The Ides of “May”: The Language of the Mayor’s Pet $500 Million Bond “May” Alarm You

By Joe Eskenazi : sfweekly – excerpt

Well, it’s October again. The Giants are in the playoffs. We’re blessed with the sundress weather that enables million-dollar median home prices. And ’tis the season when every area chiropractor offers up a silent, thankful prayer, knowing he or she will soon be visited by legions of ailing letter carriers, hobbled by the reams of political mailers and the Tolstoy-length election materials facilitating San Franciscans to vote on damn near everything…

Voters, it was argued, would be put off by this onslaught of revenue measures. But voters may yet be put off by another element of the big Muni bond — its very language.

The key word here is “may.”…

“Shall” and “may” do not mean the same thing, period. In legal parlance, “shall” is “prescriptive” language and “may” is “permissive” language.

The language in Prop. A is permissive. Everything listed within it is something that “may” be funded, “may” be done…

So, per Reiskin, this bond “will” enable great things. It “may” all work out well.

It “shall” certainly work out well for somebody… (more)

Compare SF (Most Expensive Parking Tickets in the Western Hemisphere) with Downtown San Mateo (50 Cent/Hr Parking Meters)

sfcitizen – excerpt

Compare A with B, as seen in the City of San Mateo:

But the SFMTA wants more more more, so it’s hatched a plan called Prop A, to raise your rent (literally) and/or take your property taxes to pay for, among other things, cost overruns on the entirely unnecessary pork-barrel project called the Central Subway.

Hey, speaking of which:

“During a pair of recent presentations at city political clubs, MTA commissioner Cheryl Brinkman, arguing on behalf of Prop. A, stated that a City Attorney’s opinion concluded that, when it comes to bond language, the terms “shall” and “may” are identical.
Huh.
Brinkman now says she’s not entirely sure what she said. Multiple witnesses are more certain: ‘She did say that!’ recalls Potrero Hill Democrats president Joni Eisen.”… (more)

Serco Inc. is still in the picture

jobs.serco-na.com – excerpt

Any doubts that Serco Inc. is still working for the SFTMA can be put to rest. They are still doing the hiring and probably at least some of the training…
Manager Parking and Enforcement Services – 51520942… (more)

Here’s How The Salesforce Convention Might (?) Screw Up Your Life

Eve Batey : sfist – excerpt

According to the SFMTA, as of 8 p.m. tonight, Howard Street between 3rd and 4th streets and Fulton Street between Larkin and Hyde streets will be closed, and won’t reopen until 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 18.

Starting at 6 a.m., Saturday through 6 a.m., next Saturday, Grove between Larkin and Polk will also be shut down. as of 10 p.m. Monday, you can also kiss Larkin Street between Hayes and McAllister streets, Polk Street between McAllister and Grove streets, and Grove Street between Larkin and Hyde streets goodbye until 6 a.m. on Wednesday, October 15.

That’s not all! From noon Tuesday, October 14 to 6 a.m. Wednesday, October 15, Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Polk Street, Polk Street between Grove and Hayes streets, and Dr. Tom Waddell Place (that’s the street formerly known as Lech Walesa) between Van Ness Avenue and Polk Street will be closed…

That last closure is likely because of the Tuesday’s “Concert for UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals,” an event that’s part of their “Dreamforce Gala.” That night, attendees will enjoy cocktails at City Hall, a performance from Bruno Mars at Civic Center Plaza, and a performance from Cake (remember them?!?) at Bill Graham. There’s even an “exclusive after-party” at City Hall, hosted by MC Hammer and (twitter hissyfitter) Will.i.am. Of course…

… be aware that the below Muni routes will also experience service delays and disruptions due to the convention:

8X (AX/BX) Bayshore Express
9 San Bruno
10 Townsend
12 Folsom
14 Mission
14L Mission Limited
14X Mission Express
16X Noriega
19 Polk
21 Hayes
30 Stockton
38/38L Geary
41 Union
45 Union-Stockton
81X Caltrain Express

Three Startup Founders Reveal Why They Left San Francisco For Portland

By Madeline Stone : businessinsider – excerpt

For startup founders looking to make it big, San Francisco can seem like a promised land. The tech industry is booming, with plentiful Silicon Valley venture capital and a community that’s supportive of innovation.

But San Francisco is also crowded and competitive, and living there is getting more and more expensive. A recent study by real estate marketplace Zumper found that a one-bedroom apartment costs more in San Francisco than anywhere else in the country.

In part because of the rising cost of living, some startup founders have decided it’s time to leave San Francisco for other cities…

“San Francisco has a stigma for being so expensive. The number I like to use as a base line is that in San Francisco, the median price for a single family home is $1 million,” Zahnd said. “In Portland, it’s under $300,000.”

Last summer, just before he moved to Portland, Dale shared his feelings towards San Francisco and tech in a blog post. … (more)

We are starting to pay a lot of attention to lifestyle issues and one of the absurdities we are finding is that in order to get everything done we need to speed up. Why is the SFMTA is trying to force us to slow down? Wasting time is slowing productivity. What used to take 20 minutes now takes an hour. This is not progress. This system cannot be sustained.

 

 

 

Finally, L.A. Is Working On ‘Simple And Obvious’ Parking Signs

laist – excerpt

For Angelenos, it seems like it’s a daily activity to try to decipher enigmatic, totem pole-like parking signs throughout the city. But there’s a glimmer of hope that we could one day get signs that don’t require a decoder, as the city is now testing out new, simplified parking signs.

During a committee meeting on Wednesday, City Council members asked the Department of Transportation to test out easier to understand signs designed by a local graphic artist, according to the L.A. Times. Instead of confusing, mile-high signs, transportation officials said they’ll be trying out over the next month-and-a-half “simple and obvious as possible” ones. These signs would use grids that divide the times by day and hour, with green and red blocks of time that show drivers when they’re allowed to park and not. (Maybe they’ll look something like these signs that were created by a Brooklyn designer.)… (more)

RELATED:
This Woman Is Doing God’s Work: Trying To Design A Better Parking Sign
Fastcodesign.com

S.F. tries to vote its way out of chronic traffic jam

By Michael Cabanatuan : sfgate – excerpt

The question about transportation being posed to San Francisco voters this fall might be summed up this way: Do you want to get on the bus and be on your way, or do you want to stand there and keep waiting?

Transportation, always a topic of complaint or debate in San Francisco, stands front and center on the November ballot. Voters are being asked to decide on three propositions that test the city’s commitment to transit, how it should be funded and the direction of its transportation planning.

The trio of propositions consists of a $500 million bond measure, a plan to increase the Muni budget to keep pace with population growth, and an advisory measure that would ask decision-makers to freeze parking rates and make cars and driving a higher priority…

David Looman, who led the drive to put Prop. L on the ballot, says it’s “simply a way for people to have their voices heard that city policies on parking and traffic are out of control.”

Officials at the MTA and City Hall may wish for a world in which everyone bikes, walks or rides Muni, he said, but 79 percent of residents still own cars and should be accommodated…

“This is a very transportation-heavy election cycle,” Jawa said. “The sense that we need to start doing things differently in transportation is alive and well in San Francisco.”… (morei)