Just five months after SF just voted to remove cars from the Great Highway, Supervisor Connie Chan floats voting on another ballot measure over cars on the Great Highway, which she would pursue if the Engardio recall makes the ballot.
San Francisco voters pretty decisively decided this past November to make the Great Highway car-free, and did so by a ten-percentage-point margin. Though yes, this was unpopular among west-side residents, who are now trying to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio because some see him as leading the charge to remove cars from the nearly 1.5-mile stretch of the thoroughfare between Sloat Boulevard and Lincoln Way.
Now that whole decision could be thrown up in the air again. The Chronicle reports that the District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan is proposing another ballot measure to ask voters if they want the Great Highway to remain car-free, a mere five months after we just voted on it. (Chan’s District 1 contains the northernmost part of the Great Highway, though not the part that has been closed to cars). Chan says she would only propose this if Engardio’s recall effort gets enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Chan did not comment to the Chronicle for their report, but her comments come from an op-ed by Chan published this past Saturday in the Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon. And despite this being something of a bombshell idea, the idea is buried deep at the end of her article.
“Many Richmond residents and small businesses have been asking me what I can do to help them ease the burden brought on by the closure of the Upper Great Highway,” Chan wrote. “Indeed, we will not have an election until 2026, unless enough signatures are collected to put the District 4 supervisor recall on ballot; then there will be an election specifically for District 4 voters, unless the Board of Supervisors votes to authorize a special citywide election at the same time as the recall election."
She continued, "In the event of a citywide election this year, I will explore a ballot measure to keep Upper Great Highway open to vehicular traffic Mondays through Fridays and closed on the weekends for recreation."
There's something weird, or rather unexplained, in Chan’s remarks. She says that there will not be a citywide election in 2025 “unless the Board of Supervisors votes to authorize a special citywide election at the same time as the recall election.” Maybe she knows something we don’t know, but there would appear to be absolutely no reason to hold a special citywide election in 2025.
The only reason there would be a citywide special election called this year would be if some citywide elected officeholder died in office, or resigned out of the blue. It is otherwise difficult to imagine why we would hold a citywide election.
Moreover, as the Chronicle explains, “Chan would need six supervisors to make the election citywide,” and, “She’d further need three more supervisors’ signatures for the potential measure to reopen the highway to be placed on the ballot.” Again, we cannot see why there would be an appetite for this, particularly as special elections are expensive, a vote was already taken on this issue, and the city is running a budget deficit.
When told of Chan’s plan, Engardio told the Chronicle, “It’s highly unlikely a majority of the Board will vote to enable a citywide election.” Supervisor and Board President Rafael Mandelman also told the Chronicle, “At the moment I don’t see the need for a citywide election this summer or this fall.”
But it’s not hard to see what Chan is up to here. Public sentiment in the west-side neighborhoods is completely against the car-free Great Highway, even if the rest of the city loves the idea. Chan perhaps sees the sentiment brewing against Engardio and wants to position herself as the savior and advocate for the cars-on-the-highway constituency. (She was in the opposition three years ago when the vote was taken to permanently close JFK Drive in her district, which may have helped her politically.) Even if she doesn't deliver, she can still say she fought for it.
Chan is on her second and final term, and does not have to face voters again. But maybe she has some state Senate or state Assembly run up her sleeve? Or maybe, like Aaron Peskin, she could take one term off from the Board of Supervisors and then run again. Either way, Supervisor Connie Chan is looking to endear herself to the pro-car constituency, for whatever the reasons may be.
Image: @RecParkSF via Twitter
