San Francisco's Save The Presidio Files FOIA Request on Fisher Art Museum

April 9, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:
David P. Bancroft, 415-706-8779, dbancroft [at] sideman.com
http://www.SaveThePresidio.org

Save The Presidio Files FOIA Request on Fisher Art Museum Proposal

The co-founder of Save The Presidio, a group opposed to building a large contemporary art
museum on the Presidio of San Francisco, today filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request with the Presidio Trust, asking for documents related to the project.

David Bancroft said opponents of the contemporary art museum and other large structures
included in the Trust's plans are seeking the release of information related to Olin
Partnership and its landscape renderings that show, as far back as 2004, a large
museum-like structure at the head of the Presidio's historic Main Parade Ground, where
Gap Founder Donald Fisher and the Presidio Trust propose to build a museum to house
Fisher's private art collection. Donald Fisher served on the Presidio Trust Board of
Directors in 2004, when the Olin plans were commissioned. The Olin Partnership was the
landscape-architecture firm for the Gap Headquarters in San Francisco. The Presidio Trust first mentioned the Fisher Art Museum publicly in late 2007.

"We expect the Presidio Trust, a federal agency that manages the Presidio's real estate,
to comply with US Attorney General Eric Holder's March 19, 2009 memorandum which urges
federal agencies to comply with the spirit as well as the letter of the Freedom of
Information Act," Bancroft said.

At the Presidio Trust's Board of Directors meeting held Tuesday, April 7, Boalt Hall Law
School students and instructor Robert Infelise, a San Francisco attorney, publicly
commented on the Fisher art museum proposal, noting that the Presidio Trust had denied
their FOIA requests of Feb. 12, 2009. The students said that the Trust was legally
incorrect in rejecting all of the documents requested.

In the past six months, the Presidio Trust has denied a number of FOIA requests for
documents related to construction projects including the proposed museum in the Presidio
National Park.

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TEXT OF FOIA:

BY FAX: 415-561-5308



April 9, 2009


Steve Carp
FOIA Officer
Presidio Trust



FOIA REQUEST



I am requesting the following information pursuant to the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 522 and U.S. Attorney General Holder’s March 19, 2009 Memorandum to all federal agencies prescribing that “[A]n agency should not withhold information simply because it may do so legally. I strongly encourage agencies to make discretionary disclosure of information.”



Information Requested



All documents in the possession of the Presidio Trust regarding:



1. The source (identity of any private party contributor(s) or prospective contributor(s)) of any funds:

(a) solicited for; (b) offered or (c) used to pay for the October 13,2004 Olin Partnership landscape Drawings for the Main Parade Ground.



2. The placement of a large, modern, glass and steel, rectangular module, museum-like building at the top, center of the Main Parade Ground (where Fisher now proposes to have his museum), and with modern outdoor sculptures in the 2004 Olin Partnership landscape plans (on file in the Presidio Trust Library);



3. Any involvement by then (2004) Trust Board member Donald Fisher in requesting, the development or acceptance by the Trust of the foregoing Olin plans including the foregoing museum-like building at the top, center of the Main Parade Ground, including any documents to, from or mentioning him in this connection.



4. (a) The source (identity of contributor) of the $570,000 contribution (from a non government source) listed in the Trust’s 2006 Annual Report (the same year that the Olin plans were reported as completed); and (b) any terms and conditions for and the actual the use of these funds.



“Documents” includes paper copies and electronically stored information.

“Possession” includes custody and control; and

“Presidio Trust” includes its staff, the Trust Board members and the Olin Partnership

“Donald Fisher” includes him and/or Doris Fisher, Robert Fisher, and the Fisher family foundation.



Fees



Neither I nor SaveThePresidio is a commercial requester, an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, or a representative of a news media. I am the co-founder of the SaveThePresidio, a coalition organization, which collects and distributes information and views about the Presidio to its members and the public.

Waiver of fees is requested because the information sought is in the public interest : It appears from the 2004 Olin plans that a modern art museum was being considered by the Trust (but not otherwise disclosed by it) for the Main Parade Ground at a time when Donald Fisher was himself on the Presidio Trust Board, and notwithstanding that the Presidio Trust Master Plan (PTMP) expressly precluded such a building on the Main Post. If this is the case (which will likely be confirmed or belied by the requested materials) then the public should know that and be able to weigh this information in assessing that the first mention of the prospect of a Fisher Museum in the Trust’s minutes was not made until April, 2007. With respect to the $570,000 contribution, the public is entitled to know the source of and the terms and conditions attaching to private monies to be and in fact expended by a public agency on matters affecting public property.



Please direct all communications and delivery of records, as applicable, to:



David P. Bancroft

SaveThePresidio

XXXXX

San Francisco, CA 94123

415-706-8779

dbancroft @sideman.com



Thank you, in advance, for your prompt attention and consideration of this information request.



Very Truly,



David P. Bancroft