FOGG wishes to thank the dozens of Supporters who gave testimony at the Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Board of Supervisors meeting.  Our team was well organized and presented factual and important testimony.  It couldn’t have been better.

FOGG must also recognize the many letters and emails you sent in support of FOGG, and signing the online petition form.  It is not too late to add your name to the over 1,100 people who have already shown their support.  You can sign the Petition at this link.  Stop 8 Washington Petition

Our District Three Supervisor and Board President, David Chiu, deserves a special “Thank You” for his efforts in asking important questions of the Planning Department, and the developer’s attorney, that they had a difficult time trying to answer.

In spite of his efforts our two appeals went down by a vote of 8 – 3, at the Board of Supervisors.  The majority were in lock step with the developer, while President Chiu did have the support of Supervisors Campos and Avalos.

We must accept what has happened.  This is a setback.  FOGG however is confident that we will prevail.  We need your support, so please stay with us.

There are several options available to us and our volunteers are pursuing them vigorously.  We will keep you advised as our actions unfold in the coming days.

Important meetings are occurring soon that we want you to be aware of.  Here is the upcoming schedule.  We ask that you participate and state your position.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 3:15pm.  Port Commission meeting on the financial deal & approval of the development.

Monday, June 4, 2012, 1:00pm.  Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee (Mar, Cohen, Wiener).  Issues to be considered are the Height Increase in the Northeast Waterfront Area Plan for the 8 Washington Street/Seawall Lot 351 development and Height Increase in Zoning Map.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012, 10:00am.  Board of Supervisors Budget/Finance Subcommittee (Chu, Avalos, Kim).  Issue to be considered is the SF Port financial deal for the 8 Washington Street/Seawall Lot 351 development.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 2:00pm.  Board of Supervisors.  Issues to be considered are the SF Port financial deal (from Budget & Finance) and the General Plan Amendment – Height Increase in Northeast Waterfront Area Plan and Height Increase in Zoning Map – First Reading (from Land Use Committee)

Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 2:00pm.  Board of Supervisors.  Height Increase in Zoning Map- Second Reading.

If this schedule is completed and the issues pass, project approval could go to Mayor for signature as early as the SAME DAY, Tuesday, June 19, 2012.

FOGG will continue to work at 100% with our thousands of supporters to preserve our community’s open recreational center and provide a real positive plan to better the Embarcadero Northeast Waterfront.

We need everyone’s support, and look forward to your comments.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION AT THIS LINK:  Stop 8 Washington Petition

YOU MUST ACT NOW!!!

LAST CALL – SAVE OUR OPEN RECREATION SPACE.

TWO DAYS TO GO!!!

The Board of Supervisors will be voting YES or NO on this proposed development on Tuesday, May 15, 2012.  The meeting is in Room 250 at City Hall beginning at 4:00 pm.

Please SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION and send your statement to ALL ELEVEN SF SUPERVISORS voicing your opposition to the proposed 8 Washington Street/Seawall Lot 351 luxury condominium development.

We want to update you on the upcoming 8 Washington Street/Seawall 351 proposed development meeting schedules.

Here is some good news.  Cooler and more sensible heads have prevailed.

The Board of Supervisors Budget & Finance Subcommittee scheduled for Wednesday, May 16, 2012 – just one hour after the SF Port Commission had scheduled their meeting on the 8 Washington/SWL351 project approval and Public Trust land exchange – HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED.  The new date is Wednesday, June 6, 2012.

Further, the Board of Supervisors Land Use & Economic Development Committee (Supervisors Mar, Cohen and Wiener) will meet on Monday, June 4, 2012 about the 8 Washington Street/Seawall Lot 351 proposed development.

That SF Port Commission hearing on Wednesday, May 16^th for project approval and land exchange has ALSO HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED.  The new date is Tuesday, May 29, 2012.

As of this writing the Board of Supervisors will still meet on the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) & Conditional Use Permit (CUP) this Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 4:00pm, City Hall, Room 250.

FOGG asks that as many of our supporters as possible be at this hearing early as we expect a large crowd.

We will provide more information on the May 29^th, June 4^th and June 6^th meetings when it becomes available and has been confirmed.

See you on Tuesday and thanks to everyone for their continued support.

Sign the Petition at this link:  Stop 8 Washington Petition

ONLY SIX MORE DAYS!

The Board of Supervisors will be voting YES or NO on this proposed development on Tuesday, May 15, 2012.  The meeting is in Room 250 at City Hall beginning at 4:00 pm.

Please SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION and send your statement to ALL ELEVEN SF SUPERVISORS voicing your opposition to the proposed 8 Washington Street/Seawall Lot 351 luxury condominium development.

We need your help.  Please act now!

The SF Port (and the 8 Washington Street developer) has once again shown their true colors.

