Proposition E

Today's topic is Proposition E.

Proposition E is very simple: who should have control over appointments to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the Mayor or the Board of Supervisors? In reality, the measure does more than just that. The measure 1) says that all current members of the SF PUC terms will expire on August 1, 2008 and 2) specifies the type of experience that each of the 5 positions shall have. Seat 1 shall have environmental policy and environmental justice experience, Seat 2 shall have ratepayer or consumer advocacy experience, Seat 3 shall have project finance experience, Seat 4 shall have water systems, power systems or public utility management experience and Seat 5 shall be an at-large member. As for appointment to the SF PUC, the measure says that any appointment to the SF PUC by the Mayor will be subject to confirmation by the Board of Supervisors. Currently, anyone appointed by the Mayor takes office immediately and can only be rejected if 3/4 of the Board votes to reject. In essence, the Board of Supervisors wants a larger say in who makes up the SF PUC and what those commissioners will be doing.

As a simple matter of background, the SF PUC is the agency in charge of the city's water system, including the Hetch Hetchy system. The SF PUC is also responsible for various electricity-related projects, such as the various solar-related proposals, as well as the controversial "Combustion Turbine Project" which seeks to shutter the Mirant Potrero power plant and construct a batch of peaker plants to replace the power and reliability of the Potrero plant.

So, with all that going on, should the Board play a larger role in who runs the SF PUC? By specifying what type of background 4 of the 5 commissioners should have does nothing but inject politics into the operation of the SF PUC. If a commissioner is so offensive to the Board, by a 3/4 vote they can reject the appointment. What this measure does is give the Board a chance to hold, and hold, and hold, and hold a nominee for as long as it wants if they do not like a nominee, for whatever reason. Finally, a wholesale firing of the commissioners is the Board's way of wiping the slate clean and enforcing their power right away. This power grab by the Board is unnecessary and would only ensure that the Board's way of thinking prevails.

Vote No on E.

Proposition D

Today we have Proposition D.

Proposition D is fairly straightforward: should City policy be that city agencies "reflect the interests and contributions of both men and women of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientation and types of disabilities" and should the city officers and agencies "support the nomination, appointment or confirmation of female, minority and disabled candidates to fill seats on those bodies"?

That's from the ballot description. What that description does not mention is that the Commission on the Status of Women "shall conduct an analysis of appointments to appointive boards, commissions, and advisory bodies ... to track the diversity of appointments to such bodies. This analysis, to be based on voluntary disclosures, shall include gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability status, and any other relevant demographic qualities."

So, let's take this piece by piece.

First, I have no idea what the first clause is supposed to mean. The City Charter already states that boards and agency membership "be broadly representative of the communities of interest," so, this takes it one step farther to include interests and contributions of the make-up of the population. So, the first clause would appear to me to be redundant.

Moving on to the second clause, which advocates for the inclusion of anyone except able-bodied, white males. Now I'm having problems. First off, diversity for diversity's sake doesn't seem to me to be a good policy goal. Just because someone is not an able-bodied, white male shouldn't place them at the top of the list; rather, there should be qualified applicants for these positions. Putting unqualified applicants onto boards and agencies increases the likelihood of government waste and inaction. If there are qualified applicants, then current federal and state law already make discrimination illegal. To make it city policy to openly advocate for these preferences is bad policy.

The third part of this proposition asks the Department on the Status of Women to monitor the progress of city boards and agencies in installing non-able-bodied, white males into boards and agencies, but only using "voluntary disclosures." Who will be doing the disclosing? Individuals? The boards and agencies? What will be the cost to do the survey and prepare the report? It doesn't say. Basically, the Department will be collecting diversity-based data in attempt to show how progressive this city is. If this city was truly progressive, then city boards and agencies, and those responsible for installing people on boards and agencies, wouldn't need to be forced or encouraged to do it- they would just do it. Having a department come counting the make-up of boards and agencies every two years will do wonders for morale and composition, I'm sure.

There is a legitimate societal goal in play here, and that's to increase the membership of non-able-bodied, white males on boards and agencies, but by advocating for preferences and set asides is not the way to accomplish this. Having another city department checking up on other parts of city government does not encourage thoughtful hiring. Furthermore, I seriously doubt that the Board of Supervisors and those in the Mayor's Office really need a city charter amendment to do this. As I opined above, if this city truly is progressive, it's already hiring these folks, and this proposition is unnecessary (except to make people feel better about themselves and show how progressive they are).

