On her daily dog walks in Brooks Park, she began to see dried-out tree saplings and buckling pavement.
“It wasn't being watered, [and] trees were falling down,” she said. “It just wasn’t well kept.”
Straddling the top of the Merced Heights ridge, Brooks Park is full of bird life, native plants, a playground, recreation areas and a vibrant community garden. But since it lost its longtime advocate, Peter Vaernet, in 2022, no community caretaker had taken over. Holman, a local small business owner who lives just a short walk from the park, has answered the call.
New pavement. | John R. Adkins/Ingleside Light
Holman, 68, said she sent emails to the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department about addressing the park for four years. Eventually, she started CCing neighbors who shared her concerns. RPD Park Services Manager Nick Olgeirson was assigned to help, and Holman found a partner to push for change.
Olgeirson told The Light that “Brooks is always a work in progress,” and he commends the community for its teamwork and collaboration.
In the past year, a new barbecue grill and trash can were installed in the picnic area, trees and natives were planted, the playground area received a fresh coat of paint and the pathway throughout was entirely repaved.
New bear-proof garbage bins. | John R. Adkins/Ingleside Light
Yet the park’s maintenance score fell 20% in 2024, as reported in San Francisco’s 2024 park maintenance standards report.
A RPD spokesperson previously told The Light the reason for the decline was the “aged pathways.”
The playground was removed in 2021. A spokesperson for RPD said a new “see-saw play structure” would be installed next year.
RPD’s spokesperson said they would provide budget information after press time.
Holman, who moved to the neighborhood in 2011, grew close to Vaernet, the park’s long-time steward. She said no one has seen its potential like he did when he discovered it back in the late 1980s.
“I can still feel his energy around here. I think he’s pushing me from the universe,” Holman said. “I'm not going to let this tear apart just because he’s gone.”
John R. Adkins is a San Francisco-based journalist and storyteller living in Ingleside. He is editor-in-chief of City College's student-run publication The Guardsman and reports on higher education, politics and the arts.