They don’t want to bother hearing public input.

They have scheduled a SF PORT COMMISSION HEARING FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 AT 9:00AM TO APPROVE THE PROJECT AND PUBLIC TRUST LAND EXCHANGE.

This is THE DAY AFTER the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, May 15, 2012 4:00PM hearing to consider certifying the EIR and addressing the issues raised in FOGG’s Appeal of the Conditional Use.

Then ONE HOUR AFTER THE SF PORT COMMISSION HEARING ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 AT 10:00AM the Board of Supervisors Budget/ Finance Committee (Supervisors Carmen Chu, John Avalos, Jane Kim) will hold the Board’s ONLY public hearing on the Financial Terms of the SF Port’s deal with the 8 Washington Street developer (Purchase & Sales Agreement, Trust Exchange).

This compressed schedule was requested by the SF Port Director Monique Moyer.

This is PREPOSTEROUS.

Having a SF Port hearing at 9:00AM and the Board of Supervisors’ ONLY hearing on the deal’s financial terms RIGHT AFTERWARDS at 10:00AM THE SAME DAY means there is literally no opportunity for the public OR THE SUPERVISORS to read or understand what the SF Port and the developer negotiated. There also won’t be time for the Board’s Budget Analyst to prepare a report to the Board on the Port’s complex financial deal with the developer.

WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO HIDE?

In your next email, letter or phone call to the Board of Supervisors, please protest this outrageous scheduling move by SF Port Director Moyer and the 8 Washington Street developer, along with the MANY other good reasons to oppose the 8 Washington Street luxury condominium project.

The Port and the developer are making an attempt to PREVENT the public and Board of Supervisors from fully vetting this complex deal. It takes $25 million in future property taxes away from the City and gives $5 million BACK to the developer for the ‘public improvements’ he’s using to ‘sell’ the project. It gives $20 million of City tax revenue to the SF Port for its capital projects. This City revenue should be paying for city services, teachers, fire fighters. This is what the SF Port doesn’t want us to talk about until AFTER the Board has committed to the project.

DON’T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS!

WE NEED YOUR HELP. HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. EMAIL, WRITE AND CALL ALL ELEVEN Board of Supervisors to express your opinion about the 8 Washington Street project and the way the SF Port is trying to JAM its financial deal through the Board of Supervisors without any chance for debate.

Please see the ‘Board of Supervisors – How to Contact’ link on this website.

Please send a copy of your email to FOGG at coaches@fogg.us.

2. ATTEND THE TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012 Board of Supervisors EIR/CU hearing at 4:00pm, Room 250, City Hall.

3. SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION that goes to ALL ELEVEN Supervisors.

You can sign the Petition at this link: Stop 8 Washington Petition

Please ACT NOW.

We want to remind you to SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION and send your statement to ALL ELEVEN SF SUPERVISORS voicing your opposition to the proposed 8 Washington Street/Seawall Lot 351 luxury condominium development.

We thank all of you who have already done so.  We’ve gotten responses from every City District, all around the SF Bay Area, from across the US and even Europe.

You all recognize what a truly special place the GGT&SC is.  We now must convince the SF Board of Supervisors of this.  Signing this petition really helps and we thank you.

The Board of Supervisors will be voting YES or NO on this proposed development on Tuesday, May 15, 2012.  The meeting is in Room 250 at City Hall beginning at 4:00 pm.

You can sign the Petition at this link:  Stop 8 Washington Petition

We need your help.  Please act now!

Thanks to our creative FOGG volunteer Ethel Jimenez, we now have an online petition.

You can sign it and send your statement to ALL ELEVEN SF SUPERVISORS voicing your opposition to the proposed 8 Washington Street/Seawall Lot 351 luxury condominium development.

The Board of Supervisors will be voting YES or NO on this proposed development on Tuesday, May 15, 2012.  The meeting is in Room 250 at City Hall beginning at 4:00 pm.

You can sign the Petition at this link:  Stop 8 Washington Petition

We thank Ethel for her fine effort.  Please sign this petition and forward it on to all of your friends who care about preserving active open recreation space in San Francisco.

FOGG is really excited about all the new people who have joined us.  It has been amazing how many of you from every City District and throughout the SF Bay Area have participated with your emails and petition signing showing opposition to this proposed project.

Let us step up the effort.

We need your help.  Please act now!

MAY 15, 2012.  This is the date that the Board of Supervisors will be meeting and voting on the 8 Washington Street/Seawall Lot 351 proposed Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) & Conditional Use Permit (CUP).

If the Board votes YES, this proposed development for luxury condominiums for the very, very rich moves closer to becoming reality, and destroying our outdoor recreational center.

