice, to mayor lee for reapointing me twice. And for the city and to the city for hiring me in the first place. Gratitude for help and support and especially to Margaret Mcarthur who, from day one on the commission, kept me on track. And Phil Ginsberg for making rec and park the most favoured department in the city. It has been an honour and a pleasure to serve with you. Thank you for this honour. Anyway, it has been a great trip. Believe me. Eni enjoyed every minute of it from march, i think it was march 3, 1964. Theres been shaky moments. But i made it. Thank you all very much for this honour. Its really touching. Touching. And im now apt to go google mench. [laughter] menche with an e. I want to encourage you when this covid event is over and we once again meet in person, that there is a Public Comment part of the agenda and we expect to see you there telling us what we should be doing and how we should be doing it. God bless and take care. I do hope at some point will come by but i dont think i will soon because you guy dos a pretty good job of it. It has been a real pleasure. Congratulationss to our new commissioners. Good luck. All right. God bless. Bye now. Byebye, john. [applause] one moment. Main men yaoufm press starstar to access the help menu. Well give ashley a minute to reassemble thing here and move on to, i think probably the general managers report. Ok. It is not often you get a person in real life so i wanted to say goodbye in real life. Thank you, ash. Yes. Do you have anything else for the president s report . I do not. [inaudible]. What was that . That concludes my report. Paul, do we have anyone on the line for Public Comment on the president s report . There are no hands raised. Ok. Thank you. That concludes Public Comment. We are now on item three, general managers report. Thank you, ashley. Good morning, commissioners. I have a few items for you today and ill try to move through them. First, a little bit of good news. This is the first time weve been together since election day and propa passed with more than 71 of the vote. San franciscans have approved proposition a which includes 487. 5 million in bonds for transitional Supportive Housing facilities, streets and parks. 239 million for park improvements, including over 101 million for neighbourhood parks. 18 million for some of our citywide parks. 86 million for something we call recovery parks. 14 million for sustainability projects and 6 million for the Community Opportunity fund which, by the way, was another one of toms legacies. He always sat on the he was the commissioner representative and there may have been others. But he was on two rounds of grant reviews for the Community Opportunity fund in the 2008 and 2012 bond. He loved that role and took it very seriously. One million for trails and 600,000 for urban agriculture. The bond will benefit projects that this commission and a lot of our staff have been working on for some time, including india basin, the rec centre, hertz playground, the Cannon Street mall, the japan town peace plaza, and will also allow for projects like portsmouth square, jackson park, Sunset Playground and some work in Golden Gate Park. Im very grateful to the commission for all of your guidance and leadership. It helped get this thing on the ballot and special shoutout to my incredible staff. These things passed because, you know, voters trust us. And voters trust us because our work is thorough and diligent and thoughtful. So to the entire capital and Planning Team to the Public Affairs division and sarah mad lynns team that did an incredible amount of work, our operations division, right . These projects dont get designed in a vacuum or planned in a vacuum. Our gardeners, our structural maintenance team, our park rangers and rec staff, they are involved in the planning of these projects every step of the way. So just a Great Team Effort in what has been a cruzed did week and awful year, this was particularly rewarding. This creates so much opportunity and really invests in communitis that are high needs, that are deserving. Their equity runs through every step of the way. Some of these projects are really important and transformational for communities wait ago long time. Were super excited about it. Recently completed an open renovation project include the ale lis Chalmers Playground in the Alice Crocker neighbourhood at 3. 7 million renovation. Sergeants John Mccauley played in the tenderloin, a 2. 9 million renovation. West portal playground, a 3. 4 million renovation. [inaudible] playground in the o. M. I. , which weve opened up phase one of that project and are in the planning phase for planning process for the second half which will improve that space even more. A new, incredible playground in mclaren park called redwood grove, one that i hoo ily, highly recommend you try to go out and visit. All these projects are great. This one is just off the hook. Off the hook. From inch to inch. The new clubhouse, the ball fields, renovated basketball courts. Just the circulation layout, accessability of the space. It is thoughtful contemplation of how we maintain it. Our partnership with the department of emergency management, which is our neighbour. Really amazing, thoughtful project. And then most recently, thank you commissioner for joining me out at stanyan edge where we celebrated really a new vision for the eastern edge of Golden Gate Park with pathways that celebrate our oak woodlands that renovated the lake. We have new lighting. We converted that old shed that was once a restroom and then became a gardener shed and maybe commissioner harrison may have kept a few things there and its falling into disrepair on the eastern edge of the park and we completely renovated it and it is now public restrooms. It is in the park selling coffee and pastris with a couple of bocce parks right