In short, this is an unnecessary and potentially wasteful measure. Vote No on D.

Prop. C

Today we will discuss Proposition C.

Proposition C asks to amend language in the City's Employees Retirement System that would prohibit employees that engaged in "moral turpitude" in connection with their job from receiving any retirement funds funded with employer contributions. This proposition is in response to a recent court decision potentially allowing for some former employees to receive retirement benefits even if found guilty of "moral turpitude."

According to the election pamphlet, moral turpitude is defined as "There is no precise definition. Generally, a crime involving moral turpitude is one that reveals a person's dishonesty, readiness to do evil, bad character, or moral depravity. The courts decide this on a case-by-case basis. Examples would include crimes (misdemeanor or felony) involving theft, fraud, or breach of public trust." Further definition of moral turpitude and other examples can be found here. Additionally, according to the write up in the pamphlet, this language has not been consistently applied or added to new retirement plans. So, since this is a change to the city charter, it must go before the voters.

What does this all mean? Well, this is basically an addition to make all city employees' retirement plans terms consistent, and if an employee engages in certain illegal actions, see definition above, they will be prohibited from receiving any of their retirement contributions. It seems to me that if someone is convicted of any of the crimes that are defined as "moral turpitude," then the employee should definitely not be eligible to receive retirement benefits.

Opponents of the measure point out that moral turpitude has been used by various courts across the country to prosecute homosexual activity. As noted in the pamphlet rebuttal, the decision as to what constitutes moral turpitude is made by the S.F. Retirement Board and not a court. So, what it boils down is that the opponents of this proposition simply don't like the terminology. Simply put, the S.F. Retirement Board determines if someone has committed moral turpitude in relation to their retirement benefits, not the courts.

This appears to be merely a technical amendment. As the pamphlet notes, this term has been in use since 1966 and continues so. Despite opponents' attempt to cast this proposition in terms other than its intended purpose, people found guilty of crimes of moral turpitude, as determined by the S.F. retirement board, should not be allowed to receive their retirement benefits.

Vote yes on Prop. C.

Prop. B

Today we deal with Proposition B.

Prop. B is a settlement the city reached with various union and worker representatives to head off an impending financial disaster. See, several years ago the city signed an agreement with various city worker unions and representatives that guaranteed health care benefits for life after retirement if an employee worked for the city for 5 years. So, say you were a low level janitor cleaning up schools- after 5 years, the city would guarantee your health care coverage after reaching retirement age, regardless of wherever or whatever you did after those 5 years. It doesn't really take a genius to realize that the city is on the hook for a lot of money once those employees start hitting retirement age; estimates put it at over $4 billion in total over the life of the agreement. This proposition is a revision to that agreement.

So, what does it do? An employee is still eligible for health care benefits after 5 years, but the city will not fully pay it upon retirement; instead, it bases payment on how many years one works for the city. A person with 10 years experience will get 50% paid, with 15 years will get 75% paid and a person with 20 years of service will get 100% paid. To help pay for these costs, the city will also establish a trust fund. The employee will pay 2% of their salary into the fund and the city will kick in another 1%. I will note that these provisions only apply to employees hired AFTER January 10, 2009. Additionally, wages are frozen for the 09-10 fiscal years to help the city pay and set up these new programs. Finally, there are associated changes to the pension and retirement benefits by raising the percentage of final salary and what age a former employee can earn a pension- 2.3% of the final salary will be available when a former employee reaches the age of 62.

Ok, that was really confusing. The basic thing to take away from all of this is that the city is trying to fend off an unfunded retirement health care fiasco. The city had not been accounting for these increases in retirement benefits and health care as part of their normal budgetary process, and this is a way to help meet that expected increase. At this point in the game, any solution probably looks good, and that an agreement was reached on this at all is important. I have no idea if this will ultimately make any difference in helping the city meet its duty to provide for retired employees, but it certainly looks like it can't hurt. Coupled with an employee funded trust fund, I don't think it will make up all the difference, but every little bit helps.

So, with all of that enthusiastic praise, go ahead and vote Yes on Prop. B.

Lisbon

Our final day in Europe.