FOGG needs your support NOW.  Make plans to attend the Board of Supervisors meeting on MAY 15, 2012.  The meeting begins at 4:00pm in Room 250, City Hall.  Plan to arrive early – we expect a big crowd.

FOGG needs all of you there and to speak on behalf of the thousands of middle income families, their kids and seniors.  We must save our Community’s one of a kind outdoor recreational center (GGT&SC).

You can act now by writing to the Board of Supervisors – ALL ELEVEN.  Their email addresses can be seen at the ‘Board of Supervisors – How to Contact’ link on this website.

Talking Points are available at the ‘April 2012 Talking Points’ link on this website.

Please write in your own words why it is vital to keep this outdoor recreational center here.

Please make sure that District Three Supervisor and Board President David Chiu gets a copy.  His email address is david.chiu@sfgov.org

Please send a copy of your email to FOGG at coaches@fogg.us.

NOW is the time to act. We have only two weeks left to take action.

FOGG is sure you will join with us in this fight to help keep our middle class families in San Francisco.

Thank you for your support.

FOGG is aware that a number of you have received a US Mail notice of a Tuesday, May 1, 2012 hearing at the Board of Supervisors on the 8 Washington Street/Seawall Lot 351 proposed project.

The Supervisors at the May 1 meeting are expected to move that the hearing on 8 Washington/Seawall Lot 351 will be held over to Tuesday, May 15, 2012.

FOGG will have observers at the May 1 meeting, but there will be no public testimony.  Your attendance is not needed.

FOGG is focusing all our energy on the May 15, 2012 Supervisors meeting.

We will send you an Alert when this meeting date has been officially set.  We will be asking you to attend this meeting and testify before the Board.

We thank those who have already written to the Board of Supervisors stating their support for saving our open recreational space.  For those of you who have not yet written we ask that you do so now.  We still need your emails to the Supervisors, particularly the Supervisor in your District.

Please see the ‘April 2012 Talking Points’ link on ths website.

Please see the ‘SF Board of Supervisors’ link on this website for their email addresses.

Please send a copy to FOGG at coaches@fogg.us.

If you wish to have a US Mail notice about the upcoming hearing from the Supervisors, please send your mailing address to coaches@fogg.us.   We will forward this information to ensure you receive a written notice.

For those of our supporters who do not live in San Francisco, you can still help!  Please send an email to all 11 San Francisco Supervisors why you support FOGG’s position.

Also please send a copy to FOGG at coaches@fogg.us.

FOGG can only continue the fight to save the Community’s open recreational center for thousands of middle income families, youth and seniors with your tax deductible donations.

Please send your tax deductible donation to Friends of Golden Gateway, P.O. Box 2294, San Francisco, CA 94126.  Please make your checks out to PDF/FOGG, and on the memo line write “tax deductible donation”.

Or you can donate online by clicking on the ‘Donations to FOGG’ link on this website.

Our attorney Sue Hestor, consultant Brad Paul, and so many volunteers need your support NOW.

FOGG thanks the many who have heeded are call.  Now is the time for all to join them.

FOGG needs your help now in raising additional funds to send as many youngsters as we can to the Golden Gateway Tennis & Swim Club’s Summer Kids Camp.  We thank those who have already made a contribution this year for the Program.

It really is an exceptional opportunity for kids from low income housing to participate in this one of a kind Summer Fun Program with dedicated and trained Camp counselors.  (Many are graduates of the Kids Camp.)

You can really make a difference in FOGG’s 3^rd year of sponsoring this exciting program of tennis and swim lessons, social interaction, and many other activities with their peers in a safe, family friendly environment.

The day long program including lunch and a family barbecue on Friday’s is really an exciting experience for these youngsters who would otherwise not have this summer opportunity.

Our District Three Supervisor & Board President, David Chiu, heartily endorses our efforts.  We thank Supervisor Chiu for his statement of support in his April 2012 Newsletter.

Summer Recreation Scholarships We are pleased to spread the word that for the 3rd year in a row, Friends of Golden Gateway (FOGG) will sponsor a scholarship program to send young people from low-income housing in Chinatown and South of Market to the Golden Gateway Tennis & Swim Club’s summer Kids Camp that begins in June and lasts through August. Over the last two years, through the generosity of FOGG supporters and the cooperation of GGT&SC management, over two dozen young people enjoyed a wonderful summer experience. Donations to the scholarship program are tax deductible. For further information contact Lee Radner at coaches@fogg.us.

Please send your tax deductible donation to Friends of Golden Gateway, P.O. Box 2294, San Francisco, CA 94126.  Please make your checks out to PDF/FOGG, and on the memo line write “Kids Camp 2012 tax deductible donation”.

Or you can donate online by clicking on the ‘Donations to FOGG link on this website.

We look forward to your help.  Our neighborhood youngsters will be ever grateful.