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| Brian O'Neill, 1941—2009 |
Natalie Jones
2009-05-21 |
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The widely loved and admired superintendent of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Brian O’Neill, died last week of complications following heart surgery. He was 67.
For over two decades, Brian tended more than 76,000 acres of land on both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge that make up the recreation area, using more carrots than sticks. Much of the park is bordered by the concrete and asphalt of dense San Francisco neighborhoods, while other parts stretch into Stinson Beach, Mt. Tamalpais, Muir Woods and the Olema Valley, making it a diverse and challenging area to manage.
“He was a superb superintendent, but especially for this kind of park, because it interfaces with a big city and then a series of smaller towns and cities all along its length,” said Amy Meyer of San Francisco, who was influential in founding Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) and began working with Brian in 1981.
Brian always had a twinkle in his eye and a manner that drew people to him, she added. Others who knew him mention his uncanny ability to remember names and faces, regardless of someone’s rank or relationship to him.
“He saw everything through a good light. He saw the best in everybody and he expected the best from everybody,” said Cicely Muldoon, deputy regional director at the Pacific West Region office of the National Park Service, who has also been serving as superintendent of Point Reyes National Seashore for the last few months.
Brian knew from an early age that he wanted to work in the park service. He grew up in Washington, D.C. and as a child, spent summers driving west with his mother and identical twin brother for camping trips at national parks. The West provided the vast and majestic landscapes their urban neighborhood lacked. Seeing the bears at Yellowstone was one of the twins’ favorite parts of those trips, though they came to understand later that it wasn’t a good thing for bears to be waving to humans from the side of
the road.
Brian and his twin Alan were inseparable and mutually encouraging. They created a number of cottage industries while growing up to finance their love of clothes and a shared car, including a business taking urban high school and college students on park trips out west. They went to college together, majored in geography, loved the outdoors and were conservation advocates. They both went on to work for the park service.
“Although Brian and I are competitive by nature, we were never competitive with each other,” Alan said. “We were always excited when something good happened to the other twin. I don’t ever remember us being jealous of each other. I take enormous pride in Brian’s accomplishments.” Alan also spent most of his career working for the park service, and was the superintendent of Lake Mead National Recreation Area at the time of his retirement in 2000. He now directs a nonprofit he founded dedicated to conserving public lands outside of Las Vegas.
GGNRA was established in 1972, and Brian became superintendent in 1986. He had been working at the park as assistant superintendent for a few years before he took over. Two of his strongest legacies are successfully adding the Presidio and Crissy Field to the park’s domain. As with many of his accomplishments, he used his charm, skill for diplomacy and persistence to get the job done.
Difficult situations and angry citizens were frequent at GGNRA, but Brian managed to keep things light and work towards a solution. Meyer remembers when park staff was struggling with restrictions on dogs in parklands meant to protect the threatened snowy plover. Brian and Meyer were driving past Ocean Beach in San Francisco around this time on their way to a meeting in Pacifica. Brian turned to Meyer and said, “Oh look, Amy, there’s a dog with a snowy plover in its mouth.”
Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey echoed the respect that many had for Brian’s ability to mediate. “Brian grappled with some extremely contentious issues during his time in the GGNRA and on occasion we disagreed on issues, but because of Brian’s tenacity and charm and humor he was able to resolve thorny issues, from dogs on parklands to Fort Baker,” he said.
Brian was a strong supporter of the now defunct Citizens Advisory Commission that gave the community a voice within GGNRA and the Point Reyes National Seashore, and promoted legislation last summer to bring it back. The provision was tied up with another proposal that failed, however, so the commission has not yet been reinstated. He believed in the advisory commission and the idea that a well-informed constituency will be on your side, and subsequently, will support the parks.
GGNRA owes much of its success to the establishment of its auxiliary organization, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, as well as its cavalry of 20,000 volunteers. Brian cultivated relationships like these knowing that they would help the park survive, and set a strong example for the national parks system. He frequently presented the GGNRA model to park officials throughout the U.S. and internationally.
Although he is now well known for his people skills, Brian didn’t always feel so confident about his personal interactions. In his 30s, he enrolled in classes with Dale Carnegie & Associates to try and overcome his shyness, and felt that the experience changed his life and prepared him for the frequent public speaking his job demanded.
Though Brian chose to spend a lot of time with people, one of his favorite activities was to wander on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, near where he grew up, looking for shark teeth. “That’s when he was most at peace,” Alan said. He kept a collection of his findings on his desk.
Like Brian, Alan is a staunch advocate for working in the public sector, and takes pride in the accomplishments both he and Brian were able to make in the park service. As a testament to their ability to lead by example, both have sons who now work for the park service, carrying on their fathers’ dedication.
“His legacy would speak to the fact that you can do a lot of good in public service,” Alan said.
Brian is survived by his twin brother, Alan; his mother, Mimi; his wife, Marti; his daughter, Kim; his son, Brent; and three grandchildren. There will be a memorial service for Brian on May 30, 2009 at Crissy Field.
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