Cool, he gave us some free music because he could afford to.

He also could afford to try and deny public employees some of their pension as well. His investment strategy is to make money first and worry about social consequences later.

Now he's buying part of Golden Gate Park. Things should not be named after living people!

I guess because Bay Citizen is owned by him I'll be flamed here, but no matter how much lipstick you apply, a pig is still a pig.

Stitch noticed the same thing I did, right away... Warren is alive! Things should not be named after living people. Not only is it in bad taste, who would want to jinks a guy into a fatal heart attack? Any suggestion to name something after the living heir to the Wells Fargo Bank fortune is in bad taste. I think the idea of the Supervisors is in bad taste, if they want to name Speedway Meadow after Warren Hellman. I can't imagine anyone on the Board even remembers Isaias W. Hellman, who actually made the money in the Hellman family, when he merged Nevada National Bank with Wells Fargo Bank. Who made Speedway a place for music? Chet Helms of the Family Dog. The Family Dog and Chet put on the "Gathering of the Tribes" or "the Human Be In", otherwise fondly remembered as the Trips Festival. What has had a bigger effect on San Francisco? LSD or Wells Fargo's 1% solution? I proposed we re-name Speedway to "the Chet Helms Speedway Meadow" as we already named our Civic Auditorium after Bill Graham. Both Bill Graham and Chet Helms are dead, and it's suitable to name stuff after dead people. But the Supervisors clearly champion the 1%. I like how this news on Hellman came out on the same day Mayor Lee, the Supervisors and the SFPD dropped the hammer on Occupy San Francisco! City Hall celebrates the 1% and hammers the 99%. When I am elected Mayor in 2015, with the backing of all who loved the Family Dog, we will rename Speedway to Chet Helms Speedway Meadow. And we will rename Justin Herman Plaza to Solidarity Plaza as well.

Wrong direction. Naming public realm for wealthy private citizens is the camel's nose under the tent. Don Fisher Inc. wrote openly about wanting to get his hands on public school facilities, and he succeeded. His Fields Foundation have gotten also their hands on public fields by providing artificial turf. Give, and you shall control. It's wrong to name the meadow after Hellman. He should not want this. He does a wonderful thing providing a lot of great music for the public free. He provides a lot of work for musicians and all the set up folks, and a myriad of others. But do it as a good citizen. He is loved for that, but Golden Gate Park meadows should not be named for him.

Folks should know that the general manager of the Rec & Park Dept. has openly and excitedly talked about putting a corporate label on every court, every hoop, on every thing that RPD controls that could generate revenue for naming rights. Will the Beach Chalet soccer fields be named for Don Fisher?

In Portland, OR, it's Nike on basketball hoops, and Columbia Sports on other stuff. Beware the trojan horse of wealth. Hellman does not need this, and the City should not do this.

Elsbernd as always is being self serving...fishing for future campaign contributions.

There is ZERO reason to name anything after a living person.

Hellman puts this event on because it allows him and his family and "friends" access to performers that they would not have otherwise. He also uses it as a way to gain political leverage.

I am absolutely sick to my stomach that this absurd proposal was unanimously endorsed!

Disgusting. Denis Mosgofian got it right: "Wrong direction. Naming public realm for wealthy private citizens is the camel's nose under the tent."

Supervisor John Avalos showed up to defend Occupy SF and put municipal banking on the table in the name of Occupy, and participated in housing actions to reclaim foreclosed property. Supervisor Eric Mar showed up at the Wells Fargo Occupation. Sad that they feel compelled to join a unanimous vote to name public space after the billionaire behind Prop C pension reform.

Sean Elsbernd does nothing that does not directly benefit him. Eric Mar too. They are back room deal makers who would sell their parks, oops, they've already done that!

Warren, getting into monogrammed bed with the crooks at Wreck R Parks is beneath you.

There are several reasons why this naming is a bad idea: 1) These honorifics are generally given to people after they have passed away. 2) As Denis said, it's the camel's nose under the tent, and moves us ever-closer to privatization of our public parks. 3) And most disturbing to this Richmond District resident, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is an oversized concert that puts the park at risk and and creates many problems in the adjoining neighborood.

