Toby Rosenblatt: [Welcome to this meeting of the Board of Directors of the] Presidio Trust. We have two board members who you will recognize are not present. They are not here and extend their regrets because both of them are out of the state on business and couldn't be here today.
We are gathered here today to get for ourselves, the board, and for you a further discussion of the activities and accomplishments that have taken place during this last year by the Presidio Trust, and importantly, by a number of other organizations collaborating together with the Trust and with each other on things that have been able to be accomplished that many of you know about, many of you participated in, helped to make happen. But for you to learn about other organizations, other activities, and for all of us to learn more and to meet some of the people who have been able to make these things happen.
Let me just ask very quickly if any of you are aware of anybody who is in need of having the assistance of signing. If not, at this point...we'll ask again maybe before we start the next segment of the meeting, and if not, then we won't need to continue with that.
The guests that we have, our friends who have done a lot of the wonderful things with us, Jim Meadows is going to include a discussion of their activities and an introduction of those people as we go along. So why don't we turn to your conversation, Jim, right now? Thank you.
Jim Meadows: Good morning. On behalf of the staff and the board of directors, I'd like to report on the activities of the Presidio Trust for the past 12 months, from October 1999 through September of 2000. Copies of what my remarks are about will be available on the Trust Web site and at the Trust library.
I would like to acknowledge, as Toby was speaking about, several groups that we'll be talking about today. And that includes--but is not totally inclusive of everyone that works with the Presidio--the Mountain Lake Project, which includes from the National Park Service, Jerry Thomas; GGNPA, Carol Prince; Friends of Mountain Lake, Rich Shrieve. The Mountain Lake project is one of our key projects. Swords to Plowshares--we have Carl Skinner and Cyane Anaya. From the environmental cleanup area, the RAB is represented by Mark Youngkin. From the Bay Area Ridge Trail, the San Francisco Conservation Corps, Doug Biggs. The National Park Service lead on that is Marcus Combs. Archaeology, the UC-Berkeley Project, is Amy Ramsey. And I believe that Brian O'Neil and [Mylee Spartling] are here or will be here, and they are key in our collaboration with the National Park Service.
I'd like to start off by basically telling you that I had the pleasure of living and working at the Presidio [as] a beautiful park. And if the board would like to...
It's a place of trails, it's a place of quiet, it's also a place of activity. It is a national treasure, and it's one of the most beautiful natural settings in the United States, with one of the most extensive cultural histories. And I would point out because there's been some conjecture about that, that cultural history includes a very rich military history, and that military history is something that we plan on continuing and making sure that that story is told.
I came across the following quote when I was speaking down in Los Angeles to the Getty Foundation, basically from Henry David Thoreau. It says, "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put foundations under them."
It kind of grabbed me a little bit, but I look at the Presidio is a castle in the air. It is this national treasure. The Trust in collaboration with the National Park Service needs to put foundations under the castle and to give it underpinnings for the future.
How do we accomplish this? The law charges the Trust with preservation of the Presidio as a national park in this urban area of San Francisco. And our mission is the preservation of the natural, historic, scenic, cultural and recreational resources of the Presidio.
I think from the Trust standpoint we see our challenges falling into four major categories: protecting and enhancing resources, fostering community, building a sustainable future, and creating a people-friendly park.
The most difficult challenge that we see is balancing those various interests of preservation, program and financial goals that face both the Trust and the National Park Service. How do you balance historic buildings, their restoration and their use? Diverse cultures--the modern culture, the military culture and the prehistoric culture. The historic forest and the native plants areas. Resource protection and people use for the park. These are all balancing acts, and what we consider probably the most interesting but the most challenging is creating a middle line between those interests.
The Trust was set up to actually affect that balancing act, and to do that we have to collaborate with multiple organizations. I've talked about basically the various organizations that we work with almost on a daily basis, the first and foremost of which is not daily but hourly, and that's with the National Park Service.
We also talked about Swords to Plowshares, Friends of Mountain Lake Park, the Conservation Corps, the Golden Gate National Parks Association, and the Restoration Advisory Board.
We also have a relationship with the city of San Francisco and the greater Bay Area, and that's very important to the Presidio as a national park in this urban area. We do impact the city of San Francisco, even though we're not part of the city. We provide breathing space for the surrounding urban population. We have an environmental connection. Our shared watersheds flow into the bay, and offer the opportunity for extensive water reclamation and sustainable water use.
We impact housing. We have housing at the Presidio, and to the extent that we have a jobs/housing balance, we seek to create that balance and to at least not increase the pressure on housing which already exists in the city.
We provide recreation and cultural opportunities. By our estimate, basically three-quarters of the visitors that come to the Presidio are people that use it for recreational purposes either on a daily or a weekly basis.
And while we answer to a national constituency, the American people, who provide for this park, we value our neighbors in San Francisco who had such an enduring and often personal relationship with the Presidio.
The first set of results that I'd like to talk about involve protecting and enhancing the resources of the Presidio. The first project we're going to discuss, Crissy Field, is one in which the Trust only played a very minor role. The Golden Gate National Parks Association has raised the largest cash gift ever given to the national park system, to fund a $32 million restoration of Crissy Field.
In collaboration with the National Park Service and hundreds of Bay Area citizens, GGNPA has transformed the visually most contaminated section of the Presidio and made it into a gateway to the park.
