<div dir="ltr">It's good that the State of California refused to a public loan to finance the Clipper Cove mega-yacht marina. <br><br>But we're not out of the woods yet. <br><br>Director Sadler is making a final decision later this spring -- presumably that means in the next few weeks. <br><div><br>If any of you have a moment, please feel free to use any/all of the material below to write to Director Sadler and Keren Dill. Their emails are on the to: line below, and you can copy various SF City Supervisors and Treasure Island Development Authority members as well (on the cc: line).<br><br></div><div>If you've written already, thanks. If you haven't, please do so. The more of us that make our points known, the better our chances of saving the cove.<br></div><div><div><div><br></div><div>Thanks!<br></div><div><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Best regards,</span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"> </span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Al</span></font><br></div><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></span></font></div><font color="#666666"><a href="mailto:asargent@stanfordalumni.org" target="_blank">asargent@stanfordalumni.org</a> | +1 650 269 2176</font></div></div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Al Sargent</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:asargent@stanfordalumni.org">asargent@stanfordalumni.org</a>></span><br>Date: Sun, May 22, 2016 at 2:19 PM<br>Subject: Re: Five reasons to vote no on the pending marina development of Clipper Cove<br>To: "Sadler, Lynn@Parks" <<a href="mailto:Lynn.Sadler@parks.ca.gov">Lynn.Sadler@parks.ca.gov</a>>, <a href="mailto:keren.dill@parks.ca.gov">keren.dill@parks.ca.gov</a><br>Cc: <a href="mailto:John.Avalos@sfgov.org">John.Avalos@sfgov.org</a>, "<a href="mailto:eric.l.mar@sfgov.org">eric.l.mar@sfgov.org</a>" <<a href="mailto:Eric.L.Mar@sfgov.org">Eric.L.Mar@sfgov.org</a>>, <a href="mailto:David.Campos@sfgov.org">David.Campos@sfgov.org</a>, <a href="mailto:Jane.Kim@sfgov.org">Jane.Kim@sfgov.org</a>, <a href="mailto:Bob.Beck@sfgov.org">Bob.Beck@sfgov.org</a>, <a href="mailto:Liz.Hirschhorn@sfgov.org">Liz.Hirschhorn@sfgov.org</a>, <a href="mailto:Richard.Rovetti@sfgov.org">Richard.Rovetti@sfgov.org</a>, <a href="mailto:Weihua.Zhang@sfgov.org">Weihua.Zhang@sfgov.org</a>, <a href="mailto:carolyn.goossen@sfgov.org">carolyn.goossen@sfgov.org</a><br><br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div>Director Sadler,<br><br></div>Thank you for refusing to <span><span>approve a $22M million public loan for construction of a
private mega-yacht marina in Clipper Cove at Treasure
Island.<br><br></span></span></div><span><span>Since you are making a final decision later this spring, I thought I'd pass on four additional considerations recently raised by the Clipper Cove community. Collectively, these increase the risk that this project could become a significant burden to the State of California.<br><br>#1:<br></span></span><br>The marina could lead to a violation of the <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_Species_Act" target="_blank">Endangered Species Act</a></b> [1]. Here's why: <br><ul><li>Clipper Cove will need to be dredged prior to the marina being built.
