BOS Hail Mary to Save Muni by Rejecting its Budget

As promised, here's more from Paul Hogarth about another attempt by the Board of Supervisors to reject Muni's badly flawed budget.

David Chiu may have cut a deal with the Mayor’s Office on the MTA budget, but the Full Board never actually voted to accept it. All they did at the May 12th meeting – by a 6-5 vote – was to “table” Chiu’s motion to reject the MTA budget, but the City Charter still gives them until May 31st to act. -Paul Hogarth (via Beyond Chron)

Yesterday the Budget Committee (John Avalos, Ross Mirkarimi, Carmen Chu, David Campos, Bevan Dufty - B Duft and C Chu dissenting) voted to send the Muni budget to the full Board with a recommendation to reject it. Bryan Goebel of Streetsblog reports that the Board will take the matter up at its next meeting on Tuesday.

Similar results can be expected from repeating this process unless David Chiu and Sophie Maxwell see the error of their ways. One wonders how feasible it would be to plaster Muni buses and shelters with posters saying "Fares will go up to $2 unless you call David Chiu (554-7450) and Sophie Maxwell (554-7670)"

Board of Supervisors Accepts Muni Fare Hikes

After negotiating with the Mayor's office, Supervisor David Chiu abandoned his objection to the SFMTA budget in exchange for a $10 million reduction in costs to riders, according to Stephen T. Jones. (Update: more detail from Paul Hogarth at Beyond Chron)

By a vote of 6-5 the Board voted to accept the SFMTA budget, which includes a 50¢ fare increase and a $10 increase in the cost of a Fast Pass. Chiu changed his position after SFMTA chief Nat Ford agreed to shift some of the budget pain by:

• Paying $2.8 million less in work orders to other departments (which have their own budgets)
• Avoiding $8.6 million in previously proposed cuts
• $6.5 million in salary reductions
• $1 million in new revenue from increased parking meter enforcement (after a 90 day study, naturally)
• Delaying Fast Pass increases for youth, disabled and seniors by six months

Chiu also supposedly got some promises that Ford and the MTA would "immediately complete MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding) negotiations with the SFPD to finally explain why the MTA is giving them millions of dollars every year."