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Ocean Beach SF

Vote No on Prop K

Stealth Proposition K Is Misleading

David Romano.
David Romano

Editor's Note: All election recommendations are the opinion of the author, the Westside Observer does not endorse candidates or measures, and welcomes opinions to the contrary.

• • • • • • • • • • September 25, 2024 • • • • • • • • • •

One of the biggest problems (and there are many) with Prop K is the way it got on the Ballot. Five supervisors put Prop K on the Ballot, unannounced and at the last minute, leaving no time for an opposing Ballot measure to be submitted. If not technically unethical, it is a down-and-dirty way to do government. No community input, no questions answered, no concerns addressed, no residents included in writing the measure, no discussion by the Supervisors. Just a yes or no vote to permanently close the Upper Great Highway (UGH).

If you believe in good government, if you believe in democracy, if you believe in the legislative process as the way for communities to address problems, you must vote no on Prop K. What is the motivation for these five Supervisors, Joel Engardio, Myrna Melgar, Dean Preston, Rafael Mandelman and Matt Dorsey, to bypass all discussion and community feedback? You have to wonder, what special interests are being served?

Even the language of Prop K is misleading: "The restrictions on private vehicles have enabled people of all ages and all walks of life to safely recreate by the coast next to Ocean Beach by using the Upper Great Highway as a promenade for walking, jogging, biking, scooting, and rolling." You don't need any additional restrictions on private vehicles to accomplish this. The UGH is already closed to private cars from noon on Friday to 6 AM on Monday and every holiday. The rest of the time, there is Ocean Beach on one side and a broad promenade on the other side for people to engage in " walking, jogging, biking, scooting, and rolling."

quotes

What are the motives of the funders of the Yes on K ads? Is it purely a love of nature and open space? Or, could it be that someone sees an opportunity for high rise condos fronting onto Ocean Beach with no roadway in front?”

As soon as we were made aware of Prop K, we were also made aware of a well-funded, well-orchestrated advertising and promotional blitz proclaiming "Ocean Beach for Everyone." Did the funders of these ads know about Prop K beforehand? Doesn't it make you wonder who is behind this and why they are spending so much effort and money? The ad campaign is deliberately deceptive and a prime example of misinformation. Ocean Beach is already open to everyone and always has been. This is a tactic Rec and Park has used before in the case of the Beach Chalet Soccer Fields. The supporters of the Rec and Park sponsored Proposition in favor of artificial turf flooded the City with posters showing a locked gate with the slogan, "Let the children play," when it was Rec and Park who had put up the gate and locked it. Yes, Phil Ginsburg was General Manager of Rec and Park then, as he is now.

What are the motives of the funders of the Yes on K ads? Is it purely a love of nature and open space? Or, could it be that someone sees an opportunity for high rise condos fronting onto Ocean Beach with no roadway in front?

Supervisor Joel Engardio says, in his monthly column in the Sunset Beacon, that "we will not see a wall of towers and we will not turn the Outer Sunset into Miami Beach." But that is exactly what we will see as State Senator Scott Wiener and Mayor London Breed are working overtime to exempt the Lower Great Highway from the Coastal Zone protections established by the California Coastal Commission and upzone that area. There must be hundreds of millions of dollars to be made from developing two miles of multi-story condos with a beachfront location. Mark Buell, until recently President of the Rec and Park Commission, has a long history as a real estate developer, but that may just be a coincidence.

How clever to disguise this gentrification of the Sunset as an "Ocean Front Park." Prop K will open the door to future development that will massively displace the local residents and destroy the community of the Outer Sunset. Now, who wouldn't want an oceanfront park? It should be an easy sell to the rest of San Francisco. Everyone loves a park.

David Romano is an environmental activist living near Ocean Beach

September 2024

David Romano.
David Romano

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