THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN --- THE PRESIDIO TRUST FACES NEARLY UNANIMOUS OPPOSITION

Hundreds of letters and e-mails slammed the Trust before the June 1 deadline for public comments.  Trust plans for a contemporary art museum and a hotel in the center of the national historic  landmark and the illegal review process were opposed by every major comment that I have read. (The Mayor and some form messages were the exceptions.) Many were detailed, expert and legally important papers: for example, by  the City and County of San Francisco, Presidio Historical Association (presidioassociation.org,) Save the Presidio (savethepresidio.org), the Cow Hollow Association, the Sierra Club, the Marin Community Association,  the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Descendants of de Anza and Portola Expedition, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and many, many more organizations and private individuals.

THE PUBLIC WANTS AN UNDERSTANDABLE PROCESS, HONEST DOCUMENTS, A REAL NEED EXPRESSED, AND PROJECTS TO PRESENT HISTORY, NOT HOTELS OR ART UNRELATED TO THE PRESIDIO.

NEXT: The Trust will need several months and a lot of lawyers to revise their messed up environmental review. If they persist with their reckless plan, then the public sees a "final" Impact Statement and has 30 days to comment before the Trust can declare its approval for Fisher's museum. That looks possible (but unlikely) in early Fall. 

A lot is going to happen before then, I predict. My personal belief is that the Trust will find a way to kill this skunk before it becomes a real stinker in court. How deep into the doodoo will the individual Trust board members, who otherwise have prominent and respected reputations, wade before they wake up to the fact that they are being associated as individuals with the stink coming from this mess? 

THE PUBLIC WANTS AN HISTORIC PARK THAT WELCOMES ALL THE PEOPLE.