District 5 candidates and the prog agenda

Photo by Kate McCarthy

As one of the original Gang of Four, Supervisor Olague---appointed to the Planning Commission by uber-prog Matt Gonzalez---came out as an opportunist, which was then confirmed by her participation in the successful Run Ed Run movement to get Ed Lee to run for mayor. 

But she must have figured that, after all, Lee was just as "progressive" as she was, whatever that much-used/abused term means. She essentially agreed with Lee on important issues: the Bicycle Plan and anti-carism in general; on the Central Subway (progs like trains, regardless of expense, because they aren't cars); Smart[sic]Growth and the delusional Transit Corridors approach to land use and planning; the Market and Octavia Plan and allowing UC to rip-off the old Extension property on lower Haight Street for a massive housing development.

The other progressive candidates will be hard-pressed to define how their policy positions differ from the mayor's. Where do other progressive District 5 candidates---Julian Davis, Quintin Mecke, and John Rizzo---stand on those issues? You can't tell by looking at their websites.

We know that Julian Davis once opposed the UC development, but he's been silent on the issue ever since housing for gay seniors was added to the project to give it a PC figleaf for spineless progs to hide behind.

We know that John Rizzo supports screwing up Masonic Avenue on behalf of the anti-car bike movement (see the picture above), but the other candidates should also take a stand on the Masonic issue, which is so important for District 5 and the city.

Quintin Mecke now talks about his "independence," but he's been such a doctrinaire progressive I've been justified in calling him "RoboProg."

Then there are the quality-of-life issues that progressives are so bad at: homelessness, graffitti/tagging, sit-lie, and Critical Mass.

Let's throw in Congestion Pricing, too, since that unpopular idea is supported by the Bicycle Coalition, a favorite prog special interest group. We already know that Quintin Mecke supports Congestion Pricing, but do Olague, Davis, and Rizzo support charging city residents to drive downtown in their own city?