LEGISLATIVE ANALYST REPORT

TO: HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

FROM: Gabe Cabrera, Legislative Analyst

DATE: November 14, 2001

FILE NO: 011423

SUBJECT: Relocation of the King Carlos III and Juan Bautista de Anza statues

SUMMARY OF REQUESTED ACTION

Motion (introduced by Supervisor Daly) requesting the Office of the Legislative Analyst (OLA) to review all actions taken since 1995 at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Arts Commission relating to the King Carlos III and Juan Bautista de Anza statues, including a synopsis of public comment, official responses, roll call votes where appropriate and any supporting materials (e.g., the Art Commission"s staff reports). Further, the OLA should provide information on the 1996 placement of statues in front of the Main Library and an update on the progress made to date in fulfilling the pledge to Native Americans at that time.

BACKGROUND

The following chronology includes actions taken by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the City"s Arts Commission with respect to the proposed relocation of the King Carlos III and Juan Bautista de Anza statues¹ to the median at Dolores and 16^th Streets:

· 1997 - Arts Commission asked by DPW to relocate the statues from Justin Herman Plaza. The reconfiguration of the Embarcadero Roadway and the redesign of the plaza prompted the need to remove and relocate the statues.

· 1998 - Statues are removed from Justin Herman Plaza and put into storage.

· October 5, 1999 - The Arts Commission requested the proposed relocation of the statues in a letter to the Director of the Department of Public Works.

· November 18, 1999 - The request was recommended for approval by the Interdepartmental Staff Committee on Traffic and Transportation.

· March 7, 2000 - The Planning Department, by letter with same date, declared that the subject encroachments are in conformance with the General Plan and are consistent with the Eight Priority Policies of Planning Code Section 101.1.

· April 12, 2000 - DPW held a public hearing regarding this matter and there were no objections submitted or presented with regard to said encroachments.

· May 23, 2000 - This request (File No. 000856) to grant permission to the Arts Commission to move the statues to Dolores Street was heard by the Transportation and Land Use Committee and was recommended for approval to the Board of Supervisors. Vote: 2-0.

· May 30, 2000 - At the full Board, Supervisor Ammiano requested that this matter be continued to June 5, 2000. Vote: 11-0.

· June 5, 2000 - At the full Board, this item was referred back to the Transportation and Land Use Committee for a re-hearing. Vote: 9-0.

· August 18, 2000 - DPW received a letter from the Arts Commission stating that the Arts Commission decided to revisit this project and review the proposed location for the statues; subsequently, DPW sent a letter to the Clerk of the Board requesting that the subject item be withdrawn.

· January 17, 2001 - The Clerk of the Board filed the request pursuant to Rule 5.39.

· June 12, 2001 - DPW received a letter from the Arts Commission stating that the Arts Commission revisited and reviewed the proposed location and was still of the opinion that the median at Dolores Street is the most appropriate location for the statues.

· June 27, 2001 - DPW requested by resolution for the Board of Supervisors to grant revocable permission for the Arts Commission to relocate the statues to the proposed location on Dolores Street.

· July 12, 2001 - This request (File No. 011225) to grant permission to the Arts Commission to move the statues to Dolores Street was heard by the Housing, Transportation and Land Use Committee and was referred without recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. Vote: 2-1.

· July 23, 2001 - At the full Board, this item was referred back to the Housing, Transportation and Land Use Committee for a re-hearing. Vote 11-0.

CURRENT LAW

The Arts Commission is responsible for the proposed relocation of the statues. Section 5.103 of the City"s Charter authorizes the Arts Commission "to approve the design and location of all works of art." Presumably this includes the subject statues. However, because the Arts Commission proposes to locate the statues in the public right of way, it must first obtain approval for the project from the Board of Supervisors, in accordance with Section 786 of the Public Works Code. Thus, a resolution (File No. 011225) to grant revocable permission to the Arts Commission to relocate the statues to the median at Dolores and 16^th Streets is currently pending before the Housing, Transportation and Land Use Committee.

