And a note from Sierra Club trustee John Rizzo, which he sent to me on Aug. 16, 2009, before heading off on vacation to Lassen State Park and which he confirmed as still true upon his return, on Aug. 24:
"The Sierra Club has not backed the compromise. I can tell you categorically that the Sierra Club will not support SB 792. At most, it would drop opposition. But it will not support a bill that sells off state parkland for development.
"The Sierra Club at one time was the only opponent of SB 792 in Sacramento. For a time, we were the only official opponent listed and were the only group walking the halls. Fortunately, that has changed.
"Leno asked Michael Cohen to negotiate with us. What Lennar has most recently put on the table is scaling back the land grab of the state park from 42 acres to 22 acres. I personally am not supporting this.
"At most, the Sierra Club would drop its opposition. But it will not support a bill that sells off state parkland for development. Personally, I don't believe the current Lennar proposal warrants dropping opposition.
On Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009, KPFA broadcast this clarification:
So what happens if the State closes a state park?
State Sen. Mark Leno argues that we have to privatize the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area because we can't afford to keep it open or keep it up, but ARC Ecology's Saul Bloom points out that closing a state park is not like closing a school. Closing a state park means closing the parking lot and the restrooms. It doesn't mean that the park no longer exists, or that people can't go hike, picnic or even volunteer to take care of the park themselves anymore.
And what happens if the State privatizes a state park?
If the state privatizes our Candlestick Point Park, then, as budget crises worsen at every level, what's next? What's to stop the privatization of every park in California? The federal government has, since the Reagan era, championed the privatization of everything from prisons to HUD foreclosure counseling, so, if California joins the rush to privatize, how long will it be before we're told we have to put up with a coal-fired power plant generating electricity for a uranium mining operation in Death Valley National Monument, just like those in Saharan Niger, because otherwise we just can't afford the park anymore?
This article first appeared in the "San Francisco Bay View, National Black Newspaper."
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