The work of many, many volunteers, basically, who planted the field makes Crissy Field what it is today--a living, sustainable sanctuary and a restored natural area for people, plants and animals. It also provides for an unmatched educational opportunity for people from diverse communities, a living laboratory that's only a bus ride away from any neighborhood in the city.
The Trust did contribute $1.4 million to solve a storm drainage that plagued the eastern half of Crissy Field. The Trust is also creating a water reclamation project at a cost of about $2 million to help irrigate the over 80 acres of grass and native plants at Crissy Field.
Many of you know about the signature forests of the Presidio and know the fact that they're nearing the end of their natural life span. Working with the National Park Service, third party experts--including representatives from the Yale School of Forestry and the Olmstead Center, as well as the public--we've developed a plan to revitalize the forest and native plant series of the Presidio. This vegetation management plan is a work in progress. However, the key word here is "progress."
While the plan progresses, we're taking immediate action to extend the lives of existing trees by as much as 30 years, while we're going through an orderly process of reforestation and replanting of native plants.
This year the Trust will spend a million dollars on forest restoration and native plant projects in collaboration with the National Park Service, the California Native Plant Society, and others. The Trust has hired as chief forester Mr. Peter Ehrlich, who has overseen the restoration efforts at Golden Gate Park for years for the city of San Francisco, which is about 20 years ahead of us in both the planting and the need for restoration. We're building a natural resources staff to work with the National Park Service on site restoration projects.
Pilot projects are under way to test out solutions, because we have one chance to do it and we have to do it right the first time. Our goal is to get new trees and native plants areas established and thriving while keeping our current forest healthy and strong.
Historic preservation is one of the Trust's major missions and requires timely efforts to prevent further deterioration of historic buildings and landscapes. The Presidio, a national historic landmark, contains more historic military buildings in one place than anywhere else in the United States. The only effective way to preserve these buildings is to find new uses for them and new sources of capital to restore them within the context of historic preservation.
In the past year, the Trust has completed or contracted for completion over 250,000 square feet of historic, non-residential buildings at a cost of over $50 million. Four buildings have been renovated by Trust staff, and four large buildings have been or are being renovated by developers under lease agreements with the Trust, such as the San Francisco Film Institute by Mr. George Gund.
The Trust has renovated 758 residential units, of which 301 are historic structures. Our costs are running approximately 35 percent below what a comparable contract with a third party contractor would cost for this renovation.
Last year, to guide the Presidio historic restoration efforts, the Trust created green building guidelines for historic buildings. These guidelines were substantially adopted by the Green Building Council, a national organization that sets standards for sustainable development.
This year, 80 percent of the materials used in residential renovation will fit within these guidelines for green building standards for historic buildings. Those include low-flow showers, which are saving over a hundred gallons of water at the Presidio every 15 minutes. Certified sustainable wood products and compact fluorescent lights that are four times more efficient than incandescent bulbs.
I've spoken twice now about Mountain Lake. It's one of the special places at the Presidio. It's the siting of where the DeAnza party first camped when the Presidio was created. In collaboration with the National Park Service, Friends of the Mountain Lake Park, and with GGNPA, basically the Trust has worked to develop a draft plan to revitalize the lake with funds partially provided by the city of San Francisco as mitigation for the San Francisco Airport construction.
Tennessee Hollow is another work in progress. The Trust received a grant from the Costal Conservancy to prepare a scope for work for Tennessee Hollow restoration. This is one of those areas where the balancing act comes into play. It requires a balance between the built environment and the natural environment, and the Trust has to make the final decisions as to how that balance occurs.
Environmental sustainability programs are central to the Trust efforts to put the Presidio at the forefront of the environmental concerns and sustainable living. For instance, recycling: this summer, the Trust and the National Park Service celebrated the grand opening of the Presidio reuse and recycling and education center. This program is a collaboration with the San Francisco Conservation Corps, in addition. The center recycles 12 tons of bottles, cans and cardboard boxes each month, and is a field trip destination for San Francisco schools to educate students about recycling and the environment. We were very pleased to receive the White House Closing the Circle award for buying recyclable materials, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors Recycle At Work award for our leadership in using recycled materials in the workplace.
Both looking to the future and looking to the past year, alternative transportation is one of our key missions to deemphasizing the use of the automobile where possible. We're working with a host of organizations to provide alternatives to the automobile at the Presidio. With a $100,000 grant from Transportation for Clean Air, we are creating a car sharing program demonstration project which will be using the new Ford Motor Think City electric cars on a car sharing program for rent or for use. We're also able to improve express Muni service from the Market Street corridor to the Presidio--the 82X line. If you haven't used it, please call us; we'd love for you to use it.
To encourage bicycle use we're working with the Presidio tenant, the Bicycle Community Project, to develop a bike sharing program.
And finally, to help tenants, residents and visitors move around the Presidio, we're developing the plan for a clean fuel internal Presidio shuttle that'll begin operation in the winter of 2001.
Salvage and regeneration: our goal is to use as much materials on site as we can as we deconstruct some of the non-historic structures, reducing our negative contribution to local landfills, and creating a closed loops community. This means we will deconstruct the Letterman building complex and Lehrer, recycling 93 percent of the materials from those buildings on site. It means that we have a vigorous composting program--everything from grass clippings on the golf course to trees that come down in the winds and the storms. And basically in the last year composting 140 cubic yards, or 20 dump trucks worth of organic material.
