The Top 5 Times Mayor Lee “Traded Safety for Convenience” on SF’s Streets

Mayor Ed Lee says he’ll veto the Bike Yield Law because he’s “not willing to trade away safety for convenience.”

The mayor is just being modest here. Of course he’s willing to trade safety for convenience! In fact, he’s elevated convenience to a core value.

Here are our top five moments when Mayor Lee traded away safety for convenience on the streets of San Francisco. (You won’t believe #1!)

5. The time Mayor Lee parked in a bus stop to get a burrito.

When the mayor wants a tasty burrito in his neighborhood of Glen Park, it’s no surprise he’d head straight to La Corneta Taqueria on Diamond Street. But only Mayor Lee has the panache to satisfy his cravings as conveniently as possible.

You want Lee to park in a spot that’s not in a Muni bus stop, forcing passengers to board from the roadway? Sorry, you’re asking the wrong mayor!

This wasn’t the only time Lee’s car was spotted in a space where cars are never supposed to go. After the first incident, the mayor’s spokesperson told us his SFPD driver was “admonished,” and that “the mayor believes this is unacceptable and steps have been taken to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” But what if it’s convenient?! Let’s see…

4. The time Mayor Lee parked in a crosswalk to visit a merchant (see top photo).

SF’s merchant-friendly mayor is never one to let safe street crossings get in the way of a quick “hello.” Mayor Lee probably didn’t expect any publicity, but a watchful resident above this Outer Sunset shop was there to capture his devotion to the ultimate convenient parking spot at the expense of people who walk. Inspiring!

3. The time Mayor Lee dropped his support for a ballot measure to fund street safety improvements, then threatened supervisors for putting a similar measure on the ballot, which he later celebrated.

Think Mayor Lee’s dedication to convenience only extends to the way he gets around the city? Don’t overlook his penchant for perceived political convenience.

The Mayor’s Transportation 2030 Task Force should’ve known better than to recommend that he support a ballot measure to restore the vehicle license fee slashed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Did they really expect Lee to back the only proposed measure that specifically asked drivers to pay more toward transportation infrastructure, including safety improvements? Ha! Lee shot the measure down by withdrawing his support for the VLF after he said he didn’t think he could successfully raise the initial poll numbers.

By backpedaling, the mayor delayed roughly $1 billion to help fill the city’s transportation funding gap over the next 15 years. Bonus points: The move undermined the city’s ability to get matching grants from the state and federal governments. Boom!

Lee wasn’t done there. When the Board of Supervisors approved Scott Wiener’s ballot measure to help make up for the loss of the VLF revenue by using general funds, he threatened retribution for the six supervisors who voted for it! The supes can’t hate, though, because after voters passed the measure and raised $24 million in the first year, Lee was all about that measure.

Bam! How convenient is that?

2. The time Mayor Lee repealed Sunday parking meters after a study showed they reduced car traffic.

You might assume that Mayor Lee loved the convenience of Sunday parking meters. After all, during the first year they went into effect, they halved the average time drivers took to find a parking spot.

Rookie mistake. Lee’s quest for convenience at the expense of safety is too sophisticated to be bound by data-based findings. You see, Sunday metering reduced car traffic, which makes streets safer, but the church lobby didn’t like it. So the mayor claimed there was a popular revolt against the policy, even though there wasn’t any record of it. Can you guess what the mayor did next?

The mayor took advantage of his convenient power to appoint all members of the SFMTA Board of Directors, and successfully pressured them to repeal Sunday meters. Sneaky, Mayor Lee! But oh-so politically convenient.

1. The time Mayor Lee refused to say safety on Polk Street was more important than car parking.

Remove car parking for protected bike lanes on Polk Street? Not under this mayor!

Our modest mayor wouldn’t admit any involvement, but it sure looked suspicious when plans for a protected bike lane on Polk that would’ve replaced the parking in front of his optometrist’s office were removed from the block at the last minute. Lee’s optometrist himself even said he’d talked to him about it!

When we asked Lee about it, the mayor put to rest any doubts about his stance: “We shouldn’t promote bicycle safety over pedestrian safety over cars and parking. I think they’re all going to be important.”

Wait, what?! Lest there be any confusion, the mayor said “we must be balanced in our approach” to reducing traffic deaths and injuries, after street safety advocates sent a letter asking him to clarify his comments, since they gave “the impression that convenience trumps concern for the lives and well-being of vulnerable road users.”

You bet it does! Mayor Lee is just too bashful to say it.