A few weeks ago, we invited our readers to submit questions for the candidates running for mayor of San Francisco.
We received dozens of great submissions, which we then narrowed down to our 12 favorites. Topics ranged from the serious to the silly, from Muni and NIMBYism to ice cream and aliens.
We sent the questions to all 16 candidates, and received responses from 11. Now we present the candidates’ answers, in random order. (We requested that candidates keep their answers to just a few sentences each. Results were mixed.)
Based on the quantity and length of responses, we’re dividing them into three parts. Today, part one.
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Q: Sarah asks: In your opinion, what aspect of Muni needs the most improvement?
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Jeff Adachi: San Francisco deserves a word-class public transportation system. Increasing ridership is one of my top priorities, but in order to do that we also need to improve Muni’s fiscal efficiency. Underlying both of these goals is the need for greater accountability, which can be achieved through implementation of Proposition G and collective bargaining. With the money we save, I will promote increased service to the busiest routes and real-time passenger information system-wide. My goal is to transform Muni into a tool that improves the lives of commuters and makes it that much easier for visitors to enjoy our city. |
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Paul Currier: We need three phases done with a priority to all now: (1) At this time, more equipment, and more operators and make sure we have a crew of replacement or fill-in operators on shift-change standby, at all shift changes, so that all the equipment that is supposed to be on the street – is on the street rolling; (2) Within one year – run all the light rails at the speeds they were sold to us to run at. We need our light rail trains to fly, not poke along due to management and operator incompetence; (3) Totally redesign and build a “Whole City” Underground Muni Subway System so that any one can be from any point to any other in San Francisco in less than 30 minutes, and it should be free of charge to everyone. Yes we can do this. |
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John Avalos: Its reliability! My wife and I and our two children live out in the Excelsior, and it is a constant hassle trying to get places on time. This is why I encourage not only my family but also my District 11 residents to ride their bicycles to work, as I do daily. The MTA has been used as an ATM by past administrations, with millions going to other departments instead of serving riders, and as Mayor I’ll put a stop to unnecessary work-orders, reduce overtime, fully fund and implement the TEP, and get youth and students free passes. |
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Tony Hall: The majority of the problems within Muni stem from the fact that its managers lack real experience in Public Transportation. Any significant change with Muni must start at the top with new, experienced management. Muni has no room for political appointments if it is to execute at its full potential. With the right leaders in the right job, we won’t see anymore political boondoggle’s like the proposed Central Subway. |
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Leland Yee: I don’t think there’s a complaint box big enough to fit what’s wrong with Muni. As a start, however, we need to pull Muni out of the dark ages. San Francisco is one of the world’s technology leaders, but Muni still dispatches with papers and pencils, literally. Let’s begin with computer-aided dispatch systems linked with on-time tracking for bus drivers. Every other major transit system in the country has these except for Muni. Bottom line – if we ever want to meet the voter-mandated goal of 85% on-time performance, then we need to make common sense improvements so Muni can start delivering on the basics. |
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Dennis Herrera: Reliability and accountability. A close second is the smell on certain lines. |
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David Chiu: Pretty much every San Franciscan could write a whole essay on this one. If I had to pick, I think we simply must improve reliability and travel times. I do not own a car and often depend on Muni to get around the city, so I know first hand the challenges of late, crowded, and slow-moving buses, light rail vehicles and cable cars. But this isn’t just an abstract frustration – Muni system connects San Franciscans to jobs and schools, and public transportation is central to our economic development. By implementing some of the simple reforms of the Transit Effectiveness Project – bus stop consolidation, prioritization at traffic signals, and rear-door boarding to name just three – we can make Muni 10 to 30 percent more efficient and save money that can be used to expand access to neighborhoods that desperately need it. |
