Posts Tagged ‘workshop’
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 »
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
I’ll tell you all that I know. It seems that “the world’s number one daytime dating expert” Jeremy Soul* is coming to San Francisco to teach a one-day pickup artist workshop for $1500(!) per person on February 6, 2010.
That’s all well and good, but here’s the thing – after their morning session, they’re going to go out into the streets to put theory into practice. That means that workshop attendees are going to hit on you if you’re anywhere around Union Square** this Saturday from 2:00 to 6:00 PM.
Brace yourselves, girlfriends.
And for you men out there, I’ll say that there are still two spaces left (purportedly, anyway) in the San Francisco workshop. You ought to cowboy up and fork over your money, right? Check the video*** to see the techniques in action. And click here to see what recent graduates have said about their schooling:
“I spent quite a lot of time with Starlight* in field and we had some crazy experiences. This guy is SOLID and i’m learning a lot from him. Running up and down Union Sq, dodging cars, chasing girls. I probably opened 30-40 sets in a 4 hour time frame.”
Good times. Here’s Jeremy’s travel sked.
(If you’re busy on Saturday or you don’t have the dough, consider Asian Dating Coach Bonsai, “a 5′6″ Asian guy sharing his dating expertise”. Will you accept his Valentine’s Day Challenge? Ask him about the importance of “Social Proof.”)
For whatever reason, there’s no LGBT workshop in the works.
But now, consider Jeremy Soul’s pithy advice:
1. Appearance. Be mindful of what you wear and what it says about you.
2. Start the conversation with a compliment. For instance: “I saw you passing by and I like your style.”
3. Be interested. Find out who she is and what she does. Lead the conversation.
4. Body language. Act confidently and don’t be afraid to touch the person you’re talking to.
5. Get contact information to be able to meet later. Evenings are better suited for intimacy.
All right, here’s the elevator pitch for Saturday’s workshop. And, oh yes, “tram” is English English for “MUNI.”
“Find a HOT Date next time you’re on the Tram! Find out how.
Modern men lead such fast paced urban lifestyles they don’t have time to go out after work and meet women. Through a combination of classroom and in-field training, men can learn the latest skills and techniques to meet, attract and date beautiful women in any setting during the day – all in about 8 hours!
“Meeting women in daytime environments, aka Day Game, is scary to most men. But Jeremy Soul and his elite team of Day Game coaches have spent years learning this skill and can teach it to you.”
Soul takes students on intense 8 hour training programs. During these day-game workshops, men are taught how to find, meet and attract beautiful women in various locations during the daytime. At a cost of $1500, the workshops comprise of 4 hours of in-class theory and 4 hours of live-infield training where the students hit the street and put the theory into practice, receiving instant feedback from Love System instructors. There is no other workshop like this in the world!
A former recruitment consultant and a self-confessed introvert, Jeremy began his journey of self-improvement over a decade ago. Having achieved freedom in his dating and social life, it has now become his crusade to help others to do the same.
Soul is widely recognized as the foremost daytime dating expert in the world, he is credited with the creation of the Love Systems day game workshop and is currently in the process of launching a book entitled Daytime Dating.”
If you ever wondered why some stranger on MUNI physically touched you, well, now you know.
[UPDATE: Eugenia at award-winning MUNI Diaries has a few thoughts. And comments have been reopened for all you haters out there. Remember, haters, when you're playing "the stripper game," the strippers just might be playing the you game. That's not unprecedented, you know.]
*I’ll eat my hat if that’s his given name. [UPDATE: Turns out it's " Jeremy Bonney."] Let’s just assume it’s his nom de l’amour. Jeremy’s partners in crime include “Starlight, Carbeau, Big Business, Biskit, Dubbsy, Bonsai, Vercetti, Keychain, 5.0, Mr. M,” and for all I know, Star Scream and JetFire, why not?
**Just a guess, but where else would they go?
***I couldn’t bear to continue the vid after about 3:20 myself. Your success percentage with this plan will be something in the single digits. Is that enough for you? NB: Jeremy’s holiday party advice seems perfectly cromulent, anyway.