We didn't have many plans for the day in Lisbon, just hit a few of the tourist things and take our time. We left the hotel a little before noon, and tried to find an ATM. We found one, but when we tried to get money out, we kept getting error messages saying the ATM couldn't communicate with the network. One after another gave us the same message. We finally just walked into a bank and was able to make a charge onto our debit card and they gave us the money. With that minor emergency out of the way, we stopped for lunch at McDonalds.

Now, there is really nothing that I hate more than going on vacation and eating at a chain. On the other hand, it's interesting when overseas to go into a chain, like McDonalds, and just check it out and see what's on the menu. So, we did that, and got it out of the way.

We left McDonalds and headed for Plaç a Martin Moniz to get on the 28 tram, which goes on a windy route up and down the hills of Lisbon and around the Castle of St. George. The tram is an old and rickety one-man operation, scooting through the narrow streets of the Alfama district of Lisbon. It really was a wonder to sit and watch this tram work its way up the hills and through the streets, narrowly missing parked cars or waiting for stopped cars to get out of the way. Anyway, we got off at the Castle stop. The stop is halfway up the hill, with the castle at the top, and has several lookout points that face out toward the ocean where the River Tagus empties out into the Atlantic Ocean. It also allows a great vantage point to see the neighborhood and the houses pushed together; it almost appears that being pushed together is the only way to keep them from sliding off the hill entirely. After several pictures, we begin to trek up the last part of the hill to reach the castle.

I don't really know what I was expecting with the castle. In any event, we weren't necessarily prepared to pay to walk around the castle, but for whatever reason, admission was free on this particular day. With free admission, we walked right on up and around the complex. The castle, since it's on top of a hill, provided a 360 degree view of Lisbon. The first part of the walk puts us on a walk along the outside walls of the castle, which has several prominent views of the city and the river. We walk around, taking in the views and the good fortune of it being dry- windy, but dry. We make our way to the castle, which has a very small moat and a bridge to cross into the main section of the castle. The castle is pretty sparse, not much left inside the grounds, other than a guy playing his guitar for change, so, we climb some steps and walk around the castle walls, pretending we are looking for some invasion or preparing to defend the castle from raiders. It was all very interesting.

We decide that the weather may not be holding up for us very much longer, so we take our leave of the castle and walk back down the hill to the tram stop. The tram comes along and we decide to ride it to where it ends, which is at a cemetery. In between that, however, was more up and down the hills, around tight corners and through narrow streets. We pass through various neighborhoods, pass the Parliament building, pass various churches and store fronts, and, most excitingly, get cased by two pickpockets. The tram hits it final stop, and we all get out, the pickpockets being the last two off. Since we need to get back, we just get back in line and wait for the next 28 tram to come by and take us back toward our hotel. And, of course, the pickpockets wait in line with us. At one point I was looking at my map, and put it back in my back pocket, after a second, I feel my shirt get lifted up and immediately reach for my map again- I don't know why, especially since my wallet wasn't back there, but I knew something was going on. We get on, choose our seats and the two pickpockets sit in different parts of the tram- I don't think I was supposed realize they were working together, but it wasn't that difficult. Anyway, the tram gets a move on back toward the city center, and the pickpockets, perhaps deciding that this particular tram was not going to suit them, got off a few stops later. We ride the tram back towards the city center and get off at the stop for the Barrio Alto to walk around.

The Barrio Alto, as the name suggests, is a neighborhood on a hill. This is also one of the main cultural neighborhoods- in other words, stuff happens here. Unfortunately for us, that stuff mainly happens at night apparently. So, we just walk around the neighborhood, more narrow streets, more tiled walls, more people hanging out in darkened doorways....wait, what? Yes, people just hanging out in darkened doorways. . .as we walk along one of the streets I look 2 blocks up and see 7 people just forming a line across the street, so, reaching the block before them, we turn left. After waiting out two pickpockets on a tram, I'm not really up for dealing with shadowy youths. The street we turned on eventually leads out to a park that looks out over the city and back towards the castle- allowing us to see Lisbon from two sides. We hang out, again taking in the city and the views and just listening to the sounds, at which point, it begins to rain. Luckily, right next to the park is one of the funiculars which goes up and down the sides of the hills, and this particular funicular goes down the hill and stops just on the other side of the park where our hotel is located.