It's very shallow, just a few feet deep, in some places. I know this
since I and other sailors have capsized small sailboats in the cove and
have gotten our masts stuck in the mud.</li><li>Dredging in such areas can be very expensive, create or
exacerbated an environmental problem.</li><li>Environmental
testing should be done to do determine to what degree the <b>sediments of Clipper Cove are</b> <u><b>contaminated with nuclear material</b></u>, since the US Navy <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/07/08/the-hazards-of-growing-up-on-treasure-island" target="_blank">cleaned ships that were used to test atomic bombs</a> [2] in the cove, and since TI is all landfill and has a <a href="http://thebulletin.org/treasure-island-cleanup-exposes-navy%E2%80%99s-mishandling-its-nuclear-past" target="_blank">history of various contamination issues</a> [3]. <br></li><li>If any contaminated sediment got into the San Francisco Bay estuary, it could negatively impact a number of <a href="https://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/t_e_spp/fish.html" target="_blank">endangered species of fish</a> [4] that live in San Francisco Bay, including multiple salmon species and delta smelt.</li></ul>#2:<br><br></div><div>The marina could lead to a violation of the <b><a href="https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act" target="_blank">Clean Water Act</a></b> [5], which stipulates (among other things) that "the discharge of toxic pollutants
in toxic amounts be prohibited". <br><br>#3:<br><br>Nuclear-contaminated sediment getting into the food chain could lead to <b>class-action lawsuits</b> by well-funded Bay Area groups.<br><br>#4:<br><br>From a financing point of view, dredging and preventing the propagation of contaminated sediment can be very expensive and risky. It could lead to a number of unfavorable situations for the developers, including:<br></div><ul><li>The need to ask for additional loans to finance dredging operations.</li><li>However, raising <b>additional debt to fund dredging could become more difficult given that the likelihood of a recession</b> per leading investment firms <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-05/jpmorgan-warns-eye-catching-76-probability-recession" target="_blank">JPMorgan</a> [6] and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-watch-for-us-recession-zero-interest-rates-in-china-next-year-citi-says-2015-12" target="_blank">Citigroup</a> [7].<br></li><li>Even if we do not enter a recession, the banking community may start to adjust a more defensive posture in terms of their investments. In this environment, it'd be hard to imagine <b>what bank would fund this project</b> involving potential nuclear waste, violations of federal statutes, and class action lawsuits.<br></li><li><b>Developers walking away</b> from the project because the costs of financing outweigh any potential future revenues.</li><li>In either situation, would the State of California be responsible for providing additional public financing and/or remediating contaminated sediment?</li></ul><div><div><div class="gmail_extra"><div><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Once again, thank you for considering this perspective.<br><br></span></font></div><span class=""><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Sincerely,<br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"></span></font></div><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"> </span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Al </span></font>Sargent<br></div><div>275 18th Avenue<br></div>San Francisco<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"></span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"></span></font><font color="#666666"><a href="mailto:asargent@stanfordalumni.org" target="_blank">asargent@stanfordalumni.org</a> | <a href="tel:%2B1%20650%20269%202176" value="+16502692176" target="_blank">+1 650 269 2176</a></font></span></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br>List of above links:<br><br><div>[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_Species_Act" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_Species_Act</a><br>[2] <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/07/08/the-hazards-of-growing-up-on-treasure-island" target="_blank">http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/07/08/the-hazards-of-growing-up-on-treasure-island</a><br>[3] <a href="http://thebulletin.org/treasure-island-cleanup-exposes-navy%E2%80%99s-mishandling-its-nuclear-past" target="_blank">http://thebulletin.org/treasure-island-cleanup-exposes-navy%E2%80%99s-mishandling-its-nuclear-past</a><br>[4] <a href="https://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/t_e_spp/fish.html" target="_blank">https://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/t_e_spp/fish.html</a><br>[5] <a href="https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act" target="_blank">https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act</a><br>[6] <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-05/jpmorgan-warns-eye-catching-76-probability-recession" target="_blank">http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-05/jpmorgan-warns-eye-catching-76-probability-recession</a><br>[7] <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-watch-for-us-recession-zero-interest-rates-in-china-next-year-citi-says-2015-12" target="_blank">http://www.businessinsider.com/r-watch-for-us-recession-zero-interest-rates-in-china-next-year-citi-says-2015-12</a><br></div><div><div class="h5"><br clear="all"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 10, 2016 at 11:47 PM, Al Sargent <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:asargent@stanfordalumni.org" target="_blank">asargent@stanfordalumni.