Letters to the Editor
Editor:
RE: Fight against Beach Chalet Athletic Fields continues
Opposition to the Beach Chalet artificial turf soccer fields is growing. Hundreds of signatures opposing the project were recently collected at the Gay Pride Parade and Sunday Streets, adding to the thousands of others that have already been collected. And the legal battle between the Sierra Club and other project opponents versus the City and County of San Francisco and City Fields Foundation continues in Superior Court.
Opponents have learned that the Los Angeles Unified School District and the New York City Parks and Recreation Department no longer allow toxic rubber tire crumbs on their artificial fields.
"San Francisco ... should not use this unsafe material on playfields," said Mary Anne Miller, one of the parties in the lawsuit.
A trial before Judge Teri L. Jackson is scheduled for Aug. 16.
Jean Barish
Editor:
While the SF Library's revised $1 million plan adds 36 mainly daytime hours systemwide - it does not lengthen any 9 p.m. evenings or add any, and the Main Library's skimpy evening service remains unchanged, open just three nights per week, and only until 8 p.m. Also, two evenings remain abbreviated, and one evening and popular Saturday morning are eliminated.
There is no justification for reducing hours anywhere - especially not the evenings and weekends that patrons have repeatedly requested. The library should increase hours, especially evenings and weekends.
The library's plan also closes at 6 p.m. all branches currently open Mondays until 9 p.m. - shrinking the ability of patrons to visit a library until 9 p.m. to just three days per week, instead of the current four.
We ask for your support to eliminate the cuts, and truly increase evening open hours.
Peter Warfield: Executive director Library Users Association
Editor:
RE: Recipe for theft of the commons at the SF Botanical Gardens: Hire a well-connected lobbyist and pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars for years. Have him contribute to supervisor's campaigns. Have lobbyist meet with supervisors and Rec. and Park Commission members. Keep press mentions of upcoming privatization out of the papers. Never mention that up-to a 30-year contract, which gives free electricity, minimal rent and other perks to the SF Botanical Garden Society and its upcoming $15-million building, is up for consideration. Stir and serve as though you are an environmental organization that serves the public. Continue to collect $7 for each entry and leech off the City while the lawns remain empty as locals have just stopped visiting. Good thing we live in a "democracy."
Harry S. Pariser