Tags: 2010, 5.0, Asian Dating Coach, Big Business, Biskit, bonney, bonny, Bonsai, Boot Camp, bootcamp, Carbeau, date, day, day game, daytime dating, Dubbsy, February 6, jeremy bonney, Jeremy Soul, Keychain, love systems, lovesystems, Mr. M, Muni, opening line, pickup, Pickup Artist, San Francisco, Saturday, Social Proof, Starlight, union square, valentines, Vercetti, work shop, workshop
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Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Well here’s something new under the sun. It’s the Vandal cargo pack for cyclists from the Mission Workshop.
See? It expands, thusly:
So you can carry a pony keg of delicious, if warm, Sierra Nevada on your back, or, indeed, an entire bike:
Their video shows you how it works. (Try not to yell out “co-option, co-option” as you see two tandem riders participating in Halloween Critical Mass 2009.)
Mission Workshop is just getting started, so they don’t yet have a retail store. But they do have a full-on corporate-style media campaign. Here it is, enjoy:
“Introducing Mission Workshop and Their First Expandable Cargo Backpack ‘The Vandal’
Mission Workshop is a San Francisco based company located in the heart of the Mission District. The company was born from over 15 years experience designing and manufacturing messenger bags and clothing. The founders of the bag company Chrome opened Mission Workshop in October of 2009 and just released their first backpack called “the Vandal.”
The Vandal is a weatherproof backpack designed for cyclists and anyone else that relies on their bag to get them through the day. It’s big enough to handle your daily gear and expands for additional cargo when needed. The Vandal’s expansion system gets bigger without using extra fabric and seals flat to disappear when not needed.
According to co-founder Bart Kyzar, “Most people prefer as small of a pack as possible but regularly need extra carrying capacity. Even with a full load, the Vandal can expand to accommodate an additional bag of groceries or a case of your favorite brew. It easily turns from 1200 cubic inches into 2200 cubic inches on the fly.”
The pack incorporates three built in compartments. The main roll top compartment is large and has RF welded seams making it completely waterproof. The middle compartment is perfect for a laptop and the smaller compartment is designed for personal organization. In addition to these, the expandable area is always ready for use when needed.
The Vandal has also stepped up the design on the backpack harness by integrating a frame sheet and fiberglass rods for support and comfort. This makes the Vandal much more comfortable than other cycling packs and has given it enhanced stability under heavy loads. The Vandal is PVC free and only uses fabrics coated with urethane. In addition to the environmental benefits, urethane coatings are much tougher than PVC and better retain their waterproof capabilities.
Specs:
– Weatherproof Capacity: 1200 cubic inches
– External Cargo Expander 1000 cubic inches
– Materials: Urethane Coated Nylon (PVC free)
– Load Suspension: LDPE Frame Sheet with Fiberglass Stays
– Removable waist strap with optional load bearing waist belt
Retail Price: $225 Made in the USA with a Life Time Warranty
Mission Workshop Products are sold online at http://www.missionworkshop.com/ and through select retailers nationwide.
Tags: 2009, backpack, bag, Bart Kyzar, beer, Cargo, chrome, company, critical mass, district, Expandable, founders, halloween, keg, mission, Mission Workshop, pony, Sierra Nevada, the Vandal, Vandal, workshop
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Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Boy, it was touch and go for a few years there, but news comes today that our beloved NIMBYs have managed to preserve the Great Northern Parking Lot of San Francisco.
See it? 700 spaces, free of charge. It’s historic, you know. When the U.S. Army wasn’t out there killing a million or so Filipinos it managed to create the GNPLoSF. Therefore, these parking spaces are sacrosanct:
Now that that pesky modern art has been gotten rid of, a question remains over what to do with the upper end of the Main Post. You know the Burger King corporation had an outlet that served as an Army Mess on the Presidio for so many years, it would be only fitting to give it the right of first refusal to get a chance to replace the famous itty bitty bowling alley that’s up there now.
An artist’s conception, avec just one installation of evil modern art thrown in to see if the NIMBYs can tolerate it.
