Tag: Rec and Park

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Keep Crocker Real

 

By Keep Crocker Real released files this week. A lot is at stake. We need to hear your voices. Thursday, February 19, at 10:00am, City Hall, room 416. It’s item 9 on the agenda:

 

 

SYNTHETIC TURF PROGRAM – POLICY AND PROTOCOLS
You can documents on our website: keepcrockerreal.com/files

While you still can consider visiting Hummingbird Farm on February 22, from 11:00am to 2:00pm. where we will hang artwork from our If Nature Could Talk event on the 100+ trees Rec & Park intends to cut down. (We won’t damage the trees.) This is a great way to pay tribute to the historic trees and wildlife that will no longer be around if the “renovation” plan goes through unchanged.

If you want to learn more about the harms of plastic, author Judith Enck’s is giving a talk at the Commonwealth Club titled, The Problem with Plastic on Thursday, February 19 at 5:30pm.

This fight for a better neighborhood park isn’t over yet. We look forward to meeting and working with you soon. keepcrockerreal.com

Calmatters has a number of articles on various attempts made by state legislators to stop the installation of Astroturf. If any of these legislators are still in office, one might contact them to find out how you may help them bring the matter forward again.

Key  Legislative Actions and Trends

  • California SB 676 (2023): Signed into law, this allows cities and counties to restrict or ban the installation of artificial turf on residential properties. It effectively reverses a 2015 law that had prohibited local governments from doing so to encourage water-wise landscaping. This is why Rec and Park is holding hearings on the matter now.
  • California AB 1423 (2023): Proposed legislation that aims to ban the manufacturing and sale of artificial turf containing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).
  • Colorado SB24-081 (2024): Prohibits the installation of artificial turf containing intentionally added PFAS on state property starting January 1, 2026.
  • Local Bans: Certain municipalities, such as Boston, have implemented prohibitions on installing new artificial turf in city parks.

Environmental and Health Concerns Driving Legislation

  • Chemical Exposure: Studies have found PFAS, lead, and BPA in artificial turf materials, which can leach into the environment and be ingested or absorbed by users.
  • Microplastics: Turf breaks down into microplastics that wash into water sources.
  • Environmental Impact: Artificial turf creates “heat islands,” reduces biodiversity, and prevents soil aeration
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What did the director of Rec-Park know and when did he know it?

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

The Government Audit and Oversight Committee will hold a hearing Thursday/5 on the allegations of financial mismanagement at the San Francisco Parks Alliance and the impact that’s had on city agencies.

Sups. Jackie Fielder and Shamann Walton called for the hearing, and have asked the Recreation and Parks Department, as well as the Parks Alliance, to appear and answer questions.

Among the issues that should, and I suspect will, come up: What role has Rec-Park Director Phil Ginsburg played in the management, direction, financing, and operations of the private alliance? What did he know about the current mess, and when did he know it?… (more)

UPDATE:

S.F. supervisor seeks to subpoena ex-leaders of collapsed parks nonprofit

By Michael Barba : sfchronicle – excerpt (audio)

A city supervisor is seeking to subpoena the former leaders of the collapsed San Francisco Parks Alliance, compelling them to testify about the demise of a prominent and politically connected nonprofit that is the subject of multiple investigations.

Supervisor Shamann Walton plans to subpoena the Parks Alliance’s last CEO, Robert Ogilvie, and his predecessor, Drew Becher, as well as its former treasurer Rick Hutchinson.

His request for a subpoena, which needs approval from his colleagues, comes after the Parks Alliance began to wind down its operations this week ahead of a scheduled hearing on its collapse and outstanding debts to the city at a Board of Supervisors committee.

The hearing was supposed to be held Thursday, but has since been postponed…

The Parks Alliance was in the grips of a deepening financial crisis long before its decision to shutter. Its board chair, Louise Mozingo, admitted in a leaked email obtained by the Chronicle that the organization had misspent $3.8 million in restricted funds on its operating expenses.

The shutdown left small neighborhood groups around San Francisco that entrusted the nonprofit to safeguard their money unsure about the fate of their savings. Before all of its board members resigned and itsremaining staffers were terminated, the Parks Alliance hired an outside firm to liquidate its remaining assets through a process akin to bankruptcy...

“I want to know how the city will collect the outstanding dollars and how the Parks Alliance could get away with using city and organization resources for their own operations,” he said.

Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who joined Walton in his call for a hearing, still plans to introduce a motion Thursday calling for a full audit of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, including its long-running financial ties to the Parks Alliance, her office said.

The district attorney, controller and city attorney are investigating…(more)

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S.F. official knew imploding nonprofit was ‘cash poor.’ Should he have rung the alarm?

By Michael Barba  : sfchronicle – excerpt (audio)

Nearly a year ago, the city’s top park official received an ominous message.

The San Francisco Parks Alliance, the big and politically connected nonprofit that Recreation and Park Department General Manager Phil Ginsburg had relied on for years as a conduit for private dollars to fund public projects, was facing “dire cash flow shortages.”

The words came not from a whistleblower, but directly from the nonprofit’s then-CEO, who admitted the problem in a message to a key donor last June that was forwarded to the city. Ginsburg sought assurances from the Parks Alliance that the funding it held for his department was secure.

But it wasn’t until 10 months later that Ginsburg halted his department’s relationship with the Parks Alliance and alerted other city officials. By then, the group had misspent millions of dollars earmarked for specific projects to cover its operating expenses and was headed toward potential insolvency…

The district attorney, city attorney and controller are investigating, and Mayor Daniel Lurie has frozen the flow of funding between the nonprofit and all agencies. Supervisor Shamann Walton is holding a hearing on the crisis at City Hall next week, and Supervisor Jackie Fielder has called for a full audit of Ginsburg’s department and its financial ties to the nonprofit.

The Parks Alliance has served as a pass-through for big donors to help fund city projects such as the construction of a state-of-the-art tennis center in Golden Gate Park and the opening of a new waterfront park in the Bayview. It also acts like a bank for more than 80 small community groups around San Francisco that pay the nonprofit a small fee to collect donations and grants on their behalf and disperse the money when they need to use it to care for playgrounds, trails and other parks projects

Former Supervisor Aaron Peskin, a longtime critic of Ginsburg and the Parks Alliance, said Ginsburg should have reported the organization’s financial problems months earlier to the mayor, the controller and other agencies that fund the nonprofit.

Peskin said Ginsburg had erred in protecting and championing the Parks Alliance for years, even after the organization in 2020 became implicated — but not charged — in an FBI bribery investigation. The nonprofit was used to funnel about $1 million from waste company Recology to disgraced former Public Works head Mohammed Nuru, who spent the donations on parties and merchandise for his staff.

“The public and the mayor need to know that this scandal was preventable and happened in large part because the general manager of rec and park was so closely tied to and invested in the Parks Alliance,” Peskin said. “If people are not held accountable, it sends a message to the public and to the rest of the government that there are no consequences.”…(more)

 I’m shocked! Shocked I say.” to hear that Ending Nuru’s reign at the Parks Alliance under a cloud did not end the corruption and abuse at the all to powerfully connected denounced non-profit. Ginsburg’s name popping up is no surprise. How could he have not have noticed that something was amiss with his department finances?

So many questions were never answered when Nuru left.

How much money was laundered through the agency that so many non-profits trusted to provide banking services for them?

Why were the investigations into Parks Alliance affiliates stalled after the Nuru incident was exposed?

How much momentum was lost by the switch between parties that cut off the initial FBI investigations based on complaints filed by whistleblowers?

How many cases were left out of the investigation? No doubt the successor to Nuru 1 cannot be far removed from the top of the power pyramid.

Has no one noticed that a lot of city departments and affiliates use the same PR firm? No one sees any conflicts during an election?

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Mayor Lurie halts funding for S.F. parks nonprofit that misused millions

By Michael Barba, Accountability & Public Safety Reporter : sfchronicle – excerpt

Mayor Daniel Lurie ordered a citywide pause Friday on all public funding to the San Francisco Parks Alliance after the Chronicle revealed that the prominent nonprofit fundraiser for open space projects had misspent millions and is facing a criminal probe.… (more)

Two city supervisors have also taken action in response to Parks Alliance admissions that they misplaced 3.8 Million dollars of client funds, setting them up for yet another investigation. The last one ended with multiple city employees going to jail after money laundering schemes were revealed by zealous investigative reporters before the books could be hidden or fixed.

This time Parks Alliance has a lot to answer for, and forgiveness will not be likely.

Supervisor Shamann Walton has called for a hearing on the Parks Alliance, scheduled for June 5, while Supervisor Jackie Fielder is seeking a full audit of the city parks department and the Parks Alliance, its longtime nonprofit partner..(more)

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Supes take up community movement against new harbor in Marina

By Natalia Gurevich : sfexaminer – excerpt

City leaders are joining the Marina district’s ongoing fight against a plan to build a new harbor in front of San Francisco’s iconic Marina Green.

