Rescue Muni

For the November 2nd election, Rescue Muni has endorsed:

Board of Supervisors

• District 2 – Mark Farrell
• District 4 – Carmen Chu
• District 6 – Theresa Sparks
• District 8 – Scott Wiener
• District 10 – Steve Moss

BART Board of Directors

• District 8 – Bert Hill

San Francisco Ballot Propositions

• Proposition AA (Vehicle License Fee) – YES
• Proposition G (Transit Operator Wages) – YES

Our thanks to all the candidates and members who participated in our endorsement process.

The Rescue Muni Board would like to cordially invite our members to our biannual Candidates’ Forum on Monday, September 13th, 2010 @ 6:30pm in the SF County Fair Building.

Where does your district’s candidate stand on the proposed service restoration, crime, POP, Prop AA, and Prop G? Rescue Muni members are invited to vote for their preferred candidates for endorsement – we have invited the leading candidates from districts 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 to speak and take your questions. Supervisor Elsbernd will also attend to discuss Prop G. If your membership has expired, you can renew at the meeting.

Details:

Monday, Sept 13th
Refreshments at 6:30 pm
Program PROMPTLY 7:30 pm – 9:15 pm
SF County Fair Building, Garden Club Room
9th Ave and Lincoln Way
(In the park, nearby suggested routes N, 6, 43, 44, 66, 71)

This past Friday, the Rules Committee of the Board of Supervisors met to consider a proposed charter amendment that would, among other things, split the appointees to the MTA Board between the Mayor and Board (as has been done for several commissions including Planning and Police). Rescue Muni members urged a no vote at the hearing; Chair Andrew Sullivan submitted the following comment.

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If Rescue Muni stands for anything, it stands for putting the interests of Muni riders first, ahead of ideological canards, ahead of entrenched interests, and ahead of the instincts of people—so numerous in this supposedly “progressive” city—who resist change just because change rubs them the wrong way. We believe our value is in our singular focus on making Muni better, a mission we follow wherever it leads, even when it annoys people on the right or the left, or anywhere in between. This, above all, is what Rescue Muni is for.

Right now, Muni operator pay is set by a formula: it can’t be any lower than the average of the two highest-paying transit systems in the US. Before Proposition A (2007), which we supported, the rule was it couldn’t be any higher than the average of the top two. The theory was that, by making it a floor instead of a ceiling, Muni could offer higher pay in exchange for less restrictive work rules. That was an interesting idea, but it didn’t work that way in the real world. Unions didn’t take the deal, and nothing changed – operators got higher pay by the formula, without any change in work rules.

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Concerned about proposed service cuts? Do you agree with us that extended meter hours (including enforcing meters on Sundays) is far better than cutting mass transit? If so, please attend and comment at one of these SFMTA meetings:

Town Hall Meetings, One South Van Ness Ave. @ Market St., 2nd Floor Atrium
Saturday, Feb. 6 – 10 a.m. to noon
Tuesday, Feb. 9 – 6 to 8 p.m.
Transit: 6, 71, 47, 49, Metro to Van Ness

SFMTA Board Meeting, City Hall Room 400
Tuesday, Feb. 16 – 9 a.m. (public hearing and possible Board action)
Transit: 5, 6, 19, 21, 71, 47, 49, Metro, BART to Civic Center