Since my company was sold in February, I have effectively been taking a break. For the first few weeks, I found myself thinking a lot about the previous company. But gradually my mind moved on. While I have been scheduling meetings with potential investors and partners, I have largely been rather idle.
In the midst of a deep economic recession, it is hard to find people who have the time or interest in the middle of the week to do something fun with me. As a result, I have found myself often driving to Golden Gate Park by myself in the morning, walking through the San Francisco Botanical Garden (isn’t it a heavenly place on earth?), and having something to eat at the incomparable Arizmendi Bakery (arizmendibakery.org) - a worker-owned innovative bakery shop. Sometimes even after I had breakfast at home, I could not resist the temptation to buy a pear and ginger scone, or my favorite provolone and olive roll, fresh out of the oven. Life is so tasty!
It is hard to imagine that essentially right next to the heart of downtown San Francisco lies this lusciously green Golden Gate Park, with blooming flowers, towering trees, hidden trails and many tranquil lakes and ponds covered by water lillies. I even discovered a small Shakespeare Garden very close to the California Academy of Sciences. While there is usually a line of people outside the museum, I have never seen another person in that garden when I am there. It is designed as one of those rose gardesn in Shakespeare’s plays, and on the benches inscribed the beautiful sonnets by Shakespeare. I so love it!
While I admit that in the back of my mind I always do have this nagging worry that perhaps I will not be able to start another successful biotech company, I have truly enjoyed my strolls through the park, when the birds are chirping, the ducks waddling, and the sun shining through the trees. I will surely miss Golden Gate Park when I move further down south on the Peninsula!
1 comment:
Sophie,
You should be aware of the plans to charge for the Arboretum (or botanical garden as we call it). We can use some help!
Golden Gate Park founder and Arboretum designer John McLaren and Helene Strybing must both be rolling in their graves! McLaren, who had envisioned a vehicle- and building-free oasis, would be aghast at the high ticket prices and corporate commercialism of our museums, the ugly gashes marking the entrance to the Warren Hellman parking garages, the Segway "tours," and the very idea of astroturfed playing fields at Ocean Beach. He would be amazed that the once-free museums, Tea Garden, and Conservatory of Flowers, who faced hard times after Prop 13, are now cash cows. Likewise, Helene intended the Arboretum, whose creation she funded in her 1926 will, as a sanctuary which would remain free for all.
Phil Ginsburg, absentee Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Director of Recreation and Parks, is trying to force a $7 entry fee on Arboretum visitors, having packaged this together with a $2 Coit-Tower surcharge. Provided they can prove residency, San Franciscans will not have to pay but we can expect this to change. Widespread community protest and outrage last year is the only reason Recreation and Park modified their previous plan to charge residents a $5 fee while soaking tourists for $7.
The gardens are to become more and more Disneyfied: Plans include turning the "Demonstration Gardens" into a "special exhibitions" area, install "high-end" coffee carts, and institute corporate-sponsored "free days."
It is unclear who will foot the considerable costs needed to install kiosks, change signage and promotional materials, print tickets, pay for staff, and conduct audits. A further unknown is how this will pan out financially. Three of five entry gates will be permanently shut. The social loss will be immense and mulitgenerational.
The first San Franciscans got wind of this was at the February 18th Recreation and Park Commission meeting when the Department's Katharine Petrucione claimed that charging $7 will bring RPD an astonishing $250,000 net. We’re hoping to someday see the math, especially since only last year RPD was claiming that a "nonresident" levy would bring in $150,000 after expenses. Should the fee be rejected, Katherine laid it on the line: three gardeners from the Arboretum will be fired — a clear (and successful) attempt at blackmail!
Astonishingly, the Botanical Garden Society has engaged BMWL, a lobbying firm with clients such as AT&T and Bechtel, who have lobbied members of the the Board of Supervisors (arriving with Society trustees in tow!) and organized "Save the Garden" astroturf rallies. The Society has a budget of $3 million and considerable clout within San Francisco's ruling elites. What can we do to counter their influence? Contact the Supervisors, Mayor Newsom and Phil Ginsburg (831-2704) and demand a public meeting.
The Arboretum is a special place where tourists and locals may meet in a utopian commons — an area free of ID cards, gates, and unreasonable restrictions. We should enshrine the principle that access to our biological heritage is a common right—one guaranteed to all, regardless of one's skin pigmentation, passport, age, sex, or ability to pay. Future generations will thank us for it.
Join the Facebook group to protest the fees:
http://tinyurl.com/noarboretumfees
Sign the petition:
http://tinyurl.com/savestrybing!
Join our Yahoo! "Keep the Arboretum Free" group:
http://tinyurl.com/yahoo-arboretum
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