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Jose Medina

DogPAC Questionnaire
District 11

What have you done on behalf of the dog owning community and what will you do in the future?

1. As a Supervisor, animal welfare was one of the pillars of my administration. That is why I. "

   • Held hearings on treatment of animals in airports "
   • Mandated by ordinance that horses that draw carriage be checked by animal control officers every week "
   • Voted to spare the eradication of feral cats under the city sustainability plan

    

   http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1997/07/22/MN74805.DTL

   http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/08/04/MN104694.DTL

   http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/06/30/MN46217.DTL

   http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/archive/1998/06/30/NEWS13751.dtl

   http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/archive/1998/09/04/NEWS9042.dtl

   http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/archive/1998/08/04/NEWS4796.dtl

   The dog owning community is an essential part of the fabric of San Francisco. As a long-time guardian of Harry, a terrier I adopted from the SPCA, I understand that promoting the rights of dog-owning San Franciscans promotes the well-being of all San Franciscans.

   Dog owners depend on the City to make sure that neighborhood parks are safe environments for Fido's frequent walks. As a member of the Board of Supervisors, I spearheaded the effort preserve the Park Ranger program, in an effort to cut down on unsafe parks that threaten our quality of life. In addition, I worked closely with the Department of Animal Care and Control and the S.P.C.A. to promote pet adoption from these facilities. And, I sponsored a resolution at the Board in support of pet adoption month at the SPCA in October 1998.

   In the future, I will continue to promote a city government that embraces the dog-owning community in our parks, at our beaches, and throughout the City. I am opposed to the vigorous anti-dog owning policies at our parks that penalize law-abiding residents who need a place to recreate with their dogs. Specifically, I will author legislation to create a city pet ombudsman who is tasked with the job of promoting pet friendly policies throughout the city -- particularly in our parks. So far, I believe that the anti-dog lobby has exerted inordinate pressure on the City government to restrict the rights of the dog owning population.

2. The only real oversight mechanism the Board of Supervisors has with regard to the operating departments is the power of the purse: that is, the Board must approve the budget. Would you be prepared to withhold portions of a Department's budget if the Department was managing the money poorly, reporting to the Board inadequately, or failing to develop reasonable public consensus? Please describe.
   

   Yes. A Board member with conscience knows that it is during the Budget season that is the time to truly get your message across to the Department heads and the Mayor's Office.

   When Elizabeth Goldstein drafted the park policy that so severely restricted the freedom of responsible dog owners, I would not only have withheld funding for her until the Department backed down, but I would have called for her resignation.

3. Currently, the Recreation and Park Department has 10-15% of the city's playing fields locked up and chained shut. RPD is in the process of claiming hundreds of acres of parkland as natural habitat areas where public access will be very restricted if allowed at all. Critics have said that the goal of the Rec & Park Department is Parks without People. Will you work to promote public access to public parkland? How?

   I believe that it is totally absurd to restrict park usage in this congested urban environment in order to promote a "natural habitat" that has not existed for 200 years!

   An example of this foolish thinking is in District 9, Bernal Heights. Several years ago, the Rec and Park Department along with the Police Department began a campaign of intimidation and aggressive ticketing against dog owners in Precita Park. This was done in the name of protecting children, despite the fact that 1) the Children's Play area is enclosed and 2) Many parents go to the park with their kids and their dog. By totally restricting dogs to run off-leash at this park, Bernal residents were forced to go to the top of Bernal Hill for off-leash exercise. (Regardless of the fact that Bernal Heights Park was poorly served by sidewalks and virtually inaccessible by elderly people or anyone without athletic ability to climb and urban mountain.)

   Subsequent to that, efforts were discussed to restrict off-lease dog activity in Bernal Heights Park in an effort to promote native species of plants, birds, etc.

   The dog owners of Bernal Heights were forced to rally their numbers to protect their already reduced rights. This type of policy making is absurd and is an example of the City's inability to fully understand the importance of people in our park areas.

   As a member of the Board of Supervisors, I will fight for expanded rights of dog owners while protecting the rights we still have left.

4. Will you work to promote tolerant, multi-purpose, shared-use of parks? How?

   I will encourage stakeholders, such as members of DogPac, to be at the table when the City addresses park development and policies. And, I will support a pet ombudsman who can on behalf of pet owners throughout city departments.

5. Most of us believe that it is reasonable to regulate certain incompatible uses of public spaces. For example, most of us would agree that horses should not be allowed on the golf course and dogs should not be allowed in children's playgrounds. Would you feel differently if you discovered that the dogs in a children's playground belonged to the parents and their kids?

   It is true that parents have limited amount of time to recreate with their kids and dogs in the park. Of course, it makes sense for parents to want to keep their family together for such an outing.

6. Do you think the Recreation and Park Department provides adequate public process for park policies? Would you be willing to intervene in Rec/Park business if there were inadequate public process?
   

   Rec/Park business is City business. And City business is the business of the Board of Supervisors. Yes, I would intervene to ensure public process.

7. Have you ever visited on or more of the original 19 dog exercise areas approved by the RPD over 20 years ago? Which ones? How would you characterize the conditions you saw?