The second set of themes I'd like to talk about are those themes that foster community within the park. There is a growing, diverse park community at the Presidio. One policy of the Trust is the creation of a diverse group of organizations, both non-profit and for-profit, that directly and indirectly enhance the Presidio. The Presidio already benefits from organizations that are in the Thoreau Center, a center for innovation with primarily non-profit tenants. In the past year 12 new organizations have decided to join the Presidio community, including the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the Guardsmen, the Drew School, Lexnet, and the Jewish Community Center.
One new organization of which we're most proud is the Swords to Plowshares. Currently, 100 formerly homeless veterans are participating in Swords to Plowshares Veterans Academy, where they receive job training, health care and support. Eventually we hope some of these vets will join our staff at the Presidio Trust.
211 new residential households bring the Presidio's residential community to 831 families. These include market rate housing, a preferred renter program for people that work at the Presidio, a public safety program to ensure that we retain our public safety people in police, fire and emergency services; and a growing live/work balance where 37 percent of all residents at the Presidio are people that work at the Presidio.
Community outreach remains a major goal of the Trust. For the past 18 months the Trust has hosted monthly planning public workshops on various planning topics related to the Presidio's future.
Response to the public input to the Letterman environmental impact statement led the Trust to undertake the Presidio Trust Implementation Plan, which is ongoing as we speak to update the General Management Plan Amendment created by the National Park Service and to reflect the present day challenges, the opportunities and the changed circumstances faced by the Trust.
In addition, the Trust has started quarterly facilities open houses to report on activities that we are doing on a quarterly basis. A formal speakers bureau--and we have supported the tenant council and restarted the organization People for the Presidio as an additional sounding board for public input.
I would like to of course acknowledge the GGNRA Advisory Commission, whose volunteers, some of which are here today, spend countless volunteer hours serving as one of our most important conduits for obtaining public input to the Trust.
The third theme I'd like to discuss involves the Trust activities for building a sustainable future. The Presidio Trust Implementation Plan process is under way. This process is to update the GMPA for Area B of the Presidio, in light of new opportunities and changed circumstances since the 1994 plan was published. The final scoping session will be held on November 15th from 6 to 9 p.m. at the log cabin. If you do not have directions, we either have or will have maps available out here today for you to take with you on how to get to the log cabin.
This session will focus on plan alternatives and financial analysis of those alternatives, basically to brief the public on what's moving forward on the plan, as the final scoping session leading up to the choosing of a preferred alternative or the creation of a preferred alternative that will be studied as part of the environmental impact process.
The next step is publication of a draft plan and accompanying environment impact statement draft for review and comment by the public. This plan is a way to outline and update a vision for the Presidio, one that includes how to use innovation and technology, how to save resources to provide a methodology to tell the Presidio stories, and to enhance our goals to become a center for research, education and sustainable practices.
Another outreach is the idea of a Presidio Institute at Fort Scott. It's being studied with a grant from three major philanthropic foundations. The concept of the Institute is to provide a preeminent center for research, discussion and policy planning on major issues facing the Presidio, the nation and the world, with a possible focus on the intersection of thoughts between the environment and the ideas of new technology.
One reason that Congress created the Trust was to encourage the use of innovative public/private solutions to difficult issues. Environmental cleanup is an example of basically one of those innovative solutions. Environmental issues are not unique to the Presidio; they abound in every military base closure in the United States or in the world.
The Trust offered basically a first of its kind solution to the environmental cleanup at the Presidio. Cleanup is ongoing, with the Trust taking over as lead agency from the Department of Defense for the cleanup. In this historic agreement among the Army, the National Park Service and the Trust, the Army is paying $100 million to the Trust for cleanup of all of the environmental problems at the Presidio. In addition, the Trust purchased $100 million in environmental insurance to cover any potential overruns in liability associated with that environmental cleanup.
Now, the good news is, although $100 million is still a lot of money, that we have one of the cleaner base closings that you will find in the United States. But primarily, it's because we do have four million visitors a year that traipse through every part of the Presidio, that the landfills that were associated with a lot of the military actions here must be cleaned.
Smart buildings are another area in which the Trust is using technological innovations that are good for the environment, and applying them to renovation of Presidio buildings. Trust-renovated buildings are using sustainable materials; roughly 80 to 90 percent in each building as it's renovated is recyclable, sustainable materials.
Recycling materials--I mentioned Letterman--basically will be recycled 93 percent of the materials in the old buildings, and providing increased efficiency using new products for light, heat and energy management.
This year the Trust has achieved the 30 percent energy savings dictated by the White House for all federal agencies, a full four years ahead of the dictation by the White House.
Working with other federal and state agencies, we're building a water reclamation plant that will save about $1.7 million each year in water and sewer costs to the Presidio.
Our first cogeneration plant has been planned and is started construction, that will save a half million dollars in energy costs in its first year of operation alone.
As we modernize our fleet of vehicles--speaking of the automobile--we're replacing gasoline-powered cars and trucks with electric and natural gas-powered vehicles. 30 percent of our maintenance fleet is now alternatively fueled, and the Presidio shuttle will be 100 percent alternatively fueled.
The fourth and final theme I'd like to discuss with you about last year's actions involves creating a people-friendly park at the Presidio. The Presidio is a people-friendly park. We want to make it and enhance that friendliness.
When Congress and the president established the first urban national parks in the 1970s, the idea was to bring the national park system to the people of the United States in the communities where they live. As a unique park surrounded by a dense urban environment, the Presidio must serve its local community as well as its national constituency.
