The Richmond Report: Win Legion Of Honor Tix, Agitate For Jimmy's Old Car Picnic

There is no more appropriate venue for the Picnic than the meadows of Golden Gate Park. A picnic in a parking lot or on a closed street is not a picnic. The proposed alternate locations have severe problems -- like no bathrooms, no BBQ facilities, and inadequate parking for spectators. Some are very close to busy roadways which present a danger to the many children who attend the event and are allowed to run and play and explore on the safety of the meadow, and some of the proposed alternates simply don't have the capacity for more than 20-25% of the number of cars that normally attend the Picnic. About half the regular attendees walk to the Picnic from their homes in the Richmond and Sunset Districts and from the Haight District -- moving the event from the Park will mean that most of these people, who have attended the Picnic annually for many years, wll simply be unable to attend again. The suggested alternate sites all separate the picnic area from the area where the old cars would be parked, which creates difficulty for those with physical disabilities or who have difficulty walking long distances due to age or infirmity who want to both enjoy the picnic and check out the cars. The existing and traditional site does not require closing any roads and there is more than ample parking within a few minutes' walk. It has bathroom and BBQ facilities, is safe for children, and is accessible for the disabled.

Golden Gate Park was created in order to be used and enjoyed by the residents of San Francisco and their guests. John McLaren (1846-1943), known as the "Father of Golden Gate Park" and one of the Park's first superintendants, before he would agree to undertake the job of superintendant, famously required that "There will be no 'Keep off the Grass' signs." It is true that use of a park by members of the public will cause a certain amount of wear and tear, and that some maintenance will occasionally be required. But a park is not a preservation area. A park is there to be used and enjoyed by members of the public. The job of the supervisors is not to protect the park against any damage that might occur (they might as well just rope off all the meadows and require people to walk only on marked trails and not allow them to walk on grassy areas or near trees), but to manage the park so the public can enjoy it, understanding that this means there will be more maintenance than if no one were allowed in the park.

There are no studies showing that the once-a-year parking of cars on the meadow causes any compaction issue at all. Even the few people who were at the hearing who expressed concern about the Picnic possibly having an adverse effect on plants limited their concern to driving over and parking on tree roots, and agreed that the turf is resiliant and is not endangered by the Picnic. There aren't very many trees in Speedway Meadow, and careful planning can easily avoid exposing tree roots to potential damage.

Jimmy's Old Car Picnic, a home-grown, organic San Francisco tradition, started by a Golden Gate Park gardener, should be allowed to continue in its traditional location!