You see, that old, historic Presidio BK was a place “where a simple guy serving his country could get an inexpensive meal with a stunning view.” Wouldn’t it be nice to honor those memories with the biggest Burger King in the world? Put it right where the museum was supposed to go.
Either that, or a Jollibee. Your choice.
Tags: 2009, 22, 22nd, 6:30, 7th, analysis, Anthony, april, april 22, april 22nd, art, association, Bechtle, benz, Berkeley, bmw, board, california, camp, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, Craig Middleton, Crissy Field, Curtis F. Feeny, Curtis Feeny, David Bancroft, David Grubb, David R. Grubb, directors, don, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, dyads, eir, eis, environmental, Executive Director, Family, Film Society, fisher, gap, Golden Gate Bridge, heights, hotel, impact, J. Michael Shepherd, landmark, lodge, Lori Brook, Main Post, marina, Mercedes, Michael Shepherd, military, modern-art museum, museum, nancy, Nancy Conner, Nancy Hellman, Nancy Hellman Bechtle, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, nimbies, nimby, pacific, palace of fine arts, PM, porsche, presidio, Presidio Historical Association, report, Robert Burke, San Francisco, T. Robert Burke, texan, the gap, theater, theatre, tony, transportation, trust, Veerkamp, walking tour, William Wilson, workshop
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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 »
Friday, May 29th, 2009
Not sure how many people were at last night’s ”workshop” to discuss the idea of charging admission at San Francisco Botanical Garden (aka Strybing Arboretum) in Golden Gate Park ’cause I left before it ended. But the hand-count totaled 225 souls, so let’s call that a gentleman’s 250 altogether for the crowd.
Here’s the thing - people on both sides all seem to know each other and care deeply about The Garden. This conflict seems a kind of civil war (hence the Antietam name check, yes it rhymes exactly), a family squabble. It’s plant-loving Brother against plant-loving-but-other-stuff-too Brother. Get up to speed on this dispute here.
Now, once more into the breach, dear friends.
The mise-en-scene last night. It’s Recreation and Park Commission President Jim Lazarus taking individual questions from a hostile crowd, split up unnecessarily, it turned out, into three sections. This is what the bulk of the meeting looked like. Click to expand:
But let’s start at the beginning. Below, it’s the organized neighbors! They taped up hundreds of small signs to draw attention to the meeting. Did workers from DPW spend a lot of time taking down the unofficial notices? Apparently. Were any official notices put up, like last time? Not that I could see.
Inside, the fellow on the left, (didn’t get his name, someone called him The Kid) tried to get things started, but vocal members of the crowd didn’t like the agenda that was handed out, particularly they didn’t like being split up into three groups.
The guy with the ponytail went off, and the Eli in the Yale jacket on the right pleaded for calm. Thank Gaia for Yalies:
After a couple go-arounds like that, The Kid threatened to cancel the meeting. (Arboretum staff appears to view hosting public meetings like these as doing a favor to Arboretum visitors, and truth be told, if San Francisco officials are dead-set on allowing the charging of admission, they can do it regardless of what regular Arboretum visitors want.) Here’s a ten-minute video of the action.
But after a brief huddle, redolent of a friendly car salesperson taking your low-ball offer to the Big Guy…
…out comes lawyer Jim Lazarus calling an audible to change the meeting’s format. He seemed every bit the experienced pol he is.
The new agenda that got worked out with leadership elements from the masses: an uninterupted 10-15 minute “general presentation” of the plan. “Then you can decide how much you want to beat us up after that,” said Jimbo. “You can shoot us all when it’s over.”
This Lazarus Effect resuscitated the meeting. So, let’s hear The Proposal.
The Arboretum would set up pre-fab ticket kiosks at the Main Gate and the Friend Gate (near the Japanese Tea Garden) for $65K and then hire four part-time cashiers, a manager(?), and also a part-time accountant for $148K per year. San Francisco residents would enter for free after showing some sort of ID. Those useless freeloading parasites known as Everybody Else in the World would pay $7, or $4 (students and seniors), or $2 (kids) each time they go in. They’d have the option of getting a $75 annual pass that would also allow entry at the Japanese Tea Garden and the Conservatory of Flowers – something like that.