There have been meetings at the Richmond District Police Station about these problems, and Richmond District Supervisor Eric Mar agreed to hold a public hearing to air out these issues. Campers were washing clothes in front of homes, sleeping on sidewalks, defecating on lawns, and dealing drugs in doorways. Illegal fires were started in the park, the underbrush was trampled, and the crowds were so big even the police were concerned. This naming decision is an insult to all of us who've been pleading for a chance to resolve these and many other issues before the next event. It is now clear that he who has the most money and power is the one who gets heard, and the rest of us are brushed away like annoying flies.

I am sorry Mr. Hellman is ill and I wish him well. Perhaps there is a more appropriate honor that could be bestowed upon him. But before considering naming the epicenter of this event after him, let's give everyone a seat at the table and resolve the problems it creates.

This is unbelievable that the supervisors unanimously support renaming a park after someone who controls most of what happens in the park. Are we going to sell ALL of San Francisco's public areas to the rich as well? I think those of us who use this park should have a say in this. The supervisors have been BOUGHT. It's disgusting.

I am also pretty appalled re: this proposal. I live across the street from Speeday Meadow and have to deal with the chaos (crowds, blasting music, trash and absolutely no street parking) of the growing concert every year; our "supervisor" has done nothing to deal with the issue despite making promises to hold a meeting with those of us who have concerns (it never happened). To name this meadow after Hellman is an insult to us who live here. It's obvious to me reading Hellman's statements above that he either knows or cares how it affects the neighborhood, and sees Golden Gate Park (especially Speedway Meadow) as his own personal "playground" to do whatever he likes with. The City follows suit if there's money involved, and to hell with the rest of us.

Gerry,

Are you kidding? No criticism of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival - really? This year's festival brought upwards of 800,000 to Golden Gate Park in just three days. The neighbors and the wildlife that call Speedway Meadow home are bombarded with relentness noise and traffic for days on end each fall. Maybe you and others are not aware of all the criticisms because for the last nine years the public has been denied a formal opportunity to comment on what has become one of the single biggest mass commercial events held in Golden Gate Park.

The annual gift of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, the exact value of which has never been revealed, has never been approved or even discussed by the Recreation and Park Commission or the Board of Supervisors. As for the permits for the Festival, it has been nine years since the permit for this annual event has been approved by the Commission! The permit fees, the road closures, food sales, the modification of the amplified sound policy – none of these details have even been discussed since 2002. The Supervisors and the Rec Park Commissioners have repeatedly violated the Administrative Code and the Department’s own amplified sound policy in their efforts to keep the HSBF and the preparations for this event hidden from public view.

As for Mr. Hellman’s other significant “contribution” to Golden Gate Park, the Music Concourse Garage, the lease to the MCCP, the nonprofit established by Mr. Hellman to manage the garage and its finances, was never approved at a duly noticed public hearing as required by Section 16.112 of the City Charter. And don’t forget the CFO for the MCCP, Greg Colley, was indicted and convicted for embezzling more than 2.5 million in garage revenues.

For the first eight years of operation, the MCCP collected the Music Concourse Garage parking fees without first securing approval of those fees at a Public Hearing, a violation not only of the Charter but of state law as well! Between 2003 and 2010, tens of millions of dollars in parking fees have been illegally collected. Ordinance #031320, the legislation that originally created the Concourse Garage parking fees, is the only fee in the entire history of the Park Code that was not approved at a Public Hearing! This is not a legacy to be honored!!

Please write the Recreation and Park Commission and the Board of Supervisors to oppose the renaming of Speedway Meadow.

The article is obviously biased and inaccurate in order to paint a wonderful picture of Mr. Hellman's "generosity" to the city. After all, he owns the Bay Citizen. The question is, does he bother to read the Comments section or just refers to us as "the natives," as I've heard Phil Ginsburg does?

how dare you watery tarts sit back and judge a man who has given so much to this city. He's not just another billionaire living up on broadway or out in sea cliffs. Any body who has personally met him would know that every comment here is laughable. Is it his toyota prius that is so daunting to you, or his clothes he hasn't changed from the 1970's? Ha, another billionaire. I bet he give a higher percentage of his wealth away then any of you. And he didn't buy his way into the name of Hellman Hollow, he never even brought up the subject. The city wanted to give it to him, and I will be proud to sit my ass on it for all three days of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2012.