Random Thought of the Day: Why Not Issue A “Work Order” to Parks and Rec?

Today, the Board gave its final OK to the big Outside Lands music festival to be held at the end of August. No surprise – because the (pricey) music festival throws some of the proceeds to Parks and Rec, it was going to happen, and it seemed pretty popular last year too.

However, there’s no denying that MUNI will have to run extra buses and trains to accomodate all those people, and deal with the many complaints, 311 and 511 calls and so on that a big event brings. Since it is apparently OK to loot MUNI and the MTA for the most spurious of reasons, why isn’t it OK for the MTA to charge Parks and Rec for the extra work they’ll have to do to make this event a success?

Just a random thought. But Outside Lands and Parks and Rec need not worry – the MTA board and director are too busy raising fares and cutting service to consider such a radical idea. Even if their comrades in other departments do.

NOTE: From what I hear this is actually a great event, if you can afford the ticket, and if the musical acts featured are your thing, cool. Last year I published this survival guide for concert goers, and will do a new one this year too!

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6 Responses to Random Thought of the Day: Why Not Issue A “Work Order” to Parks and Rec?

  1. Eric says:

    That would be a good idea for any event, not just this. Even Giants games.

  2. Mike says:

    Outside Lands was a disaster for anyone who lived in the Sunset, and I dread this year’s as well. Unlike Bay to Breakers, which causes disruption for just a few hours on Sunday morning, Outside Lands caused major disruptions in the Sunset for three or more days. It took over the entire western half of the park and caused a traffic nightmare for the western half of the city. Bicyclists were excluded from being able to ride their usual routes in the park for several days before the weekend event, and on Friday it was impossible to bike in the park at all.
    The fact that the Board of Supervisors proclaimed this event a “success” last year shows that the residents of the Sunset District are basically the doormats of the city.

  3. Greg says:

    @mike: I think it was only dubbed a success because on paper it “made money” for the city. Outside Lands of course, was the only one who truly made any money off it.
    Last year I was living on Lincoln and I remember being able to hear a lot of the music from it right in my living room. I’ve never been too comfortable with the idea that we take a big public park space, block it off for the benefit of only those who can afford a 200 dollar concert ticket, and then settle for a few nickels while the concert promoter makes most of they money, and doesn’t truly pay the cost to the city for the use of all the services they enjoy (police, fire, muni, whatever).
    The rejoinder is always “o hai! sales taxes” but that money never ends up going to pay for the services the event uses – it just ends up in the blur that is the general fund. Since we citizens are beeing “fee’d” to death for everything we use, why not extend said logic elsewhere?

  4. Bob Davis says:

    In addition to my long-standing interest in electric railways, I am a big fan of both recorded and live music, to the point of being an “honorary roadie” for a San Fernando Valley rock/power pop band. That said, $200 seems like a mighty steep price to pay for a ticket. I wonder how well this festival will do, with “the economy” in worse shape than it was last year. Regarding the economic effect on the city, it makes me think of the cities that have engineered “sweetheart” deals to convince NFL teams to move to their territory. Time to set some “bean counters” on the case to see where all the money flows and goes.

  5. murphstahoe says:

    All those extra buses are running at or near capacity. If all MUNI buses ran at that level of capacity, the system would probably be running at a profit. The whole system is subsized, but a full N Judah at rush hour is subsidezed more than when I grab a 35 from Noe Valley to the Castro at 10:30 PM – which is basically a private taxi.

  6. Karena says:

    Last year we stocked up on movies and booze and basically locked ourselves in our flat for the duration of Outside Lands. Car owners had to leave their cars parked in the same spot for three days; otherwise it meant not having a place to park within 2 miles of your house. Bicyclists had all their routes blocked. MUNI riders could forget trying to take the N-Judah anywhere–I couldn’t even get on those packed trains!
    I love well-planned, well-managed outdoor events and welcome them in GGP (remember A La Carte A La Park?). But Sunset residents’ legitimate concerns about traffic, noise, litter, and disruption due to Outside Lands are disregarded as the complaints of a bunch of old farts. Do I have to prove that I like Radiohead before the BOS will listen? 🙂

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