GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
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Many of you have visited the Presidio of San Francisco, the Marin Headlands, Lower and Upper Fort Mason, East Fort Baker. Many of you have not visited the Sweeney and Milagra ridges nor do you know about the large Phleger Estate. Everyone knows about Muir Woods, Mount Tamalpais, Muir Beach and closer home to San Francisco Alcatraz. And yet this is just the tip of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA).
Over the years many good citizens from San Francisco and the Bayarea and beyond thought that the National Park Service (NPS) would be a good steward. The GGNRA comes under the NPS and was formed in 1916. Yosemite National Park was one of the earliest Parks given to the NPS to preserve and protect. Before that the all Black Buffalo Soldiers took care of many of Federal Lands and what today we proudly call our National Parks in California. There was some diversity then but little today within the NPS. From its inception the NPS has been an animal that has racial over and under tones. It was not uncommon for a father, mother, son, daughter and even for the family dog to work for the NPS. For years nepotism was encouraged and the all White NPS upper circle was so very tight. In the 1980s the NPS came close to be consolidated with some other Federal Agency - we all remember the Watts guy with a ten gallon hat who rode horses and disliked the NPS and its inept operations. The NPS has never been efficient is running any of its Parks. This is not to say the Rangers and volunteers do not work very hard - but the NPS does not have the ability to deliver a fine product. The fault lies with Upper Management - inept and very lazy. It is not uncommon for Upper Management to stay in one position for over 20 years. Many such crooks have made their nest at the GGNRA working in building 201 at Upper Fort Mason. Foremost among the crooks Susan Hurst. In the late 1990s the GGNRA worked with consultants and in San Francisco the National Park Association which has now changed its name to Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (GGNPC) - helped GGNRA to prosper through the many Visitor Centers and the sale of books, map, souvenirs, and other such items that could garner in millions of dollars with no accountability and transparency. The GGNPC is a non-profit arm and many find this conflict of interest alarming. Standing out among the crowd Amy Meyer - the socalled Mother of GGNRA whose actions are very dubious in nature. Later she joined the Presidio Trust as one of its Board Members. It is the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (GGNPC) the right arm of GGNRA that has pitied the hardworking Rangers, volunteers, and other good hard working NPS employees against the crooks who are out to make money. GGNPC even started their own night tours at Alcatraz charging money and keeping most of the profits. Using lay folks with cozy ties to GGNPC and telling the Rangers who performed the tours before to take a hike. What audacity! This mentality of treating the NPS employees as commodities began in 1995 in a big way. The NPS had never had access to millions of dollars but it did when the Army as the Presidio of San Francisco transferred huge amount appropriated for the Presidio but now the NPS had a say in many matters. Then when the Department of Defense chose to deactivate Sixty U.S. Army and Presidio of San Francisco in 1995 the NPS had real access to million of dollars. Sixth U.S. Army and Presidio of San Francisco was scheduled to remain at the Presidio of San Francisco till 2005 but DoD decided to deactivate Sixth U.S. Army in 1995. The NPS really did not know what to do with such a lot of money. Consultant made money galore. Millions were spent on Letterman Army Medical Center - when the crooks within the NPS knew well that is would be torn down. Many made money under the table and that mentality rules in certain quarters to this very day. Money that was to be spent at the Presidio of San Francisco was now being spent at Upper Fort Mason, Lower Fort Mason, and elsewhere. Millions of dollars with no real accounting. The General Accounting Office (GAO) visited the GGNRA headquarters at Upper Fort Mason and found that millions of dollars of inventory were not accounted for. Thousands of dollars of computer equipment and other expensive equipment were missing. Susan Hurst was incharge of this department - in any other situation she would be fired and gone to jail but Brian O'Neill the GGNRA Superintendent protected her. Leo Guillory the Contracting Officer had full knowledge of the misappropriated equipment and other missing assets - but he too stayed and is still working untouched at Upper Fort Mason. It is this mentality among the upper management that has allowed crooks like Mai-Liis Barting to get a promotion and now enjoy a GS-15 position. This hippie damsel with no brains - inept and arrogant would not survive anywhere else. But at the GGNRA the crooks that lie in the same bed and go with the flow are rewarded. This is a crying shame. Others that shared in the loot Robert Chandler and Barbara Jo Griffin. I have the names of others complete with hard copy documentation. Millions of dollars were wasted and the GAO did nothing to the vermin. After the GAO audits - a slap on the wrist and a light warning. These vermin should all be fired and sent to jail. Today Upper Management has increased by over 400%. While the hard working folks who work as gardeners, maintenance works, rangers - the soul of the National Park Service are reduced to 50%. This is not right. To add fuel to fire - the NPS and GGNRA want to outsource jobs and fire many NPS employees. This is wrong. Only the maintenance workers, the rangers, the volunteers really preserve and protect. The Upper Management talks the talk but cannot walk the walk. These scumbags should be fired and sent to jail for a long, long time. The head of Ali Baba and the thieves - Brian O'Neill and his side kick Susan Hurst. His gremlins Mai-Liis Bartling, Leo Guillory, Don Mannel, Howard Levitt - and I could name some more. It is simply wrong to have Upper Management who are lazy and inept hold their jobs and make huge salaries plus benefits and allow hard working blue collar NPS workers including the Rangers to be let go and given the task of doing 3 or 4 peoples work. This is ridiculous and the sooner this nonsense stops the better. |