Many cultural events are held at the Presidio, and many more are planned in the coming years. They are sponsored and/or aided by the Trust, and they include the Earth Festival; the Presidio [Posados], which celebrates the beginnings of the Spanish Presidio in 1776 and the birthday of San Francisco; the Memorial Day ceremonies; the activities surrounding the National Japanese Americans Historical Society, commemorating the contributions of Asian Americas; the Buffalo Soldiers exhibit, which is sponsored by the National Park Service; a curriculum-based program at the stables; and the Aloha Festival, which is a celebration of the Polynesian cultures.
Visitors services planning is a joint project of the National Park Service and the Presidio Trust. Together we held a symposium this past spring with 60 invited experts, as well as focus groups and public comment periods. The challenge is to tell the many diverse stories of the Presidio's natural and cultural resources, and enhance the visitor experience at the Presidio. The challenge will be met by using the National Park Service expertise in this area, plus Trust staff expertise and funding, coupled with modern technology, to make a visitor interpretive plan work at the Presidio, one that's customized to each visitor.
We have been collaborating with the Smithsonian Institution to moving forward with a relationship with them in future years. We had the significant benefit of Mr. Michael Heyman on our board of directors, the former secretary of the Smithsonian.
While we work together on creating a series of excellent museums at the part, as part of our planning process in finalizing a formal Smithsonian relationship we're also beginning this year a series of visiting exhibitions and festivals designed to make the Presidio a preeminent cultural destination.
Our first show, in March of next year, will be "The Unseen Treasures: Imperial Russia and the West." This comes from the Russian National Museum and illustrates the connection between Czarist Russia and California. This has only been on exhibition in three places in the United States, and when it leaves the Presidio it will go back to Russia. It does have a local connection between Czarist Russia and California. The connection between the DeAnza party that established the Presidio, which has a love story involved between the daughter of Commandante Arguello and a Russian explorer that was not a successful love story but basically it is part of the history of the Presidio.
Many other projects that have been completed in the past year include the Bay Area Ridge Trail. That's the first completed millennium trail link in the United States. The trails and bikeways planning is ongoing. World War II Memorial restoration--basically in collaboration with outside groups, we completely restored the memorial this past summer. The Arguello Gate restoration and trail improvement, information kiosks, the Trust library enhancements, and the various special events that are ongoing at the Presidio.
I think that if you walk through the Presidio or bicycle through it or otherwise move around you'll agree that fiscal year 2000 has been a very productive year. I hasten to add we have a lot to do, a lot ways to go. And in collaboration with our friends and organizations, we hope to reduce the cost to the taxpayer over the next few years.
In 1998, 86 percent of the Presidio funding was from federal appropriations. It's now down to 46 percent, and it drops each year. As you know, one of our mandates by the year 2013, we have to become entirely financially self-sufficient.
As the Trust views the state of the Presidio today, we're on the right course. We're making progress. We have a long distance yet to go to make sure that we preserve the Presidio as a national park in this urban area.
Those are really the list of accomplishments that we have tried to work with in the past year. I'd like to acknowledge that we grew from a staff of basically two people when I got here in January of 1998. Because of taking over all of the activities of the equivalent of a small municipality, we now have a staff primarily in the field of 389 people. They are very hard working, they are very dedicated, and the results that you see are the result of their pride and what's becoming at the Presidio. And I would like to acknowledge the Presidio staff, primarily standing in the back of the room, and their efforts to this point.
[applause]
This concludes our formal remarks. What we're going to do at this point is something different for public board meetings. We're going to take a break--coffee, drinks. But we also hope you'll go around to the boards in the room here, around the perimeter, and that that will trigger some additional comments or questions or public comments that you may wish to make to the Presidio board. We'll reconvene shortly and then basically we'll go into the open format for the meeting. Thank you.
[break in recording]
Toby Rosenblatt: I need some company up here.
[laughter]
Let me just ask...you all just had a chance to look at all these boards, and of course we've just heard Jim's presentation. I want to mention that if you really want to know what happened between the Russian prince and the daughter of Arguello, you've got to come to the exhibition.
[laughter]
That's going to happen in March, and it'll be in the Main Post area. There will be lots of preamble to it that you'll hear more about, and collateral events. In fact, there was just a connection we made five minutes ago about an opportunity for some other collateral events, so we're very excited about this first of what we hope will be a long series of visiting exhibitions and opportunities for collaboration with local performing arts and visual arts organizations for the pleasure of people in San Francisco and visitors.
I have a few speaker request cards which we will do now for comment on the things you've seen and other issues that you think are important for us to talk about.
One of the issues that we know is on the minds of several people is not actually related to anything that Jim has talked about. But in anticipation of probably some of the conversation, we know that there is--as you all know and Jim mentioned, we have this implementation planning effort, and the next major piece of that is November 15th. I don't want to encourage the idea of a series of comments and conversations to begin on that subject, because that's what November and subsequent meetings will be about. But there is a question about timing and scheduling, and I'd like to ask Mary, if you'd be willing to just come in on one aspect of that, because we know that's on your minds right now.
Mary Murphy: I think everybody who's aware of the process that we're going through is aware that there are time frames usually set for public comment and review of the documents that will be issued. And we expect the document to be issued on the 15th of November at the scoping meeting. We had originally set a date of December 8th for public comment and review on that first draft document that would present alternatives.
