17 staffers for MTA's Bicycle Program?
I was surprised to read in last Tuesday's SF Chronicle that MTA is planning to hire "nine new staffers to focus on bicycle transit in the city." The city's Bicycle Program already has eight staffers listed on MTA's website. Nine more will bring staff for the Bicycle Program up to seventeen, a remarkable staffing level for a city that is simultaneously eliminating 1,085 city government jobs because of a $338 million budget deficit. Mayor Newsom's budget will mean closing a homeless shelter in the Western Addition, the Health Drop-In Center in the Tenderloin, the Caduceus Outreach Services (psychiatric services for the severely disabled homeless), 20 gardening positions for Golden Gate Park will go unfilled, fines for parking violations under $100 will go up another $10, residential parking permits will go up from $60 to $74, etc.
Nevertheless, the great bicycle fantasy must move forward!
Nevertheless, the great bicycle fantasy must move forward!
Labels: Bicycle Plan
posted by Rob Anderson @ 12:55 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
...and cars will continue to bankrupt the city.
1) The crackheads all ride bikes - in fact they make most of their money by stealing bikes. Increasing bike usage is better for them than anything going on in the current set of city services.
2) Fewer gardeners is probably something you like - we can take out those silly gardens and put in something more useful like parking spots!
Interesting to note that neither of these commenters seem to think that having 17 full-time staffers working on the city's Bicycle Program is excessive! As it turns out, there are 9, which is still a lot, especially in light of our $335 million deficit.
How does it feel to be costing the city 335 million a year Rob? Wouldn't of needed all those staffers if it hadn't been for a certain aw suit, that forced the city into hiring people to coe up with a bike plan.
How does it feel to be a remedial reader who is wrong about everything? The $335 million is the city's overall deficit, which has little to do with the bike bullshit, though I bet the 9 Bike Program staffers---10, actually, when you count Gajda---costs the city more than a million a year when you figure in benefits. It's not clear how many of those people are working on the EIR for the Bicycle Plan. Anyhow, the EIR is an expense that the city should/would have faced if the city had simply done the environmental study out front, which is what the law requires, instead of trying to sneak it through the process. And, by the way, the Bike Program already had at least a half-dozen staffers before the litigation.
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