Ed Lee, San Francisco’s New Mayor, Talks Muni
Photo by Steve Rhodes
So, what does Ed Lee, San Francisco’s new mayor, have to say about Muni?
[crickets] …
No, but seriously, we’re not the only ones who wished that then-Interim Mayor and Mayoral Candidate Ed Lee had responded to requests to talk about Muni. Before the election, Streetsblog SF wondered, “Where has Mayor Lee Been on Muni Questionnaires.” SF Public Press also asked the same question.
For what it’s worth, Mayor Lee’s spokesperson later told StreetsBlog SF:
In the next four years, Mayor Lee will partner with Ed Reiskin and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to boost Muni’s on-time performance and run it more efficiently with work rule reforms, new technologies and our Transit Effectiveness Project. We will invest in refurbishing tracks, buses and railcars. And we will expand the City’s public transit system for the future, with express bus lanes on Geary and Van Ness and the construction of the Central Subway to link jobs and housing in SoMa and Mission Bay to neighborhoods north and south.
We hope that now that he’s got his next four years settled, Mayor Lee will reach out to the community of people who care about Muni.
I am embarrassed for the bullshit that was thrown at him by my fellow citizens. Pestilential children abound.
I’m embarrassed by him.
I’m sorry. What bullshit?
You mean the bullshit where he reveled in his cronyism by appointing completely unqualified people to head various departments (Nuru and Reiskin I’m looking at you)? Or you mean the bullshit when he pulled the race card when people questioned him about Nuru?
Or you mean the bullshit where he paid people to fill out strangers’ ballots?
Or you mean where he staunchly supports bad transit planning and design (*cough*central subway*cough*)?
Or were you referring to the way in which he flaunted campaign finance laws?
Something stinks, and it ain’t what was thrown at him… it’s coming from Ed “Rose Pak” Lee.
And, yes, before you get all misty eyed at Ford’s departure, keep this in mind: *Reiskin* axed a preventative rehab of the LRV air conditioning units that Ford approved. Let me know how much you like Reiskin when summer rolls around and half (or more) of the LRVs don’t have air conditioning or ventilation of any kind because Breda (and the MTA) put the electronics in one of the hottest parts of the vehicle.
Same old, same old. Ed Lee = Willie Brown = Diane Feinstein. Oops, I forgot all about Gavin. When will SF ever elect people other than the status quo? And we all wonder why real change never comes to the City.