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Joanna Rees: We must enact structural reforms to improve Muni service, ensure we have right leadership in place at SFMTA, and provide the revenue support needed to deliver a world class public transit system. Funding for Muni will be a top priority in the budgets I propose as Mayor, and I also support a $100 vehicle mitigation fee. We can improve the flow of Muni vehicles and increase on time performance by implementing Bus Rapid Transit lanes on congested corridors, and synchronizing traffic lights on major transit corridors for buses and light rail to give them priority. With some of the world’s brightest and most creative minds living within our city borders, I believe we can improve services and address neighborhood disparities in availability and reliability through innovation and better utilization of technology. Specifically, we must work to optimize the efficiency of Muni routes, test limited stop bus lines that meet demand and speed up transportation time, and experiment with demand based routing using existing GPS and sensor technologies. We need to make all data related to Muni more accessible to the public and seek their involvement in creating a better system. The recent Transportation Camp “Hackathon” that was held here in San Francisco is a great example of how public dialogue can help us to identify best practices, and develop innovative solutions. |
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Cesar Ascarrunz: The entire Muni needs to be overhauled from the top to the bottom. We need to get professionals in the right places to take a deep lookinto our public transportation and make it more efficient. |
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Ed Lee: San Franciscans deserve a public transit system that’s reliable and affordable and I know that improving Muni and our City’s transportation systems is critical to attracting new jobs and making San Francisco a great place in which to live and work. I pushed hard for change and new leadership at the SFMTA this year and strongly supported the appointment of reformer and Muni rider Ed Reiskin as the new Director. In the next four years, I will partner with Reiskin and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to boost Muni’s on-time performance and run it more efficiently with work rule reforms, new technologies and our Transit Effectiveness Project. We will invest in refurbishing tracks, buses and railcars and expand the popular SFPark program, new bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements throughout the City. And we will expand the City’s public transit system for the future, with express buslanes on Geary and Van Ness and the construction of the Central Subway to link jobs and housing in SoMa and Mission Bay to neighborhoods north and south. For the Haight and nearby neighborhoods, I understand the frustration of the N-Judah. I’m encouraged by the success of the N-Express Bus from the Outer Sunset, which has reduced congestion on the N-Judah line by the time it gets to the Inner Sunset, Cole Valley and Duboce Park. Haight Street is well-served by the 6 and 71 lines throughout the week, linking the Inner Sunset and Buena Vista Park/Ashbury Heights neighborhoods to Upper and Lower Haight, the Civic Center and downtown, though I recognize at night and on the weekends service can be sporadic. We also need to do more to protect safety of pedestrians and cyclists around the Panhandle and on Masonic Ave. |
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Bevan Dufty: Morale. Human capital is the missing ingredient. Last year, Muni Operators missed 12.9% of scheduled runs because of no-shows. |
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Q: Several readers have concerns about the often-dangerous mix of pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers in our neighborhood. Specifically, readers note how bicyclists often race through the city (and the Lower Haight in particular) without regard for stop signs, which has contributed to recent collisions with both pedestrians and cars. What, if anything, would you do to address this issue?
