Supes put big wheel pact up in air
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 fouryear extension for the attraction in doubt.
The supervisors voted 110 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.
A long line of callers were given two minutes each to voice their opinion and they were equally divided between those for granting the extension as an economic engine to help bring the city out of the fiscal morass of the pandemic, and those who believe a brightly lit, loudly churning ride that costs $18 a turn, has no business in the park and should never have been approved in the first place.
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.
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 fouryear 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 twothirds 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 twothirds of the Rules Committee, which meets Mondays at 10 a.m.
Due to pandemicrelated shutdowns, the SkyStar had operated for only 39 days before it was granted approval to resume operation last Thursday. It costs $18 for adults and $12 for seniors and children, with underrepresented groups invited to ride it for free.
Among those calling in eager to see it continue was Sheri Sternberg of Mercenary Productions. Allowing the big wheel to keep on turning “will give jobs to individuals who have been devastated by the pandemic and need this work,” she said. “Terminating the contact would have an impact on the longterm viability of events in San Francisco, and we need the promise of hope that events will bring to our community.”