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280 Tableau: America’s Own Version of the Autobahn, San Mateo County – Luxury Cars Famous for Fires

Thursday, December 5th, 2013

Ah yes, the 280. Spacious, fast and full of luxury cars.

To wit:

Click to expand

Ah yes, the famous Tesla Model S. Let’s compare it’s on-the-road-caught-on-fire rate with, I don’t know, that of the well-designed, all-electric Nissan Leaf and maybe, I don’t know, the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. Oh wait a sec, Nissan Leaves and Chevy Voltses NEVER CATCH ON FIRE.* Well gee, why is that, Elon Musk? What’s wrong with your cars and/or your customers?

And the jelly-bean Lexus RX / Toyota Harrier. I suppose this “Tall Camry” / “Tall Lexus ES” is a luxury car. It doesn’t catch on fire, all that much.

And the Mercedes Benz GL. It does catch on fire. Sometimes. And for no good reason.

Taken via Google Glass** from my Toyota, which was paid off twelve years ago, and which is 40% of the way through its working life.

*And these are more established cars with more time and more passenger miles on the road than the Model S

**Or not!

Tags: 2013, 280, 280 Tableau, america's, atoubahn, bay area, california, cars, chevy volt, eletric, fire, freeway, gl, lexus, luxury, mercedes benz, model s, nissan leaf, rx, San Francisco, San Mateo, suc, Tableau, tesla
Posted in cars | No Comments »

Ouch: Membership Dues Have Collapsed at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition – Down More Than 40% the Past Year

Thursday, December 5th, 2013

And by the past year, I mean let’s use the most recent Form 990, the one* that was filed about four months ago, and compare it with the one what was filed for the year before.

Check it. Here’s the 990 for 2011 - $344,663 in reported membership dues:

Click to expand

And here’s the 990 for 2012 – just $185,921:

Now, what could explain this sudden and dramatic drop in “support?”

Well, we had the Chris Bucchere accident in the first quarter of 2012 and some members didn’t exactly approve of the way that SFBC officers dealt with the issue. Perhaps revenue went down in the following quarters?

And we had the shocking SFBC endorsement of Republican-backed Mayor Ed Lee near the end of 2011 – I doubt that paying members would have approved of that had they been given the opportunity.

You know, this guy, the one who always looks up to the formerly-despised Willie Brown:

Of course, people can always do a Barter Membership, but you’d think that dues-paying members would volunteer anyway, right?

Take a look at the numbers on the tax returns, it seems as if the SFBC is just another arm of the SFMTA or, indeed, of SFGov. (Except it’s an agency that can officially endorse Ed Lee for Mayor.)

Oh well.

Anyway, this is why the SFBC no longer boasts of increasing membership anymore.

[UPDATE: Did the 10% discount for SFBC members at Rainbow Grocery really make that much of a difference? IDK. See Comments.]

*There’s also something called the Education Fund, which also gets membership dues – $10k for 2011 and $20k for 2012. But if you throw those numbers in you’re still looking at a 40-something percent decline year over year.

Tags: 000, 11, 12, 2013, 990, bay area, bicycle coalition, bike, california, declining, DPT, dues, ed lee, falling, form, IRS, Mayor, membership, nnprofit, rainbow grocery, San Francisco, sfbc, sfgov, SFMTA
Posted in bikes | 8 Comments »

Beach Chalet Soccer Field Decision is a Clean Victory for the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

Or so it would appear.

Watch RPD take a victory lap right here:

“Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields Renovation in Golden Gate Park

Beach Chalet Soccer Fields Renovation To Proceed

For Immediate Release
December 4, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and the City Fields Foundation announced today that California Superior Court Judge Teri L. Jackson has ruled in favor of the renovation of the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

“After considering the evidence, arguments and applicable law, the court DENIES the petition for writ of mandate and DISMISSES the Complaint in entirety,” Judge Jackson stated in her decision,

Judge Jackson found that the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and subsequent approvals were conducted in accordance with the law, paving the way for construction to begin. Judge Jackson ruled against the plaintiffs on all four major motions they filed.

“This is a huge victory for the youth in our city who need clean, safe places to play,” said Phil Ginsburg, General Manager of San Francisco Recreation and Parks. “Perhaps the most vetted project in the history of the city, the new Beach Chalet soccer fields will be a welcome addition to the west end of Golden Gate Park and will help activate the area with fun, appropriate activities.”

