Posts Tagged ‘strybing’
Friday, March 5th, 2010
That’s the news of last night from City Hall. Get up to speed on the issues here.
The next step is to see what happens at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. (How much lobbying do you get when you spend five figures on a lobbyist? We’ll soon see.)
This speaker was no fan of the new fees at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Certainly, he was outnumbered last night:
What if the fees get approved and things don’t work out? Then down will come the pay kiosks and then other options, possibly a ”tasteful sponsorship” (such as the “Chuck Schwab Co. Australia Garden*” or something) could generate a little money.
We’ll Find Out Soon Enough.
*Words from a Commissioner last night, they didn’t make the transcript.
Tags: 16, 2009, 2010, admission, Ann Cameron, Antietam, arboretum, Arden Bucklin-Sporer, battle, beverage, Bill Gaede, board, board of supervisors, botanical, botanical garden, brent dennis, cashier, Chair, Chuck Davis, City Hall, civil war, commission, commissioner, County Fair Building, Cynthia Anderson, Cynthia Jamplis, Denis Mosgofian, department, director, directors, district, Don Baldocchi, dr., Dr. James Kohn, Eva Monroe, EX OFFICIO, Family, fee, food, Frank Almeda, Garden, golden gate park, inner, Isa Mary Ziegler, jared blumenfeld, Jennifer Bowles, jim lazarus, Joseph Barbaccia, Kevin Leong, Margie Ellis, may 28, Member at large, Michael McKechnie, Monica A. Martin, non-residents, park, parks, Phil Schlein, Philip Schlein, public, recreation, recreation parks, residents, richmond, Robert Leitstein, San Francisco, San Francisco Botanical Garden, save, secretary, Society, strbing arboretum, strybing, Strybing Arboretum, suggested, sunset, Tony Farrell, Treasurer, TRUSTEES, vendor, Vice Chair, Victoria johnson, Wally Wertsch, Wendy Tonkin, William Gaede, workshop, “Honey” Johnson
Posted in parks | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
[UPDATE: Let's see here, you can discover what some local celebrities think about this idea here at Manatease's YouTube Channel and, well, here's an uncredited single-panel comic on the subject discovered by LocalColorist, see comment.]
This was the scene the other day near Golden Gate Park’s Strybing Arboretum, aka San Francisco Botanical Garden. These protesters were politely picketing San Francisco’s semi-public, semi-photo-op Budget Town Hall at the County Fair Building when an elected official walked up and asked, “What kind of protest is this?”
Indeed. These picketers, called the “Society people” by their opponents, support the idea of charging non-residents $7 to get into Strybing. Why? So there’s enough money around such that three Strybing-dedicated gardeners won’t get laid off during our Great Recession.
This gaggle of self-described “plant people” certainly are timely, as the Board of the Recreation and Park Department (RPD) will decide this auslander admission issue on Thursday, March 4th at City Hall. The question after that would be how the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will react.
Now, unlike last year, RPD isn’t having any big meetings to air out public concerns, probably because RPD knows how they would go – 250 San Franciscans would show up and the bulk of them would be strongly opposed to the charging of any fee to any one at any time.
AFAIK, the 2010 plan is similar to the more recent of the two 2009 plans in that only people who reside outside of the City and County of San Francisco would be charged. The Big Question is how many nonresidents would show up to pony up some cash and how much the program would cost to implement. After this program is up and running, the Next Obvious Step would be to charge San Francisco residents as well. Would that next step come in a matter of weeks, months, or years? There are no promises from anyone on that score.
The Save the Botanical Garden people are saying that not charging $7 would amount to ”depriving community residents of a tranquil place to visit.” Does Strybing need to become a “world class arboretum” in order to remain a “tranquil place” to visit? It would be easy to argue with the Society on this point.
Now, let’s have a go at the official FAQ:
“Isn’t a non-resident fee the first step toward a fee for everyone?”
The answer is yes. Hells yes, obviously.
“Isn’t the fee taking the Botanical Garden a step closer to privatization?”
No. This is a red herring, from the Sierra Club, for one, I think.
“Won’t setting up the booths to collect the fee and bringing in new workers just cost more than you’ll collect? Won’t setting up the booths to collect the fee and bringing in new workers just cost more than you’ll collect?”
Almost certainly not. The older “Cadillac Plan” of spending vast sums on infrastructure to enable the charging of fees might have had that risk, but there’s no reason that a well-run program, particularly one that makes the use of volunteers, wouldn’t net at least a little money.
“Why doesn’t the SF Botanical Garden Society just do more?”
Good question. The Garden Society, and they’re by no means alone on this, want to spend Other People’s Money on their pet projects. Some of them figure that Strybing needs 16 dedicated gardeners to become “world-class” and that they’ll never ever get the funding for that many from the City of San Francisco, recession or no recession.
