Our September newsletter is available online, with Muni Riders' Survey results and proposals for an improved New Central Subway. Also, 2004 survey results are now up.

Congratulations to Rescue Muni endorsed supervisors Jake McGoldrick (district 1), Aaron Peskin (district 3), Sean Elsbernd (district 7), and Tom Ammiano (district 9), all of whom were re-elected on November 2.

Rescue Muni endorsed candidates Andrew Sullivan (district 5) and Rebecca Silverberg (district 11) ran very competitive races but came in fifth and sixth, respectively - thanks to these two as well.

On Tuesday September 28th, the Board of Supervisors voted 11-0 to condemn 80 Natoma. Thanks to all that contacted their supervisors and/or attended public hearings on the condemnation 80 Natoma. The constant public pressure really made a difference. It is a victory for the public and the future of transportation system of Bay Area and California.

Please attend a pair of critical hearings at the Board of Supervisors regarding condemnation of 80 Natoma for the Transbay Terminal project. If you can't make both, please prioritize the afternoon meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Also, please contact your supervisor before these hearings via phone or fax and tell them to follow through with condemnation of 80 Natoma.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING (regarding Condemnation of 80 Natoma)

When: Tuesday, September 28
Time: 3 pm
Where: City Hall, Board Chambers

Be there to support condemnation of 80 Natoma, so a 50 story building is not construction in the Right-Of-Way of the rail extension. Without condemnation, the City is poised to proceed with an engineering solution proposed by SFCTA staff, which they claim will allow the rail extension to happen after the building is construction. This solution is considered impossible by many well respected engineers, therefore likely to kill the entire project.

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY MEETING
When: Tuesday, September 28
Time: 11 am
Where: City Hall, Room 250

TA staff will likely unveil their latest nonsense report, without any input from TJPA. Be prepared to blast the report, the fact the TA continues to operate in a vacuum, the fact that the TA cannot legally do the engineering for the building (which AB 812 only allows the TJPA to do), and to again provide testimony on the events at the Peer Review meeting. We want the TA Board (the Board of Sups) to reject the TA report of a joint design and to support condemnation.

We need a good turnout -- thanks for your continued help and support of the project.

Rescue Muni endorses the following candidates for Supervisor:
Jack McGoldrick - District 1
Aaron Peskin - District 3
Andrew Sullivan (yes our Director!) - District 5
Sean Elsbernd - District 7
Tom Ammiano - District 9
Rebecca Silverbert - District 11

Tom Radulovich - BART

Please come to our General Meeting this Tuesday for a Candidates Forum. This forum allows our membership to meet candidates that are running for supervisor in districts that are up for election.Candidates will have roughly 10 minutes each to speak about transit issues. We will have ballots at the forum that you can fill out and rank your preferences.

This year's forum includes candidates from districts 1, 2, 3, 7, 11. Districts 5 and 9 are also up for election, but Rescue Muni has already endorsed candidates for those two districts, including Andrew Sullivan, Chair of Rescue Muni for District 5. We have also endorsed Tom Ammiano for District 9 because of his many years of support for Muni. In addition we have invited two candidates for BART Board of Directors and hope to hear from them.

When: Tuesday, August 24 Time: 6 pm Where: SPUR, 312 Sutter, 5th Floor Transit: 2, 3, 4, 30, 45, or Muni/BART to Powell Station Refreshments will be served - see you there!

The anti-rider charter amendment proposed by Supervisor Sandoval is going before the full board on Tuesday, July 20th. Rescue Muni opposes this amendment and urges you to contact your Supervisor and urge a NO vote.

There is a special Board of Supervisors Rules Committee meeting at 11 am Monday, July 12 to discuss Supervisor Sandoval's outrageous anti-reform charter amendment for Muni. This amendment would undo much of Proposition E (1999), the Muni Reform amendment co-authored by Rescue Muni.

Rescue Muni opposes this amendment and urges you to contact your Supervisor and urge a NO vote. Members of the Rules Committee, considering the proposed amendment Monday, are Supervisors Alioto-Pier, Gonzalez, and Maxwell.

