San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
S.F. supervisors’ killjoy caucus
One might think San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors would have a full enough plate with myriad serious problems facing the city in a pandemic: health systems overwhelmed, residents ailing, businesses reeling, schools shuttered, homelessness surging and property crimes soaring. It’s absurd to think board members would be anxious to intervene these days in matters that are outside their bailiwick.
Yet they just can’t help themselves. Wherever there is controversy within city limits there are elected officials prepared to meddle on behalf of one side or another.
Enter four supervisors — Connie Chan, Aaron Peskin, Shamann Walton, Dean Preston — into the effort to upend a fouryear extension of the Golden Gate Park Ferris wheel, formally known as the SkyStar Observation Wheel, that was brought here to draw visitors and provide picturesque views in celebration of the park’s 150th anniversary. Its timing was perfect for the anniversary, but awful for accepting riders to its spot in the park’s Music Concourse. COVID cases surged at just about the time the 150foottall attraction was unloaded. The pandemic has limited its operation to 39 days, at 25% capacity, amid the ordered shutdowns because of COVID outbreaks.
It’s up to two appointed boards, the Recreation and Park Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission, to decide whether to extend a stay that has barely begun. Recreation and Park gave its unanimous blessing and now Historic Preservation is scheduled to issue its verdict Wednesday.
The big question is whether those commissioners will continue to yield to pressure from the supervisors who demanded — and received, by a 60 vote — a delay on any action.
The objections have a familiar ring to anyone who follows San Francisco politics. Neighbors complain about the noise and lights. Naturalists worry about the potential impact on wildlife, such as great horned owls or the bats who feed after sunset. And some folks resist any commercial intrusion on the public space, notwithstanding the historic connection with the giant Ferris wheel that was one of the signature attractions of the 1894 California Midwinter Fair in Golden Gate Park.
The neighbors’ concerns about the bright lights and generator’s noise can be mitigated through an agreement to dim the lights and shut down the generator at 10 p.m.
The city gets $1 out of each fullprice $18 ticket sold — there are discounts for children and seniors — but the greater economic benefit will be its ability to draw locals and tourists to the park and as the world emerges from the deadliest pandemic in a century. The proposed extension has drawn strong support from San Francisco’s business community as well as a flurry of encouragement from city residents. Its presence clearly would be a benefit to the park’s cultural institutions.
Rides in the climatecontrolled, 6passenger gondolas are a bit pricey, but the deal with operator Skyview Partners does include 500 tickets each month to lowerincome San Franciscans — which works out to 24,000 free passes over the fouryear contract.
Beyond the dollarsandcents calculation is the intangible appeal of an attraction that will add an extra dash of fun and human interaction after a long period of forced isolation for too many of us.
For the moment, at least, the SkyStar gondolas are empty, awaiting the loosening of necessary restrictions to contain the pandemic. At some point, however, the postponed 150th anniversary celebrations will commence. It would be a shame if they did so without the Ferris wheel, not out of continuing health concerns but of the neverending ability of pandering politicians to ruin a good thing.