“Our partnership with Recreation and Parks started nearly eight years ago with one simple goal, making sure that every San Francisco child has a place to play ball,” said Susan Hirsch, Project Director for the City Fields Foundation. “Today, we’re one big step closer to achieving that dream thanks to the tireless commitment of San Francisco’s kids, families, athletes and hundreds of donors making this project possible.”

Primarily used by kids (more than 12,000 play there each year), the Beach Chalet fields are in dangerously poor condition and closed 50% of the time to preserve the condition of the grass fields from heavy use and rain. Currently, the fields are only open by paid reservation and lack spectator seating and amenities.

Today’s judgment is the most recent affirmation of the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields renovation, continuing a multi-year design, review, approval and appeal process that has included eight votes in front of six different government bodies, including the California Coastal Commission, the SF Board of Supervisors, SF Planning Commission, SF Recreation and Parks Commission, and the Board of Permit Appeals. Each of these bodies has voted in favor of the project, San Francisco Recreation and Parks and the nonprofit City Fields Foundation are jointly funding the $14,000,000 renovation of the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields. Construction is anticipated to begin in winter-spring 2014 with completion in 2015.

By installing synthetic turf and field lights, playtime on the fields will triple to more than 14,000 hours of annual playtime, 5,700,000 gallons of water will be saved annually, and the entire facility will become more welcoming with rehabilitated restrooms, spectator seating, a new plaza and small play structure for kids, plus new picnic tables and barbeques for all to enjoy. As synthetic turf can be used continuously with no need to rest for rain or regrowth, free, open play time will also be guaranteed on the fields – something not possible on most other city soccer fields.

http://webaccess.sftc.org/minds_asp_pdf/Viewer/DownLoadDocument.asp?PGCNT=0

Tags: 2013, artificial, bay area, beach chalet, california, City Fields Foundation, Elton Pon, field, general manager, golden gate park, grass, Judge, Patrick Hannan, Phil Ginsburg, Recreation and Park Department, rpd, San Francisco, sfrpd, soccer, Teri Jackson, Teri L. Jackson, turf
Posted in parks | No Comments »

City Attorney Dennis Herrera Sues Former Supervisor Michael Yaki for More Than 70 Violations of City’s Lobbyist Ordinance

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

Well, I suppose I can’t oppose enforcement of the Lobbyist Ordinance.

[And I'll mention that the "Yaki Compromise" would have had numerous salutary effects and would have saved lives lost due to the horrible Octavia Boulevard project.]

“Herrera sues former Supervisor Yaki for more than 70 violations of City’s lobbyist ordinance

Lobbying for Rescue Air Systems, Inc. in the legislative process involving Fire Code revisions, Yaki ‘brazenly flouted a law with which he had no excuse to be unfamiliar’

SAN FRANCISCO (Dec. 4, 2013) — City Attorney Dennis Herrera today filed suit against former Supervisor Michael Yaki for more than 70 violations of the city’s lobbyist ordinance during the time Yaki was paid to advocate for the interests of his client, Rescue Air Systems, Inc., in the legislative process that revised San Francisco’s Fire Code earlier this year. According to the complaint filed in San Francisco Superior Court this morning, “Yaki flouted the lobbyist ordinance in every way” by failing to register as a lobbyist, failing to disclose the amounts and sources of payments for lobbying, and failing to report his lobbying contacts. The complaint, which was filed with 15 accompanying declarations from Board members, legislative aides, fire commissioners and S.F. Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White, alleges that Yaki misrepresented his identity as a paid lobbyist when trying to set up meetings with five Supervisors.

The city’s lobbyist ordinance provides for civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, or three times the amount of compensation scofflaw lobbyists fail to report — whichever is greater. Yaki himself voted to support the ordinance in 2000 while a member of the Board of Supervisors.

“San Francisco’s Lobbyist Ordinance is a good government cornerstone that brings needed transparency to our local legislative process,” said Herrera. ”It imposes a simple requirement on lobbyists to disclose the nature and extent of work they do for their clients, and other paid advocates have managed to comply with it thousands of times. Unfortunately, in the case we’ve filed today, the evidence is overwhelming that Mr. Yaki brazenly flouted a law with which he had no excuse to be unfamiliar. Our lobbyist ordinance fulfills a very important function in our local government, and its aggressive enforcement is essential to the legitimacy of the law itself.”

