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2010 Park Friendly Candidate Ratings

Coming soon! Check back during the second week of September for Candidate Questionnaire Responses and our Park Friendly ratings.

Joint statement on vandalism in Golden Gate Park

San Francisco Recreation and Park Department
San Francisco Parks Trust
San Francisco Neighborhood Parks Council
Friends of the Urban Forest
San Francisco Botanical Garden
San Francisco Rose Society
Friends of the Music Concourse

We are deeply troubled by the continued vandalism of our precious park resources. As such, we are restating our commitment to a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and successful conviction of the person(s) responsible.

The reward has generously been offered by the San Francisco Parks Trust and the Friends of the Urban Forest.

On Thursday, August 19, Recreation and Park Department staff discovered three rose beds and a total of 36 rose bushes had been vandalized at the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park. The bushes had been severely pruned, some to just a few inches high. The extent of the damage is still being determined.

San Francisco Receives “Playful City” Award for 4th Consecutive Year

On July 14th, 2010, NPC held our annual Summer Social at Patricia's Green in Hayes Valley.

July 27, 2010 Update on Recreation from Phil Ginsburg

Dear Friend of Recreation and Parks,

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department strives to provide clean, safe and fun parks and quality recreational programming, regardless of ability to pay, for all San Franciscans.

As you may know, after consecutive years of serious budget cuts to our department, this year, we were asked to reduce our budget by an unprecedented $12.4 million for the 2010-11 fiscal year. We creatively solved much of our budget cuts through revenue proposals, but staffing reductions were unavoidable. In order to preserve public recreation given the cuts we have suffered, the department has adopted a new, more efficient recreation model that is a high-performing industry best practice. It is one that allows us to better deliver great recreation programs, such as youth or adult sports, visual and performing arts, child development activities, after school programs, senior recreation options, outdoor adventuring and more.

City Parks Forums

City Hall Each election year, NPC hosts supervisorial candidate forums that focus specifically on park, recreation, and open space issues. Our goal is to give you the opportunity to learn more about each candidate's knowledge of and positions on these subjects.

“Ensuring that there is a strong voice for parks and open space at City Hall is paramount to the success of our neighborhood parks,” Meredith Thomas, NPC Executive Director explains. “It is through the work of dedicated community volunteers that our parks flourish as an oasis to our daily lives, but it is with the support of their supervisors that our parks can continue to thrive.”

Join us at your district's forum!

Community Opportunity Fund Update

The Community Opportunity Fund program (COF) of the 2008 Parks Bond is a $5 Million capital program that allows residents, neighborhood groups, and park advocates to initiate capital improvements in their parks by matching public funding with other private gifts and grants. The $3 Million in direct funding will be split into 3 rounds, with award budgets of $500K, $1.25 Million, and $1.25 Million. The deadline for the first round is September 24, 2010.

Click here to review the Community Opportunity Fund documents approved by the RPD Commission on June 17th. The final version of the COF application can be downloaded here.

COF Workshops

NPC partnered with RPD to hold informational workshops for the public. A representative for each application was required to attend a COF workshop. The workshops were held on 7/17, 7/21, 7/24, 7/28, 8/3.

Click here to see the meeting flyer.

Click here view the COF Workshop presentation.

NPC's Annual Meeting with the Mayor

June 24, 2010: City Hall

The Neighborhood Parks Council held its annual Meeting with the Mayor on Thursday, June 24, 2010. Representatives from NPC, the Recreation and Park Department and various parks groups met with Mayor Gavin Newsom in City Hall. NPC Executive Director Meredith Thomas opened the meeting with some remarks on the current state of parks, including this past year’s successes and challenges. She introduced the Mayor, RPD General Manager Phil Ginsburg, and RPD Commissioner Mark Buell.