Mutiny on Park Board, Rossi to Get Funds

By Carol Dimmick

Five members of a bond oversight committee tendered their resignations in July, saying the SF Recreation and Park Department shut the public out of its decision-making process when it chose 10 capital projects, including Rossi Playground, for funding without public input.

The 10 were part of a group of 19 projects put on hold in April after the department made a surprise announcement that it was out of funds four years into an ambitious 10-year, $400-million Capital Improvement Plan. The projects chosen by the department are expected to be completed with funds from a new $21 million revenue bond, which will be backed by $2 million in Open Space Funds.

Isabel Wade, a member the Park, Recreation and Open Space Advisory Committee (PROSAC), a watchdog group formed to oversee bond spending when voters approved millions of dollars in bonds for the capital plan in 2000, confirmed the mass resignations but said the five are reconsidering.

However, Wade criticized department officials for not including the public in its decision-making process before the list was submitted to the SF Board of Supervisors in July. She said the public always has good ideas that the department should have taken into consideration.

"For example, the environment was not given much weight in the ranking and criteria. A house with a small garden Ð like Fay Park Ð was given a higher ranking than Buena Vista Park, where the department has known about erosion problems for the last 20 years," Wade said.

Yomi Agunbiade, the recreation and park department's acting director, denied the public was shut out of the process and said he worked with members of PROSAC to develop criteria. He also said community meetings were held to discuss the criteria.

However, Agunbiade said there was not enough time to hold public hearings once the list was finalized because of the timing of the budget hearing.

"The deadline was set by the Board of Supervisors. My primary goal was to get funding so we can move forward on this," he said.

Rossi Playground Makes Cut, Gets Funded

Under the ranking system used by the department, Rossi Playground in the Richmond District (ranked number 9) will receive bond funds. Three projects on the list from the Sunset Ð the South Sunset Playground (15), the Lake Merced Overlook and Trail (16) and the Lake Merced Master Plan (17) Ð failed to make the cut.

The projects were selected for funding by a ranking system that was based on a weighted set of criteria. The criteria included the importance of the project to the public's safety or health, how well a project coordinated with other projects, if the project furthered equitable distribution of park services, if it promoted conservation of natural resources, improved efficiency and generated revenue sources and if it was a new or substantially expanded facility.

The Capital Improvement Plan is expected to run into stiff opposition from neighborhood groups when the $21 million revenue bond comes up for approval before the Board of Supervisors.

Supervisor Fiona Ma has already indicated she wants projects in the Sunset funded.

"I will be calling Yomi. I intend to fight for those projects," Ma said.

Another opportunity for debate could come if the City goes ahead with a plan to get $1 million of the $2 million it needs to shore up the Open Space Fund from the San Francisco Transportation Authority (SFTA). The fund needs an infusion of $2 million before it can be used as leverage for the $21 million revenue bond.

Early indications are that Ma could work to block using transportation authority funds to pay for playgrounds and parks.

"I don't think putting transportation money in playgrounds and pools is the right thing to do. We need traffic signals on 19th Avenue," Ma said.

The department's predicament came as a shock to members of the public, who worked for years, holding bake sales and raffles, to help pay for playground equipment.

They first learned of the funding crisis at an April 21 meeting of the SF Recreation and Park Commission when Agunbiade announced that the department could not complete 71 projects currently under construction and that funds earmarked for 23 projects must be diverted to cover the shortfall.

According to a financial report prepared by the department, the grim picture was a result of higher-than-anticipated construction costs on completed projects, three years of budget cuts and overspending on elaborate designs that resulted in what one commissioner called "Cadillac projects."

Bond Audit on Hold

Following Rec. and Park's financial disclosure, Ma and McGoldrick indicated they would vote against a new bond offering unless they are satisfied previous bond money was well spent.

Ma's aide Jaynry Mak told commissioners that she requested an audit of the department's bond program by the city controller.

"We want to verify that monies from previous bonds were appropriately used," Mak said. However, Mak said it was unlikely the controller would be able to perform an audit of the department's bond program until sometime next year.