SAN FRANCISCO’s new Sunset Dunes park has officially opened over the weekend, drawing 13,000 visits on its first day. The park, which replaced a stretch of the Upper Great Highway, has become a focal point of both celebration and controversy.
The 13,000 visits on Saturday represented the second highest-ever number of park visits to the space in a single day, according to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department’s sensors, organizers said.
The site of the former Great Highway has been redone as a park, incorporating sculptures and murals, seating, a bike and skate play area.
“The enthusiasm from the community demonstrates just how integral the new park has already become for San Franciscans,” said Lucas Lux, President of Friends of Sunset Dunes Park, in a statement.
The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Commission on Wednesday settled on the final name for the new park that recently replaced the Upper Great Highway.
After about an hour of deliberation and public comment, the commission chose “Sunset Dunes” as the new name.
Ethics fine hits anti-Prop K campaign
While community members gathered to enjoy the new public space, the city’s Ethics Commission fined the “Open the Great Highway” campaign $2,400 for failing to register and disclose finances during their opposition to Proposition K — the 2024 ballot measure that led to the park’s creation.
The same group backs an effort to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio, who has drawn the ire of some voters for supporting the park, which shifted traffic patterns.
Open the Great Highway was a campaign opposing Proposition K in the November 2024 election. The proposition, which voters passed, permanently banned traffic on a portion of the Great Highway along Ocean Beach so that a park could replace it.
At a meeting on Friday, the commission voted to fine organizers $2,400 for failing to timely register and report as a political committee. According to documents, the campaign registered as a political committee less than two weeks before Election Day.
Open the Great Highway spent more than $12,000 to oppose Proposition K without filing the required public disclosures, according to the Ethics Commission.
“The public was deprived of transparency into when and how money was raised and spent by respondent to influence the outcome of political contests in the city,” according to a stipulation between the commission and the campaign. “Campaign finance disclosure laws exist to ensure that this transparency exists.”
The Open the Great Highway campaign was led by Vin Budhai, whose lawyer spoke out at Friday’s meeting. His lawyer said the group that organized the campaign was unfamiliar with registration and finance disclosure rules that apply to political committees.
“Mr. Budai obviously wasn’t aware or familiar with the campaign finance reporting rules,” said Eli Love, Budhai’s attorney. “If he was, he would have timely registered the committee and he acknowledges that was a mistake that he made.”
Budhai has some prior experience organizing election campaign committees.
For the 2022 election, he ran the campaign for Proposition I, a measure that would have allowed car traffic on John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park. Another part of the measure advocated permanently reopening the Great Highway to cars 24/7. For several years before Proposition K, it had been closed to traffic only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The campaign for Proposition I raised about $800,000, according to campaign finance disclosures from the ethics commission.
Budhai said he was unfamiliar with campaign rules for Open the Great Highway.
“Like many grassroots efforts, we’ve had to learn as we go,” Budhai said in a statement. “This was a case of inexperience, not malice.”
Recall push vs. park stand
Now Budhai is leading a campaign to recall District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio.
Recall supporters say that Engardio, who represents the Sunset neighborhood where a large chunk of the Great Highway is located, failed his constituents by supporting Proposition K.
According to the election result, the majority of his district voted against permanently closing the Great Highway.
The same group behind Open the Great Highway is backing the “Recall Engardio” campaign.
The effort is still collecting signatures for a petition to move it onto the ballot.
“From the Great Highway to broken campaign promises, voters are making it clear that Engardio no longer represents the community that once gave him a chance,” the campaign said in a press release after the Chinese American Democratic Club voted in favor of the recall.
An opposing campaign, called “Stand with Joel,” which was launched in response to the recall effort, says a complaint was filed earlier this year alleging that the recall effort has not reported all of its spending, among other possible violations.
At Friday’s meeting, Stand with Joel campaign manager Lian Chang spoke during public comment urging the Ethics Commission investigate Recall Engardio for potential ethics violations.
“Now only one-third of the signature-gathering time period remains,” Chang said. “So it’s a critical time for District 4 voters to have transparency on the recall campaign’s finances and activities as well as any potential violations of campaign law.”
Budhai said that the claims in the complaint are “baseless and politically motivated.”
“Joel Engardio and his allies are attempting to distract from his failed leadership by launching attacks on residents who are working to hold him accountable,” he said.
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