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Jeff Adachi: Biking is an invaluable transit solution. It produces zero emissions, improves health and fitness, and takes stress off an overtaxed Muni and our overcrowded streets. The best way to ensure the safety of cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists alike is to implement a network of fully-separated bikeways that are easy to navigate for riders of every age and skill level. This will allow motorists to travel quickly and efficiently and help alert pedestrians to the presence of cyclists. The streets of San Francisco don’t have to be the bumpy, crowded, and dangerous ones we’ve come to expect. |
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Paul Currier: I support a much faster roll out (no pun intended) of the “100 miles of bikeway” in San Francisco than the SF Bicycle Coalition Goal of completion by 2020. I do not see why we cannot do this whole plan within 12 months, no later than the end of he second year of my first four year term as Mayor of ALL of San Francisco. I see a new grid of Bike Priority Streets needed to separate car and bike corridors, with new bike-friendly civil engineering. Pedestrians need to have the right of way – and bikes tend to be dangerously thoughtless of others. Giving Bike Priority bikeways their own “non-automobile” spaces and bike paths would keep this all sane. I also support keeping skateboards off the sidewalks totally. Kids, pets, and people need to know that sidewalks are for people, pets and kids, and moving things belong in the streets. |
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John Avalos: I have a whole system of hierarchy in my head regarding safety and accountability on our streets: the people who should be most protected ought to be the pedestrians, then the bicyclists, then the buses, then the cars – and this is the method I use when making transit or street planning decisions. Regarding stopping at stop signs, however, I wouldn’t have the #1 endorsement of the SF Bike Coalition if I didn’t understand or promote responsible bicyclist behavior! As Mayor I’d definitely consider converting stop signs into yield signs for bicycles. Or we could always repaint them neon. |
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Tony Hall: Safety is my number one concern in our streets, for both pedestrians and cyclists. Bicyclists need to be held to the same traffic laws as anyone else, and if they are not, we will continue to see collisions and injuries in the streets. |
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Leland Yee: What it boils down to is a combination of increasing enforcement of our traffic laws and prioritizing bike safety. We need safer bike lanes, especially in particularly dangerous areas. That’s why I support a dedicated bike lane on Fell Street and Oak Street. As Mayor, I will work with Chief Suhr to establish a traffic enforcement plan that will protect pedestrians, cyclists, Muni and drivers and keep SF streets safe. |
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Dennis Herrera: This is a common complaint throughout the city. Bicyclists, pedestrians and drivers all need to obey traffic laws. We need to step up police enforcement of these laws for all groups. |
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David Chiu: I’m an avid bicyclist and know full well that bicyclists have to obey traffic laws just like other vehicles. I think most bicyclists out there do as well, but we can’t let a few bad apples spoil the bunch, and we need to do better at enforcing the laws on the books. We also can and should make infrastructure improvements that make bicycling a safe and viable alternative for commuting, which is why I support connecting the city with a comprehensive bicycle network – creating protected and separated bike paths, investing in bike traffic infrastructure, and reconfiguring streets to create “low stress” bike routes – that will stop the madness. |
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Joanna Rees: Traffic safety should be a high priority for the police department and traffic laws should be enforced for drivers, bikers, and pedestrians equally. In addition, we need to improve our streets to make them safe for bicyclists, drivers and pedestrians. I support efforts to create additional bike lanes separated from other traffic. |
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Cesar Ascarrunz: As a former parking and traffic commissioner, I have been fighting for bicycle lanes for many years. In Latin America, where I was born, most everyone uses bicycles and I believe that our city can be more green and bicycle/pedestrian friendly with more efficient city planning. More bike lanes, stricter rules for traffic yielding to pedestrians, etc. |
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Ed Lee: With Haight Street, Golden Gate Park and the Panhandle, Masonic, Fell & Oak Streets, the Upper and Lower Haight can be one of the most congested mix of buses, cars, bikes and pedestrians at most hours. Whether you’re a driver, bicyclist or pedestrian, safety starts with following the law and obeying traffic rules and signals. That would help eliminate the overwhelming majority of accidents and collisions. But we know there will always be people who don’t do that, so we must enforce our laws against reckless driving and cycling, especially that endangers others. But it’s not just about enforcement, it’s also about creating streetscape environments and conditions that promote safety. I’m proud that we’ve been making pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements throughout the City, adding record numbers of new bike lanes, the new traffic signal at Masonic and Fell for cyclists and drivers and curb cuts and other pedestrian safety improvements in the Upper and Lower Haight. I strongly support the Masonic Avenue “boulevard” redesign and will continue to work with the SFMTA to identify funding and proceed with this important project. Recently, we introduced legislation requiring a 15mph speed limit near our schools just in time for the start of the school year. I’ve also sponsored a $248 million Road Repair & Street Safety Bond for the November ballot that includes millions for additional bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements, traffic signal improvements for the SFMTA and new streetscape improvement funding. |
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Bevan Dufty: Create safe bikeways, improve signage for all street users, and, when good planning fails, step up enforcement. |
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Q: Darcy asks: What was the most embarrassing moment of your life?