Here’s the thing – “saving the botanical garden” will have the effect of excluding hundreds of thousands of people from Strybing. If you are a “plant person” then this is a small price to pay. And actually, plant people might even prefer to keep out the riff-raff. So, charging admission is a double win – more plants and fewer people.
If you’re a people person, you might prefer the “Keep the Arboretum Free” point of view. I guarantee you that the average person motivated enough to attend the public meetings last year would strongly favor having fewer gardeners around if maintaining the current crew meant throwing up a pay wall by installing checkpoints Charlie.
We’ll see how it goes.
Now, was this a grass roots movement in front of the Budget Town Hall? You know, this group of Society people and the P.R. volk with their identical signs and their unsigned petitions
You Make The Call.
Tags: 2009, 2010, admission, Ann Cameron, Antietam, arboretum, Arden Bucklin-Sporer, battle, beverage, Bill Gaede, board, board of supervisors, botanical, brent dennis, cashier, Chair, Chuck Davis, City Hall, civil war, commission, commissioner, County Fair Building, Cynthia Anderson, Cynthia Jamplis, Denis Mosgofian, department, director, directors, district, Don Baldocchi, dr., Dr. James Kohn, Eva Monroe, EX OFFICIO, fee, food, Frank Almeda, Garden, golden gate park, inner, Isa Mary Ziegler, jared blumenfeld, Jennifer Bowles, jim lazarus, Joseph Barbaccia, Kevin Leong, Margie Ellis, may 28, Member at large, Michael McKechnie, Monica A. Martin, non-residents, park, parks, Phil Schlein, Philip Schlein, public, recreation, recreation parks, residents, richmond, Robert Leitstein, San Francisco, San Francisco Botanical Garden, save, secretary, Society, strbing arboretum, strybing, Strybing Arboretum, suggested, sunset, Tony Farrell, Treasurer, TRUSTEES, vendor, Vice Chair, Victoria johnson, Wally Wertsch, Wendy Tonkin, William Gaede, workshop, “Honey” Johnson
Posted in parks | 2 Comments »
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
The civil war between those who call our Strybing Arboretum (home to orange hummingbirds, violet blue jays, purple flowers, red foxes, blue herons, pink berries and yellow poppies) ”Strybing Arboretum” and those who call it “San Francisco Botanical Garden” is hotting up again in 2010. Now, leave us travel all the way back to ought-nine, when the trial balloon of charging $7 admission to those residing outside of San Francsico County got shot down with extreme prejudice.
Well, maybe not prejudice extreme enough, ’cause the plan is back. There might be some differences, like having volunteers staffing the entrances to charge admission instead of hiring an expensive crew per last year’s proposal, but they’re similar ideas.
Check it out for yourself at this San Francisco Botanical Garden Society webpage, where you can also “sign” a petition to support the idea of charging yourself money to get in. They have a FAQ as well.
The next big meeting will be at City Hall on March 4th, 2010, and there’s also Mayor Gavin Newsom’s “in-person” town hall meeting at the County Fair Building near Ninth and Lincoln Saturday morning – the Charge $7 to Auslanders at Strybing crowd will be there starting at 8:30 AM to promote their cause.
I’ll tell you, the average person that goes to Strybing doesn’t care if it’s a “world class” facility or not so if a gardener or two or three or four were laid off, they wouldn’t really care. It’ll be interesting to see how this one works out.
Let’s ask a Strybing hummingbird what s/he thinks of the new proposal:
O.K., fair enough.
Tags: 2009, 2010, admission, Ann Cameron, Antietam, arboretum, Arden Bucklin-Sporer, battle, beverage, Bill Gaede, board of supervisors, botanical, brent dennis, cashier, Chair, Chuck Davis, civil war, commission, commissioner, County Fair Building, Cynthia Anderson, Cynthia Jamplis, Denis Mosgofian, department, director, district, Don Baldocchi, dr., Dr. James Kohn, Eva Monroe, EX OFFICIO, fee, food, Frank Almeda, Garden, golden gate park, inner, Isa Mary Ziegler, jared blumenfeld, Jennifer Bowles, jim lazarus, Joseph Barbaccia, Kevin Leong, Margie Ellis, may 28, Member at large, Michael McKechnie, Monica A. Martin, non-residents, park, parks, Phil Schlein, Philip Schlein, public, recreation, recreation parks, residents, richmond, Robert Leitstein, San Francisco, San Francisco Botanical Garden, secretary, strbing arboretum, strybing, Strybing Arboretum, suggested, sunset, Tony Farrell, Treasurer, TRUSTEES, vendor, Vice Chair, Victoria johnson, Wally Wertsch, Wendy Tonkin, William Gaede, workshop, “Honey” Johnson
Posted in parks | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
I always thought that it might be against the rules to feed animals in Golden Gate Park, but I never really knew for sure. These days, there’s a movement afoot to amend the San Francisco Park Code to prohibit feeding animals “wild by nature and not customarily domesticated.”
