our park is safe. it is not good for business when there is a perception that the parks are not safe. it is a bit of a combined approach, one, which is good management, good presence of staff, and park activation. those are the three main things that we can do as park staff. i think we're doing quite well, given the resource limitations we are challenged by. we are literally 50 to 60 landscape maintenance staff short of what the master plan calls for. the idea that we have two park patrol officers patrolling 225 parks, 4,000 acres of open space is, candidly, ludicrous. we have our challenges but we

are always pushing for more activation, more activities. some of our plazas. you have seen things happen here at the civic center with the world cup, world series, a local food program. the idea is to create healthy and positive activation. this is why we love the chalet soccer field development. it will attract people to that area of the park. there would, under proposed designs, being more lighting involved. it is exactly the type of project that can make the western end stronger. supervisor chu: supervisor avalos? supervisor avalos: i think it activation is the most cost- effective way to create safety in the parks.

it has had a dramatic impact on safety. looking, even at the east end of the park, where you have the carrousel, fields, playgrounds, it would be interesting to see how that plays could be activated in the evening hours. it could have a ripple effect throughout the park. we cannot have a police presence everywhere, parked patrol and every section. i know you are hamstrung on maintenance staff. that is definitely something to talk about, but activation is the way to go. >> it is cyclical, actually. there are multiple advantages to having a greater presence in the park, not only to improve

sightlines, which, from a landscaping perspective is complicated. we are not about clear-cutting golden gate park. that is not what it is about. we want a park that is well maintained, a design that is consistent with the parameters set forth in our master plan and park founders. but, i think, having a greater presence in the park makes people feel safer, which is why we are going to make our maintenance staff and park staff be able to be identified by uniform. i also think, given the shortage of staff, the amount of time we are spending, the cost just cleaning up after people behaving badly, detracts from the limited staff we have and their ability to do pro-active work, whether it is gardening, improving sight lines. so it is a little bit of a

spiraling challenge for us. i agree with your comments entirely, supervisor avalos, the best thing we can do, the most cost-effective thing we can do is to continue to activate our parks and spaces. my staff is committed to that through a corporate special events, programs, through healthy recreational and robust recreational activities, state soccer fields, baseball fields -- activation, activation, activation. supervisor chu: you had mentioned recreation and parks put so much effort toward maintaining -- getting rid of the illegal dumping, other things that take away your resources, concentrating on thing that you might otherwise put to the park in terms of positive activity. can you tell me if you have given thought on how to prevent some of that occurring so that

you could divert some more of your staff to the positive goals? >> i think this is a city-wide policy conversation, but we need to make sure the park is being used in a manner that conformed with the master plan, that we have healthy and appropriate citizens in the part, that is an important strategy. we think the discussion about how to manage the park at night, all of the parks, is a legitimate one. obviously, we do not want to impinge upon healthy recreational uses. san franciscans have a variety of life styles, and they use parts in different ways at different times. but we know, just from one my staff gets up in the morning, we know the damage that has been

done the night before. in my conversations with the police department, they have created some additional tools to help keep the park safe at night. i think that is something that warrants some consider us -- serious consideration. supervisor chu: we currently have laws on the books that prohibits people from sleeping in the parks. that already exists. that was described as a tool for law enforcement and rec and parks to manage the activity in the parks. how is that working out? >> it is an effective tool, but to continue to address challenges associated with illegal camping, some additional tools are warranted. under the part code section, there are some provisions that prevent people from sleeping in the park from 8:00 p.m. to

8:00 a.m., and during the day, people are prevented from having tents, anything that shows an attempt to camp in the park. those are citation-related offenses. but you can be in the park at any point in time. we have a part code section -- park code section that says that part growers will obey all signs. over the years, we have passed resolutions with park hours at a number of neighborhoods in the city. golden gate park is not one of them. a lot of them have operating hours by resolution. there is a question -- supervisor chu: you are saying

many of the neighborhood parks are closed from 10:00 to 6:00? >> yes, by resolution, of although there are questions about our ability to enforce that. supervisor chu: and golden gate park does not have that. just some of the neighborhood parks. >> golden gate has a provision against camping or sleeping in the park from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. supervisor chu: one of the things that the caption mentioned earlier, a lot of the things that are being reported are happening in the daytime. that seems to be counter to what you are saying, finding these problems in the morning. can the capt. talk about this discrepancy? >> certainly. i am commenting on crimes

reported. of the 213 part 1 crimes reported year to date, 160 are larceny, theft, and most are auto break-ins. what concerns me is the amount of crime that is not reported. supervisor chu: so the auto break-ins are happening when? there are no cars there at night. >> that is right. in the day. what concerns me -- the number of folks we encounter in the park and are disinclined, for one reason or another, to reach out to the pleas for assistance. i am of the opinion that a lot of crime is not reported. there is a certain amount of crime that is not reported generally, but as you get folks who are in the park for some activity they do not want people to know about, they are under age, they are homeless, want to

