REVlSED ClTY-WIDE DOG POLlCY

Another version of the Recreation & Park Department's Dog Policy has been submitted to the public. After receiving 2600 letters (6 to 1 against the dog pens), they have merely repackaged the same bad policy! The Recreation & Park Commission meeting on May 8th is our only opportunity to comment on a policy that:

• Offers dog pens as the only option for off-leash recreation in 195 of the city's 220 parks (all parks under 10 acres).

• Bans dogs (on or off leash) from the nearly 1500 acres of city park land that falls under the Natural Areas Program.

• Bans dogs from athletic fields, which now stand empty most hours of most days of the year.

• Does not include community process or input. In this policy, neighborhoods have little or no say on how their park is used.

• Refuses to consider creative, inclusive solutions (such as shared use, zoned use or off-leash recreation hours) for neighborhood parks, even if the community around a park has reached consensus.

• Emphasizes enforcement over equitable access (they plan to start enforcing as soon as this policy is approved by the Commission, though all the current legal off-leash spaces will be subject to a lengthy review and any new areas will take years to create).

• Contains no budget info or implementation plan (except for citations!). They plan to spend money San Francisco doesn't have on pens we don't want!

Read the policy at http://parks.sfgov.org (or call 831-2700 for a copy) and PLEASE plan to be at the hearing to voice your opinion! San Franciscans deserve better, and unless we speak now, we will follow in the (muddy, dusty) footsteps of New York, where the hideously expensive and widely hated dog pens are now being abandoned and dismantled.

HOW CAN YOU BE HEARD?

Attend the hearing:

Wednesday, May 8th, 6:30pm
San Francisco City Hall
Supervisors Chamber. Room 250

Write to the supervisors:

Jake McGoldrick - District 1
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
(415) 554-7410 - voice
(415) 554-7415 - fax
Jake.McGoldrick [at] sfgov.org


Gavin Newsom - District 2
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
(415) 554-5942 - voice
(415) 554-5946 - fax
Gavin.Newsom [at] sfgov.org


Aaron Peskin - District 3
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
(415) 554-7450 - voice
(415) 554-7454 - fax
Aaron.Peskin [at] sfgov.org


Leland Yee - District 4
City Hall 
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place , Room 244 
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689 
(415) 554-7752 - voice
(415) 554-7751 - fax
Leland.Yee [at] sfgov.org


Matt Gonzalez - District 5
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
(415) 554-7630 - voice
(415) 554-7634 - fax


Matt.Gonzalez [at] sfgov.org

Chris Daly - District 6
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
(415) 554-7970 - voice
(415) 554-7974 - fax
chris.daly [at] sfgov.org


Tony Hall - District 7
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
(415) 554-6516 - voice
(415) 554-6546 - fax
Tony.Hall [at] sfgov.org

Mark Leno - District 8
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
(415) 554-7734 - voice
(415) 554-7739 - fax
Mark.Leno [at] sfgov.org


Tom Ammiano - District 9
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
(415) 554-5144 - voice
(415) 554-6255 - fax
tom.ammiano [at] sfgov.org


Sophie Maxwell - District 10
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
(415) 554-7670 - voice
(415) 554-7674 - fax
Sophie.Maxwell [at] sfgov.org


Gerardo Sandoval - District 11
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
(415) 554-6975 - voice
(415) 554-6979 - fax
Gerardo.Sandoval [at] sfgov.org