Testimony on Central Subway

Testimony on Central
Subway

10/27/11 Filed in:

Testimony Before the S. F. Supes
Audit Comm.

10/27/11 Hearing on Civil Grand Jury Report on
Central Subway


Supervisors,

We are transit advocates, working primarily at the
regional and statewide level. We have opposed the
Central Subway for years, because instead of being a
well- designed cost-effective transportation project,
it is primarily a political payoff.

The Grand Jury deserves the thanks of all San
Franciscans for their willingness to dive into an
incredibly dense thicket of details and their courage
to call a spade a spade. Their report is a proud
addition to the long tradition of speaking truth to
power.

The fundamental project design problems raised in the
report are so serious that they necessitate a
response from the Board on recommendations 16 – 20,
even though you weren’t specifically asked to. If the
Board ignores these recommendations, it will send a
strong message of “hear no evil, see no evil, speak
no evil.”

As Mr. Reskin, the MTA head said, the questions about
this project were asked and answered. However, the
answers were so steeped in politics as to be
worthless. The Grand Jury is telling your Board that
the Emperor has no clothes. Future generations will
remember you as the Board members that ignored their
message and put Muni into an extended fiscal
crisis.

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