Chris Daly to SF: "Hasta la vista, suckers"

In 18 months we won't have Chris Daly to kick around anymore (his statement below in italics). What can we say, except don't let the screen door hit you in the ass on the way out, Chris. 

More than four years ago, I posted my first item on Supervisor Chris Daly, whose career in San Francisco has been one political melodrama after another.

He first came to my attention when he was arrested at a sit-in at Hastings College protesting the fact that the law school was building a parking garage. The bastards! How dare they provide parking for their 1,500 students and staff? 

Then we had the appointment of Adam Werbach to the PUC when Mayor Brown was out of town, the luxury highrise condos on Rincon Hill, his opposition to regulating the city's many pot clubs, and his push for the "question time" dog-and-pony show hoping to embarrass Mayor Newsom, to name a few Daly fiascos.

Judging from his blog---he hasn't made a post there since last April---Daly has been disengaged on city issues for some time.

In his short statement, he has to tell us that he'll continue to ride his bike in the city, which progressives will no doubt find reassuring. After all, the bicycle fantasy is about the only issue they have left, since, with crucial help from Daly, they've screwed up every other issue---homelessness, housing, development, traffic, etc.

By Chris Daly, special to Fog City Journal July 22, 2009 

As an elected official, I take seriously my obligations to my constituents and to San Francisco. As a father of two young children, and a husband, I take seriously my family responsibilities as well. 

Recently, my wife, Sarah, and I had an opportunity to purchase a house in Fairfield, two doors away from Sarah’s childhood home, where her parents still live. Last month Sarah and the kids moved in. It is in a diverse neighborhood that Sarah loves, and it gives our children the opportunity to grow up with grandparents steps away. 

Even though Sarah and the kids make frequent visits to the City, it is tough to be apart from my family. But Sarah and I are determined to do what is best for our kids---which means moving them closer to multi-generational family support. I continue to eat, sleep, and bathe in my home on Stevenson Street. 

I bicycle to City Hall and to district meetings from my home and intend to continue to do so until the end of my Supervisor term and probably for longer.

"We aren't going to be giving up our cars soon..."

From Randall O'Toole's blog (http://ti.org/antiplanner/):

Apocalypse ASAP
People like James Howard Kunstler, who is committed to the death of the suburbs, and this guy, who thinks gasoline will “inevitably” reach $20 a gallon, see only good coming from these futures. For example, the latter character thinks that expensive gasoline will cure American obesity. He doesn’t explain why the Netherlands, where gas is expensive and lots of people walk and cycle, has obesity rates that are only about 10 years behind those in the U.S.

The Antiplanner hates to disappoint anyone, but we aren’t going to be giving up our cars any time soon. If the price of gas goes up, we’ll either find more oil or we will find substitutes for that oil. For example, MIT is developing an electric car with a new kind of batteries that can be recharged in 11 minutes. Then there’s the Tesla Model S, whose batteries can be switched out in five minutes.

Regarding a different mode of transportation, someone has proposed a new airport on Manhattan Island, which would be a lot more convenient for many people than the airports now serving New York City. Where would it go? Why, in the largest piece of undeveloped land in Manhattan, namely Central Park. Of course, it’s a prank; if they had wanted to be taken seriously, they should have proposed to turn the park into high-density, transit-oriented developments. (emphasis added)

http://ti.org/antiplanner/?p=1617