Six things to watch for at the Democratic convention

The 2008 Democratic National Convention starts today in Denver, and whether you’re just trying to make up your mind about the candidates or you’re an experienced observer of politics, here are six things that will help you make sense of the convention.

Obama stencil found on sidewalk in San Francisco Aug. 24, 2008

Like most party conventions, this one is going to be mostly dull. Unless you’re a serious political junkie or you’ve got an invitation to a shindig with an open bar, you’d probably have more fun watching the queasy expressions on people exiting the Tilt-a-Whirl at the county fair.

But while the selection of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama as the Democratic Party’s candidate for president is a given, there is some interesting stuff happening at the convention, with important implications for the next few weeks of the campaigns and Americans’ choice for their next president. Don’t consider this a comprehensive list of what we’ll see at the convention, but rather a brief rundown of a handful of highlights.

Last chance to comment on GGNRA management plan

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is revising its policies for managing the lands and facilities under its jurisdiction, but the period for public comment is drawing to a close.

This revision is important to anyone who uses the GGNRA in any way, as it is intended to guide the management of the park for many years. Friday, August 1 is the last day the GGNRA and the National Park Service will accept comments on the plan from the public.

Read the four alternative proposed management concepts, and make your comments before 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.

My understanding is that after the GGNRA selects a general set of guiding principles (the management concepts), it will undertake further study and gather additional public input to turn those principles into actual working regulations, policies and practices.

Pain at the pump

The 76 gas station at the the corner of Geary Boulevard and Stanyan Street in San Francisco’s Richmond District has started to take the term “pain at the pump” to a more literal level.

The ‘best’ in ‘pet’ ‘care’

Oh, dear. Where do I even start? I saw this sign outside a shop on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco the other day.

It’s perplexing on so many levels.

First, of course, is the simple misspelling.

But there are more important matters. I don’t think I’d take my dog somewhere where they used “anesthesia” instead of anesthesia. I mean, what do they do, give the dog some sort of homemade medication? Hit it over the head? Slip it a placebo? Get it drunk?

And “free” obviously means something new to me, since it still costs $105.

Or maybe I’m reading it wrong altogether. Maybe what they mean is that the procedure is simply free of anesthesia, and Fido is going to have to just tough it out.

Cosco Busan pilot to get trial date

The pilot of the Cosco Busan is set to receive a date April 4 for his trial on federal charges related to the crash of the cargo ship into the Bay Bridge and the resultant oil spill into San Francisco Bay.

Pilot John Cota, meanwhile, has indicated that he thinks the Coast Guard shares responsibility for the spill, which killed and sickened birds and other wildlife in the bay and along the nearby Pacific Ocean coast. His lawyers have said Cota will refuse to testify in a National Transportation Safety Board hearing next week.

The Nov. 7, 2007 spill of 50,000 gallons of bunker fuel into San Francisco Bay killed at least 2,000 birds and sickened an unknown but much larger number of others. While all other similar cargo ships in the bay that day remained at anchor because of heavy fog, the Cosco Busan set sail in spite of low visibility.

Today’s court procedure is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on the 15th floor of the San Francisco Federal Building at 450 Golden Gate Ave., in the court of U.S. Magistrate Joseph Spero.

Bike lanes over S.F. Bay?

A key state agency will discuss a possible bicycle and pedestrian path over San Francisco Bay April 3, in spite of opposition from the California Department of Transportation.

The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, which oversees long-term uses of San Francisco Bay and regulates development in and around the bay, is scheduled to hear a report on the feasibility of constructing a path for pedestrians and bicyclists on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Another agency that is responsible for setting tolls on Bay Area bridges has offered to help arrange financing and construct a movable barrier — but Caltrans already has voiced the opinion that such a trail would be a hazard to motorists and refuses to build it.

