The Boondoggle Chronicles II

Issue II -- 16 years, $312.5 million, zero AWSS hydrants, zero miles of AWSS pipe laid.

For a few days after the Board of Supervisors of the City & County of San Francisco voted to send the so-called “Earthquake Safety & Emergency Response” or ESER Bond to the June 2, 2026, ballot there were quite a few puff pieces in local media outlets, some even bordering on puffery.

The San Francisco Examiner stepped up with their puffy iteration, chock full of pictures of firefights and fire stations — SF earthquake emergency-response bond nears June ballot | Politics | sfexaminer.com.

Surprisingly, Examiner staff reporter Patrick Hoge included some actual facts about the ESER bond but without a single penetrating question no matter the level of absurdity of statements made or messengers to which they were assigned.

The latest bond package follows three previous earthquake-resilience bond measures totaling more than $1.4 billion that voters strongly approved in 2010, 2014 and 2020 to bolster first-responder infrastructure and related services, said Carla Short, The City’s Director of Public Works.

Short, whose agency manages the bond program, said she wants voters to know that The City’s rigorous financial-accountability reporting and oversight rules for the bonds have been effective.

“I think the best case we can make to sell to the voters is we’ve been responsible with the bond dollars that have been approved in the past, we have delivered some important improvements.” — Dept. of Public Works Director Carla Short

First things first, Director Short. You don’t “sell” the voters anything. That is a very poor word choice. In fact, efforts by Mayor Lurie, the Board of Supervisors as well as DPW, SFMTA, SFPUC, SFPD and SFFD to “sell” the ESER bond program to voters is precisely the problem. Perhaps if you all would stop “selling” for a moment and actually be honest AND forthright, perhaps, just perhaps, you might win over some voters.

But all of you cannot really do that, can you Director Short? If you all truly tried to make the case for ESER, without all of the rah, rah pictures, marketing and PR, you might have to face up to very difficult questions. And none of you do that well at all.

Is that about right Director Short?

Here’s one that you can try to “sell” me on. You said you want to “sell to the voters” the idea that you have been responsible with bond dollars and… delivered some important improvements.” OK, previous ESER bond funds borrowed tally up to $1.441 billion dollars over 16 years (2010, 2014, 2020). And $312.5 million of that $1.441 billion was earmarked for the expansion of AWSS.

However, after 16 years, three ESER bonds (2010, 2014, 2020), $1,441 billion borrowed, $312.5 million earmarked for AWSS expansion not one single AWSS hydrant nor one mile of AWSS pipe has been expanded into a previously unprotected neighborhood. Not one single hydrant. Not. One. Damn. Hydrant.

Sell me on this, Director Short. Am I supposed to believe that now, in 2026, after 16 years of failure to produce a single AWSS hydrant, now the city is prepared to get the job done, or I guess, start getting the job done? Sell it, Director Short, and explain to me why I or any other voter should believe that line?

Director Short could say, “We know that we have not accomplished the promised goal after spending 16 years and $312.5 million on it. We know that we have not even started to fulfill that promise. But you should trust us now, because now we’re all about being responsible with bond money, now we’re prepared to get the job done. Only thing is, that $312.5 million has already been spent, so, we need to make another withdrawal from the taxpayer ATM (especially from you people in The Sunset and the Way Out West, because, well, because we think you all are stupid). We need another $535 million, which is the amount we’re asking for in the June 2026 ESER bond.”

“Of course, not all of that $535 million is for post-earthquake firefighting water supply (and none of it is for AWSS because we don’t want to do that anymore). And pay no attention to that $200 million for Muni (SFMTA) behind the curtain, please, whatever you do, don’t think about that, don’t look behind that curtain! And no, the $130 million for firefighting water supply, if it actually ends up funding anything remotely like AWSS, will not be enough to move a co-benefit (no-benefit), potable (drinking) and high-pressure (post-earthquake firefighting) water line even across The Sunset, maybe not even halfway across.”

“But trust us, this time we’re going to get it right and get it done, or some of it, or a little bit… OK, a few hydrants… maybe. Plus, we’ll have buses in case the entire city burns, we’ll have a way to move people… umm, never mind. Trust us, please?”

Is that about right Director Short?

An Institutional Boondoggle

Recently, a friend who has worked on this issue a lot longer than I have told me, “… we have to consider that lack of logic, sadly, eventually becomes institutionalized.”

That is absolutely true and correct, and 100% applicable to this situation.

From where I sit, $312.5 million earmarked for AWSS expansion that never happened and may never happen yet, is wasteful AND pointless and the city is trying everything they can to give it the appearance of having value.

Like I said before… Boondoggle.

John Crabtree

[photo from the Library of Congress courtesy of D4 resident Kathleen Larson]