Thursday is when Jimmy O’Keefe and supporters of his Jimmy’s Old Car Picnic event will go before the Rec & Park Commission to appeal the earlier decision that denied them their 2010 permit. The meeting is at 1pm in City Hall, Room 416. If you want to help get the event back in Speedway Meadow in October 2010, go and show your support. If you can’t attend, sign the online petition.
Jimmy spoke to the Examiner recently about the showdown. He’s hired two attorneys and his daughter has filed the appeal which will be addressed at Thursday’s meeting.
The Rec & Park Commission’s biggest beef seems to be about the damage that the cars have on the grass of Speedway Meadow (apparently this is also Supervisor Eric Mar’s chief complaint). Why this was never questioned in the first 20 years of the event is a mystery.
The article also says that Jimmy’s permit in 2009 was $8,300, up from $1,650 in 2008. If he does get approved for Speedway Meadow this year, the permit would cost $9,000. And that’s assuming they get the non-profit rate.
The Rec & Park Department says they have offered Jimmy’s Old Car Picnic four alternate locations for that same day in October, but never heard back from organizers.
If the event can’t be in Speedway Meadow, where would you like it to be? Vote in the poll below to choose from one of Park & Rec’s recommendations, or leave a comment.
Sarah B.
The Jimmy’s Picnic team DID respond and met with Rec & Park last week to discuss alternatives; a main issue was that the alternatives offered did not have sufficient restroom or bbq facilities, as they are basically parking lots.
The Picnic had a glowing letter of recommendation and review from the gardener/foreman of the Meadow. If things were damaged, he’d be the one to know! Mr. Mar also, when his office was contacted, could not produce evidence of complaints about the Picnic.
Hi Jimmy,
Good luck at tomorrow’s hearing! I hope the Commission realized what a mistake they are making. Keep us posted,
BTW, did the Examiner have it wrong about a lack of response to Rec & Park’s alternate locations or did you just meet with Rec & Park recently after the Examiner filed their story?
Sarah B.
Hi Sarah,
Our team met with Rec & Park last Friday, but I’m not exactly clear when Jimmy spoke to the Examiner by phone; I think it was either Friday or over the past weekend.
By the way, we also have gotten a lovely letter of support from the Richmond Police station, among other great letters from the community! 🙂
Thank you! Jamie
Cars come in and out by a driveway and don’t wander around out in the grass. I have NEVER heard a complaint about harming the greenery from anyone .Mr. Marr as usual is in his own little world. Hopefully the large turnout tomorrow will turn the tide.
beep beep!
If the concern of the welfare of the lawn is genuine, then it stands to reason that Rec and Park would also deny the permit for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, The Outsidelands Music Festival and Bay to Breakers. The damage to the lawns and surrounding neighborhoods from these events are well known and documented. You can’t have hundreds of thousands of spectators, stages, fully loaded semi trucks, sound equipment towers, generators, vendor booths, floats, etc. on a park lawn without causing damage to the lawns.
Here are some of the “other” votes that have come in: :))
speedway meadow where it belongs
eric mar’s house
In front of City Hall
– Sarah B.
How about the Presidio parking lot across from the post ofice.
Gosh this is interesting considering the music festivals that brings thousands of people who trample the park rain or shine.
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!