The city squanders transportation money

Yesterday the Chronicle gave us an important story about the deteriorating streets of San Francisco ("Bad streets prompt bond call"). As I pointed out the other day, even though the city now collects more than $180 million a year from parking lots, parking meters, and parking tickets---not to mention the income from the Prop. K sales tax, the city's share of the gas tax and vehicle registration fees---it still claims it doesn't have enough money to pave our streets! Why? Because the city is pissing away millions of dollars on the Central Subway and an over-designed Trans-Bay terminal. Supervisor Chiu might as well forget about putting a $170 million bond on the ballot to extract still more money from city residents; it's no more acceptable now than it was in 2009, especially since it will require a 2/3 vote to pass. That bond measure will merely provide city voters an opportunity to cast an entirely justified no-confidence vote on a City Hall that has already botched its retirement system so badly that it's put the city in financial peril.

City Hall has now demonstrated that it can't perform one of its basic functions: paving city streets.