The Local Union's Golf Committee and its' Chair, Zac Salem have been working diligently on a final resolution of the Golf Privatization Case. The Committee was successful at working closely with Supervisor Jake McGoldrick's Office and in lobbying efforts at City Hall to prevent a prop J lease from moving foward in 2007 with little known accountability provisions. They have also been successful at gaining support from John Hanley of the Firefighters'Union, Mike Thieriault of the SF Building and Construction Trades Council, as well as Executive Director of the San Francisco Labor Council Tim Paulson. The Labor Council Resolution related to Privatization can be found here: http://www.sflaborcouncil.org/ViewUpload/20
Now, with a new Recreation and Parks Department GM, a new Board of Supervisors, and forseeable Budget concerns, the Campaign will go into full gear and focus on a new management plan coupled with the preservation of civil service maintenance workers.
News Updates can be found here.
Golf courses in S.F. make money
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Golf_courses_in_SF_make_money.html
By Beth Winegarner
Examiner Staff Writer 12/23/08
SAN FRANCISCO – A new audit of The City’s publicly run golf courses shows that the courses earn money for San Francisco — and could add fuel to the citywide debate over whether to turn them over to private management.
Supervisor Sean Elsbernd requested a Controller’s Office audit of city golf finances after an independent consultant, Leon Younger, last fall recommended privatizing the courses to boost income. Younger argued that golf play and revenues were both on the decline in San Francisco, and that “The City has never achieved success in managing public golf.”
The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department owns and manages six courses in San Francisco, from professional-grade Harding Park near Lake Merced to Lincoln Park near the Presidio.
Those courses earned money in four of the past six years, including $337,416 in 2003-04 and $422,946 in 2006-07, according to City Controller Ben Rosenfield.
Controversy over the future of the courses peaked this year when the park department convened an ad hoc task force to examine the fiscal strength of city-sponsored golf. The force subsequently disbanded in frustration, saying Younger’s report was based on faulty data.
In addition, Rec and Park is in the process of paying off more than $16 million it borrowed from state-park bonds and The City’s open space fund in 2001 to renovate Harding Park for several PGA Tour events, including the Presidents Cup in 2009, according to task force member Isabel Wade.
The controller’s audit bolsters the idea that San Francisco can make golf a financial win, according to Wade.
“If we could figure out a way to pay the [debt] so it isn’t an annual drain on the golf fund, you’d be hard-pressed to say we can’t manage these courses ourselves,” she said.
The report also raises questions as it answers others. For example, in 2004-05 Harding saw more than 116,000 rounds of golf and made $251,000 — but lost $534,000 in its second-best year, 2006-07, when golfers played 111,096 rounds. Meanwhile, Lincoln Park made money in years when fewer golfers came to play — and lost money in years that saw heavier play, according to Rosenfield.
While Elsbernd said he supports taking golf off The City’s hands, many golfers continue to fight to keep the courses public, said Lincoln Park Golf Club Vice President Gary Missel.
“You need someone in charge of all golf in The City and you have to make a commitment, monetarily, to maintenance,” Missel said.
Rec and Park staff will closely analyze the audit before sending it — along with Younger’s recommendations — to the Recreation and Park Commission next year, according to department communications director Lisa Seitz Gruwell.
bwinegarner@sfexaminer.com
SF SUPERVISOR SEAN ELSBERND MEETS WITH LOCAL 261 OFFICALS ABOUT FUTURE OF GOLF.
ReplyDeleteCity Hall San Francisco:
Today, the Supervisor met with Zac Salem, Bruce Ricci, Adrian Field, Theresa Foglio, Edison Fincher and Vince Courtney to discuss the Golf Course matters. Elsbernd assured that he was looking forward to upcoming tournaments and dialogue with the Laborers' Union related to the future of SF Golf Course management.
Public/private partnerships as opposed to complete privatization of the Golf Courses was a topic for discussion as it related to both Management and Maintence of the facilities all agreed were an "extension of the SF Health Department."