Here’s the rule as it stands now:
“SEC. 5.07. FEEDING ANIMALS PROHIBITED It shall be unlawful for any person to feed or offer to any animal in any park any substance which would be likely to be harmful to it. (Added by 603-81, App. 12/18/81)”
Does it hurt a duck to feed it bread? No se. Is it against the rules to feed a duck in Golden Gate Park under the existing rules? Even our Lawgivers seem to be uncertain as to how this would all work.
The operator of the Stow Lake Boat House has this sign up at the snack bar, not that the birders would approve.
Here’s a sign at San Francisco Botanical Garden (nee Strybing) inside of GGP. The people at Strybing, they say stuff like “we don’t feed the animals” but I don’t think they have any special rules just for them because their signs only cite existing section 5.07:
Irregardless, lots of people think its their right to feed San Francisco’s ducks, so I’m not sure that Park Rangers would relish handing out enough citations to get people to change their behavior.
It’s probably not a good thing for you to feed the ducks but I don’t think anybody will try to stop you if you put your mind to it. (Although if you’re around state or federal authorities, they might have a whole set of different rules for you to obey.)
Of course Park employees used to carry around cans of cat food to feed the red foxes of Strybing, but they’re no longer around.
And coyotes, some guy started bringing raw meet into GGP to feed coyotes a while back, but that caused issues so the state of California sent in a man to execute all the coyotes he could find, including this one.
Oh well.
Our supes will hash this issue out and let us know I’m sure.
Tags: 5.07, amend, Animals, arboretum, baothous, birds, botanical garden, bread, code, coyotes, ducks, elsbernd, feed, feeding, foxes, geese, golden gate park, goose, illegal, lake, law, ordinance, ordnance, parrots, popcorn, rangers, San Francisco, stow, strybing, Supervisor
Posted in Animals, parks | 2 Comments »
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Or green, whichever. Anyway, despite the worries, California’s Official State Birds are still out there, strutting about Golden Gate Park.
Of course there used to be many more…
Presenting HRH Winthorpe Danforth Quail III in Strybing Arboretum:
And here are his kids back in the day, possibly:
Now you know better your Golden Gate Park California Valley Quail (Callipepla californica).
Tags: arboretum, birds, botanical, california, California Valley Quail, covey, east, eastern, gardens, golden gate park, quail, San Francisco, strybing, Valley, winter
Posted in Animals | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
After a period of time of no sightings of foxes in Golden Gate Park, it seems that they might be coming back, especially in the western end. They probably are able to travel back and forth to the Presidio and Land’s End fairly easily.
Here’s a report from Joyce W., who saw a Fantastic Mr. (or Mrs. Fox) yesterday:
“It was about 4:00 pm and the fox was within 15 feet of JFK BLVD at the far West end.
It was intently watching a gopher hole on a wide open patch of mowed lawn.
Two cars stopped and watched in silence which didn’t seem to bother the fox.
It wasn’t until a jogger came by that the creature dashed into the woods.
I am 90% sure it was a Red Fox and not our local Grey Fox. Very striking colour combination with the red, black and white.
How did these creatures end up in the park? Amazing.
I regret that my cell phone was tucked away. I was mesmerized by the vision before my eyes and didn’t want to divert my gaze for a second.
I watched it be absolutely still for at least three minutes.”
So there you have it. Coyotes are a similar size, but they run with their tails down and they’re not red the way cute cute red foxes are. So let’s call this a reliable report of a red fox in the west end of GGP at the tail end of 2009. Elusive, aren’t they? (Not at all like San Francisco’s raccoons and parrots.)
Here are photos of some east end foxes, from back in the day:
Foxes certainly don’t mind living in and around cities. Near Lincoln Boulevard in the Inner Sunset. Until we get some new photos, these old ones will have to do. Click to expand:
The last fox I photographed in Golden Gate Park. A wispy blur:
From 175 feet away in Strybing Arboretum. She’ll see you before you see her:
A kit (or pup or cub) with its mom:
Keep a look out, they’re out there somewhere.
Send in your reports or post them to Twitter, as Thrusty did.
Tags: botanical gardens, ca, cub, fox, golden gate park, kit, mother, pup, red fox, San Francisco, strybing, vixen, vulpes
Posted in Animals | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
I says, “Don’t eat that little blue pill, squirrelly!” But s/he went up a tree and away from view with a quickness.
What was in the capsule and whether squirrelly had no reaction, some reaction with humourous antics, or a massive OD resulting in death – that info is lost to History.
Click to expand:
People, try not to drop too many doses when you’re popping your pills at Golden Gate Park’s Strybing Arboretum, mkay?
