It is official: The San Francisco Board of Supervisors backs the idea of the Navy naming a vessel after gay political leader Harvey Milk. But the decision came only after debating the power of symbolism and consulting with a spirit board.

The nonbinding resolution, approved on a 9-2 vote, urges the secretary of the Navy to christen a ship the USS Harvey Milk. It supports the request of San Diego Rep. Bob Filner, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

Milk, one of the first openly gay officeholders in the nation, was serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors when he was gunned down in 1978 by his former colleague Dan White.

Milk was a naval officer who served during the Korean War.

Tuesday's vote came on what would have been Milk's 82nd birthday.

"LGBT people have always served in our armed forces," said Supervisor Scott Wiener, who sponsored the resolution. "For many, many years, our community was hidden and oppressed in the armed services.

"Now, because of the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell,' our community can serve openly and proudly," he added. "We must support our LGBT soldiers past and present. I can think of no better way to do that than to name a vessel for a Navy officer who went on to become one of the most important civil rights leaders in history."

But Supervisor Christina Olague voted against the legislation, not wanting to link Milk to the military.

"I just do believe that there are more appropriate ways to honor somebody who in their last days of their life was opposed to war," she said, noting Milk's public opposition to the Vietnam War. "I also have, my entire life, been against the military-industrial complex."

Supervisor John Avalossaid he sees the merits of the arguments on both sides of the debate. He and his City Hall aides turned to a Ouija board to ask for Milk's opinion.

We "actually put our hands on the Ouija board and the letters g-o-o-d-r-i-d-d-a-n-c-e-d-a-d-t came out. We asked Harvey, and Harvey gave us these letters: 'Good riddance don't ask, don't tell.' It was quite clear that Harvey Milk would have been opposed to 'don't ask, don't tell.' I can honestly say that's one aspect of this resolution that's really valid."

Avalos joined Wiener and seven other supervisors to support the resolution. Only Olague and Supervisor Jane Kim were opposed.

- Rachel Gordon

A public prize: San Francisco's public parks were rated the best among the nation's largest cities.

The survey by the Trust for Public Land scored the cities in three general areas: park accessibility (the percent of residents living within a 10-minute walk of a park); park size and the city's total area dedicated to parkland; and the number of playgrounds per 10,000 residents and per capita spending.

San Francisco, with 98 percent of the population within close proximity of a park, just edged past New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C., in that category. San Francisco also ranked near the top in annual per capita spending, measured at $291.66. Only the nation's capital spends more, at $303.45. The average among the 40 cities rated was $105.95.

San Francisco fell short when it came to the number of playgrounds - 1.78 per 10,000 residents; the average was 2.17 - and also on the average size of the park. However, the city was near the top when it came to the percent of acreage in the city made up of parks, 17.9 percent, compared with the national average of 10.3 percent.

The survey factored in not only San Francisco's open space overseen by the city's Recreation and Park Department, but also land managed by the National Park Service (think Crissy Field and Fort Funston) and the Presidio Trust.

The survey comes out as San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, city supervisors and the Recreation and Park Department are pushing a $195 million bond for the November ballot to help fund city park improvements.

- Rachel Gordon