Presidio of San Francisco (August 14, 2012) — President Barack Obama has named two prominent Bay Area leaders — Paula R. Collins and Alex Mehran — to the Presidio Trust Board of Directors. The White House also re-appointed Nancy Bechtle as board chair. Ms. Collins and Mr. Mehran are replacing outgoing board members J. Michael Shepherd and Bill Wilson.
Paula R. Collins is the chief executive officer of WDG Ventures, Inc., a real estate development company in Northern California, and president of Portfolio Real Estate Consulting.
Part of the original project development team for the Moscone Convention Center, Ms. Collins is a founder and director of Presidio Bank in San Francisco, a member of the national board of the Automobile Association of America and has served as an appointee to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Visiting Committee for the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. In addition, she is co-chair of the Board of Directors for the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, a member of the board of the Special Olympics for Northern California and has served on the Board of Directors of the BRIDGE Housing Corporation. Ms. Collins has been awarded the prestigious Silver Spur Award by the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research organization, in honor of her dedication to improving the quality of life and economic health of San Francisco; and has been honored by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and the San Francisco Business Times. She graduated cum laude in urban studies from Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts and received her master’s degree in city planning from MIT. Ms. Collins replaces Mr. Shepherd on the board.
A Bay Area native, Alex Mehran is the president and chief executive officer of Sunset Development Company, a San Ramon based real estate development, investment, construction and management company founded by his father almost 60 years ago.
Mr. Mehran is chair of the Contra Costa Economic Partnership, a trustee of the San Francisco Ballet and a member of the University of California, San Francisco Chancellor’s Associates. In addition, he is a past chairman and current executive committee member of the Bay Area Council and is a former trustee of the Urban Land Institute and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Mr. Mehran received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, where he graduated with honors. He earned a law degree, also with honors, from England’s Cambridge University. Mr. Mehran replaces Mr. Wilson.
“Alex and Paula are joining the board at a very exciting time – the Presidio Trust is now financially self-sufficient and we are seeing the benefits of a decade worth of investments in the park,” said Craig Middleton, Presidio Trust Executive Director. “Alex and Paula will be instrumental in helping us expand the public benefit of the Presidio to the local community and the nation.”
A fourth generation San Franciscan, Nancy Bechtle grew up across the street from the Presidio, and, as a child would scale the base’s walls to play in Julius Kahn Park. Once, she was even kicked out for riding her horse on the base. Appointed to the Trust’s board by President George W. Bush in 2008, Ms. Bechtle was first elected chair in 2009. She is chairman of the board of the Sugar Bowl Corporation, serves on the board of directors for the Charles Schwab Corporation and is a former chief financial officer and director of J.R. Bechtle and Company. A past president and chief executive officer of the San Francisco Symphony, Ms. Bechtle has served on the symphony’s board of governors since 1984 and has also served on the board of the San Francisco Opera Association. In addition she has served on the board of the National Park Foundation, holding the board’s citizen chair from 2005 to 2007. Ms. Bechtle recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco and has received a Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award from the California Arts Council and the Investment in Leadership award from the Coro Foundation, among her many other honors.
“I am pleased to welcome these very talented and accomplished people to the board,” said Nancy Bechtle. “The experience that Paula and Alex bring will be great assets as the Trust expands its public-serving programs while continuing to keep an eye on ensuring the park’s self-sufficiency.”
The Presidio Trust is governed by a seven-member board of directors. Six members are appointed by the President of the United States. The seventh is the U.S. Secretary of the Interior or his designee. An executive director reports to the board and oversees a staff with expertise including environmental science, historic preservation, operations and maintenance, landscape design, planning, resource management, real estate development, public affairs and programs, law, and finance.
Biographies of all Trust board members are available at www.presidio.gov
The Presidio Trust was established by the United States Congress in 1996 to administer the Presidio of San Francisco, an urban national park site that is located at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. The areas overseen by the Trust include expansive open space and spectacular views, a 300-acre historic forest, and rare and endangered plants and wildlife. The park comprises nearly 6 million square feet of buildings, including 469 historic structures that contribute to the Presidio’s status as a National Historic Landmark District.”
But the new news is that you can watch this flick for free now via the NetFlix.
It’s just released. See?
“This movie is: Exciting”
(But, sorry streamer-only NetFlix people, right now you can only have them mail you the DVD or the Blu-Ray – you can’t just stream this to your device.)
And no, I don’t think Vietnam Tom Bruso, or anyone else on the bus that day…
“Software Pioneer Leaves $10 Million Bequest To Five Leading Non-profits In Health And Drug Policy Reform
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., May 30, 2012 – This year, five leading non-profits at the forefront of health and drug policy reform will benefit from a generous bequest of approximately $10 million from the estate of software pioneer Ashawna (Shawn) Hailey. The gift will dramatically increase these organizations’ ability to reform government policies and public attitudes about health and drug policy.
Half of the total bequest–approximately $5 million–will benefit the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a non-profit research and educational organization working with the FDA and international regulatory agencies to develop psychedelics and marijuana into prescription treatments for patients with unmet medical needs. The gift will be the largest that MAPS has ever received, and will support research into MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This treatment is currently in Phase 2 pilot studies and is showing very promising results.
MAPS is conducting an international series of Phase 2 pilot studies into MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These studies are laying the groundwork for two larger multi-site Phase 3 trials, required to show the FDA that MDMA is a safe and effective adjunct to psychotherapy for patients with PTSD.
The rest of Ashawna’s gift–about $1.25 million each–will support the efforts of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Drug Policy Alliance, the Marijuana Policy Project, and Second Harvest Food Bank.