We have received some comment from Neighborhood Associations for Presidio Planning, as well as other interested parties, pointing out that the real action, if you will, in this sort of public comment and review is in that first draft stage when you're first exposed to the alternatives and you're trying to absorb them and think them through. And that that's really the time period in which additional time would be most useful, and really in some respects necessary, for people to be able to comment intelligently and coherently on what they're seeing there and to kind of reflect on it.
And so we had been asked by NAPP, and I think others, if we would consider extending the December 8th date to provide additional time for people to review that comment. That would be between the draft and the final EIS.
And so we discussed this yesterday at the board meeting, and we had realized that, in some respects, the way we had set up the timing of the schedule was not as useful as it might be, because we had allowed additional time at the back end, which is really not when you need it, between the FEIS and the ROD, which is almost always 45 days and we had permitted 60 at that point. So we really did have the cart before the horse or the tail wagging the dog or whatever you want to say.
And so we've decided to extend the date from December 8th to January 15th. So there'll be 60 days from November 15th to January 15th, a two-month period, to review. Which is really the critical period in terms of needing the time. And then we'll just do the customary 45 days between the FEIS and the ROD. So hopefully that will be of assistance to people, and I hope as well it sort of alleviates some of the concerns I know some people here today have. We expect that we'll get, as always, good input from the interested public on this. And so we welcome your remarks when the time comes.
Toby Rosenblatt: Thank you. Okay, speaker cards. If you have additional comments on any of the subjects Jim has addressed, or the status of any of the programs, please talk with us now. Ron Miguel? And then Marcia Smith-White.
Ron Miguel: Thank you very much. Do you anticipate [unintelligible]? [Unintelligible] [those directors] very much, because my remarks were going to be similar to the letter that was sent to you dated the 12th, requesting this type of extension. And certainly Ms. Murphy's comments of the fact that the formulation of the alternatives is as, if not more, important than the actual comments on an EIS. And so we greatly appreciate the fact that you have extended that time limit.
That said, [laughs]--and I originally intended to go on further with that one, but the thank you is, I think, sufficient. The other thing that was touched on briefly in Mr. Meadows' comments, NAPP, as maybe not everyone here understands, is Neighborhood Associations for Presidio Planning--of which I'm the current president--ten neighborhood associations that surround the Presidio, somewhere around 2,500 households. And it is the interaction between this urban core the national park itself that has been of our concern for at least ten years--we've been meeting monthly or more often regarding this.
There are many areas where we have had cooperation, we expect cooperation and our input. They have to do with transportation, interfacing with policing, interfacing in other areas. And you have certainly with the Trust done a very good job so far. There's always better jobs to be done, and we hope to work with you further on that.
Toby Rosenblatt: Great. Thanks, Ron. Marcia?
[laughter]
Marcia Smith-White: I do not have two speaker cards. [laughs] I thought he was the old boyfriend of mine but...
[laughter]
I've been told that. And this is not a creature from the Mountain Lake project, and neither is it from Crissy Field. What it is, though, it's part of what is going on here with our community.
We have a haunted house that is supported by so many. The Trust gives us a house, another park partner gives us the insurance. From all over the park I get their leftovers, their refuse, [laughs], things that they don't need, cardboard. So that we create a house for over 200 kids the day before Halloween, so they still can get enough candy the next day. So that as a community, we grow together and we bind together. And that's really what is exciting about living here in the park and being part of all of this thing.
What I get to do is work with all of the neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has a mayor. They bring their concerns to the council. We talk about what's going on. One of the things that is a concern to them is of course the rising rents, which is something that we hope is not going to create an exclusive neighborhood.
I was excited just to talk to Anne Blackburn, who was telling me about a great program that they're asking about the new partners. Which is to say, how do you give back to the park? Whether it's financially, whether it's through projects, whether it's through some way that they can be part of their community.
So this gives me great hope. It's the same kind of thing--I was brokenhearted when I saw Americorps leaving two weeks ago, or a month ago. Because those indeed are the very people that create a profile for this park. Americorps teaches young people how to be leaders in economically deprived areas, among other areas, with the concept of having a...it's called part of the outreach and the silent sponsorships.
What we're talking about, I hope, is a way that dot-coms, which seems to be a bad word in this community, can learn how to be part of our community. That they can become part of the group that's here to help, whether it's Swords to Plowshares, whether it's groups that don't make as much money--the non-profits--that we will take some leadership with all this so that indeed the glue of our community, which is participation, fully becomes actualized.
But both my creature and I are here to say, since you are friends of the Presidio, our haunted house is Monday from 4:30 to 6:00. You'll see a lot of kids in costumes. We do give a prize for the most sustainable scarecrow, and also the hairiest and scariest and most creative competition. So please know that you're welcome. It's 4:30 to 6:00, across from the bowling alley, and you're all friends of the park, so you're invited. Thank you very much.
Toby Rosenblatt: Thanks, Marcia. And whoever that is.
[laughter]
I did neglect at the beginning to ask our speakers, out of courtesy to the others, if you would please remember to keep your remarks brief. Two minutes would be appreciated.
Bill Huff, and then Margaret Zegart.
Bill Huff: Good morning. I would like to make some remarks on behalf of the leadership council of the Presidio Alliance first, and then just a few thoughts of my own.
The leadership council of the Presidio Alliance wishes to bring to the attention of the Trust two additional developments which occurred after the Presidio General Management Plan Amendment was adopted in 1994, and which are not listed in the summary of the public scoping workshop presentation dated July 12, 2000.