   No, when I took Harry for his walks, we generally walked in our neighborhood (the Excelsior,) or I would take him to Golden Gate Park or Fort Funston.

8. Statistics show that children are more likely to grow up with a family dog than with both parents; that dog owner/guardians have lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels; and that elderly pet owner/guardians are more active and less depressed. Do you believe that dogs play an important role in society? What is your personal experience with dogs in your life - now or in the past?

   I can say with certainty, that my life has not been the same since Harry died a year ago. He was a dear friend and a part of the family. I miss him every day.

   There is no question in my mind that dog ownership is one of the healthiest, most positive forces in our society. Dog owners care about their communities. Dog owners take care of their parks and make parks safer every time they take their pet to run around. The notion that dog owning is somehow inconsistent with families with kids is totally ridiculous. As a father of two sons, having Harry in the house always made happy occasion happier, and difficult occasions, easier to bare.

   We cannot allow San Francisco to become any more unfriendly to dogs and dog guardians.

9. San Francisco's dog population is estimated by the Dept. of Animal Care and Control to be between 100,000 and 120,000. Roughly 25% of the city's households includes a dog. Many dog owner/guardians are single and/or elderly, and recreation with their dog is their primary or sole form of socialization, recreation and exercise. Do you believe that off-leash recreation can be viewed as a benefit for people - not just for their dogs?

   Absolutely. During all of my years in San Francisco politics, I probably needed those trips to Fort Funston more than Harry did.

10. Do you believe that walking a dog off-leash is a valid form of recreation on a par with picnicking, Frisbee, hiking, bird watching, soccer, etc.?
    

    Yes.

11. What positive things do you see about off-leash recreation in our parks?

    Provided that dog guardians pick up their dog's waste, there are tons of positive things about off-leash recreation. Including the sense of community that is developed when the dogs are playing, romping around, and people get to know each other. In many instances, the only active supporters of a park are the dog owners that depend on the facility.

12. Do you believe that public authorities should make regulations to accommodate people who are afraid of dogs?

    Regulations should not be geared for a small minority because of their fears and phobias.

13. Some people have fears, phobias, and dislikes of other people in our society. Gays, African-Americans, Asian Americans, dog owners, and teenagers are some targets of such fears. Is it appropriate to restrict the access to public places of such groups simply because some people are afraid of them or dislike their behavior in public?

    No

14. If you answered questions 12 and 13 differently, please explain.

    I believe that my answers are consistent.

15. Most people agree that there is too much rudeness in public these days, which sometimes escalates into violence, such as "road rage". There is certainly more rudeness than we would like in our public parks these days between joggers, bicyclists, dog owners, parents, etc. Conflict and rudeness may occur when people share limited park resources. What is the appropriate response by public agencies to individual conflict or reported "rudeness" in parks?

    This is an instance where Park Rangers would become helpful. I support full funding of the Park Ranger program, in part, because their presence may be a tool for de-escalating "rude" behavior.

16. San Francisco's dog bite rate is about 40% of the national average - and most bites occur in or around the home - not in public spaces. Many, many more children are injured in sports and playground accidents than by the family or neighborhood dog. Sergeant Herndon of the SFPD "Doggy Court" attributes SF's low bite rate to increasingly responsible dog owners who socialize and exercise their dogs off-leash. Is this a surprise to you? Does it change your concept of the value of adequate off-leash areas for everyone, not just dog owners and their dogs?

    This does not surprise me. By and large, dogs that are well tended to, are treated with love and kindness, and who have plenty of exercise, are less likely to be aggressive.

17. Through its Natural Areas Program, the Rec/park Department is spending thousands of dollars cutting down healthy Eucalyptus trees because they are not native. At the same time, through its Construction Program, Rec/Park is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars (almost $200,000 in Holly Park alone) to purchase and plant Canary Island palm trees. Does this make any sense to you?

    No! This is another reason that I am running for the Board of Supervisor, in order to bring some common sense to policy making.

18. A book-length study conducted and published by the Urban Land Institute shows that the San Francisco Rec/Park Department is among the 3 best-funded big-city Rec/Park Departments in the country. Nonetheless, even in strained economic times such as these, when city heath and other services are being cut, the Board of Supervisors added $1 million to Rec/Park's budget. Do you think this is good government?

    Given the horrible state of many parks in San Francisco, I find it shocking that we are the third best funded Rec/Park system. I know for certain, that many gardeners and other maintenance people are retiring from the City and they are not being replaced. On the Board of Supervisors, I will vigorously review this budget to make sure the expenditures go for real improvements that benefit our neighborhoods.

19. Supervisors are particularly susceptible to what looks like bribery by city agencies. If a city agency offers to build or acquire a new park or renovate an old one, or to change a street-cleaning schedule in a Supervisor's district, in return for loyal support of the agency, many Supervisors go for the deal. How do you think we can curtail this kind of bribery?

    You can curtail any kind of behavior that you deem inappropriate by being active (which you are) and holding an elected official's feet to the fire. And when an incumbent makes bad decisions, vote him or her out of office.