Here's a story that perfectly encapsulates how San Francisco treats the people and businesses that actually make the city livable: after nearly three decades of running the Yerba Buena ice rink — San Francisco's only year-round ice-skating facility — the current operator is being shown the door.

The rink, tucked into the Yerba Buena complex south of Market, is set to close this summer for renovations and will reopen under entirely new management. Twenty-eight years of institutional knowledge, community relationships, and operational expertise? Apparently not worth much when the city decides it's time for a change.

Now, to be fair, renovations aren't inherently a bad thing. Infrastructure ages, and a rink that's been running for decades probably does need some love. The real question — the one San Francisco never seems to answer well — is what happens next.

Because if you've watched how this city handles transitions, you know the pattern: close something that works, promise something better, spend twice the projected budget, take three times as long, and deliver a result that somehow serves fewer people at higher cost. See also: every public works project in recent memory.

The Yerba Buena ice rink is one of those quiet civic treasures that doesn't get a lot of headlines but genuinely matters. It's where kids learn to skate. It's where families go on weekends. It's a rare piece of affordable, wholesome recreation in a city where a sandwich costs $18. Losing continuity of management for a facility like this isn't trivial.

What SF residents deserve is transparency: Why was the current operator not retained? What's the renovation budget, and who's holding the new contractor accountable for timeline and cost? Who is the incoming operator, and what's their track record?

These are basic questions. The city owes basic answers. We'll be watching to make sure the rink's future is as solid as the ice — and not, as is San Francisco's specialty, slowly melting under mismanagement.