Ashawna’s generous bequest is one of only a small number of such gifts to the ACLU. “Her bequest puts a spotlight on our nation’s punitive drug policies, which have failed to achieve public safety and health while putting unprecedented numbers of people behind bars and eroding constitutional rights,” said Vanita Gupta, Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU.
The Drug Policy Alliance will use Ashawna’s gift to strengthen its movement-building efforts. “Ashawna was generous to DPA in her lifetime and beyond because she wanted to build the strongest movement possible to end the drug war and replace it with policies that promote her values of freedom and compassion,” said Ethan Nadelmann, DPA’s executive director. “We’re honored by this bequest, and we will use it to sustain and strengthen the aspects of the movement that were important to her.”
“Our budget this year is only $5 million, so this bequest is turbocharging our efforts to end marijuana prohibition in the United States,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. “In fact, Ashawna will likely be our biggest donor this year, and we’ll be using half of her gift to pass the ballot initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol in Colorado on November 6.”
“This transformative gift from Ashawna will help to ensure that everyone in our community who needs a meal can get one,” said Kathy Jackson, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank. “She accomplished so much both in her professional life and through her philanthropy, and we are honored that she put her trust in Second Harvest Food Bank with this legacy gift.”
Hailey died on October 14, 2011, in her San Jose, Calif., home at the age of 62. She passed peacefully, and is survived by her children Neal and Nora, and by her twin brother Kim.
After graduating from Texas Tech University in 1970, Shawn designed the launch sequencer for the Sprint Antiballistic Missile System for the Martin Marietta Corporation and in 1974 designed the 9080 microprocessor for AMD. Shawn and Kim co-founded Meta-Software Corp. in 1979 and their HSPICE program remains the gold standard circuit simulator for the electronic design industry.”
And outside, what you’ll see are a bunch of tourists debating the merits of paying $28 or whatever to enter the gates. Usually, they walk off dejectedly.
Why does our Strybing Arboretum (aka San Francisco Botanical Garden) need to become “world-class?”
Nobody’s ever explained that one to me. But that’s the rationale for charging admission these days (after six decades of free admission.)
Now, why isn’t our Strybing Arboretum called Strybing Arboretum anymore?
So it can become “world-class.” (Apparently, naming an arboretum after the woman who gave the money to start things up is considered provincial Back East. Plus Founder Helene Strybing made the mistake of becoming old and dying so nobody gives a ROMEO ALPHA about her anymore.)
Anyway, they started charging admission so the place turned into a ghost town, a “museum of plants and trees.”
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Oh well.
They said if things didn’t work out, they’d stop charging admission.
And here’s what they look like. Yes, there’s a bathroom in there:
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Myself, I haven’t been back into Strybing (except to poke my head in to see how few people are there) since they started charging admission.
Maybe I’ll visit again when they stop charging…
But these booths need hawkers, you know, just like the strip clubs in North Beach. Why don’t you sign up?
You’ll need sales skills of course. Check out the job posting below.
BTW, your pay as a “Garden Ambassador”will be $9.92 below minimum wage (aka nothing) and your commission will be zero (0) percent. (Can you imagine what hawkers would do on slow days if they got paid a commish of one dollar per entry ticket? OMG,
“Description
Greet visitors at the North Gate of the Botanical Garden and encourage them to visit this outstanding garden. Many visitors approach the admissions kiosk and don’t know about the amazing garden that lies just beyond the gates.
Skills
Public Speaking, Sales
Requirements
Willingness to approach the public. Ability to communicate effectively and persuasively. Sincere desire to share basic knowledge about the Garden. Genuine love and appreciation for the SF Botanical Garden.”
Doesn’t San Francisco already pay seven figures a year to run the San Francisco Botanical Garden? So why should people have to pay to get into the thing? Oh, it costs money to run, a whole lot? Well, then why don’t we just shut it down?
One might wonder.
Jim Lazarus, past president of the Recreation and Park Commission, gets it wrong here:
Well actually, Jimbo, why not let’s do nothing and then the fee would go away by itself, right? No repeal is necessary, actually, as you already know, huh Jimbo?
Now here comes simple-minded Randy Shaw of Beyond Chron, who doesn’t seem to understand that the purported quarter-million a year that’s “expected” (by whom, some wildly optimistic person, obviously) to be generated by the fee will for pay three “extra” unionized gardeners at the Arboretum. There’s no way on Gaia’s Green Earth that the fee at Strybing will pay for social services.
SF Crime Examiner Thomas Pendergrast has pretty much all you need to know about the plan to make permanent the access fees at the San Francisco Botanical Garden.
And looky here, here’s a pdf from Budget and Legislative Analyst Harvey M. Rose, CPA:
When an accountant calls your forecasts “highly optimistic,” what’s he really saying?
Oh well.
I guess the BOS will soon vote to make the temporary boycott of the San Francisco Botanical Garden a permanent boycott.
Oh well.
As seen last Saturday:
Oh, and look what else is coming up:
“Thursday, April 7, 2011 2:00 p.m. City Hall, Room 416 11a. GOLDEN GATE PARK ACCESS PASS Discussion and possible action to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve an ordinance amending Park Code Article 12 authorizing the Commission to discount admission fees for the Conservatory of Flowers, Japanese Tea Garden and the San Francisco Botanical Garden as part of a Golden Gate Park Access Pass. (ACTION ITEM) Staff: Brent Dennis.
Hey. what’s a GOLDEN GATE PARK ACCESS PASS? We’ll find out soon enough…
Quintin Mecke was on hand representing Assemblymember Tom Ammiano’s office and somebody else spoke for Supervisor John Avalos. Noticed Aaron Peskin in the audience as well.
All the while, there was absolutely nobody on or near the Main Lawn just inside the admission gate. Presenting your empty Strybing Arboretum:
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But that’s the way the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society likes it.
