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Save the Cow Palace and the Dickens Christmas Fair
(originally sent 2/23/08)

URGENT MESSAGE FROM RED BARN PRODUCTIONS ABOUT THE DICKENS FAIR AND THE COW PALACE

State Senator Leland Yee Ph.D., under pressure from the Daly City Council, is proposing to “surplus” the Cow Palace and sell it to Daly City.  Daly City will then sell most of the land to condo developers and pocket the profits.  Letter writing WILL stop this.  Senator Yee has ONLY heard from Daly City.  Let him know you oppose selling the Cow Palace!!!

Here is a link to Senator Yee's website and his press release on the legislation he submitted Friday February 22nd to the State Legislature, (no voting date is set - but it could be soon).  This bill wrongly proposes to SELL the Cow Palace to Daly City!
http://dist08.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC={EFA496BC-EDC8-4E38-9CC7-68D37AC03DFF}&DE={49C40B5B-DD5B-48FD-A292-B04E80714184}

We must defeat SB1527 or the Dickens Fair will likely die. 
It would take years, if it’s even possible, to relocate and resurrect the Dickens Fair.
Red Barn Productions has studied all the venues that could physically host the Dickens Fair and there are NO other places that currently work.  All are either too expensive, too small, are unavailable between Thanksgiving and Christmas OR require unaffordable retrofits in order to be permitted for public assembly.  So,
Save the Cow Palace and Save The Dickens Fair.  It's that simple AND serious.

Here's the scoop:

The Cow Palace has a perfectly good plan to meet the needs of the local community and Daly City by providing them 13 acres of its’ unused land.  Yes, rock concerts bring public problems, according to Daly City, but they also bring public $$$ to the local community. Senator Yee's Legislation SB1527 is doubly wrong.  It proposes we, as California State Citizens, sell OUR Cow Palace to Daly City so they can bulldoze it and profit by selling it to private developers. If that isn’t bad enough, SB1527 also deprives us of our RIGHT to use a facility that WE own!! 

This is like selling off a chunk of Golden Gate Park because a nearby neighborhood proclaims “unanimously” it needs more space for development.  It doesn’t work that way.  We get to vote too...by writing letters and emails and calling his office.  Officials can’t just decide to take a public asset and sell it…unless it is truly “surplus”.  The Cow Palace is not “surplus”.  We must stop this proposed sell-off of our property.

Here's what you can do to stop SB1527 and SAVE THE COW PALACE:

#1 Act Quickly.  Senator Yee may believe he is serving the public, but he has only heard from Daly City.  Let’s give him the other 99% of the picture before he gets any further down this road.
 
Write a Letter
Write to Senator Yee today. Quickly. Early letters are more powerful.  Send personal letters to the address below the sample text at the bottom of this notice. Get it in today’s mail, so he receives it on Monday or Tuesday.

Write an Email
Personal emails may be sent via his website “contact” at page: http://legplcms01.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.aspx?district=SD08
Emails are not as good as snail mail letters, but they are also effective.  Be sure to write in “SB1527” as it is so new it is not on his issue list. …

Call the Office
You can pick up the phone and call his office, see http://dist08.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={1317EB89-B124-4498-9C50-9A0EA3C89E91}

YOU DO NOT NEED TO MENTION THE DICKENS FAIR.  SIMPLY VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION TO SB1527.  That’s it! Give reasons only if you want.  The important thing is to contact him NOW.

#2 IF YOU LOVE THE DICKENS FAIR, forward this message to groups, friends and individuals and ask them to contact Senator Yee immediately.

#3 IF YOU LIVE in Senator Yee’s District #8 - see map on his site: http://www.sen.ca.gov/ftp/SEN/senplan/SENMAPS/MAP08_300.JPG
…Contact him AS one of his constituents, (District 8 includes most of San Francisco in the West and South, and goes most of the way down the Peninsula).  It is a very large district!


Sample Letter:

Dear Senator Yee,

As a California Citizen, and resident of (…your city…), I object to your proposed legislation to “sell the California Cow Palace”.  While you may be responding to the needs of Daly City, please respect my rights to use this public facility.  It may need work, but how many California public buildings need upgrading?  If you want to help Daly City bring in new supermarkets and shopping to the area, let the Cow Palace deal directly with developers and Daly City to make use of the 13 acres the Cow Palace doesn’t need.  This will preserve my rights while helping the lives of local area citizens.  It will also continue the flow of millions of dollars into the local economy annually.  These revenues, generated by me and many thousands of others who use the Cow Palace, also help pay for police to patrol the area year-round as well as during big events. 

Please reconsider SB1527. There is a better way to help Daly City and Bayshore than destroying the Cow Palace.  I use it every year and plan to continue to use it for many years to come.  It is not “surplus”; it is a vital community and cultural asset.

Thank you,

Signed,

(you)

Mail letter to both his office addresses:

Senator Leland Yee, Ph.D.
Re: SB1527
State Capitol, Room 4048
Sacramento, Ca. 95814

Or call 916-651-4008

Senator Leland Yee, Ph.D.
Re: SB1527
300 South El Camino Real, Suite 630
San Mateo, Ca. 94402

 Or call 650-340-8848

This information is also posted at http://www.cattaylor.com/cowpalace.html
Please contact Kevin Patterson  at kevin@redbarnproductions.org if you have questions


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