PARKS BOND PASSES!

As park users, we all know that many of our neighborhood parks are old, unsafe and in need of major work. Earlier this year, an independent analysis found that our parks need $1.7 billion in repairs and unless we act now, that number is only going to go up. On February 5th, San Francisco voters passed a $185 million bond to repair parks and playgrounds. The Parks Bond will help rebuild recreation centers for earthquake safety, plant trees, repair restrooms and protect open space. The Parks Trust was the lead supporter of the Yes on Prop. A Campaign and your support of this measure showed that you love your parks and all the ways that open spaces in San Francisco add to our quality of life. The Parks Bond will fix our parks while holding taxes steady by only selling new bonds as older bonds are repaid. The Parks Bond delivers for neighborhood parks across the city by:

$117 million- Rebuilding unstable recreation centers for earthquake safety and replacing unsafe playground equipment in neighborhood parks
$33.5 million -Creating a blue-greenway of new parks along the bay waterfront
$11.4 million -Repairing or replacing every free standing restroom in San Francisco parks
$8.5 million -Resurfacing athletic fields and adding lights to increase play
$5 million -Restoring hiking trails in open space parks
$5 million -Providing matching grants for community projects
$4 million -Planting new trees in our parks

The planning for the Parks Bond has been extensive, and smart. The first step in the City’s 10-year infrastructure plan to restore declining physical facilities, the Parks Bond will address the most urgent needs in our park system, including important seismic upgrades to the most used facilities in densely populated areas. Working with the Parks Trust and other members of the community, Recreation and Parks developed objective criteria to select the major restoration projects. While improvements to parks will be City-wide, the following parks were selected to receive substantial renovation:

Chinese Recreation Center
Mission Playground
Palega Playground
Cayuga Playground
McCoppin Square
Sunset Playground
Fulton Playground
Mission Dolores Park
Cabrillo Playground
Glen Canyon Park
Lafayette Park
Kimbell Playground

The Parks Bond requires strict accountability standards, including: listing all major projects (see map) in the bond ordinance and setting their budgets, monthly reports on the bond program and annual meetings at Recreation and Park and Port Commissions, and annual independent audits by a citizens’ bond oversight committee that can stop the sale of bonds if anything is amiss. There will also be a website where anyone can track the progress and spending of the bond. The Parks Bond will help San Francisco get more out of its existing parks while also adding to our inventory of green spaces by creating new parks.