stay out of government entanglement, they are not going to call us. i have a sense that there is probably a lot of of reported crime in the park. supervisor chu: with regard to the high-profile events that have taken place, would you say that most of them occur in the daytime, nighttime? any kind of trend? >> the series of assaults, the homicides have been in that time problem. the horseshoe pits, going back two years, there was a shooting there. there was an event, a homicide at the tennis courts. i believe that was an early evening. the homicide near park station was a night time event, i believe. from information from our home

was not rich officers, and personally, there is a lot of victimization going on in the homeless community, in the parks, that is not reported. supervisor chu: thank you. general manager ginsburg, did you have any additional comments you wanted to make? >> no, thank you, supervisor. supervisor chu: is there any department of public health representative from the homeless of reach a team available? --outreach team available? no. was there court to be any comment from nicholas king on best practices? would that be a no?

do you know, phil? >> supervisors, director of policy affairs for the department of parks. we worked with mr. king and he presented us with a little bit of research about the largest cities in the country, and their best practices around parks safety, particularly in the evening and through the night. my understanding is san francisco is the 12th largest city in the country in terms of population and the 11th larger cities all employee hours of operation for their parks that close in the evening. they vary by city to city. of the 12 largest, we are the only city that does not close the parks overnight. supervisor chu: have there been

any concerns with regard to hours of operations, implementing that locally here? have you had any of those conversations about potentially implementing hours of operation differently from what we currently have? have those conversations been in progress, have you gotten any feedback? >> as is evidenced by our 64 parks that have operating hours, those resolutions passed generally came out every desire by the community to see park hours put in place. at least those 64 communities have spoken. supervisor chu: so the existing 64 neighborhood parks, they have expressed a desire to have hours put in place? >> yes.

i cannot speak specifically to the desires of every community, but in general, that is how those desires are brought up in our commission. supervisor chu: thank you. why don't we open this up to the public. >> walter paulson. city now you are breaking my heart you are shaking my golden gate park safety oh city i am begging you now please make it safe to go home, to go home i go on for a walk and it is kind of scary in the dark city you are breaking my heart you are breaking my confidence

and safety oh city i am down on my knees i am begging that you make it safe to go home oh city make the golden gate park safe here are breaking my confidence make it safe oh safety in golden gate park supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> supervisors, good morning. chair of the steering committee of the blood of this the neighborhood association. we serve been neighbors around the park, near golden gate park. we have over 400 members and serve 45 under households. i am honored to be a member of the park police stations community advisory board. thank you for calling this

hearing, especially supervisor chu and mar. we fully support the remarks of the general manager, investor kern, police captains, and commend the work you have been doing cover due to consider safety issues not only in golden gate park, but in parks throughout the city, especially in today's tough budget times you are facing, we urge you to consider adequate budgets for part patrol, police department resources, and the park's capital needs to make them safer. we urge further common rules for all parks that will include late night, early morning closing hours. as you consider that, you will hear people object. the truth is, illegal activity makes parks unwelcoming and dangerous for all and a drain resources that are needed to maintain the parks.

when i am denied the right to enjoy my park because of others claimed rights, it is time to clarify the rules. make sure there is respect for everybody and level the playing field. the rules can be written to ensure parks are safely available to all citizens and the users. i think you heard testimony from today that more rules are needed to clarify what is appropriate and legal and illegal and provided foresman tools. i am sure my comments are echoed by leadership of the other organizations and neighborhoods near golden gate park. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. the speaker please. >> supervisors, my name is greg silar. i just want to voice my concern about thgolden gate park.

everyone should be doing their part to make this icon of the city safe and accessible to everyone. like everyone, i use this part, at minimum, of which were times a week. increasingly, i have become afraid to bring my family because of all of the activity occurring in the park lately. especially at night, but also during the day. i continue to see graffiti, violence against homelessness, or alcohol and drug abuse through a park. as a citizen, i do not want the part to decline to a point where i no longer use it. i would urge rec and parks, please department, board of supervisors, to do everything to preserve this icon of the city. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. i in the community manager of the grove festival.

