Two Chances to Challenge Mayoral Candidates on their Alleged Muni Plans

Today and tomorrow, voters will have two chances to hear about various Mayoral candidates’ alleged plans for Muni (and transit in general). The San Francisco Transit Rider’s Union just sent out an email this weekend announcing that at their August 22nd meeting, candidates (or their representatives) will present their “plans” to those attending. So far Phil Ting, David Chiu, John Avalos,Tony Hall and Terry Baum are confirmed (Sen. Yee will present his at a future meeting).
The meeting will be at 6pm at the Park Branch of the SF Public Library at 1833 Cole Street. I hadn’t planned on attending this event originally, but I might stop by. I had already planned on writing my own evaluation of candidate position papers anyway (first up: a grading of City Attorney Dennis Hererra’s plan announced last week), but it might be interesting to hear them stack up against each other in person.
In an election where everyone’s being phony nicey-nice, it’s hard to get much in the way of specifics, or hear the candidates draw distinctions. It IS telling that once again, Temp-to-Wannabe Perm Mayor Ed Lee is too busy at some fundraiser to really say much. Yes, he appointed a new MTA CEO, but beyond that he’s made it clear Muni just isn’t a big deal for him, unless it’s funding a billion dollar subway to nowhere.
Also, Phil Ting’s event scheduled for Tuesday night is still on and I’ll be speaking at it, along with Mr. Ting, MTA Board Member Joel Ramos, and MTA Deputy Director Tim Papandreou. As I’ve stated several times, I’m not endorsing Mr. Ting, or any candidate, this year, and instead am willing to work with any serious candidate for Mayor on Muni issues, preferring instead to know that no matter who gets elected, we may see some improvement at Room 200 over past mayors, who simply did not perform on behalf of Muni’s owners & riders.

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One Response to Two Chances to Challenge Mayoral Candidates on their Alleged Muni Plans

  1. Bob Davis says:

    Here’s a question from an outside observer: Who was the last San Francisco mayor who really took Muni seriously? Surely between “Sunny Jim” Rolph and today’s officials, there were a few. This may be a query best answered by old-timers who remember when Muni fares were 15 cents for everything from PCC trolley cars to cable cars.

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