BEFORE THE FULL BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - THE PTIP

For hundreds of years the Presidio of San Francisco was under the U.S. Army and when the Army governed the Presidio much good happened. The City and County of San Francisco enjoyed a special relationship with the Presidio - parades, the famous earthquakes, festivals, Niners' and Giants' games, special occasions - brought the best the Presidio and the City of San Francisco had to offer. It was all-good.

Congressman Burton spurred by his intense love for Open Space initiated legislation to preserve the Presidio as a National Park. He had No idea that a body like the TRUST - seven lay folk would govern one of the best real estate parcels in the Nation - once preserved by the Army now on sale to the highest bidder. That before that the National Park Service would also not live up to his intentions - in fact do him disservice. Today the NPS and the Trust are at loggerheads.

We now have a bunch of CROOKS all bent on negotiating long leases to some of their favorite bedfellows. This indeed is a shame.

The Presidio Trust Implementation Plan (PTIP) is meant to circumvent some critical standards found in the General Management Plan (GMP) and the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) both critical documents that have had the best input from the Public at large and from experts who had the best interests of the Presidio of San Francisco at heart.

Today, we have a group of GREEDY individuals who are bent to destroy the Presidio. At the Lombard Gate they see nothing wrong building a 1500-space garage - going 12 to 15 stories into the earth. This exact site seismically speaking is the WORST. Most sane people baffle at the TRUST and wonder why and what such a monster has to do with a PARK?

The Trust thinks nothing increasing traffic and polluting the air. Even more disgusting building Doyle Drive underground. It sees no harm disturbing Sacred sites which the Ohlone hold in reverence.

The PTIP will increase the population of the Presidio by at least 10 thousand in the long run - residents and visitors. This will generate Raw Sewage. The plan is to send all the raw sewage to the Southeast Facility in the Bayview. I call upon the Trust to treat their own Raw Sewage and pump the secondary effluents into the Bay and into their own back yard.

The Trust taps into the Lobos Creek Aquifer, which comes under the jurisdiction of the City of San Francisco. This is plain wrong. The City sells a lot of Hetch Hetchy water to the Presidio at minimal rates. This must stop. The City provides Public Transportation - this requires a second look. The City has several other agreements - all of them should be revisited and the City should assert its rights. No free bees!

Recently, the Trust fired its Director he was given $280,000 to go away - some compensation for a job badly done! The Trust lacks accountability and transparency. Senators and Congresspersons in Washington DC know next to nothing what is really happening at the Presidio of San Francisco. The Trust is too top heavy - with departments like the Trust Planning and Real Estate subsidized by taxpayers. These crooks should be investigated.

The Trust PTIP is a sham of a document. It is a pity that the City and County of San Francisco do NOT fathom the Presidio is a National Park. That the Presidio and San Francisco share many common geographical, logistical, and environmental boundaries - that for too long in the recent past have some crooks exploited the constituents of the Presidio and San Francisco for too long.

The Trust would do well to preserve and protect the Park. Give due recognition to the Muwekma Ohlone - the first people of the Presidio and the Bay Area. Land was taken away from the Ohlone with NO compensation.

It would be worth honoring the Buffalo Soldiers. More than 600 Buffalo Soldiers lie in the Veterans Administration Cemetery at the Presidio of San Francisco. This cemetery lies in the middle of the Presidio of San Francisco and comes under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense.

It would be wise for the Trust to archeologically survey the whole of the Presidio of San Francisco. Right now less then 3 per cent is surveyed. All over the Presidio lie Shell mounds - Sacred Burial Grounds of the Ohlone and today the Muwekma Ohlone - the first people of the region. Please visit: Http://www.muwekma.org.

It would behoove the Trust not to be GREEDY and plan new housing by the 15th Avenue Gate. The Trust would go great injustice by building Hotels and Motels when hundreds of rooms go vacant near by on Lombard Street.

