The Arrogance of an Agency

John Ehrlich talks to Portola residents

Last night, the SFWater Department held a community meeting to discuss, as they put it, "The future of Bacon Street and the University Mound Reservoir."  On hand were Suzanne Gautier of SFWater, John Ehrlich of Homeland Security, SFPD Captain Chignell, and representatives from SFFD and the SFPUC.  Also on hand were about 150 angry Portola residents.  The residents weren't there because Ms Gautier had invited them.  Ms Gautier had done her level best to ensure that no one showed up.  That's the kind of outreach she did.  Neighbors were there because Ron Parsall and Pat Connon had gone door to door for several days to tell them of the meeting and to collect petition signatures.

Read more about the proposed closure here.

SFWater set up a 15x15 tent to contain the meeting because the SFPUC caretaker's house couldn't accommodate the crowd they expected. As it turned out, their 15x15 tent couldn't do it either.  As people streamed in and chair after chair was taken, it became clear that this would be a much bigger meeting than SFWater had ever imagined.  What it also showed, and what they continued to display throughout the evening, was that they simply didn't understand the neighborhood or its people.  Most of the people huddled under the tent were elderly.  Why hold an outdoor event for 70-80 year olds?  You only do that if you want to keep people angry, which they certainly did.

After a few well reasoned and respectful arguments from neighbors, John Ehrlich was asked why they want to permanently close the street.  His arrogance and condescension were outrageous, and even after someone in the crowd told him to knock it off, he continued talking down to the crowd.

Basically, their message was that the closure was only a proposal, not their plan.  Bullshit.  They've already contacted SF Planning Department to see if they need to do further environmental review in order to permanently close the street.  They "took the liberty," according the Gautier, of installing hydraulic barriers.  They've been planning this permanent closure for a while.

Neighbor after neighbor gave impassioned speech and reasoned argument to keep the road open, while SFWater and Homeland Security gave nothing but flimsy excuses.  Ron Parsall presented Gautier with a 527-name petition against closure.  Gautier and Ehrlich left the meeting with their tails between their legs and their plan in tatters, but still unable and unwilling to tell neighbors what the timeline would be for next steps and when the road would open again, permanently.  Gautier did concede a little in saying, "Well, I guess the next step will be that we reopen the road, yes?" as she looked over to Ehrlich, "and then we discuss what we want to do from there."

Congratulations to the Portola neighbors who attended, vented their anger but were mostly respectful, and who have sent a message to all agencies like SFWater that the Southeast of San Francisco is not going to be ignored or put upon any longer.