The Board of Supervisors is considering two revenue proposals for the Municipal Railway - an expanded Transit Impact Development Fee and a parking tax increased from 25% to 35% with half the increase going to Muni (no proposal on BOS website at the moment). Rescue Muni is in favor of both as ways to reduce the need to cut Muni service. Detailed statements forthcoming shortly.

Rescue Muni endorses Tom Ammiano (District 9) and Andrew Sullivan (District 5) for Supervisor in 2004. Additional endorsements will be considered at our General Meeting on August 18.

Come to our General Membership Meeting next Wednesday, June 30, and hear Tom Radulovich (Member, BART Board and new Executive Director of Transportation for a Livable City) discuss TLC's plans to advocate for better multi-modal city planning, transit and bicycle priority, and better street design - and how Rescue Muni members can help. Rescue Muni Treasurer Dan Krause sits on TLC's board along with representatives from many other alternative transportation organizations.

In addition, we will consider the Steering Committee's recommendation of early endorsements in two supervisorial races:

District 5: Andrew Sullivan
District 9: Tom Ammiano

Both candidates will speak briefly and take your questions. We will hold an endorsement meeting for the other contested districts (1, 2, 3, 7, 11) in August.

When: Wed. June 30, 6 pm
Where: SPUR, 312 Sutter, 5th Floor
Transit: 2, 3, 4, 30, 45, or Muni/BART to Powell Station

Refreshments will be served - see you there!

Supervisor Sandoval has proposed a charter amendment (pdf) that would return control of Muni's budget, fares, director's salary and contract, and quality audit to the Board of Supervisors. Rescue Muni opposes this amendment - read our press release in opposition.

The amendment is before the Rules Committee at the Board on Wednesday, June 23 - the meeting starts at 10 am, but this is item 6 on the agenda, so it may be a while before it is covered. If you have time, please come and speak against it!

According to news reports, Supervisor Sandoval is planning to submit to the Board today a charter amendment that would return control of Muni's budget, fares, director's salary and contract, and quality audit to the Board of Supervisors. Rescue Muni opposes this amendment! This would bring back the days of political meddling in the Municipal Railway and make it much harder for Muni to meet service standards. We urge all Supervisors to vote NO on this counterproductive and unnecessary amendment.

Our annual survey of Muni performance ran until May 1, 2004. Please submit your data as soon as possible! Submit on the web if you can - it saves us a lot of time.

If you watched vehicles go by a fixed point, please fill in the Monitoring Form (excel / pdf). If you have Microsoft Excel, please fill in the Excel form and email it to us. If you don't, you can use the pdf form and mail it in.

And we need volunteers. Email if you'd like to help!

The Planning Commission, Redevelopment Agency, Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, and Transbay Joint Powers Authority approved the EIS/EIR for the Transbay Terminal / Caltrain Downtown Extension project this past week. Thanks to all who came to speak on behalf of the project! Details at BayRail Alliance.

Unfortunately it appears that the conflict with the 80 Natoma project is still not yet resolved. Rescue Muni continues to urge the TJPA to take a hard line against this condominium tower which would irreparably damage high speed rail in California if built.

On April 20, the MTA board deadlocked 3-3 on a resolution to declare a fiscal emergency, necessary to avoid an environmental impact statement for the proposed service cuts. As a result, no action was taken. Presumably the issue will be continued to the next meeting. Rescue Muni continues to recommend revenue enhancements for Muni but cautions that the budget must be balanced to avoid reliability problems as happened in the 1990s.

After more than 30 years of study, deferral, cancellation and resurrection, the Transbay Terminal project to extend Caltrain and High Speed Rail to First and Mission, build a multi-modal transit hub downtown, and redevelop the surrounding landscape of parking lots into a vibrant new downtown neighborhood is on the verge of approval.

This project has been a focus of transit advocates and urban environmentalists for decades, it was endorsed by San Francisco's voters in November 1999, it was a one of the largest pieces of last November's Proposition K sales tax plan, it received major funding from Regional Measure 2 in March, and it's long been advocated by Rescue Muni. But we still need your help.