San Carlos, Calif.-based Rescue Air Systems, Inc. manufactures a patented “firefighter air replenishment system,” or FARS, which San Francisco’s Fire Code has required since 2004 for new buildings with a height of 75 feet or more. When city policymakers undertook their periodic revision to the local Fire Code beginning last year, Fire Chief Hayes-White was among numerous city officials to oppose extending the FARS requirement because the San Francisco Fire Department had never used or trained on the system, and because firefighters “do not have confidence that the air coming from the FARS pipes is safe and breathable, or that the system has been checked and maintained on regular basis,” according to Hayes-White’s declaration.

Yaki engaged in extensive lobbying efforts over a period of more than a year on Rescue Air Systems’ behalf to retain the FARS requirement. According to the city’s complaint and supporting declarations, the former supervisor lobbied fire commissioners, S.F. Fire Department officials, staff in the Mayor’s Office, and members of the Board of Supervisors and legislative aides to extend the legal requirement for an air replenishment system that only one company — Yaki’s client — manufactured. The City Attorney’s Office’s investigation secured evidence of at least 70 lobbying contacts, including more than 10 lobbying meetings with Supervisors and their legislative aides and more than 50 emails to city officials on behalf of Rescue Air Systems’ interests in the Fire Code revision process.

Yaki’s lobbying efforts ultimately proved largely unsuccessful. San Francisco’s Fire Commission passed a motion recommending that the FARS requirement be altered to offer developers a choice of whether to install FARS or a firefighter service elevator to facilitate oxygen delivery. That recommendation was adopted as part of the San Francisco Fire Code amendments unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors in September, which Mayor Ed Lee approved on Oct. 3, 2013.

The case is: Dennis Herrera in his Official Capacity as San Francisco City Attorney v. Michael Yaki, San Francisco Superior Court, filed Dec. 4, 2013. Due to the large file size of the 468-page court filing, the complete presskit with accompanying declarations is not being emailed but is available for download on the City Attorney’s website at: http://www.sfcityattorney.org/index.aspx?page=570.”

Tags: 2013, bay area, board of supervisors, california, chief, city attorney, dennis herrera, failing to register, FARS, fire, Fire Code, former, fromer, inc, Joanne Hayes-White, lobbying, lobbyist, Lobbyist Ordinance, michael yaki, mike yaki, ordinance, registered, Rescue Air Systems, San Francisco, sffd, sued, Superior Court, Supervisor, violations, yaki, Yaki Compromise
Posted in politics | No Comments »

OMG, It’s the Great H&M Union Square Grand RE-Opening – A Second Bite at the Apple, Dec. 5th, 9:30 AM

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

I remember when this store opened for the first time.* It was a big deal.

“We’re re-opening one of your favorite stores!

Join us on December 5th at 9:30 AM for the launch of our brand new store on Powell Street in San Francisco, CA.

If you’re one of the first 200 shoppers in line then you will receive an all access fashion pass valued up to $300 off your entire purchase.

Get ready to do some serious shopping to our in-store DJ spinning all the latest hits!”

*Some dude on Craigslist offered an invitation to the VIP preview party in exchange for a sexual favor or two – girls only! GIRLS ONLY! It was in the oughts, a more innocent time

Tags: 2013, again, bay area, california, december 5, grand, h&m, opening, reopening, San Francisco, union square
Posted in fashion | No Comments »

“Sprayer” by Dallis Willard – Scissor Fight is a San Francisco Photo Website That’s All Wheat, No Chaff

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

Via Scissor Fights

Tags: 2013, bay area, bros, california, Dallis Willard Sci=ssorfights, Photographer, San Francisco, SCISSORFIGHT, sprayer
Posted in photography | No Comments »

Bay Area Bike Share Declared a Huge Success by … Bay Area Bike Share

Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013

Let’s see here:

“wildly popular”

“Maddox took the opportunity to trumpet the program’s successes”

“Bike Share is popular”

But this assumes that the program costs nothing, right?

And this assumes the program is well-run, right? Is it? IDK

What I do know is that for the amount of money we’re talking about here, we could buy over 100,000 bikes and not just rent them out but simply GIVE THEM AWAY.

