PRESS
RELEASE
May
17, 2011
SAN
FRANCISCO PUBLIC GOLF ALLIANCE OPPOSES
AVALOS
PROPOSED LEGISLATION TO GIVE AWAY SHARP PARK
SAN
FRANCISCO – A proposal by San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos to
give away the historic and popular Sharp Park Golf Course to the
Golden Gate National Recreation area is a high-handed political ploy,
and a slap at multi-ethnic, working-class public recreation. The San
Francisco Public Golf Alliance will fight the Avalos proposal.
The
80-year-old golf course, located in Pacifica, and designed by
legendary golf architect Alister MacKenzie, is owned by the San
Francisco Recreation and Park Department. Its greens fees are among
the most affordable in the Bay Area. The GGNRA has said it will not
operate a golf course at Sharp Park.
A
narrowly-focused group of anti-golf extremists want the golf course
closed. And Supervisor Avalos is currying to this group, in
disregard of an historically popular, well-used, and affordable
public facility, that serves the working-class, all ethnic groups,
seniors, and juniors and high school students in both San Francisco
and San Mateo Counties. Supervisor Avalos’ proposed give-away
legislation also ignores two years of public study, public hearings,
and decisions and positions taken by every public agency that has
considered the matter in both San Francisco and San Mateo County.
“It
would be like giving-away the cable cars because a small, angry group
won’t stop complaining about the noise,” said Sharp Park golfer
and San Francisco Public Golf Alliance spokeswoman Lauren Barr.
Avalos’
Sharp Park give-away proposed disregards two years of Recreation &
Park Department studies, several public hearings attended by hundreds
of members of the public, and the decisions of the Rec & Park
Commission and its citizens’ advisory commission, the Park,
Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Committee. Both of these
entities have gone on record against a Sharp Park give-away to the
GGNRA.
It
also ignores the Pacifica Recycled Water Project, a joint venture of
the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and Pacifica’s North
Coast County Water District, which is currently under construction on
an $8.8 Million wastewater treatment distribution system, to use
Pacifica’s treated sewage water to irrigate the Sharp Park Golf
Course. That project was approved by both the San Francisco Public
Utilities Commission and the Recreation and Park Commission in 2010
and 2011.
Sharp
Park lies within the congressional district of Congresswoman Jackie
Speier, whose district includes parts of both San Francisco and San
Mateo Counties. She is on record as opposed to closing the Sharp
Park Golf Course. Both the San Mateo Board of Supervisors and the
Pacifica City Council are opposed to any action that will result in
the closure of the Sharp Park Golf Course.
SOURCES:
County of
San Mateo, Resolution of Board of Supervisors, December 18, 2007:
http://sharppark.savegolf.net/data/smbos_res.pdf
City of
Pacifica, Resolution of City Council, December 10, 2007:
http://sharppark.savegolf.net/data/cop_res.pdf
Congresswoman
Jackie Speier, 12th
U.S. Congressional District, Press Release, November 9, 2009:
San
Francisco Chronicle editorial, September 3, 2009:
PROSAC,
Resolutions [Nos. 1 and 2], adopted by votes of 14-1 and 13-2 on Dec.
1, 2009, submitted to Rec & Park Commission on Dec. 3, 2009:
San
Francisco Recreation and Park Commission Resolution No. 0912-018,
Agenda Item
No. 11, adopted by unanimous 6-0 vote, December 17, 2009:
North Coast
County Water District, Pacifica Waste Water Treatment Project:
CONTACT:
RICHARD
HARRIS
415-290-5718
(cell)
2 comments:
Avalos is a communist.
The case for retaining and improving Sharp Park golf course has been stated through evidence and on a repeated basis for more than 2 years. Many thanks to Richard Harris and so many San Franciscans and Pacificans who have been involved with this effort, because the alternative is a loser.
But, "Avalos is a communist"? I'm not saying you're wrong Anon (850), but what evidence to you have that he is?
Avalos position regarding Sharp Park golf course appears to be ideological and politically expedient, if not unscrupulous. Some general medial background information: He is a social worker, and a progressive Democrat. Wikipedia, and San Francisco Chronicle/SF Gate article 4/18/11.
The Republican party has centrists, moderates, middle-of-the-road members, and it also has shades of far-right members. The Democrat party has centrists, moderates, middle-of-the-road members, and it also has shades of far-left members. However, neither of these party members are termed fascist or communists, so is your comment "name calling" or do you know something?
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