San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Nominations to replace Columbus statue pour in
Now that Christopher Columbus has been evicted from the Coit Tower plaza, there are plenty of suggestions for replacing him, and they include a statue of another historic Italian American, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“Everything from a Benny Bufano statue of St. Francis of Assisi to Italian General Giuseppe Garibaldi to moving the firefighter statue in Washington Square — the list goes on and on,” said Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose district played host to the Columbus statue until the city removed it early Thursday morning.
“One judge just texted me saying he would
pay for a statue of Nancy Pelosi,” Peskin said. “A very prominent Italian American actually thanked the city for saving the Columbus statue and offered to buy it.”
Once a symbol of Italian American pride, Columbus has become a symbol of oppression for many in recent years.
City workers removed the 4,000pound statue after it was repeatedly vandalized and after a flyer began circulating on social media calling for a march to Coit Tower to topple the statue and and chuck it into the bay.
Peskin said he understood the political and safety reasons that prompted the statue’s removal, but said there are no plans to remove the name of the man who claimed to discover the new world from Columbus Avenue, which also cuts through his district.
“There is a real difference between a physical symbol and a place name,” Peskin said. “If we go down that road we’d be renaming half of the streets in the city.”
Batter up: It took a bit of debate, but the Oakland City Council has instructed staff to begin negotiations to sell the city’s half of the OaklandAlameda County Coliseum site to the Oakland A’s.
The decision came Thursday in a closed session and marks a stark change from October when city leaders filed suit in an attempt to block Alameda County from selling its half of the 155acre East Oakland site to the team.
The suit was later withdrawn at the urging of Major League Baseball.
Council members are barred from discussing what goes on in closed session, but sources close to the talks said the city’s deal would mirror the county deal and net about $85 million
“One judge just texted me saying he would pay for a statue of Nancy Pelosi.”
Aaron Peskin, San Francisco supervisor
spread out over a yettobe determined number of years.
The A’s are looking to build a new waterfront ballpark at the Port of Oakland’s Howard Terminal but also want the ability to develop the Coliseum site. Both deals are predicated on the team building a new ballpark in Oakland.
Initially some council members wanted the Coliseum site to be used for affordable housing, others wanted to put the site out for bid and still others wanted to lease rather than sell the city’s portion to the team.
“For me it is about looking at how things have changed when it comes to money,” Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo said before the meeting.
“After the coronavirus shutdown, we are looking at a very, very serious budget deficit, and they are saying it could cost us $6 million just to maintain the site,” Gallo said. “We don’t have that kind of money. This way we can get some badly needed help.”
Sources said the vote was