Updated, 8:55 p.m.: In a bizarre twist, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission announced Thursday night that members did not in fact vote to change the name of Justin Herman Plaza, part of the open space between lying between the foot of Market Street and the Ferry Building.
Earlier in the day, a commission meeting had concluded with an apparent 4-3 vote in support of the renaming. Later, however, the commission announced that the actual vote was 3-3.
Rec and Park officials said the issue, the result of a community campaign that raised objections to Herman’s role in urban renewal projects that displaced tens of thousands of San Francisco residents of color, would come before the commission again next month.
How did the vote snafu come to pass?
Here’s how the San Francisco Examiner describes the sequence of events:
Recreation and Park commissioners Allan Low, Eric McDonnell, Tom Harrison and Larry Mazzola, Jr. were recorded as voting in support of the name removal. But McDonnell, who called the name removal âthe right step in the right direction,â had actually left the meeting early for an âappointmentâ and missed the actual vote. Since he had indicated his support, he was counted among the âyesâ votes upon the guidance of Recreation and Parks Commission President Mark Buell and the commissionâs acting clerk. When word of what happened spread after the meeting had already concluded, and after multiple media outlets reported the name removal was approved, the City Attorneyâs Office and Rec and Park officials determined that the vote was legally 3 to 3, with McDonnellâs vote not counting since he was absent from the vote, meaning no action was officially taken. … Commissioners Buell, Kat Anderson and Gloria Bonilla opposed the name change at Thursdayâs meeting.
Original post: The San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission voted 4-3 Thursday to rename Justin Herman Plaza, which sits at the intersection of The Embarcadero and Market Street in downtown San Francisco.
In September, the cityâs Board of Supervisors penned a resolution unanimously recommending the renaming of the public square.
Herman, the executive director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency from 1959 to 1971, spearheaded projects to redevelop the Fillmore and Western Addition neighborhoods of the city.
Those advocating to strip his name from the plaza cite the mass displacement of black residents and the destruction of historic buildings that followed Hermanâs projects. Over the summer, an online petition demanding the name change garnered almost 15,000 signatures.
At the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission meeting, a few individuals who worked with Herman during his career defended his legacy. Art Evans, who was deputy when Herman was director of the agency, said that it wasnât always clear how best to help a struggling community.
âIt was a very, very difficult period, and itâs quite easy to stand here now and look back and say, âHe should have done this and that,â â Evans said. âIndustry was moving out, jobs were being lost. The school system was having really serious problems. … These people signing the petition donât know what the situation was in those days.â
Many of those who spoke in favor of the name change, however, emphasized that they did not attend the meeting to demonize Herman.
It is less about Hermanâs intention, argued community member Candice Sue, and more about acknowledging his impact on San Franciscoâs black community.
S.F. Supervisor Aaron Peskin also advocated for the name change. He said the decision would be symbolically important.
âThis was not just about one man,â he said. âThis all happened under three mayors with dozens of members of the Board of Supervisors in a very different time. ⦠But weâve learned a lot and I think itâs time to turn the page on this chapter of history.â
The commission is open to suggestions for a new name.
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