Another Fight is Brewing to Save Golden Gate Park Open Space for Everyone
The Board of Supervisors and the Mayor came together this spring to make JFK Promenade permanent. In a divisive election season, it was a rare moment of unity.
Now, we’ve learned that the de Young’s trustees are working hard to relitigate this hard-fought win for safe and protected open space in Golden Gate Park. A new ballot measure is now collecting signatures, and it’s backed by a political action committee sponsored by the Corporation of Fine Arts Museums. Most of their funding is likely coming from one person who is determined to overturn the extensive public process that concluded a mere two months ago.
If passed, the measure would destroy acres of open space currently enjoyed by San Franciscans of all ages and abilities and turn JFK back into a dangerous road choked with congestion.
After nearly two years of a process that ended with definitive support from a diverse coalition including the Mayor and 7 supervisors, we’re dismayed that the Promenade can be put at risk by just one wealthy person.
What’s worse, this time the museum’s trustees aren’t stopping at the park’s boundaries. The measure also proposes to end the current protected route to the ocean along MLK Drive and Bernice Rogers Way, and would end any hope for a future Great Highway Park by permanently restricting the space to private motor vehicle traffic only. Even further, it mandates that the city reverse course on the Ocean Beach Climate Adaptation Plan, a long-range plan in place to close the Great Highway Extension south of Sloat to protect our critical wastewater treatment infrastructure from coastal erosion. This last provision alone will likely cost the city tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars to implement.
So, the moment calls for us all to come together to fight, and win. To protect what we love. To stand up and say: We won’t let anyone overturn a fairly decided public decision and take away safe open spaces for our kids, our families, our seniors, and our entire community.
Paid signature gatherers are hitting the streets this week. If you see them, let potential signers know what's at stake and how important it is to keep Golden Gate Park open to people.
We’ll know by July 11 whether they have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. In the meantime, we’re getting ready to fight to protect the JFK Promenade, the Great Highway Park, and our shared vision for the future of our city.
This is a desperate attempt by one person to hold hostage the will of the majority of San Franciscans. We won’t let anyone buy our parks and turn them into highways.
We fought once to win a permanently safe and open JFK Promenade for our families and future generations, and showed that it was wildly popular to San Franciscans. We will win this fight as well, and show once and for all that San Francisco voters will fight for safe & protected open spaces for our families and children.
