Icer Air: An Open Letter to the Mayor
When I read SFGate yesterday and saw that you had mentioned Potrero Hill as a potential host of Icer Air I was elated. Now today it appears that you’ve had a change of heart:
"And Newsom, who at one point Wednesday said moving the contest to another view-packed neighborhood such as Potrero Hill was worth considering, said later that he would rather keep it on Fillmore.
'I can't imagine a more idyllic location to showcase San Francisco,' he said."
Source: SFGate
I’m sure you’ve heard this from others, but allow me to kindly remind you that nobody likes a flip-flopper (just ask John Kerry).
Some things just aren’t meant to be. Icer Air and Pacific Heights, well that’s sort of like Brad and Jennifer. People in Pacific Heights are categorically unsupportive of the idea … the NIMBYism seems to be infectious and rampantly apparent:
Neighbors
Connie McCole, who lives in the neighborhood, was glad City Hall listened.
"It's someone else's turn,'' she said.
Monks
"We feel that we are being unjustly penalized and discriminated against for our scenic location," said Warner Hirsch, a Hindu monk who worships at the Vedanta Society.
Greg Scott, president of the Pacific Heights Residents Association
"It's a real intrusion. We view this in the same class as street fairs."
And even Supervisor Michela Aliota Pier
"Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, who represents Pacific Heights, was also pleased that the competition had been called off."
(btw congrats to Michela for winning SFist’s hottest supervisor competition)
How about placing this event in a neighborhood that really wants to host it? The Olympics are put up for bid, and part of that process includes enthusiasm … something Potrero Hill has an abundance of.
As far as being an idyllic location, let me point out that we’ve had several movies filmed here. Chance the American Bulldog, and his lost friends admired the sweeping views of the city from Potrero Hill in Homeward Bound 2, Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron romanced each other in Sweet November, and ironically enough, Pacific Heights was filmed in Potrero Hill.
Gavin, how about giving the little guy a chance? Sure Potrero Hill isn’t as posh and tony as Pacific Heights, but as Tony Kelly (our neighborhood association president) said on KRON 4 "We’re a can do neighborhood."
Want this event to happen in San Francisco instead of the East Bay? Please reconsider having it hosted in Potrero Hill.
sincerely-
mike lin
Update
Thanks to sfist, KRON 4's BAIT, SocketSite, and SFGate's Culture Blog for their support of Potrero Hill.
1 Comments:
"It's someone else's turn,'' she said.
That's pretty funny - when will it be Pacific Heights' turn for power plant pollution, ugly lofts, homeless encampments and 80' high buildings that block our view of the Bay and stop our sunlight? When, oh when, will it be Pacific Heights' turn for those things???
Before anybody rushes to welcome the Icer event, let's think about how we can benefit Potrero Hill.
The Red Bull event was OK and the organizers were really responsible about doing what they said and cleaning up afterwards. But, they only had bales of hay, not tons of snow. If the organizers want to have their snow event, they need to come to the community first and tell us exactly what they want, where they want it, what they'll do to police the event and clean up promptly after it, what insurance coverage they'll have and what steps they'll take to assure that their tons of snow doesn't turn into water that will flood our homes. And, the neighborhood needs to get some of the money involved. After all, the event is only being put on to make money for somebody and there is no way they should be able to use our hill and our streets and our neighborhood to make money to put in their pockets without putting some in ours, too. For example, perhaps people who live on the street where the event is held should be paid something for the loss of access to their parking and to the inconvenience of having thousands of people milling about for two days. I can tell you from the Red Bull event that access is severely limited to those living on the street (it was DeHaro for Red Bull) that is used. Or, there are plenty of good and needy causes right on our Hill that could use some money - the Neighborhood House comes immediately to mind, but there are tons of other needs, all of which can be helped with money. Let's make this more of a partnership, with the neighborhood being a partner who is entitled to a good share of the profits from providing the venue without which the event could not occur. And, I'm not talking about $500 or $1000 "contributions." I'm talking about a real participation in the profits, 20% or 30% to be distributed as we in the neighborhood decide. If the organizers says it's too expensive to pay for the venue, then either make it up by charging higher rates to their advertisers or do what the rest of us do when we can't afford to attend an event: go somewhere cheaper or forget about it altogether. These events are big big business and they can't do it without the neighborhood's cooperation. So, let's hang tough and get some benefit for Portero Hill. I understand that the Red Bull people donated $10,000 to the Neighborhood House. Well, that was a much smaller event than an Olympic champion's event will be. The Neighborhood House (and all our charities) have been severely cut back by the City and State. Let's appoint a committee to negotiate with Icer about what they have to do for us in the neighborhood for us to support and welcome them. We can make this community event, but it has to benefit us as well as them.
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