Presidio national park: San Francisco supervisors still in the

Tom Boland (wgcp@earthlink.net)
Fri, 30 Oct 1998 19:28:54 -0400 

http://www.amcity.com:80/sanfrancisco/stories/102698/editorial2.html
FWD  San Francisco Business Times - October 26, 1998

"After telling everyone that its old housing units can't be used to house
the homeless because they are going to be torn down, the [federal Presidio]
trust turned around and leased the same units to local colleges for
temporary student housing." -- from article below


          SUPES STILL IN THE DARK OVER NATIONAL PARK


Obviously, geography was not the strongest subject at school for many San
Francisco officials. They keep giving the wrong answers to simple
questions.

Here's a simple test: What is the large former military base located at the
southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge?

If you answered, "A national park known as the Presidio," give yourself an A.

If, on the other hand, you answered, "Just another San Francisco
neighborhood," perhaps you should consider running for local office.

The supervisors just can't seem to get it straight. The Presidio is not
under their control, so baiting, hectoring and threatening the duly
authorized federal trust that administers it does no one any good.

True, the trust is not blameless in the rising tide of bad blood between
the two government bodies. After telling everyone that its old housing
units can't be used to house the homeless because they are going to be torn
down, the trust turned around and leased the same units to local colleges
for temporary student housing.

But the fact remains that San Francisco's shortage of low-income housing is
the city's problem to solve. It can't really expect the U.S. National Parks
System to do it instead.

The confusion goes back to pointless Proposition L, approved by San
Francisco voters in June. That measure, supported by city officials, said
housing at the Presidio should be reserved for city residents, particularly
the homeless.

One small problem: The Presidio isn't under San Francisco's jurisdiction.
City voters might just as well have passed a measure requiring the federal
government to move the Washington Monument to Washington Square. It isn't
going to happen. Local officials knew better all along, and should drop
silly threats to "punish" the trust for ignoring Prop L.

All this grandstanding and sniping would be merely amusing if the stakes
weren't so high. As we report today on Page 1, big developers and nonprofit
groups are lining up for a shot at the Letterman complex, the Presidio's
jewel. That looms as another potential power struggle between local
politicos and the park.

Congress -- who, unlike the supervisors, actually controls what happens to
the Presidio -- requires the park to become self-sufficient within 15
years. Otherwise, it can be sold for development.

Unless the supervisors would prefer, say, an upscale condo development at
the Presidio, it's time for them to lend their support to help the park
support itself.

END FORWARD


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