Proposition G: A Slap in the Face at YouthPeter Lauterbornbyline‚ Sep. 14‚ 2007At first glance, Proposition G—which creates a public-private matching fund to reopen and rehabilitate Golden Gate Park’s horse stables—is rather innocuous. It allocates one dollar of city funds for every three which are privately donated to the City, with a limit totaling $750,000 in City funds. In a multi-billion dollar budget, such a figure is well within the realm of affordability and is undoubtedly with many benefits. But the point of contention is the City’s continual disregard for park and recreational services that youth have demanded to no avail. For years, a whole host of recreation proposals put forth by the Youth Commission were never prioritized in the City's Budget. For Supervisor Jake McGoldrick to suddenly make the horse stables a priority is essentially bypassing the City Charter’s provisions for youth input in the budgetary process, and ignoring actual demands made by youth. |