Winterfest: The Ninth Circle of Hell

In Fog City Journal by Elaine Santore:

Fog City Journal attended the 10,000-members strong San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s 2008 Winterfest Sunday night at SOMArts and walked right into Rob Anderson’s ninth circle of hell. Even though Anderson’s been invited by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi to Winterfest three years in a row, Anderson refuses to show up...So I guess Mr. Anderson and I have something in common because neither one of us owns a bicycle. Maybe if he stopped hating and started emulating, he wouldn’t be so angry.

If someone told Santore that I've been offered invitations, it's a lie, not that I'd even consider attending the bike people's annual circle jerk. 

Note that if you criticize the obnoxious, arrogant bike people in SF you may be guilty of a hate crime. Click on the "Rob Anderson" link Santore supplies and, along with a picture of the unphotogenic yours truly, you get this crybaby drivel:

Cranky curmudgeon Rob Anderson hasn’t ridden a bicycle since he was twelve years old which might help to explain why he’s on a crusade to oppose San Francisco’s bicycle plan. This photo was taken during a District 5 debate, 10/16/08, in which a whining Anderson came across like a Debbie Downer, spending the entire debate attacking progressives. No wonder he came in last with just 5% of the vote.

City progressives and the bike people can't believe that there's anyone in the city who finds them politically, intellectually, and personally repugnant. 

Let's review again the main issue in our successful litigation against the city's Bicycle Plan: If a proposed project even might have a negative impact on the environment, a developer or jurisdiction must do some kind of environmental review before the project is implemented. 

Since the 500-page Bicycle Plan was/is a major project that will redesign city streets---taking away traffic lanes and street parking to make bike lanes---then of course the city should have done an environmental review before they put it before the Board of Lemmings for its unanimous approval.

It was an easy decision for Judge Busch. And, since the city was continuing to implement the Bicycle Plan on city streets even before we got to the hearing on the merits of our complaint, Judge Warren---and Judge Busch, after Warren retired---slapped an injunction on the city to prevent it from continuing to do that until they complete the EIR and are in compliance with CEQA, the most important environmental law in California.

In short, it's city progressives who have been "whining" at the great injustice of their having to comply with the law. Cyclists are saving the planet! They're not burning any fossil fuel! 

At the campaign event described above, I attacked Supervisor Mirkarimi on the issues, since he's has been a worse supervisor than even I thought possible way back in 2004. The Murk not only endorses Critical Mass he's taken the lead on whatever else the SF Bicycle Coalition has wanted over the past four years, including the Bicycle Plan and LOS "reform."

Funny but Mirkarimi didn't mention Critical Mass, the Bicycle Plan or LOS reform in his glossy campaign literature, probably because even he understands in the dim recesses of his tiny progressive mind that there are a lot of people, even in District 5, who aren't particularly enchanted with the city's bike people. And, since his winning reelection was never in doubt, Mirkarimi apparently saw the recent campaign as essentially a warm-up for a run for mayor in 2011, and being a stooge for the SF Bicycle Coalition won't necessarily be a political plus in a citywide election.

Even more important than his political malfeasance on the bike bullshit has been the Murk's aggressive pro-development stance on the Rincon Hill highrises, the Market/Octavia Plan, and UC's ripoff of the old extension property on lower Haight Street, huge projects that will mar the city landscape for generations. 

Note that I get a lot of comments on posts that have anything to do with bicycles but no response when I write about these destructive development projects that Mirkarimi---and Peskin, McGoldrick, Daly, et al---and city progressives either support or have been silent about. For me partying with these folks would indeed be like some kind of hell realm.

The Draft EIR for the city's new version of the Bicycle Plan can be viewed here.