Fear of Newsom Petulance Causes Bad Muni BudgetPaul Hogarthbyline‚ May. 13‚ 2009We can thank Supervisor David Chiu for bringing Muni’s inadequate low-income pass down five dollars, and for saving much of the Transit Effectiveness Project from a total meltdown. Other than that, there isn’t much to celebrate from what happened last night at the Board of Supervisors. Chiu cut a deal that salvaged parts of the MTA’s awful budget, but it was the outcome of political extortion. The Charter allows seven Supervisors to reject Muni’s budget, and for a while it looked like they would. But Mayor Gavin Newsom resorted to scare tactics, by saying rejection would blow a $30 million hole in the General Fund beyond the City’s mounting deficit. Chiu attempted to start negotiations last week to avert such a showdown, which the Mayor’s Office ignored until Monday night. By then, Supervisor Bevan Dufty had already backed off for fear of what Newsom would cut – which weakened the Board’s hand at the bargaining table. In the end, the real losers are Muni bus riders who struggle with a broken system. |