Jimmy fights to keep old car picnic, charity fundraiser

by Thomas K. Pendergast

On Feb. 18, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission postponed making a decision on an appeal before them that will decide the fate of a 21-year-old charity event in Golden Gate Park.

Jimmy's Old Car Picnic has been held at Speedway Meadow every year since 1988, but this year the SF Recreation and Park Department denied the event's organizers a permit, citing the potential for damage to the meadow's grass and nearby trees.

The Rec. and Park Commission was supposed to make a decision on an appeal by Jimmy O'Keefe, the founder of the event, but delayed making a determination pending further investigation of the site and proposed alternative sites. At the hearing, dozens of supporters, including current and past gardeners in the park, showed up to support O'Keefe and the long-standing event.

When arguing for a denial of the appeal and the permit, park staff referenced a March, 2007 report by the National Park Service (NPS) on the "best practices" for parks, in which Golden Gate Park was named, along with six other parks. That report states: "Without rest periods, maintaining high landscape quality standards is not possible. Golden Gate Park requires at least one week between major events, and small-scale events are limited to three days per week."

Jimmy's Old Car Picnic usually takes place in October, about a week after the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, which draws more than half a million people over a three-day weekend. Jimmy's picnic, on the other hand, usually includes about 800 pre-1972 cars and thousands of people.

Some of the supporters that spoke before the commission responded that the picnic has "never damaged the grass," stating that volunteers always mark off weak grass areas with traffic cones and do not allow cars to park there. Others claimed that the event has never been cited or faulted for damaging the grass by the department before, and then asked why because of one report the department is suddenly so concerned with the grass?

Wayne Valaris operates a lawn mower for the Rec. and Park Department in Golden Gate Park and other city parks.

"I've gone over every inch of these fields," he told the commission. "There is no issue out there and if there is, it's taken care of by Mother Nature, and if it's not, then it's taken care of by the gardeners."

The department's director of operations, Dennis Kern, told the commission that the department is offering four alternative sites, all of which have been rejected by O'Keefe, including the grassy area and adjacent parking lot at the Marina Green; the picnic area at Middle Drive in Golden Gate Park; the parking lot at Ocean Beach; and closing John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park to traffic to allow the old cars to park along that drive, with picnicking in the surrounding grassy area.

After the meeting, O'Keefe, a retired city gardener who wore his dark-green Recreation and Park Department jacket to the meeting, explained that he rejected the alternatives because he does not consider it to be a car show per se. Instead, he describes it as a family picnic featuring old cars.

"The alternatives make it a show, not a picnic. A lot of things they said up there, they're kind of grasping at straws," he said. "Why am I getting picked on? They don't have concrete complaints. It's all smoke and mirrors. The park belongs to the people and what I am is being made an example of. They got a whole slew of small businesses and venues out in the park. I'm the strongest of the grass roots events."

Last year, O'Keefe paid $8,300 for his permit after the department raised the price from $1,650. This year, the price went up to $9,000 to use Speedway Meadow.

The picnic raises money for the department's Adaptive Recreation Program, helping people with Down's Syndrome and other developmental disabilities. Several people who spoke to the commission expressed their concern for the future of this program, saying it wasn't right to take that income source away from them.

"I think Jimmy's old car picnic is a part of San Francisco history, like the cable cars," said Richmond District resident David Hirtz. "Are we still a city of the people? We are a free city. We need free events. God bless Jimmy."

The head of the Recreation and Park Department, Philip Ginsburg, addressed what he called a "false framing" of the issue, saying the department is not against the event.

"It has a proud and historic tradition so we made the decision not to end it based on its incredible success," he said, explaining the department's rational for raising the permit rates and then denying the permit.

"We're suggesting what we think is a reasonable and elegant solution. Let's park the cars on JFK Drive and close it off to traffic. There's grass on either side for picnics. We actually thought that this was an elegant response to the growth of the event," he said. "Our responsibility is to manage the growth of the event and preserve the trees."

Commission President Mark Buell mentioned that he owns a 1957 Chevy pickup truck, and he agreed that the picnic might be a victim of its own success.

"We're here in large part because of the success of the event," Buell said.

Buell suggested to the rest of the commissioners that they delay making a decision on the appeal so they could go out to the meadow to see the alternative sites and what the situation looked like for themselves.

"More information might give us a basis for compromise," he said.

"I don't think I'd like to see Jimmy's Old Car Picnic ended, but my concern is with the park," said Vice President Tom Harrison.

Harrison cited aging trees in the area as one of his concerns and he also wants a commitment from the event's organizers that "they will sit down and work something out."

Commissioner Michael Sullivan said he was interested in continuing the discussion so he could look at alternatives.

Commissioner Larry Martin said: "We need to sit down and talk with these people who are involved to explain to them what the situation is, so we can reach a compromise."

Considering that the department is looking at a $12.4 million budget deficit, Commissioner Gloria Bonilla expressed doubt that it can afford the upkeep on the grass with both events continuing with only a week between them.

"We don't have sufficient gardeners," she said. "We don't have a gazillion dollars."

She also supported holding off on the decision for further discussion but then said: "Our responsibility is to protect the park."

The other commissioners agreed and a decision was postponed to a future date.