The projected 100,000 in paid admissions would have a “blended average” of $5.50 per, resulting in a gross take of $550K. Take away $150K for expenses and you end up with an annual net of $400K, of which $100-150K would go into the Rec and Park kitty and the rest could go into whatever, like hiring more gardeners at $68K salary (plus 25% more in benefits).
The goal would be to eventually get up to a full complement of 16 gardeners, which will “never happen” without some new source of Arboretum-specific cashola.
That’s it.
“KEEP THE ARBORETUM FREE”
What about residents of neighboring counties in the Bay Area you say? It doesn’t matter, all auslanders gotta pay.
What about the rumoured $1.3 million cost of building the kiosks and other related expenses? That was just a “Cadillac proposal” dreamed up by somebody or other – the bare bones approach discussed last night would not be as nice, but it would get the job done.
This charismatic-messianic type got lots of applause for questioning the whole idea of charging anybody anything, regardless of the numbers:
Mr. Lazarus acknowledged the fear San Francisco residents have of being the next in line to be charged, the fear that admission prices would then increase after that. No promises on that front. Que sera sera.
But I’ll let the Keep the Arboretum Free people delve into these issues more. When I left, Lazarus was answering questions one by one, Phil Donahue-style.
“FREE means NO FEES, NO I.D.s”
Oh yes, the “next terrible meeting” promised by Jimbo will concern paid parking in Golden Gate Park. (Do people really plant their vehicle in the park for free and then run all over town all day? People do.)
Random observations:
The estimate of $148k annually to pay salaries for the paid admission scheme sounds low. Way low, particularly in light of what cashiers at the Japanese Tea Garden get paid.
Park and Rec knows how to notice a public meeting but, for whatever reason, it appears to have done a bush-league job of noticing last night’s workshop.
Next up next month in June: the action will move over to City Hall and the Board of Supervisors. When will our civil war end?
Public Workshop – Botanical Garden
When: May 28, 2009 – Thursday 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Where: County Fair Building, 9th Avenue and Lincoln Avenue, San Francisco
What: In response to the feedback received on the proposed admission program at Botanical Garden, the Rec & Park Department decided there will not be a fee for residents. The revised proposal does include a $7. fee for nonresident visitors. Public workshop is to take feedback regarding revised proposed admission fee and will be seeking topics including:
Implementation of the new fee for non-San Francisco residents.
Amenities at the Garden.
Potential new revenue sources.
To Be Continued…
Tags: 2009, admission, Ann Cameron, Antietam, arboretum, Arden Bucklin-Sporer, battle, 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, Frank Almeda, Garden, golden gate park, inner, Isa Mary Ziegler, 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, sunset, Tony Farrell, Treasurer, TRUSTEES, Vice Chair, Victoria johnson, Wally Wertsch, Wendy Tonkin, William Gaede, workshop, “Honey” Johnson
Posted in parks | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
Officials tried last month to float the idea of charging admission at Strybing Arboretum but, for whatever reason, that scheme died an early death and the scheduled follow-up meetings (five of them or something?) got cancelled. O.K. then.
Tomorrow will bring a new plan- levying $7 per capita admission only on tourists, you know, those unfortunate souls who don’t hang their hats in San Francisco, those melon farmers from San Mateo, and Marin and 3000 other counties, and all foreign countries as well of course. That means you, as a City resident, will merely need to present your credentials at Checkpoint Charlie or Checkpoint Delta every time you step foot into the place.
The problem with that is the same people who don’t like the concept of charging City residents don’t like the concept of charging out-of-City residents. Why? Read on.
You can’t miss this sign these days when entering the Main Gate near Ninth avenue and Lincoln. Click to expand:
The mise-en-scene:
Once the infrastructure is in place to charge the auslanders, the Others admission, then the decision to also charge San Francisco residents will then be seen as a no-brainer, right?
Here’s an interesting quote, allegedly from poobah Jared Blumenfeld:
“We will start by charging non-residents.”
Here’s more from Jared.
