Sean Elsbernd's Muni petition

By supporting a ballot measure to rein in the pay of Muni employees, maybe Supervisor Sean Elsbernd is atoning for the political sin of supporting Prop. A in 2007, which mandated that Muni workers must be paid at least the average of the two highest paid transit systems in the country. Elsbernd joined progressive Supervisors Ammiano, Daly, Dufty, Maxwell, Mirkarimi and Peskin in voting to put Prop. A on the ballot in 2007, and then he signed onto the ballot argument in favor of the proposition in the voters' handbook.

Check out the petition and where/when you can sign it on the Fix Muni Now website:

http://fixmuninow.com/

Other supporters of Prop. A in 2007:

The Bicycle Coalition, Rescue Muni, Tim Paulson (Executive Director, SF Labor Council), the SF Democratic Party, Hydra Mendoza, Jane Kim, Mark Sanchez, Teachers for Social Justice, Phil Ting, David Chiu, Ted Gullickson, John Avalos, David Campos, Calvin Welch, Bevan Dufty, Robert Haaland, Scott Wiener, Bill Barnes, Kim Knox, SF Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), SF Labor Council, the Sierra Club, Walk San Francisco, Livable City, Kate White, San Francisco Tomorrow, Carole Migden, Leland Yee, Mark Leno, Debra Walker, Kamala Harris, Jeff Adachi, and Michael Hennessey.

With the possible exception of Scott Wiener, it's hard for me to believe that anything all these people and organizations endorse could possibly be good public policy. Elsbernd should have known better.

I'm a Democrat, but I have to admit that the SF Republican Party had it right in their opposition statement in the voters' pamphlet:

Proposition A would set Muni reform back twelve years and turn San Francisco motorists into second-class citizens. It diverts $26,000,000 from the General Fund, preventing the construction of new neighborhood garages. It dramatically increases Muni drivers' already-generous salaries, which would probably be the highest in the nation, while eliminating existing performance standards. It imposes parking limits throughout the City. Its stated goal is to reduce “private vehicle trips within the City”.