We’re talking about bikes that would be much lighter and have many more gears.

(I realize that giving away bikes isn’t what BABS is about, but that’s a comparison.)

What BABS is is a jobs program, one that pays workers the whopping total of $13.50 per hour.

That’s one of my beefs.

Here’s another – what does this even mean?

“In order for the program to ‘break even’ operationally, Maddox said, the program would need to expand to 2,500-3,000 bikes in total inside of San Francisco.”

You know, I went to the colledge, but I can’t for the life of me understand what “break even” means in this context.

Anywho, here’s the latest. But please remember, that the people behind this bike share program have never ever ever violated any labor laws and they’re, well, they’re the most perfect non-rent seekers ever to cut a deal with SFGov, so don’t dare to ask any questions about their Wonderful One-Hoss Shay:

“Bay Area Bike Share off to a strong start

Pilot Program prepares for full expansion in 2014

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — With over 178,000 miles traveled since the launch of Bay Area Bike Share, a distance that would allow a bicyclist to circle the Earth more than seven times, ridership in the popular regional bicycle sharing program continues to grow.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131203/SF26953-INFO)

The three-month-old system has now racked up more than 80,000 rides with over 3,200 annual members and more than 10,000 casual members since the program began on August 29. More area residents and visitors continue to sign up every day, increasing momentum for the program.

“The Bay Area Bike Share program is transforming the way people travel in our region,” said Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the Air District. ”These bicycles offer an important connection for that last mile of transportation between public transit and final destinations. The success of this program will result in long-term health and quality-of-life benefits for our region.”

The bike sharing system launched this summer with 700 mint green colored bicycles, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 70 stations in five cities along the Caltrain commuter rail corridor — San Francisco, Redwood City, Palo Alto, Mountain View and San Jose. A full expansion of the pilot system in 2014 will boost those numbers to 1,000 bicycles at 100 stations. Bay Area Bike Share is the first bike share system in the country to launch as a regionally integrated system serving cities spread out over 50 miles.

Offered as a “first and last mile solution,” as well as a stand-alone transportation option, the aim of the pilot program is to test the effectiveness of bike sharing in the region. The program encourages Bay Area residents and visitors alike to make short trips by bike, both in conjunction with public transit and for non-transit linked trips, resulting in reduced air pollution in and around the areas served.

Significant emission reductions from the transportation sector will help protect public health and ensure the Bay Area meets state and national air quality standards while reducing greenhouse gases.

Annual Memberships: Bay Area Bike Share offers two types of annual memberships. The Pacesetter Membership ($88), includes unlimited rides up to 30 minutes each. The Frontrunner Membership ($103), also includes a t-shirt and two 24-hour memberships. For more information, please visit bayareabikeshare.com/membership.

Corporate Partnerships: Bay Area Bike Share has just launched a corporate membership program, where businesses and organizations of all sizes can offer discounted and subsidized annual memberships to employees. There are five levels of partnership that are based on company size, number of participating employees and company contribution. For more information, please visit bayareabikeshare.com.

The cost of the full pilot totals $11.2 million, and is funded using Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality ($7.1 million), Transportation Fund for Clean Air ($2.8 million) and other local funds ($1.3 million). The program is managed by the Air District in partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and local partners.

In addition to the Air District and MTC, the pilot project is a partnership among local government agencies including the City and County of San Francisco, SamTrans, Caltrain, San Mateo County Transportation Authority, the County of San Mateo, the City of Redwood City and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

Bay Area residents and visitors can learn more about the bike share system at:
–   www.bayareabikeshare.com
–   www.facebook.com/bayareabikeshare
–   www.twitter.com/sfbaybikeshare

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is the regional agency responsible for protecting air quality in the nine-county Bay Area. For more information, visit www.baaqmd.gov.

SOURCE The Bay Area Air Quality Management District

Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131203/SF26953-INFO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District

CONTACT: Tom Flannigan, 415.749.4948

Web Site: http://bayareabikeshare.com

Let’s review:

I own more bikes than you do.

I have more miles

Tags: 2013, BAAQMD, babs, bay area, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, bay area bike share, bikes, california, daily, media, press release, rental, San Francisco
Posted in bikes | No Comments »