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Jeff Adachi: When I realized that I wasn’t the greatest singer. |
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Paul Currier: I was naked at school and it was recess and everyone saw me. It used to happen over and over in my dream. (smile) In real life? When I got caught for shoplifting at age five in a drug store. I peed in my pants. My arrest by the Drug Enforcement Administration for manufacturing and distribution of four to eight times more LSD that Owsley was not nearly so embarrassing. That happened on May 19th, 1986. I did not pee in my pants then. Oh well. From purple micro-dots, thru lots of blotter, windowpane, clearlight and my signature purple pyramid gells, I guess I did make a lot of Acid. That was then and this is now. I have not had the naked dream in decades. I also have not made any more Acid. |
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John Avalos: Let’s just say being an elected official is one embarrassing naked-in-school dream after another. But outside of that, I had a job at a banquet hall once, and was setting up for a wedding, and I knocked over the wedding cake. I ruined someone’s wedding. |
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Tony Hall: The first time that I ever sang a song in public. |
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Leland Yee: My tie selection led to one of my most embarrassing moments. While working in Sacramento as an Assemblymember, Speaker Nunez informed me that my tie was ugly and insisted I wear his before addressing the Assembly – this entire exchange was televised on the California Channel. |
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Dennis Herrera: When I was in law school on my first date with a girl I really liked, I was trying to impress her so I ordered a fancy (for a law student) bottle of wine. I reached out to pour it for her and was so nervous that I dropped the bottle and spilled it all over the table. |
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David Chiu: In first grade, a classmate brought in a blue robin egg for show-and-tell and left it on our teacher’s desk. During the lunchtime recess, I couldn’t help sneaking up to the desk to hold it in my grubby little paw — and I crushed it. After recess, our teacher asked who left the mess on her desk. Raising my hand was the most embarrassing moment of my life. |
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Joanna Rees: Did not answer. |
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Cesar Ascarrunz: As a latino, I am embarrassed that so many organizations in San Francisco discriminate. |
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Ed Lee: During law school at Berkeley, while I was playing tennis in a competition, my opponent served the ball with “American Twist” that bounced over my head for an ace, in front of everyone. In those situations, you just refocus, pick yourself up and keep going. |
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Bevan Dufty: 7th grade. Gym. Ira Katz left his watch next to my locker by mistake. I picked it up and ran after him, but it slipped out of my hand and shattered the watch glass. I was so embarrassed that I put it back in his empty locker. The next day I told him that I’d dropped it. I felt bad but it was a good lesson. Just tell the truth. |
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Q: Kevin S. asks: In your opinion, what’s the worst thing about San Francisco?
