Rescue Muni

Join us for our spring General Membership Meeting on Monday, March 30, at 6 pm, to learn about the budget problems facing the Municipal Transportation Agency and the effect the budget deficit is likely to have on your commute. We have invited Sonali Bose of the MTA Director’s office to discuss the budget and take your questions.

Also, we will have an update on the Transbay Terminal project, California High Speed Rail, and possible stimulus package funding from Emilio Cruz of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (and former Municipal Railway Director). Come with your tough questions on this critical regional transportation project.

The meeting is on Monday, March 30 at 6 pm at SPUR, 312 Sutter (at Grant), 5th floor. Refreshments will be served. See you there!

Where do your district’s candidates for Supervisor stand on issues of Muni funding, transit priority, the Transit Effectiveness Project, downtown parking, and standards for selecting new MTA Board nominees? Find out at our biannual Candidates’ Forum. Rescue Muni members are invited to vote for their preferred candidates for endorsement - we have invited the leading candidates from districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, and 11 to speak and take your questions. If your membership has expired, you can renew at the meeting.

Details:
Rescue Muni General Meeting & Candidates’ Forum
Wednesday, October 8, 6 p.m. (note the earlier time - the meeting will be long)
SPUR, 312 Sutter (at Grant), 5th Floor
Transit Access: Muni 2, 3, 4, 30, 45; BART or Muni Metro to Powell Station

Refreshments will be served. See you there!

Last night, Rescue Muni members heard a presentation on the San Francisco Transit Effectiveness Project. Members asked a lot of great questions about the project. We told the TEP staff our members would ask a lot of detailed questions about the plan, and the folks at our meeting didn’t disappoint.

Members were generally supportive of the concept of the TEP, and the wide array of transit improvements contained in the project, like the ambitious citywide rapid network, but attendees expressed a number of concerns about the proposed elimination of some of the community service routes, like the 66-Quintara.

We’re in the process of formulating a formal position on the TEP proposal, and we want as much feedback as possible from our members. Please contact us with your thoughts on the project. And a very big thank you to the members who attended last night and made the meeting a success, as well as the TEP staff, led by Julie Kirschbaum, who stayed for over two hours answering questions and taking comments from members.

Also, we encourage members to attend one or more of the seven remaining community meetings about the TEP. The next one is tonight, and they run through May 17:

• Wednesday, April 30, 6:00 pm, City College Mission Campus, 1125 Valencia St. (at 22nd St.)
• Saturday, May 3, 10:30 am, Jean Parker Elementary, 840 Broadway St. (at Powell St.)
• Monday, May 5, 6:30 pm, Visitacion Valley Elementary, 55 Schwerin St. (at Visitacion Ave.)
• Saturday, May 10, 10:30 am, Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, 4235 19th St. (at Diamond St.)
• Monday, May 12, 6:00 pm, West Bay Conference Center, 1290 Fillmore St. (at Eddy St.)
• Wednesday, May 14, 6:30 pm, Bessie Carmichael Elementary, 375 Seventh St. (at Harrison St.)
• Saturday, May 17, 10:30 am, Mission YMCA, 4080 Mission St. (at Bosworth St.)

Also, while you’re at it, remember that you can join Rescue Muni or renew your membership online. And if you’re up to date, urge a friend to join up.

Come to our General Meeting to hear about the SF Transit Effectiveness Project!

We will have a detailed briefing on the most extensive plan to improve SF transit in a generation, from Julie Kirschbaum of the SFMTA and Transit Effectiveness Project. Come with your tough questions on proposed service changes including expanded Rapid service, and improvements to wayfinding, fares, and more.
Also we will consider the endorsement of long-time Rescue Muni member and Supervisor Tom Ammiano for Assembly (district 13), and District 7 Supervisor Sean Elsbernd for re-election. (Our Board has recommended early endorsements in these races; we will consider all endorsements for Supervisor in August of this year.)
Date/Time: April 29 (Tuesday), 7 p.m..

Update: The meeting is at SPUR, 312 Sutter, fifth floor.

Our next General Meeting will be on Monday, October 1, at 7 pm at SPUR (312 Sutter at Grant, 5th Floor). Our guest speakers will be Mayor Gavin Newsom and Dave Snyder from SPUR and the Yes on A / No on H (Transit not Traffic) campaign.

The Rescue Muni Board has recommended an endorsement of Mayor Newsom for re-election. Come with your tough questions for the Mayor on transit! Also the board has recommended a Yes vote on Propositions A (Muni Reform) and C (Public Hearings on Ballot Measures), and a No vote on Proposition H (Parking for Downtown). We will review and vote on these proposals.

Also we will vote on proposed new Bylaws for Rescue Muni, and discuss the proposed Washington Square extension to the Central Subway project.

Refreshments will be served. See you there!

Update: All endorsements and the bylaws were approved by the members. Mayor Newsom also made it clear that he has joined us in opposition to Prop H, in addition to support for Prop A. Thank you to all who attended!