Tags: arboretum, Blue, capsule, drugs, golden gate park, light, O.D., pill, reaction, San Francisco, sqirel, sqirell, squirrel, strybing, tree
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
What items tempt you the most when you scan parked cars for Objects in Plain View - would it be a laptop computer, an iPod, maybe a backpack? Well, be careful, cause when the SFPD baits cars for sting operations in Golden Gate Park, they sometimes use all three. (It’s almost like entrapment, or something. So tempting these parcels are, next thing you know, it’s smashy smashy!)
From the Richmond District Blog comes a sneak peek of Richmond Station Police Captain Richard Corriea’s next weekly update for the Richmond District Police Community Police Forum. Read an entire entry below.
Is this a parking lot, a freeway, or Golden Gate Park’s MLK Drive near the Inner Sunset on a recent Friday? Click to expand:
Yes, it’s MLK near the Friend Gate of Strybing Arboretum. Perhaps the cars huddle together for safety?
Here’s why:
“On July 25, 2009 Richmond [District] officers working in plain clothes staked out a car at Middle Drive and Bowling Green Drive in Golden Gate Park. There were several items of value in the car, including, a backpack, computer and an IPOD. The officers knew from experience that an auto burglar would find the car an appealing target. Indeed, several hours into the stakeout an individual burglarized the car, and he was immediately arrested. A subsequent search of the suspect turned up evidence from a theft committed nearby earlier in the day and narcotics. The suspect, who has been arrested forty-nine times, including thirty-one times for felonies, was booked for burglary, possession of stolen property, theft and a narcotics violation. This individual is likely responsible for several auto burglaries daily.”
How many car windows do you have to break to get a rap sheet this long - hundreds, thousands?
On It Goes…
Tags: addiction, apple, arboretum, arrest, attorney, auto, automobile, backpack, bait, baited, botanical, bowling, break-in, broken, burglar, burglary, car, computer, county, crime, criminal, defender, department, district, drive, drugs, entrapment, felon, felony, ggp, golden gate park, harris, inner, iPod, jfk, Jr, Judge, junior, jury, kamal, laptop, martin luther king, middle, mlk, narcotics, park, parks, pc, police, prosecutor, public, rangers, recreation, richmond, San Francisco, SF, SFPD, smashed, sting, strybing, sunset, Window, windows
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Monday, June 22nd, 2009
Earlier this year, there was a plan afoot to charge admission at the San Francisco Botanical Garden (nee Strybing Arboretum). That ended up getting changed to a plan to charge admission only to foreigners, those unfortunates people residing outside of the sacred 46.7 square miles that make up the City and County of San Francisco.
This was a taste of the reaction from la raza to the plans to charge admission to auslanders:
Well guess what, that’s all out the window now. Read all about it right here from the General Manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department in this “dear friends” letter quoted on EEEK, A BLOG!:
“Dear Friends:
After a long and very lively conversation regarding fees for the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park, we will be recommending that NO fee be charged for this special natural space. Instead, we will be instituting a “suggested fee” schedule and are looking to bring in a vendor to offer food and beverages.
We thank you for your input and look forward to working with you on our shared goal of keeping the Botanical Garden beautiful for present and future generations.
Thank you,
Jared Blumenfeld, General Manager, San Francisco Recreation and Park Department”
And if that’s not good enough for you, all this was confirmed by Rec and Park higher ups yesterday.
So put a fork in it - the plan, she is dead.
Tags: 2009, admission, Ann Cameron, Antietam, arboretum, Arden Bucklin-Sporer, battle, beverage, Bill Gaede, board of supervisors, botanical, brent dennis, cashier, Chair, Chuck Davis, civil war, commission, commissioner, County Fair Building, Cynthia Anderson, Cynthia Jamplis, Denis Mosgofian, department, director, district, Don Baldocchi, dr., Dr. James Kohn, Eva Monroe, EX OFFICIO, fee, food, Frank Almeda, Garden, golden gate park, inner, Isa Mary Ziegler, jared blumenfeld, Jennifer Bowles, jim lazarus, Joseph Barbaccia, Kevin Leong, Margie Ellis, may 28, Member at large, Michael McKechnie, Monica A. Martin, non-residents, park, parks, Phil Schlein, Philip Schlein, public, recreation, recreation parks, residents, richmond, Robert Leitstein, San Francisco, San Francisco Botanical Garden, secretary, strbing arboretum, strybing, Strybing Arboretum, suggested, sunset, Tony Farrell, Treasurer, TRUSTEES, vendor, Vice Chair, Victoria johnson, Wally Wertsch, Wendy Tonkin, William Gaede, workshop, “Honey” Johnson
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
Dig these crazy colors, man.
As seen at San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park
Click to expand
Tags: arboretum, botanical garden, colors, flower, golden gate park, green, plant, purple, red, San Francisco, strybing, yellow
Posted in flora | Comments Off