They are, one, that the world's most critical issues have become more critical. And I point to the newspaper today, "New proof of severe global warming" to illustrate that things are not getting better. And that two, federal and state budget surpluses, which could now be used to create innovative private programs based at the Presidio to address these issues--they were not available in 1994.
In light of these developments, we urge the Trust to support an amendment to the Trust legislation which would eliminate the requirement that the Presidio be managed to increase revenues to the federal government to the maximum extent possible, and replace it with language such as, "Requirements that the Presidio be managed in such a way as to, one, realize reasonable income from leasing of existing buildings to both businesses, non-profit organizations and residential tenants, and two, to devote a significant part of the Presidio's resources and facilities to the creation of a global center dedicated to the world's most critical environmental, social and cultural challenges."
Personally, part of the review process that I feel is lacking is the accomplishments of the many organizations that are here at the Presidio. And I had the idea of perhaps a supplemental effort could be made asking the organizations what was the most important accomplishment that they made during the past year. I think this would help the American public understand what a rich and valuable resource we have here at the Presidio. Let me just give you three illustrations.
State of the World Forum held a spectacular, very important forum during the Millennium Summit at the U.N. Just last September, the United Religions Initiative, another spectacular event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bringing together religious people from all over the world to see how they can resolve differences between the religions without resorting to conflict.
And third is particularly interesting to me. It's by an organization in the building where I share an office, called Water Keeper. And through the activities of that organization, Governor Davis has increased the budget for monitoring non-specific source pollution with more than a hundred people now looking at that issue.
These are just some of the examples of the wonderful things that are happening here at the Presidio. And I think we should in some way create a way so that the American public knows what's going on.
Thank you so much.
Toby Rosenblatt: Margaret, to be followed by Patricia Vaughey.
Margaret Zegart: Margaret Zegart. And I'm delighted that you've changed the format of the room. It's nice to look out and see something beyond a wall. Very nice.
And thank you again for all you're doing, and I know your staff should be complimented because when I--
Toby Rosenblatt: You're just saying that because that's more interesting than we are. [laughs]
[laughter]
Margaret Zegart: Well, no!
Toby Rosenblatt: Which is true.
Margaret Zegart: I didn't say that. It's a better background than that. Measly stage curtain. See the great nature out here.
For example, on the Letterman, a lot of input has changed some of the things that we're constricting. When you came into the entrance at Lyon, it's a bit better. You have more of a sense of grand entrance than you did before.
I still have a dream--one of the reasons I thought Lucas would be so great to have here was because I thought they could have a program to introduce the public to the kinds of technicalities and the things a participatory exhibit...and that round building I still think would make a nice exhibit area for the public. And there are more ways for the public to get into that Great Meadow now. So that's appreciated as well.
I hope that you have a kind of vision, too, where you work with the families of the people now--the Swords to Plowshares. That's such a great thing. And there was so much antagonism in the community, especially among religious people, against Wherry Housing not being used. And so I think you should publicize it--it is being used for a very good purpose, more than it is known--and that you do have the Swords to Plowshares. And I think you should have a vision for working with families--young veterans from the Mideast, I think. This is the kind, I think, that will be very helpful.
And if you could have demonstration housing, too, because it's very hard now for a young veteran to manage with a family, and that's one of the stresses.
And another kind of vision--I'm so glad that Fort Scott is going to be used in the way that you're planning. But in your litany of all the great things that are being done, you didn't mention the word "peace." And I think that's such an issue, and conflict resolution. And so I hope that that becomes stressed. Gorbachev sort of started that in a small way down in the old Coast Guard facilities. But I think it should be a very underlining, important thing.
And then the arts. I've not ever made this comment before, but I think that you should have a San Francisco historical museum here. It would be a non-profit kind of thing, but this is the place of history, the beginnings, and I think that that would be a wonderful thing to have here.
Thank you.
Toby Rosenblatt: Jennifer Gridley. Sorry. After...
Patricia Vaughey: Before the Presidio Trust came into effect, I was talking to Carey Feierabend, and we discussed the possibility of a shuttle and incorporating the tenants with the commercial spaces on Lombard and Chestnut Street. Carey took this after Dick Tillis came into the job and promoted it to him--he came to me. And for two weeks of this month I walked around with a wonderful young lady by the name of [Crudae Sunga]. We acquired a lot of merchants that were willing to give discounts. There is a flyer out, the shuttle is in effect, and it's becoming very effective.
This shows how neighborhood groups and the Trust can work together. I'm extremely thrilled with this because it includes the tenants, and they have a chance to come down without driving their cars, and have a good way of getting back.
I'm hoping that it goes seven days a week, longer hours, but what's happened now has been extremely successful over the last two weeks, and I want to report back to you that this happened.
I also want to tell you that [Crudae Sunga] is one of the most efficient, capable young women I have ever met, and if she ever needs a job again I advise you to hire her.
[laughter]
Okay? Thank you.
Jennifer Gridley: Good morning. I'm Jennifer Gridley from Cow Hollow Association. And I was going to comment also on the process for PTIP, so thank you for extending the comment period. And I just want to say we're really anxious to read it thoroughly and comment thoughtfully on it. It's really important to us.
And also while I'm here I'll just comment that we haven't heard anything back in terms of feedback from our comments on the Letterman design. And I was just curious where it is and what's going on and when we might hear something more about it.
Thanks.
Toby Rosenblatt: Mary Anne Miller?
Mary Anne Miller: Good morning. Mary Anne Miller, San Francisco Tomorrow. I acknowledge that this is not the right place to talk about the detail of the Implementation Plan, the PTIP, but I have some questions.