ISSUES ANALYSIS

A. Public Comment

Public comment at full Board meetings is allowed only when the Board is sitting as a committee of the whole, according to Clerk of the Board staff. Both instances when this item came before the full Board in the past, the Board was not sitting as a committee of the whole. Thus, public comment was not allowed. Moreover, a written record of public comment on this item at committee is also not available, because committee clerks take "action" minutes and only record the names of the speakers and organizations represented. Some clerks voluntarily take shorthand notes, but they are not required to include them in the meeting minutes. However, there were several documents submitted to the Board of Supervisors by individuals and groups on this issue. These materials are available for review in the Clerk of the Board"s Office.

B. Proponents/Opponents

There are Ohlone descendents living in San Francisco today. However, entire Ohlone tribes are not located within the City. For this reason, we contacted Ohlone tribes outside of San Francisco. The Ohlone Indian Tribe, which is located in the East Bay, supports this project because the statues "tell the true historic story" of early California. The Muwekma Ohlone of Santa Clara County, on the other hand, advised the Legislative Analyst that they are opposed to the project on the grounds that the statues are "culturally insensitive" to indigenous people. Staff at San Francisco"s Native American Cultural Center also added that this project is especially offensive given that there are Native American graves near the proposed site.

Local non-profit groups, including the Mission Housing Development Corporation and PODER, are opposed to the statues outright because, in their view, the statues are "inappropriate symbols" of Spain"s colonization of indigenous people in California. On the other hand, proponents of the statues, including but not limited to Mission Dolores, Amigos de Anza and Los Californios, contend that King Carlos III and Juan Bautista de Anza were important and noteworthy figures in early California history.

C. Budget

The Attachment to this report, provided by the Arts Commission, contains a budget for the proposed relocation of the statues. The first column of this attachment entitled "Combined Project Costs" provides the total cost of $73,158 to move the two statues at the same time. The second and third columns provide costs, totaling $87,884, for moving the statues separately. This cost discrepancy is due to the Art Commission"s assumption that "fees and processes will be duplicated" if the statues are moved separately. Whatever the case, the Arts Commission staff advised the Legislative Analyst that this project would be funded entirely with monies from the Mid-Embarcadero Project.

D. The Pioneer Monument

Currently, Pioneer Monument is located on Fulton Street between Hyde and Larkin Streets. Among other figures, the monument depicts a missionary, a vaquero and a Native American. Prior to 1994, Pioneer Monument was located at the intersection of Hyde and Grove Streets. The construction of the City"s new Main Library required that the monument be moved to its present location on Fulton Street, according to staff at the Arts Commission. As part of its relocation to Fulton Street, in 1996, the Arts Commission added a plaque to Pioneer Monument to acknowledge the disastrous effect of western civilization on indigenous people.

Moreover, in 1996, the Arts Commission approved a resolution "to form an ad-hoc committee to investigate the possibilities and funding sources for a Native American public artwork." Meeting minutes on May 6, 1996 show that the plan was "to assess community response before officially adopting a potential project as a Commission responsibility." According to Arts Commission staff, the proposed ad-hoc committee was never formed; and therefore, the commission did not allocate funds for this project. However, the Arts Commission still supports the idea of constructing a monument to indigenous people in San Francisco.

CONCLUSION

Section 786 of the Public Works Code requires the Board of Supervisors to make a decision on whether to grant a major encroachment permit for the relocation of the statues. As shown above, this decision has been pending before the Board since the late 1990"s. Consensus at the Board on this issue has been difficult to achieve. Presumably this is because the arguments for and against the proposed relocation of the statues are ideological in nature. Therefore, the Legislative Analyst concludes that approval of the proposed resolution is policy matter for the Board of Supervisors. As noted above, a resolution (File No. 011225) to grant permission to the Arts Commission to relocate the statues to the median at Dolores and 16^th Streets is currently pending before the Housing, Transportation and Land Use Committee.

Prepared by: Gabriel Cabrera, Legislative Analyst

Phone: 415-554-7787

¹ The King Carlos III statue was a gift to the City from King Juan Carlos I of Spain in 1976. The Juan Bautista de Anza statue was also a gift to the City from Luis Encina, the Governor of the State of Sonora, Mexico in 1967.