Those arguments failed to sway some residents’ hearts Wednesday night. Opponents of the measure, mostly older Sunset and Richmond neighbors, packed the meeting in the Milton Marks Conference Center’s basement. They booed Prop. K supporters and filled the room with thunderous applause for anyone who demanded the Great Highway be left alone.
Early in the evening, roughly a dozen opponents of Prop. K stood shoulder-to-shoulder as Zhao, the Chinese American Democratic Club leader, addressed the Democratic Party board.
“If passed, it will throw 20,000 low-income people like these into chaos,” Zhao said, gesturing to the people by her side. “These people need to physically go to work: They’re cooks, they’re cleaners, they’re custodians. They spent decades building our city. Prop. K will break a promise of a pilot program that still has a year to go.”
Dozens of public speakers recounted oft-repeated arguments against Prop. K: that traffic diverted from the Great Highway would lead to longer north-south travel times, gum up neighborhood access, and lead to more collisions, and a park would be underused.
Supporters, meanwhile, told the Democratic Party that creating a new oceanside park is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
Just how many people would use the park was up to interpretation during the night’s public comment period. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency found 4,000 people used the Great Highway Park each weekend day it was open.