Alan Wong, a City College trustee and legislative aide to former Supervisor Gordon Mar, was sworn in as District 4 Supervisor Monday afternoon in a ceremony on the steps of Abraham Lincoln High.
"I was born and raised right here in the Sunset," said Wong, addressing the crowd of some 200 political staffers and advocates who attended. "We need leadership that restores trust."
The advocates, including Friends of Sunset Dunes's Lucas Lux, bristled at Wong's comments on the future of Sunset Dunes Park. "On the Great Highway," said Wong, pausing for brief laughter from the crowd. "The status quo is unacceptable."
Wong said he voted against Proposition K, the 2024 measure that turned a section of the Great Highway into Sunset Dunes Park. He also talked about the need for a "compromise."
Lux took exception to the use of that word without real-world context. "A 'compromise' means no park," he explained.
That's because the park has concrete skate ramps and other installations that can't simply be removed and restored every weekend if cars are once again allowed to use the park as a freeway on weekdays. Wong also seemed to question the legitimacy of last November's vote on Prop. K.
Prop. K, the citywide referendum which authorized closing the middle section of the Great Highway to create the park, passed with a 55 to 45 percent vote in November of 2024. But last September, former District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio was successfully recalled with a little over a year left on his term. The main reason cited: his support for Sunset Dunes Park. Mayor Lurie appointed newcomer Beya Alcaraz last month to replace him, but she resigned a week later amidst a scandal. For months, District 4 has been without representation. Recall supporters, along with Supervisors Connie Chan and Shamann Walton, have called for a new city-wide election to remove Sunset Dunes Park. It would take the signatures of four supervisors to get a new referendum on the ballot. If it happens, it would be the third time in the past three years that San Francisco has voted on the question.
One official at Monday's ceremony who spoke with Streetsblog on condition of anonymity said he thinks it is unlikely that the mayor and Wong will spend political capital pushing yet another ballot measure on Sunset Dunes. That would cause even more strife in the Sunset, he opined, threatening Mayor Lurie's Family Zoning plan.
Lux, meanwhile, was confident that even if park opponents get four Supervisors to vote for another citywide referendum on the park, it would just be defeated. "If they think San Francisco sees its coast as only a place to drive, then we'll just see them at the ballot box a third time," he told Streetsblog.
"Already San Francisco’s third-most popular city park, over one million people will use Sunset Dunes to walk, roll, bike, lounge and enjoy the coast just this year," added Lux. "Meanwhile, local business is booming, data continues to show that traffic is flowing as expected, and the city is saving millions of dollars in sand clearance and road maintenance."
