by Calvin Welch, HANC Board
On July 27th the Board of Supervisors passed 9-2 a resolution sponsored by District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston and District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan calling upon the SFMTA "to reinstate all transit lines and restore pre-Covid service hours by December 31, 2021 and release by September 30, 2021, a written plan for the restoration of all lines and service".
The resolution was necessary because the SFMTA has failed to make such a commitment and Mayor Breed has stated that "many lines have existed for generations...We need to make the system more efficient...It is more complicated than saying ‘yes, we will restore service to lines."
No Explanation
Failing to explain why lines that have existed “for many generations" are inefficient, Breed articulated a policy that was repeated time and again by her recently appointed Director of SFMTA, Jeffery Tumlin, at a July 23rd public hearing on the resolution before Preston's Government Operation Committee. Tumlin- a private consultant, had previous operational experience running the Stanford University transportation program where his Linkedin bio states - rather alarmingly in his present role- he eliminated "the use of General Funds for transportation," and repeatedly stated that he would not perpetuate "inefficient" transit lines that were, in his opinion, threatening to create a "death spiral" for Muni.
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by Tes Welborn, HANC Board
We opened the meeting with a presentation on “Preparing for Emergencies in San Francisco” by Francis Zamora, Chief of Staff, SF Department of Emergency Management. Links for more information follow. He suggests we text our zip code to 888-777 to receive real-time emergency alerts, and even better, go to www.alertSF.org to customize the alerts we'd like, and to add our landline and email.
Remember those “red” skies? When air quality is poor, due to fire smoke or other reasons, stay home; that's better than wearing an N-95 mask. Consider purchasing an air filter for one room. And check on your neighbors who may be at higher risk to air pollution or excessive heat, maybe without electrical power. Some general emergency advice: make a plan for the things we cannot live without, and include an out-of-area contact phone number and a list of prescriptions.
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