FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

San Francisco Green Party

Contact: Susan King, funking@mindspring.org 415-823-5524

Sue Vaughan, susan_e_vaughan@juno.com, 415-601-9297

Green Party Says Yes to Healthy Saturdays; Measure Expected to Pass Board of Supervisors Today

SAN FRANCISCO--Overjoyed that a key element of its Local Platform Transportation Plank could soon become reality, the San Francisco Green Party (SFGP) is rallying support for Healthy Saturdays in Golden Gate Park.

Healthy Saturdays, which would launch a six-month trial period for making JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park car-free on Saturdays, is up for a vote at today's Board of Supervisors meeting. Introduced by District 1 Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, Healthy Saturdays is being co-sponsored several other Supervisors, including Green Party member Ross Mirkarimi.

Many Greens, including County Council members Sue Vaughan and Susan King, spoke in favor of Healthy Saturdays at a Land Use Committee Hearing held Friday April 14.

"The San Francisco Green Party has always supported opening up JFK Drive to pedestrians and bicyclists on Saturdays," said Vaughan, who played an instrumental role in crafting the SFGP Transportation Plank.

"Global warming and war for oil make it increasingly important to create more car-free roadways, and encourage recreation that is not dependent on the automobile," added Vaughan, who hosts a program on Channel 29 called "Car-Free Talk" (http://www.carfreetalk.org/).

With ecological wisdom being one of 10 'key values' guiding Green Party principles, car-free Saturdays in Golden Gate Park were codified in the SFGP platform. Section G.8 of the plank states "Create more car-free areas and close JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park on Saturdays as well as Sundays."

The full Local Transportation Platform Plank is available at http://www.sfgreens.org/transpo.pdf.

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