So, we hop on the funicular and ride down the hill. Again, very interesting, the route the funicular takes is also used for cars as we saw trucks and driveways along the route. The funicular, not surprisingly, is also a rickety relic of the past, but, like the tram we took earlier, I simply cannot imagine it being replaced with a newer model- it would just lose its charm. It drops us off at the bottom of the hill and we hustle across the street and park and then back to our hotel, just in time for it to start pouring. . .again. We hit our hotel, take a little rest, hope the rain stops (it doesn't), and decide what to do with the rest of the evening. Actually, that last part was pretty easy- eat and pack.

For dinner we do another thing that I don't like doing on vacation- eating at the same place two nights in a row. Nevertheless, the food is still good. . .the host still is missing a thumb on his left hand, the waiter from the night before is still there and looking surly, but we get a waiter that doesn't want to deal with us, so we end up dealing with a runner all night. I like this restaurant. The waiters wear white admiral jackets. . .it's all very interesting. But not two nights in a row. But, like I said, the food was still good. And, like the night before, we walk over to the Hard Rock Cafe for a Sagres, just to enjoy one more beer before we leave. And with that we head back to our room and try to figure out the packing.

Packing was the final step, and the realization that we were at an end to our trip. We had 3 boxes that could fit 6 bottles of wine in each, leaving us with 6 more bottles that needed to be packed, so those would take up room. We had a large pottery purchase, which would take up a lot more room, so we had to deal with that. We had other gifts that needed to be packed, which would take up room. Finally, we had our clothes that needed to be packed, which would take up the most room. So, we emptied all of our suitcases and bags, and repacked everything. And, surprisingly, everything fit, and without any bag being egregiously heavy. All that was left was to deal with the boxes of wine. . .and, well, I think we all know how that worked out.

With that, the next morning we got up at 4 AM, I went to get the car out of the garage, we loaded up the car with our bags, and headed out for the airport, which wasn't all that far from the hotel. We waited like 20 minutes for a Hertz guy to finally show up and check-in our car, pushed our baggage-laden carts to the British Airways check-in desk, dropped off our wine boxes at oversize luggage, went through security and customs and then waited at the gate for departure.

And that was that. . .our vacation was at end, and all that was left of it was to head home.


I hope you enjoyed these postings- I do wish that I had kept up with them whilst over there, since my recollections are obviously colored by my remembrances and are re-told here with a slight wistfulness, instead of what I was thinking and feeling at the time. I can only do my best to recapture some of those feelings and thoughts as they happened, but I am bound by my own memory.

What a Tuesday

I just wanted to quickly talk about two things that happened today:

1) It took my nearly an hour and half to get home today from work. Actually, from the bank. Left the bank, and went down the Civic Center Muni stop where I waited for 40 minutes to get on any Muni train, except for the J train, which does not help me get home. I waited on the platform first for 8 minutes before any train came. . .this was at 5:20. Now, since I live in the Inner Sunset, I have figured out a way to get home when I know the N is either far apart or I know it will be full- I can take the K, L or M to Forest Hill, then transfer to the 43 or 44. So, today I was fully expecting to go to Forest Hill, except for the next 45 minutes every Muni was full, except for the J. I saw 4 N's go past, full, a various array of K, L and M's go past, all full. One J comes by that was half full. So, tired of waiting, I run upstairs to Market and see a 6-Parnassus coming; I think, sweet, I'll take that to Judah and 9th. Get on and two blocks later the driver says, "Everyone off, this bus is going out of service." So, after some trouble getting the next 6 bus out of the way of a street car, 90% of us get off the bus and get on the new 6. The 6 everyone just got off continues on its way- I don't know if the driver lied to us or got different instructions later on, but I saw it continue on its merry way while the rest of us split up between the new 6 and the next 71. The bus I'm on goes on its route, and at Masonic, instead of turning to continue its route, it crosses the street and stops at the next stop. The driver says, "This bus is turning into a 7-Haight, if you want a 6, you need to get off." Nevermind that right behind this bus is a 7-Haight. An older passenger at the front starts yelling at the driver about how is he supposed to get the UCSF hospital and the driver yells back at him to get on the 6, and the guy yells back and says I was, and it's your responsibility to get me there, and the bus driver says, no, it's not. So, we all shuffle off the bus and cross the street- luckily a 6 comes by soon. This time, no problems.