Is this really a revision, or are we rethinking it? If we are rethinking the General Management Plan, are we going to be able to track the revision--that is the PTIP--with the original General Management Plan? And I think that we should have it laid out in parallel so we can understand where are we changing or where are augmenting or where are we keeping it the same so to us it's still the source document.
But what are the overarching goals? I was involved in that original planning process and all those workshops. When the final document came out the goals really were kind of buried. It was very hard to draw them out and pull them out and find them. So that does definitely need to be done, and I think they may need to be augmented now with all the new things that have occurred in the last ten years.
Now, I guess one of my main interests is, since we have financial sustainability--self-sufficiency--as our major goal, how do all the projects as they are approved track with those goals? I know there have only been, I believe, two reports to Congress so far and maybe we haven't really gotten into the details of the money and how all of that is going. But the general public really doesn't understand, when something is approved or is on the horizon, how does that money inflow track with the goals of self-sufficiency? And I think each project in a way ought to have a little self-sufficiency factor next to it. And how much is it contributing overall? Some things have to contribute more because we're trying to do good here for groups that are non-profits and that can't pull their whole weight.
So I would really like to know, how are we balancing all of that? Or are we developing a war chest for later when maybe the bottom drops out of certain things? How is that financial mechanism working side by side with the goals?
Thank you.
Toby Rosenblatt: Next speaker is Red Kernan, and then Rich Shrieve.
Redmond Kernan: Redmond Kernan. Thank you for extending the time. I was going to make a comment on that, but since it's been done I won't.
My comment is to have you seize the opportunity to have the Lucas Letterman project take advantage of the open space to make it a memorial to Jonathan Letterman, the Medical Corps, the staff of the hospital, and the patients who came through there. And what brought it to mind is I saw a presentation of the Martin Luther King memorial that's to be build in Washington, D.C. The firm that did that is ROMA, Boris Dramov and his wife, Bonnie Fisher.
And it isn't that it directly translates, but it's open space but configured in a way that has it be a memorial. And I think there's the opportunity to do something really, really fine that gives that space meaning and makes it recognize the legacy of Letterman and the Army Medical Corps, as well as the landmark status of the Presidio.
So I would urge you to just privately have perhaps Boris or others present that just as an idea stimulator. It doesn't translate directly. But it shows how a memorial can be worked into open space, and how people how served there could be recognized by having their names incorporated with tiles or whatever it might be. But I think that would lift the design to a new level.
And you have, with Larry Halprin, the person who designed the FDR Memorial. And so I think the talent is there, but I think to carry out that vision there need to be guidelines and there needs to be a direction from the Trust. So I'd urge that for your consideration.
Thank you.
Toby Rosenblatt: Rich?
Rich Shrieve: My name is Rich Shrieve. I'm with the Friends of Mountain Lake Park. I just want to remind everybody that there is going to be two more opportunities for public input into the Mountain Lake Park project in the next few days. Our group has been involved with the planning for this project since its earliest days, and we're firmly behind it.
But there's going to be a lot of heavy equipment coming into the neighborhood in the next six months. And we're trying to avoid shock in the neighborhood, or any other interested people--there have been three opportunities for public input. There was a walk on Tuesday of this week that was very well attended, and there's going to be another walk Saturday morning at 9 a.m., which I hope as many of you who can will attend. This will be with Michael Boland, the project manager for the Mountain Lake Park restoration.
And then there will be a public meeting Monday, October 30th at St. James' Church. And we're hoping that as many people as possible--especially those of you who have concerns about the project--get your input into the process then. Because when the dredging equipment comes and some of the trees start getting chopped down next year, we want to make sure that you're not in a state of shock.
But we stand firmly behind this project, and it would be a good one for you to get some input into.
Thank you.
Toby Rosenblatt: Any other speakers?
Paul Chafee: Good morning. My name's Paul Chafee. I'm with the Interfaith Center up at the Main Post chapel. I just wanted to be another one who thanks you for the work that's been done. And to underline what a couple of people have said this morning with regard to the vision.
There's very, very powerful language in the '94...vision language in the GMPA about swords into plowshare, about redefining what peace building is all about and how to maintain security in the world in new, less lethal ways. That language inspired a lot of us to get involved in the Presidio in the first place. And when we looked at the Academy--or looked at what United Religions Initiative is doing--there's already a track record.
I would urge you to at least keep some of that language in the revision in the language that carries on. It's been very powerful for us so far. The track record's here. It doesn't anything to bring because it's already going. Please keep that language in. All we have to do is read the morning paper to know how important this is.
Thank you.
Toby Rosenblatt: Anyone else? Okay, thank you very much. Are there any wind-up thoughts or comments from any of the board members?
Bill Reilly: These are very pertinent and constructive comments that we've heard today. Apropos of particularly the last one that was just made, we are working on a vision statement, with the intention of making more explicit the values and priorities that we bring to our task here, to signal to would-be tenants what criteria we use when looking at them. This is something that, in the public meetings I have been at, has been raised quite often.
We have not made these things as explicit as we might have. There are some implicit conclusions you can draw from the decisions we've made, but we will now try to, with the benefit of three years' experience and a lot of consultation in your views, respond to some of that with a statement that is our effort now--and you'll get a chance to comment on this at the Log Cabin meeting in a couple of weeks--our cut at the vision thing.