Now let’s hear from the Sierra Club Yodeler:
“In defending the fee, the Botanical Society points to several problems. Teenagers have entered the Garden to have a beer parties. Occasionally someone is found asleep in the Arboretum in the morning. Plants have been stolen.”
This is reminiscient of the rationale for a reduction in free admission hours at the Japanese Tea Garden. Oh well. Personally, I haven’t been to the Tea Garden in ages and if the Arboretum people want to start charging admission, I probably won’t go there either. If running the thing is so difficult, why not just fire the garderners and close the thing down?
Anyway, here’s the petition (with some awfully familiar-looking photos) and here’s the new website: KeepArboretumFree.org. It sure looks like more than a few people have signed their signatures to the petition that’s circulating.
Attention public officials: This L.Z. is hot. Repeat: Lima Zulu is Hotel Oscar Tango. The amount of money raised (which isn’t really knowable at this point – the new proposal, after expenses, could be revenue neutral, or even result in a loss) isn’t going to be worth the ensuing damage to your hide. JMO.
These people at the meetings are fired up, is what I’m saying.
And they can’t be brushed off as typical NIMBYs because NIMBYs actually like the idea of keeping auslanders out of their ‘hoods, they like the idea of keeping out the riff-raff, the hoi polloi. True NIMBYs would like the new proposal.
Oh and one more thing, those keeping vigil all day long at the gates of the San Franciso Botanical Garden reckon time by noting the passing of each bright yellow totally empty or nearly empty CultureBus - each hour like clockwork. Thusly:
Oh well. We’ll see how many folks will show up tomorrow.
Some allege that the people below, and others like them, are obsessed with the Arboretum attaining/maintaining “world class” status. Like there’s some big competition with Harvard and the like over who has the best garden. Is that true? No se, but the phrase “world class” might not be the best one to use on the “Save the Arboretum” crowd, just saying.
Trustees
OFFICERS
Wendy Tonkin, Chair
Don Baldocchi, Vice Chair
Phil Schlein, Vice Chair
Jennifer Bowles, Secretary
Bill Gaede, Treasurer
Ann Cameron, Member at large
Cynthia Anderson, Member at large
EX OFFICIO
Dr. Frank Almeda
Dr. James Kohn
Brent Dennis
Michael McKechnie
TRUSTEES
Cynthia Anderson
Don Baldocchi
Dr. Joseph C. Barbaccia
Jennifer Bowles
Arden Bucklin-Sporer
Ann Cameron
Chuck Davis
William G. Gaede
Margie Ellis
Tony Farrell
Cynthia Jamplis
Victoria “Honey” Johnson
Robert Leitstein
Kevin Leong
Monica A. Martin
Eva Monroe
Philip S. Schlein
Wendy Tonkin
Wally Wertsch
Isa Mary Ziegler
SAN FRANCISCO BOTANICAL GARDEN SOCIETY STAFF
McKechnie, Michael Executive Director ext 415
Bourell, Mona Plant Collections Registrar ext 411
Davis, Randy Development Services Manager ext 300
Eckels, Dan Project Manager ext 405
Estey, Jay Membership Manager ext 303
Fisher, Kitty Education Coordinator ext 400
Glasby, Jane Associate Librarian ext 403
Glaub, Diane Nursery Assistant 661-3090, ext 429
Gutmann, Dennis Bookstore Manager ext 408
Huddle, Annette Associate Director of Youth Education ext 407
Julian, Vicky Bookstore Assistant ext 408
Kruse-Pickler, David Associate Curator ext 411
Kuhl, Brandy Associate Librarian ext 403
Laursen, Thomas Volunteer Services Manager ext 412
Mahoney, Don Curator 661-3090, ext 429
Marcy, Jean School Walks Coordinator ext 407
Peneyra, Sophie Finance Manager ext 306
Pitschel, Barbara Head Librarian ext 403
Prokupek, Judy Capital Campaign/Development Director ext 302
Segedy, Lesley Development Associate ext 301
Steger, Rick Receptionist ext 414
Thériault, Olivier Curatorial Assistant 661-3089
Wohlwend, Heidi Annual Giving Manager ext 304
Wolf, Patrick Executive Assistant/Office Manager ext 401
Wong, Shannon C. Accounting Associate ext 305
SAN FRANCISCO BOTANICAL GARDEN STAFF
Dennis, Brent Director 753-7271
Lee, Kern Building & Event Reservations Secretary 831-5500
Bonilla, Oscar Custodian
Favetti, Joe Gardener
Fiorello, Robert Gardener
Gamez, Dolores Gardener
Helmer, Russell Custodian
Hoffman, Gary Gardener
Lopez, Janet Gardener
Martinez, Jason Gardener
Nervo, Susan Supervisor 753-7092
O’Connor, Owen Gardener
Quinn, Patrick Gardener
Rich, Jeanne Nursery Specialist 753-7092
Schaumleffel, Diane Gardener
Seefeld, Terry Gardener
Sweeney, Shannon Gardener
See you there!