From the published meeting agenda:

“Briefing and Public Hearing on Bicycle and Pedestrian Access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge The Commission will receive a briefing on the issue of whether a roadway shoulder on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge should be allowed to be used as a bicycle and pedestrian trail during non-peak commute hours or should be reserved for future use as a travel lane by motorized vehicles. Implementing either option will require a permit from BCDC. The Bay Area Toll Authority has determined that the bicycle and pedestrian option is feasible and has offered to help arrange financing the trail and installing a moveable barrier to protect the trail users. The California Department of Transportation has determined that the barrier would pose a safety hazard to motorists and has indicated that it will not construct the barrier and trail. The public will be given an opportunity to comment, and the Commission may provide policy guidance on the issue. (Brad McCrea) [415/352-3615 bradm@bcdc.ca.gov]“

The meeting of the BCDC is set for 1 p.m. April 3, on the second floor of the Ferry Building, at Market Street and the Embarcadero, in San Francisco.

The BCDC also is scheduled to discuss a proposed state law that would allow the BCDC to consider the impacts of climate change in making its planning decisions.

Resources:

The Bay Conservation and Development Commission

BCDC’s April 3 meeting agenda

The California Department of Transportation

The Marin County Bicycle Coalition

San Francisco’s secret public spaces revealed

San Francisco Chronicle urban-design writer John King has a great article in Sunday’s paper, examining the city’s privately owned public open spaces.

What is a “privately owned public open space”? It could be a rooftop terrace, a courtyard garden, a street-level plaza or a completely enclosed space several floors up in a downtown skyscraper. But in general terms, it’s a space to which the property owner is legally required to allow public access, even though it remains private property.

San Francisco has a number of such spaces in the central city, built and maintained by the owners of commercial properties in accordance with requirements in the Planning Code. Although a few of these spaces are popular and highly visible, many of them are so well hidden — and access to them so tightly controlled — that most San Franciscans will never know they are there.

King’s article includes a great map of privately owned public open spaces, and runs with a sidebar on the Sky Terrace open space at Westfield San Francisco Centre.

Do take the opportunity to visit some of these open-space oases and savor the change of pace from the hurried world outside. After all, you have the right.

Resources:

An event of the Young Urbanists group of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association will focus on privately owned public open spaces. Details are not available yet, but it is scheduled for 6 p.m. on April 23.

SPUR’s monthly publication, the Urbanist, published an article on this type of open space as part of its excellent regular feature “Urban Field Notes.” Check out page 30 of the November 2007 issue, available in PDF form at this link.

San Francisco urbanist performance-art group REBAR conducted a survey of privately owned public open spaces and has helped organize a series of performances and other events.

A great speech that may not matter

Barack Obama gave a great speech yesterday, addressing both the specific controversy that has arisen over comments made by his Chicago preacher and the broad issues of race relations in the United States. The problem for Obama, however, is that he may have been playing the wrong game.

Listening to the whole speech, or even to lengthy segments of it, reveals that Obama makes strong arguments and says a number of things that many Americans know to be true but are reluctant to say. But a speech like the one he gave requires subtle phrasing and the building of logical arguments that don’t translate well into headlines or sound bites, so most people will never absorb the nuance of what Obama said and instead will form their opinions about whether he supports his preacher’s statements based on only a handful of words from the speech.

Without getting into whether I agree with Obama’s reaction to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s statements, much less those statements themselves, I do think that it’s unreasonable to judge a person based on what his minister says. As a Catholic, I certainly know that it would be both unfair and grossly inaccurate to draw implications about my opinions based on every word that comes out of the mouth of the pope or my parish priest.

A new life

Gentle readers, my wife and I welcomed our new baby into the world this week. I’m busy, but I’ll be back soon.

… and we’re back

Well, like so many people do with their blogs, I’ve neglected mine for a number of weeks. I won’t bore you with a common story of why, but do look for more activity starting in the next few days.

One quick bit of news: A representative of a television show covering environmental issues contacted me last week about using one of the photos in “Black death on the beach,” my post about the impact of the Cosco Busan oil spill on my local beach in San Francisco. I’ll let you know how that works out.