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div><div>Director Sadler,<br><br></div>I'm writing to urge you to vote no on the pending marina development of Clipper Cove. <br><br></div>This plan is wrong for several reasons:<br><br>1) It is a <b>corporate takeover of a public asset</b> used by <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAAahUKEwi9pPHJ5fnGAhWCVIgKHY6oBt8&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfusd.edu%2Fassets%2Fcode%2Fview.php%3Fid%3D15341748352fd291f6e1cd&ei=NVi1Vf21NoKpoQSO0Zr4DQ&usg=AFQjCNGrz-DkZoPl5a2EzbL0LR8gHl7CMQ&sig2=UVMjenvLFmG9JrMZOw1M6Q&bvm=bv.98717601,d.cGU&cad=rja" target="_blank">thousands of San Francisco kids</a> as part of SFUSD's Set, Sail & Learn program, the <a href="http://www.baads.org/" target="_blank">disabled</a> and <a href="http://www.marinsailingschool.com/blind-sailing.html" target="_blank">blind</a>; and for <a href="http://www.sfdragonboat.com/" target="_blank">cultural festivals</a>, such as the Dragon Boat festival attended by tens of thousands. All to provide parking spaces for rarely-used, <a href="http://sarasotayacht.com/co-brokerage-used-yachts-for-sale-91-100-feet/?rPage=/privatelabel/listing/cache/pl_search_results.jsp?ps=200&fromPrice=75000&fromLength=90&slim=pp288214&uom=126&fromYear=1980&duom=126&wuom=126&toLength=99&luom=126&ps=200&searchPage=%2Flisting%2Fcache%2Fboats_for_sale_qs.jsp&so=4&slim=pp288214&units=Feet&" target="_blank">megayachts costing up to 10 million dollars</a>
owned by a small number of people that aren't necessarily San Francisco
residents or even US citizens, who typically use their yachts only <a href="https://boatbound.co/story" target="_blank">14 days a year</a>. This is in contrast to the almost <a href="https://tisailing.org/calendar-and-events" target="_blank">daily programming</a> from Treasure Island Sailing Center (TISC) available to all San Francisco residents at minimal cost.<div><br>2) This marina will <b>rob schoolchildren</b> of a unique educational experience, by effectively ending SFUSD's Set, Sail, Learn program. This
is because, if this marina were built, it would mean that kids, as well
as disabled and blind sailors would only be able to sail in high-current
waters to the east of Clipper Cove. From here, it would be all too easy
for these less-experienced sailors to get swept out on the twice-daily
ebb tide into the high-wind waters that have <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219285/Americas-Cup-boat-cost-Oracle-CEO-Larry-Ellison-8million-crashes-training-run-beneath-Golden-Gate-Bridge.html" target="_blank">beaten</a> and even <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-24545570" target="_blank">killed</a> the world's best sailors.<br><br>3) <b>Federal regulations</b> may come into play. While I'm not an attorney, I wonder if this plan would violate federal standards such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990#Title_III.E2.80.94public_accommodations_.28and_commercial_facilities.29" target="_blank">Americans with Disabilities Act</a>,
especially title III, which governs public accommodations. Displacing
blind and disabled sailors out of a calm cove and into potentially lethal
waters seems every bit as serious as not providing access ramps in parks
and playgrounds. <br><br></div><div>4) It is <b>corporate welfare</b> at its worst: a $22 million dollar loan from California taxpayers to subsidize a yacht parking lot for the wealthiest 0.01%.<br></div><div><br></div><div>5) <b>An alternative exists</b>: TISC has proposed a moderate scaling back of the marina so that it could
operate in a body of water the same size as the successful <a href="http://www.longbeach.gov/park/recreation-programs/aquatics/leeway-sailing-and-aquatics-center/" target="_blank">Alamitos Bay Sailing Center</a> in Long Beach, and preserve the community sailing programs that TISC provides today.<br><br></div><div>Are we going to put the needs of wealthy non-residents and non-citizens ahead of the children and disabled of San Francisco? If so, what does that say about us as a city?<br><div><br clear="all"><div><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Thank you for considering this perspective.<br><br></span></font></div><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Sincerely,<br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"></span></font></div><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"> </span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Al </span></font>Sargent<br></div><div>275 18th Avenue<br></div><div>San Francisco<br></div><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></span></font></div><font color="#666666"><a href="mailto:asargent@stanfordalumni.org" target="_blank">asargent@stanfordalumni.org</a> | <a href="tel:%2B1%20650%20269%202176" value="+16502692176" target="_blank">+1 650 269 2176</a></font></div></div></div></div></div>
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