So, I spent 45 minutes waiting to get on any Muni train (other than a J) with no luck, and then another 45 minutes having to change onto 2 buses, on the same line, that either purportedly go out of service or randomly change into another line. All during rush hour. Great job today S.F. Muni- you made everyone's day.

2) I just had to talk about this one. Was going over the Business section in today's Chronicle and noticed several stories on the front page of the section, such as concerns on biotech, a janitor strike in the south bay, and retirement money worries; so, 3 pretty negative stories on the front page of the business section. However, on page 3 of the Business section was a story called "Index Shows Economy May Dodge A Recession". Why would the Chronicle want to bury potentially good economic news on page 3 of the Business section instead of on page 1? Oh, silly me- that doesn't fit the narrative put out there by the media on the economy. Good news doesn't sell.

One more drive

The review of our European trip is almost done, only 2 days are left. Today is a simple one- the drive from Porto to Lisbon. As we drove down to Lisbon, we took each turn, each climb up a hill and embraced it, knowing that we would be heading home soon. I suppose that feeling is why we took the long way to Lisbon. Sure, we could have taken the highway and reached Lisbon in 2 hours, but what fun would that be. Here we are, with a car and the time to drive the Portuguese countryside and not be confined to the pace and whims of a highway; not to mention, the highway was a toll road, and I was not terribly enthused about driving on a toll road.

So, we left Porto around mid-morning and successfully navigated our way out of the city and onto the highway that would lead us to the coast. We decided to head south for Lisbon along the coast, and tried to stay along the coast for however long we could. There were some obstacles, and sometimes the roads we were own didn't stay along the coast. We saw rolling hills, sheer cliffs, large windmills dotting the tops of ridges, small towns, the ocean. . .We drove through towns called Espinho, Aveiro, Figueira da Foz, the walled town of Obidos, stopped in the coastal town of Peniche, took a roundabout way through Torres Vedras, and arrived in Lisbon from the west, through Cascais and the fortress town of Sintra. Drove on 2 lane roads and saw houses with shared gardens, saw old, run-down towns with crumbling buildings, saw remnants of castles and old fortress walls, saw the ocean, waves lapping up against the continent- imagining the U.S., what early explorers could only dream of, what they saw, looking out across the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. There we were, on the edge of the european continent, looking out towards home, savoring the moment.

We took our time, arriving in Lisbon in early evening, taking in a modern city limited by its history. Our hotel is just off one of the main roads through Lisbon, the Avenida de Liberdade. However, the hotel is on a pedestrian road, so cars are not allowed, which caused us quite some problems in locating it. Finally, I just stopped the car at the entrance to the pedestrian zone, and found the hotel, and was directed to the parking garage where a parking spot was located.

The day had started out sunny and warm, but as we got closer to Lisbon, it got increasingly cloudy and cold. We parked the car, dragged our bags up onto the street and was greeted by a downpour. . .it was not fun. We managed to drag our very heavy luggage through the downpour and to our hotel; upon entering the lobby, we simply dropped our bags and must have had a look of defeat as the man behind the counter simply handed us our hotel key and told us to come back later to deal with the paperwork. We thanked him for his kindness, and dragged our drenched selves and soaking luggage to the elevator and finally to our room. The rain did not let up all evening, limiting our dining choices. Thankfully, since it was a pedestrian zone, eating options were plentiful. We chose a place called O Churrasco, basically, it was a place to get grilled meat. It was really good- my pork tenderloin was grilled perfectly and it was wonderful.

After dinner, we hit the Hard Rock around the corner for dessert and a beer- I just had to have Sagres. Sagres was awesome. I am now on the hunt for it here in the states. We also had a good laugh at the musical that was playing next door to our hotel: Jesus Christ Superstar. So, all Meg would do every time we walked past the sign would sign various lines from that musical. I, on the other hand, would sing the Mr. Show version: Jeepers Creepers (featuring Jack Black).

With that, we got back to our room and hung our wet clothes up to dry. We looked over the maps and guide book for Lisbon to figure out what to do on our only full day in the city. Went to bed knowing that we had one more night left in Europe, with that feeling of sadness and relief- sadness that we our vacation was coming to a close but relief that we will be heading home. Every sight, sound and experience to be lingered over just a bit longer than before.