Grand jury urges clearer park-pathway scores and accessibility data; Rec & Park says website migration and staffing will address gaps

The civil grand jury told the Board's Government Audit and Oversight Committee Sept. 15 that San Francisco's park feature scores are insufficiently visible to the public and do not reliably convey pathway conditions or ADA accessibility at individual parks.

Grand juror Tony Au said the city's park evaluation program reports a 12-feature score for 220 parks, but those scores are appearance-based and not surfaced on individual park pages. "We want to have different features on that park's description saying how safe is the pathway for this park," Au said, adding that peak public utility would come from publishing the most recent feature score on each park page and adding pictorial wayfinding for accessibility.

Dennis Kern of Recreation and Parks described the Prop C-chartered evaluation system and noted the department has invested more than $19 million in accessible trails and playground repaving. Kern said the park evaluation measures appearance-based maintenance standards quarterly and that hardscape is one of the measured features; scores are compiled and published annually by the city controller. He said the department disagreed with parts of the civil jury's recommended language because quarterly compilation and app-to-website workflows present technical and staffing constraints, but he added the department will complete migration of accessibility data to a new website by December and is adding a third disability-access coordinator.

Vice Chair Connie Chan pressed Rec & Park on why pathway-condition and accessibility information cannot be linked to individual park pages; department leaders said full per-park publication of quarterly feature scores presents technological and staffing challenges but reiterated a commitment to post accessibility data via the new website and to expand disability-access staffing.

Public commenters urged rapid fixes such as warning signage at known trip hazards and more transparent data on pathways in parks used daily by residents. The committee approved amendments to the board response urging Recreation and Parks to set a baseline for pathway-condition scoring by March 31, 2023, and sent item 6 as a committee report with a positive recommendation.

What happens next: Rec & Park will migrate accessibility data to the new web platform by December and add disability-access staff; the Board urged a baseline for pathway-condition scoring by 03/31/2023 and will monitor implementation.

Authorities: Prop C charter language requires objective, measurable park maintenance standards and quarterly park evaluations reported by the City Controller.