as one of the largest parks in your district, you have always been a supporter of the festival and a supporter of stern grove. we have been the victim to countless acts of graffiti, vandalism and property damage. it is difficult to know when these acts occur, but we can only assume at night. about two years ago, that before an opening concert, vandals broke into one of our buildings and damaged the door and stole five radius. that same year, a dressing room was broken into and suffered $5,000 worth of damages. each season with countless numbers of tax of vandalism. all of these acts result in financial losses, not only for the park department, but also

for the festival, at a time when neither can afford additional cost. we fully enforced enhance patrols not only in golden gate park, but in all the parks in the system. thank you for your time. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> supervisors, my name is grant. i have served the city and county of santa cisco as the director of the conservatory of flowers as well as the botanical garden in golden gate park. i am here today to complement the hard work of all of our city gardeners and custodial staff, as well as part control. i think many times their extraordinary efforts go unnoticed and i want to compliment them on that. i have also been impressed with the improved coordination and communication between the richmond station and park

station as well as part patrol. anything that can be done to increase the resources to do an even better job would be appreciated and will come. i am also here today to speak on behalf of the hundreds of volunteers who have come into golden gate park on a daily basis and contributed an immense amount of time to help us serve the visiting public and local community at our major garden attractions and museums. it probably goes without saying that every time there is an unfortunate incident with in the park, and the media communicates that outwardly, there is a cause and effect. we noticed a decrease in our visitation, as well as an increase in the amount of concern our volunteers have, in terms of coming into the park. especially in the evening hours, we are trying to expand

accessibility into our facilities. the concerns that were mentioned earlier, due to limited lighting, visibility of patrol, those all contribute to our challenges. we all worked hard within these economic times to manage a very fragile budgets. certainly, improved safety and improved activation and mintz of the parts will come together to help us to a better job and serve the public. with that, i would urge you to be aggressively asserted in supporting increased funding and resources for increased security, activation, and maintenance levels within our parks. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. i am wearing two hats today. the first is as the chair of the park rangers coalition.

this is a brochure that we created. i think you will find it is helpful of reach. we support rangers in golden gate and throughout the city. i would also like to say, as co- chair of the golden gate park preservation alliance, we have concerns about many of the issues that are brought up, especially regarding lighting. if you read the statistics, more crime happens when there are more people in the park. the western end of the park is very quiet. introducing stadium lighting for the soccer fields is totally inappropriate and frankly overkill. impact on wildlife must be considered. night lighting has an negative impact on wildlife. there are dark sky impacts, and packs on tree roots. more lighting does not always decrease crime. i know rec and parks wants to

preserve our parks and protect our visitors, but let's be conscious of an approach to light everything. there is it an issue of where we are going in golden gate park. there has always been pressure to develop golden gate, and it has been increasing in recent years. again, we support park users safety but we are concerned this will be used as a reason to bring in a private development into golden gate park. i am submitting a lot -- a letter from the sierra club expressing the concerns about the proposed increase in lighting and a brochure on the impacts of night lighting on wildlife, and there is a great deal more information i can provide. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> supervisors, san francisco

botanic gardens society. we consider this a primary concern for the people that enjoy the 55 acres of botanical gardens. there are 10,000 k-5-aged school children that come through the park for education. there have been some incidents is that have caused us concern. these all the most of vulnerable of our citizens and we want to make sure they are safe and that their families and teachers will continue to welcome them and urge them to come to these programs. even though the botanical garden is fenced, we have lost property and equipment. we had an approximately 400- pound bell cut from chains and taken away in the middle of the

night. there are large things that disappear at night. we have also had a break-in at the library, thousands of dollars worth of paintings were taken. i want to commend the richmond station for taking seriously that particular theft. those pieces have been recovered, by the way. otherwise, i want to commend marcus from park control because they always show up when we need them. we want to recommend anything that you can do to support that. supervisor chu: thank you. are there any members from the public that would like to comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. first off, i want to say thank- you to the recreation and parks department, to the public speakers, and of course to the

richmond part stations to come and present information to us. i know we have a number of items on the agenda today but i would like to continue this item to the call of the chair. i think there are still some follow-up items to discuss, and in particular, what i would like to request from the pd is year- to-year statistics in terms of what we have seen in the golden gate park. without knowing where we were last year, two years ago, it is hard to give context on the level of crime we have. it is also useful to understand that in the context of the city. over all, golden gate park exists within an urban area. to expect that we have a certain level of crime in an urban city, whether it is in neighborhoods, in the parks, we would all like it to be zero, but

realistically, what are we seeing in terms of trends? are we seeing more or less violent crimes? from the recreation and parks department, what would be helpful to understand is a little bit more in-depth understanding of where you identify your problem areas to be. we have had a lot of conversations on how recreation and parks department staff is hamstrung to address a lot of different things, having to deal with a lot of side issues, like illegal dumping. part of what was gleaned from the conversation between the police station and where there is had seen more prevalent types of crimes and what we can do to improve the physical environment to deter crime, those would be areas that i would be interested in finding out more fully from the recreation and parks department, as well as the potential priorities. you clearly cannot address all of them overnight, or even over

a year, given the lack of resources we had to provide. i want to understand what your priorities are. i think that is all that i have got. any comments from my colleagues? seeing none, public comment is closed. thank you. why don't we continue this item to the call of the chair. if we could recess for a quick two minutes.