8 Years and a Recall

Thank you for the help on Sunset Boulevard, but...

Let’s cut to the chase

Yesterday, District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio held a press conference on Sunset Boulevard here in The Sunset. Ostensibly, he was there with his powerful friends to announce funding for a new initiative to help restore the severe atrophy, decline and deterioration of the 2-mile-long greenbelt corridor along Sunset Boulevard.

Supervisor Engardio offered up a new departmental partnership and some funding from the state of California as if he had just stumbled upon the problem and his so-called solution in just the last week or so. It was not his solution, if indeed it ultimately will be a solution. The money was also not within his purview. All of which begs the question, what did it really take to get this much needed resource — the graywater, not the greenbacks — to Sunset Boulevard?

8 Years and a Recall

Yep, that’s what it took alright, 8 years and a recall. Specifically, Supervisor Joel Engardio’s recall. And I'm not even certain the 8 years was enough. I say that because I know that this Monday morning press conference and the earmark funding for it as well as all the other elements of this little rescue plan would never have happened without the Recall of Joel Engardio. Argue if you will, but you will never win that argument because I know what I know.

The $1.5 million and the Rec & Park partnership with DPW and Laborers #261 are funding and FTE commitments that these power-brokers could spare to try to rescue the embattled Engardio from his imminent recall. Doubtful it will be enough to stem the tide. I have spent a lot of time talking to voters in District 4 and, in brief, they are pissed off beyond measure.

The $ave Engardio Campaign

It makes some sense that Engardio would try this. He sits with billionaire crypto & tech bros at his campaign table, and they pick up every tab with $100,000 checks to the $ave Engardio campaign. So far, the 5 — that’s 5, NOT 50 — the 5 largest donors have contributed nearly $575,000 out of around $700,000 raised in total.

I am certain Engardio believes that everyone thinks the way he does and that if he gets his powerful friends to put a million dollars into The Sunset then everyone will change their mind and vote for him. Sort of like when these same donors dangled cash in from of him and said, put Prop. K on the ballot and we’ll be there for you with all the cash you need. After all, cash is king, right?

Maybe they didn’t notice the big “No Kings!” protest on Ocean Beach a little while back. Or maybe they just don’t know, or care to know, the voters of The Sunset that well.

I have written about Engardio’s crypto & tech bro mega-donors previously; in case you are interested in knowing more — Follow the Money — Chris Larsen Redux — SFPD Blue — Not. One. Damn. Inch.

Meanwhile, back on Sunset Boulevard

So, Supervisor Joel Engardio came to The Sunset yesterday to offer up a big check and yet another in a long, long, long line of promises about the future of Sunset Boulevard to my neighbors and me. Considering every previous promise about Sunset Boulevard has been broken, well, color me skeptical

Engardio was joined on Monday’s press conference by Senator Scott Wiener (District 11, California Senate) — who secured the $1 million for the graywater (recycled) irrigation water project. I asked Senator Wiener after the press conference if he thought that $1 million would be enough to bring the large infrastructure project to completion and he responded that no, some of the money had already been appropriated, and this funding would carry the project further but that “additional funds will be necessary before the project is completed,” Frankly, that did not inspire confidence on my part but at least, it seemed to me, he was being honest with me.

Alicia John-Baptiste, Mayor Danile Lurie's Policy Chief of Infrastructure, Climate, & Mobility also joined in the fun of announcement day. I guess this particular announcement was not quite important enough for Mayor Lurie to appear himself. I wonder what he was up to that was more important? Wait, there should be a record of his schedule, a public one, hmm… I think I’ll find out where he was instead (and report back here on it).

Of course, the main reason that Mayor Lurie did not come is that he wants to, publicly at least, stay on the fence with regards to Supervisor Endgardio’s recall. And I’ll bet everything in my pockets that if he were ever to appear in The Sunset he would have been asked, probably multiple times, whether or not he supports the Recall of Supervisor Engardio. Out here a position on the Engardio Recall is important, and Mayor Lurie wants to be perceived as being neutral.

However, the closer we get to ballots dropping on August 18th and the September 16th Election Day, the more fence sitting will become nearly impossible. The voters in The Sunset, on both sides of the Engardio Recall, are hurtling towards a point in time when we all arrive at the calculation that others are either for us or against us. Clearly, the Mayor wants no part of that mindset.

Rounding out the press conference cast were Director Carla Short, Department of Public Works (DPW), General Manager Phil Ginsburg of SF Rec & Park, Vince Courtney, Jr. representing LiUNA #261 and members of Laborers local #261.

What do folks in The Sunset think about all this?

Community hopeful about $1M for Sunset Boulevard Irrigation

The Sunset, San Francisco – “I am encouraged by this announcement and the other members of this community are hopeful as well,” said Lisa Arjes, Sunset resident and spokesperson for Friends of Sunset Boulevard. “We have urged the city and the Department of Public Works to connect the recycled water system to irrigation on Sunset Boulevard for years. It is good to see additional resources finally brought to bear on the completion of this project.”

“Frankly, the recycled water line should have been connected to Boulevard irrigation from inception. We are now paying a lost opportunity cost for not having done so when the line was constructed.” said Arjes. “We hope, although we do not know, that this funding will be sufficient to bring the project to completion and graywater irrigation to Sunset Boulevard.”

“We have advocated for 8 years for recycled water access and application of better maintenance standards on Sunset Boulevard,” Arjes added. “We appreciate the work of all the city officials and supervisors who have helped along the way, including Administrator Carmen Chu, Supervisor Katy Tang, Supervisor Gordon Mar and Supervisor Joel Engardio.”