The Presidio is unique. No other national park can claim so strategic and dramatic a site as that at the base of the Golden Gate, with a great city and its residential neighborhoods pressing against two sides, open space under high bluffs on the third side, and a great bay on the fourth side. Nor do any other parks, even in urban areas, contain 880 buildings, as the Presidio does, many historically and culturally significant.
The magnificent natural setting, together with the distinctive military community that defined its physical development, signal the first and most important priority in the park's planning and management: conservation of its unique natural and cultural resources.
With such a rich range of built and natural resources, the Presidio is expensive to operate and maintain. The large numbers of buildings and the improvements in services required by their occupants, roads and sewers and landscape protection, as well as rehabilitation and upkeep of the buildings themselves, placed the Presidio among the most expensive units of a National Park system.
Congress has directed that this large expense be covered from revenues generated by the park itself, and that the next 12 years encompass steady progress toward complete self-sufficiency in 2013. That has created the second critical priority recognized by the Presidio Trust: ensuring the financial solvency of the park by generating revenues to enhance and protect resources, and also to fund programs.
The Trust is developing a plan that will be the product of extensive community consultation and three years' experience, and that is intended to signal the broad criteria the Trust will apply in making decisions about new buildings and their locations, programmatic services appropriate to this unique park, and consequent tenant selection.
The existing configuration of development at the Presidio will determine much about the location and concentration of activities. The balance of buildings and open space will be maintained. We will not increase the existing quantum of development.
The northeast quadrant, containing the imposing non-historic buildings of Letterman and Lehrer, will be home to a major new complex of buildings and open space designed by some of the nation's and San Francisco's best designers, and occupied by one of this region's most creative and innovative enterprises.
To complement the for-profit tenants on the site, we anticipate a major museum located at a point to be determined but possibly occupying or replacing an existing large structure.
Within the Presidio, we propose to locate a new institution, designed to stimulate research and exchange of information in such areas as science and technology, and their application to environmental problems and their contribution to sustainable development.
We also envision a grouping of cultural uses intended to showcase the arts, as well as a residential community of those who work at the Presidio.
Each of these projects is intended to express the distinctive creative energies of the Bay Area, and a diverse range of cultural, scientific and economic achievements. The concepts cited are contemplated, but their realization and precise dimensions will depend, as much else in this plan, on their economic feasibility.
An important objective of this plan is to provide programs worthy of a great national park in an urban area. This is one area among many on which the Presidio Trust is working in close collaboration with the National Park Service.
The Presidio is not a neighborhood or even a city park. The contribution to the visitor experience, together with the contribution to meeting the Presidio's financial needs, will be among the most important criteria when considering new tenants.
Our proposed vision for the Presidio rejects the freeze-dried military base in which no changes are permitted in favor of a more dynamic community of lively programmatic activities serving, informing and educating the visitor from near and far, interpreting the Post history, and also invigorating a successor community will, we believe, fulfill our mission and realize best the potential of one of America's newest great national parks.
That will be made available for comment and suggestions. And we will be most interested to receive your views on that at the November 15th Log Cabin meeting.
Thank you.
Toby Rosenblatt: And meetings subsequent to that, which we'll continue to deal with all of this during the November, December, January period.
Any other thoughts from any board members?
Don Fisher: I might say something.
I've been on this board now for three years, [which is] the initial time that we started three years ago. And I must say that I'm really very proud of what we've accomplished. I think that Jim Meadows has put together a wonderful staff of people. It's amazing that of the seven people on this board, there has not been one decision that I can remember that wasn't unanimous. They're very high quality people who have a tremendous interest in the environment. Some of them have very high environmental reputations. The rest of us that don't have environmental reputations have the same feeling as they do. They just haven't been nurtured and publicized as much as others have been.
We happen to be fortunate that Congress required that we be self-sufficient in what amounts to now about 12 and a half years. I think that gives us an opportunity to do things in this park that nobody else could've ever thought could be done. I mean we have an idea, as an example, to take the parade grounds and convert it into a garage underneath and landscape the top of the parade ground--the idea: keeping as many cars out of the Presidio and out of the streets and so forth and not parked on the streets as we can possibly do.
All that costs a lot of money. And I think we're also fortunate that times have raised the rents in the surrounding area so that we have enough money that we're going to be able to spend ultimately to put this park in the most first class condition it can be in.
And I think you've got wonderful stewards here paying attention to this organization and this Presidio which we all love so dearly. And I really want to compliment the staff, and frankly this board. You have no idea how much time it takes for the board members here. I would say that it probably takes one day a week in total. And none of us get paid anything for it, but we're all doing it because we love this place. And I'm really very pleased to be part of it.
Thanks.
Toby Rosenblatt: Thank you.
The last piece I would like to do--Jim did it at the beginning but I would like to do it again--is to acknowledge and thank, again, a lot of the organizations who have people here with us and have been working on all of these projects.
The wonderful thing about it is it just takes off from what Don said. In fact, it's not about us, really, and it's not about you individually who have been working on these things. And the nice thing is, it's not about our personal agendas, it's about what we can do for this park and therefore the resources and the people who now and in the future will be able to gain personally their own personal enlightenment, if you will, out of that experience. So, it's wonderful to share this with you all.
And one particular recognition to [Mylee Spartling] and Brian O'Neil, who are our major partners that we deal with every day in the National Park Service at Golden Gate National Recreation Area. A special appreciation for the relationships that we have with you. It's working. Thank you.
Thank you all. That completes our business for the day. We'll see you at the Log Cabin meeting in November.
[End of session.]