• The Public/Private “Partnerships” have created a situation where the Private direct the Public to do their bidding; serving their pet projects at the loss of serving the needs of the public. With $250 million expended in the Concourse and another $300+ million being pored into the Academy, the Music Concourse itself is only 1/3 funded and will not function as a “Concourse” anytime soon. Tens of thousands.
  
• You yourself vetoed the first real “recreational” improvement in 39 years because a handful of “neighbor” complain that Healthy Saturdays would bring more people to the Park and ‘might’ compromise their personal quality of life TOTALLY disregarding the improvement of quality of life for all our citizens.
  
• The attitude of the Recreation and Parks Department is to discourage actual “park” use of Golden Gate Park, to better serve fee attractions. Your Director Yomi Agunbiade, when ask if he didn’t agreed Healthy Saturdays would INCREASE recreational use of our park replied, “But there would be ‘double dippers.’” Meaning that people might visit the Park on Saturday and Sunday and telling me directly that I personally should pay extra for using the Park as a park.
  
• The Park has become a dumping ground for the failures of Care Not Cash with over a thousand homesteaders permanently residing there. The Superintendent has told me that they have been specifically directed NOT to displace these souls because they will only move back into residential neighborhoods and raise the ire of citizens.
  Golden Gate Park was created to provide a “pastoral sylvan retreat” from the screeching chaos of city life and to provide a “common space” where all our citizens could gather as equals whatever their economic circumstance. It was NOT created to be the parking lot for museums to allow the wealthy to parade their wealth or the short cut for speeding commuters it is today.

Golden Gate Park was created to provide a “pastoral sylvan retreat” from the screeching chaos of city life and to provide a “common space” where all our citizens could gather as equals whatever their economic circumstance. It was NOT created to be the parking lot for museums to allow the wealthy to parade their wealth or the short cut for speeding commuters it is today.

A park full of people is a good thing! This weekend, in the space of a few hours, 80,000 folks will pass through Golden Gate Park in a totally unique spectacle of human validation. Be they pushed along in wheelchairs, or pulling a cart with someone waving a whip, they will be in the Park as equals; and for the day, friends. This is but one of hundreds of events and activities that the Park hosts regularly but which are being squeezed out by your very staff. Those of us that love and appreciate our fellow humanity ask you Mayor Newsom tell us how we can Take Back the Park from those that have no need for the parks only for parking lots and parkways.

Chris Duderstadt