Public Workshop – Botanical Garden
When: May 28, 2009 – Thursday
6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Where: County Fair Building, 9th Avenue and Lincoln Avenue, San Francisco
What: In response to the feedback received on the proposed admission program at Botanical Garden, the Rec & Park Department decided there will not be a fee for residents. The revised proposal does include a $7. fee for nonresident visitors. Public workshop is to take feedback regarding revised proposed admission fee and will be seeking topics including:
Implementation of the new fee for non-San Francisco residents.
Amenities at the Garden.
Potential new revenue sources.
Tags: 2009, admission, Ann Cameron, arboretum, Arden Bucklin-Sporer, Bill Gaede, board of supervisors, botanical, brent dennis, cashier, Chair, Chuck Davis, 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, Frank Almeda, Garden, golden gate park, inner, Isa Mary Ziegler, 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, sunset, Tony Farrell, Treasurer, TRUSTEES, Vice Chair, Victoria johnson, Wally Wertsch, Wendy Tonkin, William Gaede, workshop, “Honey” Johnson
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Monday, May 11th, 2009
Your Presidio Trust has just announced another two Open House sessions concerning the Main Post. Make note of the location at Building 105, that Brokedown Palace (but I can assure you that parts of it are excellent). It’s sandwiched between Lincoln (no, not THAT Lincoln), Taylor (no, not THAT Taylor) and Montgomery (no, not THAT Montgomery). Just pop open the Google Map here. See? It’s right near where the Google Maps car got busted (or not, if you believe a certain U.S. Park Police Sargeant, who, really, oughta know).
Just get to the Building 104 Mouse House and then go downhill a skosh. There’s probably not going to be a program or anything – just drop by and yickety yack a bit…
Main Post Open House with Presidio Trust Staff
Monday, May 18, 9 to 11 am
&
Wednesday, May 20, 6 to 8 pm
Main Post Information Center, 105 Montgomery Street
There’s always room for one more:
“Please join us for informal “open house” sessions at which Presidio Trust staff members will be available to respond to questions about proposed projects for the Main Post as well as questions about historic resources, transportation and parking, visitor use , and environmental sustainability. The public comment period for Main Post planning ends on June 1, 2009. Comments may be emailed to mainpost@presidiotrust.gov.”
Tags: 2009, 22, 22nd, 6:30, 7th, analysis, Anthony, april, april 22, april 22nd, art, association, Bechtle, Berkeley, board, california, camp, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, Craig Middleton, Crissy Field, Curtis F. Feeny, Curtis Feeny, David Bancroft, David Grubb, David R. Grubb, directors, Disney, disney family museum, don, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, dyads, eir, eis, environmental, Executive Director, Family, Film Society, fisher, gap, Golden Gate Bridge, heights, hotel, impact, J. Michael Shepherd, landmark, lodge, Lori Brook, Main Post, marina, Michael Shepherd, military, modern-art museum, mouse house, museum, nancy, Nancy Conner, Nancy Hellman, Nancy Hellman Bechtle, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, nimbies, nimby, pacific, palace of fine arts, PM, presidio, Presidio Historical Association, report, Robert Burke, San Francisco, T. Robert Burke, texan, the gap, theater, theatre, tony, transportation, trust, Veerkamp, walking tour, William Wilson, workshop
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