Golden Gate Park in San Francisco was never intended to be used as a plaything for wealthy corporations. The eyesore 150 foot high ferris wheel which now stands as an eyesore needs to go.
Fortunately the 11 members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is going to undertake a serious review of this bauble.
Who pushed to have this Ferris Wheel brought to San Francisco? Whose pockets are being lined while the Ferris Wheel spins? Why was in placed in the midst of historic Golden Gate Park? These are just three of many questions which need exploration./
When all is said and done the Supervisors need to order this Toy dismantled and sent back to its East Coast owners.
Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 3.9.2021
The contentious debate over the SkyStar Observation Wheel in Golden Gate Park was sent by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to its Rules Committee at Tuesday’s regular meeting, leaving the recently granted four-year extension for the attraction in doubt.
The supervisors voted 11-0 on a motion by Supervisor Aaron Peskin to punt the issue to committee. The resolution was seconded by Supervisor Catherine Stefani and passed without comment by supervisors, though there was plenty of comment during public testimony before the vote.
The issue reached the board after both the Recreation and Park Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to grant the attraction operated by SkyView Partners of St. Louis a four-year extension on the original contract, which ran from April 2020 to March 21.
Within hours of that approval, Supervisor Connie Chan, who represents the Richmond District, and Peskin offered a resolution on the grounds that a business contract with an outside vendor requires the approval of two-thirds of the Board of Supervisors.
The resolution calls for the SkyStar to be allowed to continue operating in the Music Concourse until Feb. 7, 2022, with the site to be completely restored by March 15, 2022. It should get a sympathetic reading there because Peskin and Chan form two-thirds of the Rules Committee, which meets Mondays at 10 a.m.
One caller took it all the way back to the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894. There was a Ferris wheel at the fair, which supplied a precedent, but the caller offered up proof that park superintendent John McLaren was against it.
A third cluster of callers used their full two minutes deriding the board for taking up precious meeting time with an issue as silly as a Ferris wheel when there are issues like affordable housing to solve. These callers were more than happy to give advice on how to solve these larger problems.
“I’m embarrassed that we are still talking about this,” said caller Jane Natoli, who prefaced her comments by noting that her advocacy group Grow the Richmond had gathered more than 1,000 signatures in support of the SkyStar.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/SkyStar-Wheel-s-future-at-Golden-Gate-Park-in-16013506.php
Lee's Perspective 