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Jeff Adachi: Dirty streets and people who throw trash from their car! We need to change the culture here. |
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Paul Currier: The Racketeering Organized Crime that is now running City Hall and embezzling, stealing, and secreting in theft over $1,000,000,000 per year from the citizens of San Francisco. These rackets are run with nepotism, crony deals with campaign supporters, and networks of non-profit corporations, which no one can audit, as non-profits are exempt from public audits. San Francisco is more corrupt than New Orleans now, and probably stands at the most corrupt city in the USA, with the Pelosis, the Burtons, Willie Brown, and Rose Pak running the local crime family. |
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John Avalos: The fog cruising in from the ocean in July and August, trickling down over Twin Peaks like the Angel of Death touching the city. That was the poetic answer. The real answer is that there is a war on the poor here in San Francisco and we don’t do enough. |
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Tony Hall: The special interests that see the average San Franciscan – whether they be homeowners, job-creators or taxpayers – as an ATM for their personal agendas. There are plenty of these ‘special interests’ who don’t put San Francisco’s long-term interests first, yet who continue to have a powerful grip over City Hall. We must eliminate this systemic corruption, and the best way to hold them accountable is simply to have an open and transparent government that is unafraid of scrutiny because it is always striving to serve its people, not just a privileged few. |
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Leland Yee: Lack of Affordability. An hour of street parking? $4. People who work in San Francisco should be able to live here, too. As Mayor, I will focus on true affordable housing. It’s essential that we look at ways to increase the affordable housing stock, and part of that means new development with a stock of affordable units so families can afford to stay here – and not just studios and SROs, but family-sized units in neighborhoods across the city. As Mayor, I will create an affordable housing budget set-aside that the city can bond against, creating a necessary stream of dedicated funding for affordable housing. I am committed to enforcing inclusionary housing requirements as part of any development agreement—to that end, I voted for Senator Leno’s bill to clarify the city’s right to enforce inclusionary housing following a recent court decision. Additionally, I support rent control and will fight to protect it. |
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Dennis Herrera: You can’t get a cab! As Mayor I will work hard to increase the number of taxis in San Francisco so we can compete with cities like New York and Washington DC as the most commuter-friendly city. |
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David Chiu: I love the progressive values shared by the vast majority of San Franciscans. Those values include respect for diversity and tolerance, a spirit of creativity and innovation, and a belief that government can be a force for social justice. But oftentimes in our politics, the worst thing is that we can get too focused on knee-jerk ideological labels and forget what we achieve together if we keep our shared values in mind. |
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Joanna Rees: The biggest problem in San Francisco is that we face an almost endless cycle of deficits and potential cuts to vital services. We have seen this play out across the seemingly arbitrary across the board budget cuts, in a recent pension crisis that was years in the making, and in many cases, a costly and antiquated approach to service delivery, permitting, and regulatory compliance. As an entrepreneur and education advocate, I’ve spent the last two decades managing large budgets, helping businesses and schools do more than anyone thought possible with limited resources, and building sustainable financial models able to withstand a variety of economic contingencies. We can and must do the same for San Francisco, but it will require a different approach. As the innovation capital of the world, we must work to better utilize emerging technologies to streamline bureaucracy and improve efficiency. To avoid future pension crises, we must base our budget expectations on more realistic forecasting grounded in long-term trends—not short term yields. And we must commit to a process of bottom-up budgeting, where each program is evaluated on its merits with results tied to specific benchmarks of accountability. Finally, we must improve the transparency of the overall budgeting process. Where shared sacrifice is needed or tough choices demanded, the community will be far more accepting of the results when the community knows where their money is going and why. |
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Cesar Ascarrunz: Anti-business. Businesses in San Francisco are going broke, we need to protect our small businesses. We have different rules for different neighborhoods, we need consistency on our streets. |
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Ed Lee: I’ve always tried to be someone who focuses on solutions and solving problems, not just pointing out what’s wrong or what I’m against, and this is an incredible city with so many wonderful people and neighborhoods. And if there’s anything that gets in the way of our people’s success, sometimes it’s the politics at City Hall. For too long there’s been a history of drawing lines in the sand and taking positions instead of working together to attack the problem, not each other. I’m proud that as Mayor these last 9 months, we’ve changed the tone at City Hall to get things done for our City, from closing a $380 million deficit to balance the budget, bringing business and labor together to control pension costs for the future, attracting and retaining jobs and companies to our City and more. But there’s so much more to do. As Mayor for the next four years, I’ll continue to work every day to put my ego and politics aside to bring members of the Board and residents together to create jobs, protect public safety, improve Muni and help all our neighborhoods. |
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Bevan Dufty: How unwelcoming and unhealthy this City has become for Black San Franciscans. Read my Black Agenda at bevandufty.com. |
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That’s it for part one! Thanks to all the candidates and their campaign teams for participating. Stay tuned for parts two and three, coming soon!