there and the plaza space is just fantastic. Many of projects all of these projects, whether theyre bond projects, a lot of them were, but a lot of them also were because of partnership and philanthropiy and i want to acknowledge our team from the San Francisco Parks Alliance working on the initiative, lisa bramson, dru becker, which prioritizes 13 improvements from around the city. Commissioner mcdonald, you were on the task force that helps select those projects. Thank you very much for that. And were almost home. We have a small amount of money left to raise and just a few more playgrounds to complete our renovations on that project and that programme will come to fruition just in time to tackle a new batch of playgrounds from the 2020 parks fund. Other projects which were finishing and plan to reopen soon, we have an amazing new [inaudible] course in mclaren park that will serve the Valley Community and middle school. It is a partnership with outward bound. It is right at the manzell and Visitation Centre of mclaren park. The garfield clubhouse, which is another project that will knock your sox off. Woo woo the dog training area, woof woof, another golden gate 150 promise and, of course, the Golden Gate Park Tennis Centre which i walked past on my way to Mclaren Lodge this morning and it is looking fantastic. More good stuff to come and despite the did year, our park system is continuing to evolve and rejuvenate. Covid hasnt stopped us from fuguer out how to celebrate from virtual concerts and contents to the newly opened observation wheel. Weve been grateful to have the opportunity to highlight such an important milestone if our parks history and citys history. Were going to conclude our 150th celebration with a festival of light that is very covidappropriate. We wont do any big parties. But throughout the park from Mclaren Lodge to the conservatory down into the music concourse, youll see a bunch of light elements during the holiday that you can socially distance where you can visit and enjoy and absorb some inspiration. One of those features entwined. Which is whimsical art installationistly charles gattican. It will transform peacock meadow into an Enchanted Forest of other worldly shapes and ever changing life beginning december 10. Lit run through february 2021 and if it is a big hit, we have an opportunity to extend the exhibits until june. The entwined installation creates a colourful, lighted wonderland where visitors can explore paths and sit under a grove of three entwined sculptural trees while practicing social distancing. The trees freezing raining 12 to 20 feet tall with illuminated canopies. Sculpt. Chures comprised of 2,000 l. E. D. Lights and filling them of peaks and valleys. Were really excited about this. Again, we made lemonade out of electromagnetic ons, but we fell like this is a nice way to wrap up our Golden Gate Park 150 celebration. I want to give everybody back to the covid update. As you know, most of our parks, including trails, restrooms and other amenities have been able to be open throughout the pandemic response. Stacey bradley, our Deputy Director ofen mraiing and our Planning Section cochief of our Department Operations centre, provided an overview of our Adaptation Plan to you in july. Since enthis, weve continued to make progress. Most notably are playgrounds which are opening finally on october 14 which can be based on all tiers based on state guidance. And as part of our 150 celebration, we have an observation wheel open. There are 120something children of Health Care Workers and other employees, and 11 Community Hubs for 260 children in partnership with dcyf and many nonprofit partners. Some of them are using our sights for additional Community Hubs. Were running 11 ourselves and then we have a bunch of nonprofits are staffing on our property. We have adapted recreation programming to offer virtual recreation with 39 virtual programmes offered for 2,000 participants. Many of these are for our senior community. In partnership with the random museum, friends and friends of the shared arts studio were providing 23 out of school time options for another 125 participants and provided over 300 permits for almost 100 unique permitees with 750 time slots for 400 cohortses and 60r. P. D. Facilities. All of these are subject to our public work orders. Special shout out for you know a remarkable amount of work flow. I also want to note that we opened outdoor lap swimming at mission approximately and provided six hours of swim time daily serving about swimmers a week. In addition, many of our destinations have opened, such as the conservatory of flowers, tea garden, museums and zoos. Starting september 14, there are closed Fitness Studios to provide alternative spaces for fitness classes outdoors. Additional permits were provided for oneonone Health Care Training in parks and Outdoor Dining including the japan peace plaza and work on something for union square. And launched a process for freedom of exchange activities. Weve been managing a number of slow streets which have been continued and expanded through the weer half to travel car free from embarcadero. Of course, this is very fluid n. 10 days, our city has moved from the yellow tier through orange to red and in all likelihood by next week, it is expected that we will be at purple. If Current Trends continue and that means a lot of the things that i just talked about will change. Nos give you a sense of the very dynamic operation were running. Our open spaces where people are able to be of sounder and saner mind and body and our parks will remain open. But things like our Community Hubs will obviously remain open. But museums or observation wheel, the zoo, some of these things are very fluid. So well keep you posted as best we can and we all need to continue to do the right thing and fight this thing back