Newsom Should Focus on Passing Muni Reform

by Paul Hogarth, 2007-10-31

With the Mayor’s re-election a foregone conclusion, Gavin Newsom should put his campaign resources to good use – by pushing sensible transit policies that will outlive his Administration. But despite formally endorsing Proposition A and opposing Proposition H, Newsom has been absent on the campaign trail – while Republican Don Fisher sends out daily attack pieces. At his October 29th State of the City address, Newsom did not even mention the two ballot measures – but talked about planned Muni improvements that would require the extra revenue from Prop A’s passage. He has instead focused on defeating Proposition E - the "Question Time" Charter Amendment that has no organized support and is expected to fail. Meanwhile, some progressives are spending their time working for mayoral candidate Quintin Mecke, who has zero chance of winning. If Muni is to be improved, then Newsom and progressive activists need to prioritize the passage of Prop A and the defeat Prop H.

In the past four years, Gavin Newsom has earned progressive support by supporting marriage equality, universal health care and striking hotel workers – which explains his high approval ratings and unbeatable status. He did gay marriage despite getting blamed for helping John Kerry lose, walked the picket lines with hotel workers despite offending his allies in the hotel industry, and championed the Health Access program while the Golden Gate Restaurant Association sue the City. So given his past willingness to do the right thing – and stand up to powerful wealthy interests – why has he not done more to pass Prop A and defeat Prop H?

To be fair, the “Yes on A” campaign has prominently used the Mayor’s likeness on their walk literature – after Newsom signed their endorsement card. But with the Mayor having raised $1.8 million for his re-election campaign – and no serious challenger in sight – you would think that he could spend some of that money and aggressively campaign to pass or defeat various Propositions on the ballot. If he wants to win with a powerful mandate, he should at least help mobilize a high voter turnout – which would help pass Prop A and defeat Prop H.

At his October 29th State of the City address, Newsom spoke extensively about Muni as he mentioned the transit system’s deficit, touted future projects like the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Network and championed the implementation of the Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP.) Unstated, however, is that many of these initiatives can't happen without more money - and Prop A would provide an extra $26 million in annual revenue for Muni. If the Mayor wants to leave a strong legacy for the City’s future, he must aggressively make Prop A’s passage a priority.

On the other hand, Newsom has made it a priority to defeat Proposition E – Supervisor Chris Daly’s measure that would require the Mayor to attend a monthly Board of Supervisors meeting. “I’ll have to put a large amount of energy into it,” he said, “which is just perverse.” But even if you oppose Question Time, isn’t it more important to pass Muni reform and defeat a parking initiative that would totally revamp our planning code, abandon our transit-first policy, open up a huge loophole for Hummers and accelerate global warming? Nobody can deny which measure would have the most impact.

Incredibly, Newsom told Rescue Muni members a few weeks ago that he was not campaigning against Prop H because he was so determined to fight Prop E. “Someone should tell Chris Daly it will be his fault if H passes,” said Newsom. But Daly is not exactly a popular citywide official these days – and with no organized campaign for Prop E, it is widely expected to fail so Newsom should not worry. If the Mayor wants to make a decisive impact in this election, his time and energy is better spent passing Prop A and defeating Prop H.

And as I mentioned in my October 29th column, some progressives - the few who are even involved in this sleepy election - have worked on the campaign of mayoral candidate Quintin Mecke. For those who wish to cast a protest vote against Newsom, supporting Mecke makes sense - but spending time on such a symbolic campaign when Muni's future is at stake does not. It's great to have a campaign office in the lower Haight to generate buzz in progressive precincts, but this will mean nothing if Prop A fails or Prop H wins.

In a certain ironic sense, progressives and Newsom now have a historic opportunity to work together on a common electoral purpose -- but both are working on separate races whose outcomes are already known and will have minimal long-term impact. Newsom has repeatedly talked about moving beyond the “polarized and paralyzed” politics that has plagued San Francisco, but instead has focused his energy on trying to defeat Chris Daly's "Question Time" meausre.

But by working with SEIU, the Sierra Club, the Democratic Party and other progressives to pass Prop A and defeat Prop H, Mayor Newsom can live up to his word to move beyond a polarized and paralyzed politics. And he can build a lasting legacy for the future of San Francisco -- by creating a world-class "transit-first" City. With six days before the Election, there's still time to turn things around.

Send feedback to paul@beyondchron.org