Groups Celebrate Open Golden Gate Park Roads

Members of 37 San Francisco organizations came together in Golden Gate Park July 12 to honor the work done to keep some of the roads in the east end of Golden Gate Park open on Saturdays.

The SF Board of Supervisors voted 7-4 to close the roads for a six-month trial period, but SF Mayor Gavin Newsom vetoed the measure. The mayor said he was upholding the will of city voters, who voted twice to keep the streets in the park open on Saturdays.

Opponents of the measure said the move would harm the cultural institutions in the park and would severely impact the quality of life for people living in the inner Richmond and Sunset districts.

Supporters of the measure, including District 1 supervisor Jake McGoldrick, who led the charge for the street closures, said an underground garage that was build in the park changed the road-closure situation that voters considered because it allowed visitors close access to park institutions.

Supporters said the Saturday closures, which were billed as a "healthy" plan and would have mimicked Sunday closures that have been in effect for 30 years, was the proper use for a city park.

But the mayor and four supervisors, Fiona Ma, Bevan Dufty, Sean Elsbernd and Michela Alioto-Pier, voted to put a halt to the supervisors' legislation.

The July celebration to thank the mayor and the four supervisors was held at the landmark Conservatory of Flowers.

Some of the Sunset and Richmond district groups attending the celebration were the Sunset Heights Association of Responsible People (SHARP); Golden Gate Heights Neighborhood Association; Oceanview, Merced Heights, Ingleside Neighbors in Action; the Coalition to Save Ocean Beach; Planning Association for the Richmond (PAR); Geary Boulevard Merchants and Property Owners Association; Richmond Community Association; Friends of Lands End; Friends of Sutro Park; Clement Street Merchants Association; and the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association. The Coalition for San Francisco neighborhoods, an umbrella group of city organizations, also supported keeping the park streets open on Saturdays.

Ð Paul Kozakiewicz