“On behalf of The City and County of San Francisco, I’m actually here to apologize,” San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said at a community meeting Wednesday night. Peskin called the Rec and Park department’s proposal “absolutely wrongheaded.”

Peskin also apologized for Rec and Park’s lack of transparency with the community. “It has been fixed from the get-go and it is the worst way of eroding trust in the government.”…

The supervisors shared Wednesday night that they intend to draft a resolution “to articulate clearly what the desire of the community is,” Safai said. Once that is introduced, it will go to the committee, and a public hearing will be held…

But ultimately, if push comes to shove, the supervisors can simply take the settlement money away from the project.

“There’s nothing in that settlement that compels us, binds us to build the West Harbor improvements,” Peskin said. “It’s a Rec and Park thing, it’s a Phil Ginsburg (general manager of Rec and Park) thing, it’s a mayor thing, but there’s nothing that requires us to do it.”… (more)

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Special Public Hearing on Proposed Great Highway Pilot on June 10

Tune in on Thursday June 10 at 1 p.m. at www.sfgovtv.org for a special joint hearing with the SF Recreation and Park Commission and the SFMTA Board to discuss a proposed pilot on the Great Highway.

Members of the public are encouraged to call in during the hearing or provide feedback via email:

For additional meeting information, see the flyer below, or call 311.

And consider signing the petitions here:
https://www.discoveryink.net/wp/petitions/

 

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More parks privatization: The horses of Golden Gate Park

By Steven Hill : 48hills – excerpt

The Ferris Wheel is not the only example of the SF Recreation and Parks Department privatizing Golden Gate Park — and establishing structures without a two-thirds vote of the Board of Supervisors.

Nearly 18 months ago, a private vendor moved into the western end of the park next to Bercut Equitation Ring and built 20 or so stables to house as many horses. Chaparral Ranch Horse Program offers riding lessons and trail rides through the park for $80 an hour. It was supposed to [be] a six-month pilot program.

Also, in a public park that routinely rousts out the homeless from living in the park, the vendor installed two large RV trailers, where an unknown number of vendor staff are living full-time.

These sure look like “structures” to me. And they have not been authorized by the Board of Supervisors…

Is it just a coincidence that the Parks Alliance, the off-the-books friend of Rec-Park that served as a slush fund for nearly $1 million in Mohammad Nuru’s Recology kickback money, just threatened to pull funds from a park in Supervisor Connie Chan’s district if she didn’t back off her criticism of the organization?

So many questions, and so few answers. Meanwhile, the privatization of San Francisco’s public park jewel proceeds apace…(more)

New Policy and Priority at Golden Gate Park. No more natural habitats and no more public access where we can make a buck.
Let’s keep the public out of OUR public parks so we can cash in on it to feed out growing park budget cause our main cash cow got caught out cleaning funds. And let’s make sure the public is not snooping round to see what we are doing and file and complaint. Let’s keep them busy fighting over the street access for as long as we can. No cars. No free access and no camping unless we set up a camp site that we can benefit from.

Who do our public servants work for now? They are certainly not working for us.

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Supes call for investigation of Ferris Wheel money

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Revenue goes not to the city, but to a private entity that’s part of an FBI corruption probe…

The reason the Recreation and Parks Department wants to extend the run of the Ferris Wheel – according to Rec-Park documents – is that the St. Louis-based vendor that built it, SkyStar Partners, needs about 500,000 rides to make the roughly $9 million it was counting on.

And the private San Francisco Parks Alliance, which is a part of the FBI corruption investigation in SF, was counting on taking its share of about $500,000.

You can read the contract here. Not a penny of the revenue from this carnival ride will go to the city. It’s split between SkyStar and the Parks Alliance, which is supposed to use it to finance celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Golden Gate Park…(more)

Nobody likes to pay for parties more than Rec and Park and the Parks Alliance according to FBI investigations, and the City Attorney.

We were objecting to the fumes and noise from the generator that does not follow the logic for a city that is making ordinary citizens give up their gas generated heating systems and cooks give up their gas stoves. But, if there is also a question of funds and who gets them, it should be up to the Board of Supervisors to determine whether or not to sign the contract. That is, unless the Rec and Park Department have full authority to override City Hall on the matter.