Presidio braces for huge losses despite growing popularity.
Trustees face cuts as park’s popularity grows
“The world has essentially turned upside down. Some of the things we cut were very painful, and we have no assurance we’ll be able to restore them.”
Jean Fraser, CEO of the Presidio Trust
The board that runs San Francisco’s vast Presidio national park on Thursday held its first public hearing since the onset of the coronavirus and confronted the dilemma that it is on course to lose $20 million to $30 million this year — even as local residents are seeking it out as a green respite.
“The world has essentially turned upside down,” said Jean Fraser, the CEO of the Presidio Trust, an autonomous federal agency that is required to be financially selfsufficient. “Some of the things we cut were very painful, and we have no assurance we’ll be able to restore them” when health and economic conditions begin to improve.
The board also heard complaints from residents who are finding it difficult to pay their rent because they’ve lost their jobs during the virusfueled recession. The trust has offered rent deferrals but not to forgive overdue payments or lower rental rates for people living in the 1,174 units of former military housing.
“The refusal to negotiate is heartless,” Vanessa Thomas, a longterm resident of the Presidio who with her husband is raising two children there, told the board during its virtual meeting. “The trust has been incredibly insensitive towards residents who have been hurt economically since the pandemic hit.”
Because the board was meeting to gather information on the Presidio’s current initiatives and outreach efforts, there were no votes on any changes to its current financial strategy, which has resulted in layoffs to 20% of the staff and the cancellation of the park’s subsidized shuttle to and from the downtown San Francisco. But the
board’s chairman, William Grayson, acknowledged the concerns about financial hardship.
“We are acutely aware of the difficulty that various tenants are facing,” Grayson said. “We want to work with anybody who is under pressure.”
Even as many of the residential and commercial tenants — and the trust itself — are reeling from the economic impact of the pandemic, the park itself has blossomed as a seminatural oasis.
Earlier this week, Presidio residents agreed that they are seeing more people from San Francisco visiting during the week and on weekends. Though Main Post attractions such as the Officers’ Club or the Disney Museum are locked tight, more people are making use of the trails that thread the landscape of the former military post.
“There have clearly been a lot more bikers and walkers and runners ... I’m all for it,” said Nina Schwartz, who lives on Washington Boulevard. “Bicyclists really go fast here. It’s like the Tour de France on some mornings.”
Schwartz, who is retired, moved to the Presidio in 2006 after selling her Cole Valley condominium. When she steps outside her apartment, she has a view of the 18hole Presidio Golf Course, which was closed for nearly three months because of the Bay Area’s shelterinplace restrictions.
During that time the sprawling course, with its thick manicured grass, became a popular destination for strollers not only from
“There have clearly been a lot more bikers and walkers and runners ... I’m all for it. Bicyclists really go fast here. It’s like the Tour de France on some mornings.”
Nina Schwartz, who lives on Washington Boulevard
the Presidio, but people living in the Richmond District to the south. It reopened on May 4, despite calls from many San Franciscans that it at least be reserved as a promenade spot on Sundays.
“It was thrilling — like a large estate there for us to enjoy,” Schwartz recalled fondly.
In her status report during the board meeting, Fraser referred to the popularity of the open access to the golf course. At the same time, she emphasized the need for the $9 million in annual revenue generated by the fees that golfers pay.
“The reason the course is so beautiful is that we use millions of dollars from the rental income to maintain it,” Fraser said.
Other initiatives in response to the coronavirus have continued and been expanded. The sports field at Fort Scott is now home to a summer camp. Several major roadways have been closed to through traffic, creating new spaces for people looking for stressfree outdoor space.
For residents who are backed into an economic corner, of course, there’s stress of a different sort.
“I know the trust is under the gun, but some of my neighbors could have used a bit more leniency in that area,” Schwartz said. “Deferring doesn’t help you that much if you’re struggling.”
Thursday’s board meeting was the first to involve two new board members appointed by President Trump. One is retired Navy Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, who was in the Navy for 35 years and now lives in Hawaii. The other is Michael A. Weiner — a Marin resident better known as conservative talk show host Michael Savage.
Grayson introduced Weiner by emphasizing that he has a degree in medical botany, “which is incredibly relevant to the Presidio.” When one member of the public called in to complain about his appointment, Grayson cut her off.
“Every single person who has been on this board ... does a fabulous job of keeping politics out of it,” Grayson said. “We are unified in our love of the Presidio.”
In addition to worried tenants, several people “attending” the meeting via Zoom called on the trust to find a way to extend the lease of the Presidio Early Education School.
That preschool is operated by the San Francisco Unified School District, and district officials have said it is likely to leave the Presidio location next summer because of cost constraints.
Fraser also provided an update on the fate of Andy Goldsworthy’s “Spire,” a distinctive work of environmental art that was damaged by a fire last month.
The spikelike assemblage of 37 trunks from cypress trees originally was seen as the victim of arson. Thursday, Fraser said it now appears that the fire was set unintentionally — perhaps by people at an illegal encampment. She also said the trunks, though charred, are likely to remain in place near Inspiration Point.