San Francisco has a diverse population - this is NOT reflected at the Trust and at the Presidio. Minorities who are qualified and in plenty should participate in the decision making at the Presidio.

The PTIP is a document that has a hidden agenda. It has NO blessing from the Public at large. It gets some fake enthusiastic comments from an agency called SPUR - which commanded respect once - no more.

The Trust is doomed to failure at the rate it is going. It has a recipe that shouts clear to those who can see beyond the beyond - the Trust screams: " let us do it our way or no way". Such a scream of desperation comes from lack of vision and spirituality. Again and again the Trust has shown that spiritually it is bankrupt.

The PTIP defies NEPA rules and regulations. It scorns the Standards laid by the Secretary of the Interior. OSHA standards do not exist. It has no qualified building inspectors. It has no qualified and proven Safety Officers. It shuns mandates and rules pointed out by the Presidio Fire Department. Its ploy it controls and funds the Fire Department.

The PTIP would do well if it addressed the aging Infrastructure at the Presidio. The Presidio has aging storm and clean water pipes. Its historic buildings have been left unattended for years. It has done practically nothing to address the Presidio's toxic clean up - millions of clean up dollars sit in the bank. The plan was to clean up the Presidio in record time. The Presidio Trust talks the talk - but unfortunately does not walk the walk.

The Trust management fired over 80 employees and yet kept inept mostly WHITE upper management in place. In the same breath it gave away over $280,000 to a fired Director. Wasted millions on projects with no over sight.

No one monitors the private company that manages the Presidio housing. It rakes in millions. Time for the FBI to step in and investigate. The Public should be given an account of all the money this private company takes in. Also, what is the deal with the new Commercial Estate Company the Trust has brought in. This ploy of OUT Sourcing should be investigated.

Today, the Forest Management Plan at the Presidio is worse off - when the Army was there - our trees, our animals, our birds, springs, insects, our environment were well look after - no more.

The PTIP is a fake document - lots of verbosity, lies and more lies!

The Trust should always remember that the Presidio is a National Park. It is not some Real Estate where " hanky panky" parties go on and uncommon life styles are fostered under the garb that some are there to work for the common good of the Presidio of San Francisco. Unwanted behavior the Army would not have tolerated. Nor would any decent organization.

Again and again the tradition of the Army and the tradition of fair play has been put on the back burner by the Trust. Patriotism and the U.S. flag are important to our Nation - it lacks at the Presidio. It shows in the PTIP and is a reflection of " poor taste" and " worst judgment".

The constituents of the Presidio and the San Francisco have been observing. The closing of the Presidio Alliance was a slap against decency, accountability, and transparency. The Presidio Alliance was the only institution that brought all segments of thought and provided a forum for dialog. The Trust saw that this trend would play havoc with its dictatorial ways.

Fake plans will die and have no impact. A Park preserves and protects. It keeps alive the tradition of the place. It honors and should honor the Ohlone who were at the Presidio for thousands of years. The Russians, followed by the Spaniards, the Mexicans, the African Americans, the Chinese, the Japanese - others. The Presidio was set aside as a Center for World Peace. Once there was talk that it would play the role that is now played by the United Nations. There was talk those artists the SOUL of any culture would be allowed to be creating and given some support. None of this has happened.

The kinds of Lucas with his warring fantasy and Robert Redford have no place in a Park. We all saw the demise of Alexha Internet. The Trust makes poor choices - it selects those entities who should be some where else. It drives away those who are honest and sincere.

The Trust often brags about the environment but has done NOTHING to lay any foundation. It just pays lip service. The Trust has attracted into its fold - inept and corrupt personnel from places one would have nothing to do with. For a long time Correctional Officers from Colorado ran the Presidio of San Francisco. Guns and hunting dogs were their forte. Despicable rednecks - many of them have since gone - Kerry Tremain from the San Francisco magazine exposed them all. Clear to the bone!

The PRESIDIO TRUST is reflected in the fake PTIP in good measure - it will be judged by its actions!

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