Despite years of planning work and painstaking jumping through legal and environmental clearance hoops, one property owner seeks to hold the entire project hostage and is using the time-honored strategy of last-minute political maneuvering to attempt to get his way. We need YOU to stop this hijacking of the public good!

Please attend two meetings on April 20 and 22 to show wide support for the project, so the SF Planning Commission, the SF Redevelopment Authority and other bodies follow though, certify the Final Environmental Impact Report, and make this project a go. Rescue Muni has submitted a letter (pdf) to all involved demanding that the EIR be approved - we need you to join us in urging the relevant bodies to approve it.

1. SF Redevelopment Commission, TUESDAY, April 20, at 4:00pm, Room 416, City Hall.

2. Special joint meeting of the SF Planning Commission and the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (Caltrain), THURSDAY, April 22, at worker-friendly 6:00pm, Board of Supervisors' chambers in City Hall.

Once we jump through these last few hoops San Francisco and the Bay Area will be a lot closer to having the tranportation system they deserve, and most importantly the body formed to undertake the project, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, will be on a proper legal footing and able to really get to work.

The outcomes of these meetings will affect how San Francisco functions for decades to come. Please help us help our representatives do the right thing!

Muni is holding a public hearing at the April 20 meeting of the MTA board concerning proposed service cuts. (A hearing was also held on April 6.) If you have comments please attend these meetings and also let us know what you think. We may also hold a General Meeting on the subject in early April - stay tuned.

Note: Rescue Muni hasn't taken a position on the cuts, though we are recommending revenue enhancements to mitigate them. The specific service cuts are opposed by Central City Progressives. Also, Transportation for a Livable City is recommending new funding sources to avoid cuts.

Come to our General Membership Meeting on Monday, April 5, at 7 pm (note new time!) at SPUR, 312 Sutter at Grant, to discuss proposed service changes at Muni. Peter Straus of Muni Service Planning will present proposals to cut and realign service to fix a budget deficit and plans to expand trolley coach service on affected lines (e.g. 71 Haight Noriega).

Refreshments will be served!

Information on Proposition I (Replacement of Diesel Buses) from March 2004 is in an archive for easy reference. Thanks again to everyone who helped us fight this anti-rider initiative - though it won at the polls, Rescue Muni will not stand by and allow buses to be taken off the streets without replacement.

Information on the November/December 2003 elections (Rescue Muni endorsed Yes on K and Gavin Newsom for Mayor) is now in an archive for easy reference.

Muni has approved service cuts for several lines to close a budget gap. In particular, the 7-Haight is proposed to be eliminated, replaced by the 71-Haight Noriega and 6-Parnassus; similarly, the 4-Sutter is proposed to be replaced by service on the 2-Clement. There are also some small increases in service, notably on the 29-Sunset. These service cuts are opposed by Central City Progressives.

Rescue Muni recommends several revenue enhancements to reduce the need to cut service, reduce deferrals of maintenance and capital projects, and more generallly improve Muni's financial footing. In particular, we recommend:

Increasing the parking tax from 25% to 35% with half of the increase going to Muni (as required by Prop E)

Increasing transit impact development fee as proposed by Supervisor McGoldrick

Implementing many more transit preferential streets (TPS) projects, similar to the one currently being planned for Geary, to speed up service and make it possible to provide the same service with fewer vehicles

Adding new parking control officers (PCOs) to enforce parking rules more strictly and raise more parking revenue

We also recommend, as a longer-term service improvement, electrifying all remaining segments of the 71-Haight Noriega and the 47-Van Ness to allow replacement of motorcoach service with zero-emission trolley coach service.

We participated in a public meeting at Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council March 11 (Thursday), 7 p.m. at the Park Branch Library (Page and Cole). Peter Straus of Muni staff (and Andrew Sullivan of Rescue Muni) attended.

We now have Muni's plan for improvements on inner Geary (powerpoint - pdf).

Our annual survey of Muni performance is coming in April 2004. You can download the form (pdf) and print it out in preparation for your participation. Email if you'd like to volunteer!