“And we look forward to working with General Manager Ginsburg, Director Short and all who will join with us in turning Sunset Boulevard back into the verdant greenbelt corridor that it was once and should be again,” concluded Arjes.

Thank you, Senator Wiener. I appreciate your efforts to secure additional resources to the Sunset Boulevard greenbelt corridor that will assist in finally bringing recycled graywater irrigation to the Boulevard.

There, I said thank you. I won’t likely say much more to Senator Wiener in this essay. Here is why. I do not want to seem ungrateful. But neither do I want to be excessive in my gratitude. Others have worked for years to get us to this point, and they deserve our thanks as well.

Friends of Sunset Boulevard — the intrepid group of neighbors that banded together years ago to pressure the San Francisco Department of Public Works (DPW) to improve the conditions of Sunset Boulevard — has been calling for connecting the Boulevard to recycled water for irrigation for 8 years. And they have undertaken a lot of other work and advocacy during that time as well — A Long Row to Hoe

Cutting back to the original chase

District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio has been a Johnny-come-lately to the fight for Sunset Boulevard. And honestly, it never needed to be this way. Back in 2018 when the graywater line was installed along 36th Avenue, parallel to Sunset Boulevard, it should have been connected to the Boulevard irrigation infrastructure then.

If it took the Recall of Supervisor Joel Engardio to finally get this done… well, not done exactly but taking a big step forward like this, then I am so very happy that I have had the opportunity to give so much time, treasure and effort to helping move the Recall Engardio Campaign forward. Actually, I was happy about that anyway, so I guess this makes me doubly happy, damn near ecstatic.

More questions than answers

I came away from Engardio’s Monday press conference on Sunset Boulevard with more questions than answers. Therefore, I am going to share those questions here because I think this will be a great list of points to research and write about in the future. And I would very much like for you, my readers, to add any questions you have to this list as well.

• What about the Rec & Park Playgrounds? — West Sunset Playground was about 2 block due west from Monday’s press conference. A good friend of mine asked some questions of Rec & Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg after the press conference. I’m looking forward to hearing and reporting on his answers. Here are some of the questions she asked.

  • How many Rec & Park playgrounds in D4 are in need of repair?

  • What is the exact (start time and completion time) schedule for each playground upgrade [this] fall?

  • What is the cost of upgrading each playground?

• Why can you find the manpower and resources to build Sunset Dunes in 6 weeks but it takes years to address the deterioration of conditions on Sunset Boulevard or fix the seven Rec & Park playgrounds in The Sunset? [Reminder, it took 13 years to fix the Stern Grove playground after it was determined to be one of the worst 13 (out of 138 Rec & Park playgrounds) in the entire city?

• Why was the DPW so blind to the idea of connecting the graywater pipeline to Sunset Boulevard? I know that during that time then-DPW Director Mohammed Nuru was likely distracted with his bribery, fraud, embezzlement, wire fraud and other public corruption schemes and with fending off an FBI investigation that eventually led to his arrest, conviction and incarceration. Was any of that related to the incredibly poor decision-making that occurred at DPW relative to Sunset Boulevard?

• Why do government officials that oversee infrastructure (e.g. parks, streets, etc.) always refer to past abject negligence as deferred maintenance?

• And just because I cannot stop thinking about this one, when will SF Rec & Park learn that you simply cannot call something a park if people cannot use it? And if disabled persons or the elderly or anyone with limited mobility issues cannot access a park due to barriers or safety concerns (e.g. getting run over by bicycles running in all 4 lanes of “Sunset Dunes” even though they are supposed to only use the eastern 2 lanes), then are they not people? Where is Rec & Park’s humanity? Hey, Rec & Park, you cannot call The Great Highway a park if people cannot use it. Make room for the disable and differently abled people of The Sunset and all of San Francisco or I’m telling you, there will be hell to pay.

• What is the exact (start time and completion time) schedule for the connection of recycled graywater to the Sunset Boulevard irrigation system?

• What is the exact (start time and completion time) schedule for the repair or replacement of Sunset Boulevard’s existing (and ancient) irrigation infrastructure?

• On August 13th when Supervisor Engardio appears at a community meeting hosted by La Playa Village Association to discuss “How can we beautify the Sunset District?” is there any answer I can offer other than “Recall Engardio!”

• How much private money donated to the haphazard, 6-week construction of the “Sunset Dunes” so-called park came from cyrpto & tech bro billionaire donors? And in particular, how much from the crypto & tech bro billionaire donors that also gave to the $ave Engardio campaign?

• Where is the Sierra Club in any and all of this? The same Sierra Club that endorsed Supervisor Engardio and Prop. K in 2024 has never lifted a finger to help improve conditions on Sunset Boulevard. Moreover, that same Sierra Club has stood idly by while Senator Weiner and Prop. K have decimated CEQA review requirements, most notably, here in The Sunset anyway, over the closure of The Great Highway. What kind of environmental organization knowingly chooses to undermine the environmental review process that they toiled for decades to help create?

This last question is, in particular, offered for the Sierra Club member that tried to dox or intimidate me by sharing a link from this Substack in the chat of the Zoom call I was on with the local Sierra Club conservation committee.

Hey, dumbass, I am very proud of what I do here. If you want to share my Substack please do, share it with as many people as possible. But know this, I am an environmentalist and longtime Sierra Club member, and I don’t ask permission for what I do or what I say or what I write. And I sure as hell don’t ask for forgiveness from the likes of you. I don’t “dox” well because I don’t care what people think about me. And if you want to intimidate me you better bring a lot more than just a shared link in a Zoom chat.

For my other readers: please share a question here that occurred to you while reading this post, or any other question that’s on your mind for any reason whatsoever… john