October 2009Don’t Sell Candlestick Point ParkBy Eric BrooksA diverse coalition of environmental and social justice organizations are criticizing California State Senator Mark Leno for authoring Senate Bill (SB) 792, which was approved by the legislature last month, and now awaits the governor’s signature. SB 792 will destroy portions of San Francisco’s Candlestick Point State Recreation Area. Candlestick is the state’s only urban state park wetland and wildlife habitat, and is the only significant open space and hiking area for residents of Bayview-Hunters Point, a neighborhood that has long been plagued by toxic emissions from various industries, freeway bypasses, and the contaminated remnants of the U.S. naval shipyard, which was once housed there. Lennar Corporation will build luxury condominiums and a yacht harbor development on the parkland. POWER, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, Stop Lennar Action Movement, The San Francisco Green Party, Our City and many others opposed SB 792. These organizations are outraged that Leno rammed through the bill without first holding public hearings, and accused Leno of becoming a broker of corporate real estate interests. “Senator Leno’s behavior has been unconscionable.” said POWER leader and Bayview resident Esselene Stancil, “Without holding a single public hearing with either the Bayview-Hunters Point or the greater San Francisco community, Leno has condemned precious parkland to destruction, and paved the way for the Bayview-Hunters Point to be further gentrified by the out-of-state, corporate real estate giant Lennar; which is already poisoning the neighborhood with asbestos and other hazardous materials in its existing construction projects.” Eric Brooks is Sustainability Chair of the San Francisco Green Party |
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