www.ProtectCoitTower.

org
Monday, December 21, 2015
Chairman Mark Farrell and Members
Budget and Finance Committee
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
City Hall
San Francisco, CA 94102
Re: Proposed Coit Tower Concession Lease Amendments, File #15120
Dear Chairman Farrell and Members of the Committee,
I write on behalf of Protect Coit Tower, a nonprofit citizens group dedicated to
promoting public education about, and the restoration and preservation of, San
Franciscos Coit Tower and the historic murals that reside inside. I am writing to urge
you not to approve the Coit Tower Lease Amendments as proposed by the Recreation
and Park Commission because they would violate the will of the voters as expressed in
June 2012s Prop. B and would make things worse, not better, at Coit Tower.
Coit Tower is a special place, and the people of San Francisco want to keep it that
way. In June 2012, San Francisco voters approved a ballot measure creating an official
Coit Tower Preservation Policy to change the way Coit Tower has been neglected by the
City and treated for too long as simply a cash cow. Instead, the people of San
Francisco have now made it official City Policy to strictly limit commercial activities
and private events at Coit Tower, and to prioritize the funds generated for the City
every year by Coit Tower elevator fees and concession operations for the maintenance
and protection of the Coit Tower murals, building, and Pioneer Park.
The proposed revisions to the Coit Tower lease contain a provision that we
strongly support. The revised lease proposes to formalize a permanent mural
protection credit that will dedicate a greater portion of the Coit Tower-generated
revenue to the private concessionaire who is currently managing Coit Tower so he has
the funding needed to increase the staffing levels to manage the visitors to Coit Tower
and enforce the Arts Commissions Mural Protection Rules at the front door and inside.
Currently, staffing at Coit Tower is limited and the mural protection rules are enforced
in a haphazard fashion. We believe the current concessionaire absolutely wants to
protect the murals and are pleased to support the mural protection credit so that he can.

However, we are deeply concerned with other provisions in the proposed lease
revision, several of which are brand new and have never been discussed with the
community before or by the City in any substantive fashion. Nothing that has been
previously revealed about the proposed Coit Tower lease revisions ever indicated the
proposed lease revisions would: 1) authorize the concessionaire to sell prepackaged
food items inside Coit Tower despite the Mural Protection Guidelines prohibiting all
food inside Coit Tower; 2) authorize the concessionaire to rent Coit Tower for private
tours after public visiting hours are over; or 3) impose a gag rule on the
concessionaire speaking with the media or the public about activities at Coit Tower.
We also want to express our continued concern about the proposal to construct a
concession stand building outside Coit Tower. Based on the proposed lease
amendment for a Short-Term Rent Credit On Account of Delay In Identifying Food
Service, the concession stand is estimated to generate approximately $7,000 per month
in additional revenue for the concessionaire. Constructing a building outside Coit
Tower in order to generate additional revenue is a poor choice given that Coit Tower
has generated over $1,000,000 in revenue from Coit Tower in the past year that should
be available to cover these costs, in accordance with the will of the voters who approved
the Coit Tower Preservation ballot measure three years ago. We strongly urge the
Board of Supervisors to explore other options that would be less harmful to Coit Tower.
Finally, we request that the Board of Supervisors establish a Coit Tower
Oversight Task Force to engage in a regular public review of how the operations and
mural protections are working at Coit Tower. The fundamental reason the crisis
became so acute at Coit Tower four years ago was the lack of engagement and oversight
by the City and the disconnect from the community of artists, neighbors, and interested
citizens who knew how bad things had become at Coit Tower but had nobody to tell.
Lets work hard to ensure that never happens again. Coit Tower is certainly worth it.
Sincerely,

Jon Golinger
Chair
Protect Coit Tower

Cc:

All Members, Board of Supervisors

All Members, San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission